News

Bayelsa Medical University Speaks On 198 Casual Workers Who Were Disengaged

Published

2 years ago

August 23, 2022

The Vice Chancellor of the Bayelsa Medical University (BMU), Professor Ebitimitula Etebu, has exonerated the State governor, Senator Douye Diri, of any involvement in the decision by the institution to disengage 198 persons improperly absorbed in 2019 during the last administration.

He claimed their engagement was improper and violated the employment rules of the institution.

According to Etebu, the Institution had reverted to status quo due to the intervention of the leadership of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) and the State Commissioner of Education, Gentle Emela.

He said the embattled 198 persons were on casual workers allowances while awaiting the proper employment procedure but the Institution decided to disengage them due to the repeated restive nature of the affected workers and demands for new lecturers needed for the several accredited courses of the Institution.

Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, told DAILY POST while reacting to claims that Governor Douye Diri was responsible for the sack, that the administration of Governor Douye Diri has nothing to do with the decision to disengage the embattled workers of the Institution.

He added that: “The current Governor has nothing to do with anything. I am the Vice Chancellor, I told them because they were trying to destabilize the institution. Every time they were threatening, saying they are going to do this and that. And I told them, I said, look, you have no use to us, you don’t even come to work and if you ask very well, because of the hard times, we have tolerated them for all this while, but the thing that, they are now trying to take advantage of that fact.”

“People are telling them,’ they have kept you people, as casual workers for this period, you are now entitled to be employed and they have also taken that hook line and sinker. And threatening the management of the university. They go out and tell lies. These are the ones you are hearing. They go and write on Facebook and collude with the opposition. They use it to malign this current administration just to score cheap points for political gains. The institution decides to step them down due to constant security reports of their threats/restiveness to go on protest and make the University unmanageable.”

“Aside from that, in this last quarter of the year, we are going to be embarking on a flurry of advisory visits from over 13 Regulatory bodies and the NUC. This is a ritual in a specialized University like ours. Those outside the system do not understand these dynamics. We need professional lecturers, technologists, technicians etc. Now, all that is in the minds of our people is employment for our “young graduates” irrespective of our specialized requirements. These casual staff were foisted on us with a promise to provide emoluments for their salaries which never came. The University has a regulation of employing 3 academic staff to 1 non-academic staff. Currently, as things stand, our ratio is the reverse. We will implode if we continue in this manner. We don’t want a reenactment of the ugly incident that occurred a few years back in the NDU. Abinitio, BMU advertised & employed its academic, on-academic & principal officers following these due diligence principles.”

“The Governor has nothing to do with this particular situation. I, as the Vice Chancellor, spoke to them and said, I was going to step them down because we have programs that have been approved for us and we were supposed to run those programs, we were supposed to get lecturers to run those programs. So, it is not their employment that is important to us, because we don’t need them in the first place, but because we are in a State where there are no industries, everything is the Civil Service, and the cronies have been able to leverage people who have an appointment to foster them on us, they are now thinking it is their right to get employed. The times are hard, even the government is finding it difficult to pay salaries and all that”.

“They are 198, so when you are quoting me, quote me exactly the way I am telling you, so, I said, I am going to step them down, I didn’t consult the government or anybody, because I am the one running the place. They have been very restive, threatening to go on a protest, I said, okay if you are daring us, I will step you people down, and then we are going to go through the rules of engagement because for every staff that we have employed before they came in, we did advert and employed people.”

Etebu, who, however, pointed out that instead of the institution re-enacting the 2018 sad incident at the State-owned Niger Delta University, Ammassoma where the sack of some workers led to protest and deaths, said the institution had to discontinue the pattern set for the institution by politicians at inception and follow the guidelines laid out by the National University Commission (NUC) on employment of workers with the university system having dual employment, one for the lecturer and one for the non-academic staff, and one for the professional in the health profession.

News

Drama As Outage Disrupts Power Minister’s Speech At N’Assembly

Published

1 min ago

April 30, 2024

Editor

Drama played out when power supply was seized as the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, was speaking at the National Assembly.

Adelabu was fielding questions from senators at the investigative hearing on “the need to halt the increase in the price of electricity” organised by the Senate Committee on Power.

Power was, thereafter, restored in less than five minutes.

Speaking about the power interruption, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Eyinnaya Abaribe, said what the minister said about the stable electricity in the country was implicative.

He said, “You see what just happened. This is what we all experience. We the Senators experience it too and I am sure even the President does experience it at the Villa, just that he cannot speak out like we are.”

The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission had on April 3, approved an increase of 340% in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A classification.

According to the NERC’s Vice Chairman, Musliu Oseni, Band A, customers will begin to pay N225 kilowatt per hour from the current N66.

According to NERC, B and A customers are those who enjoy 20 hours of electricity supply daily.

Further checks revealed that customers under this classification represent 15 per cent of the 12 million electricity customers in Nigeria.

The NERC Vice Chairman however clarified that the review would not affect customers on the other bands.

The Senate had summoned the Minister to speak on the recent tariff and justify the increase.

News

Ex-WMA President, Enabulele Honoured As Labour Hero

Published

26 mins ago

April 30, 2024

Editor

The immediate past president of the World Medical Association, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, has been honoured as a labour Hero.

He was honoured during the commissioning of Labour House, Benin , by Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on Monday, April 29, 2024.

Presenting the award on behalf of Edo State Government and organized labour, the Deputy Governor of the state, Engr. Marvellous Omobayo, applauded the progressive leadership strides of Enabulele, and wished him greater attainments in his endeavours.

Responding, Enabulele thanked the state government and the Organized Labour for the honour done to them.

He commended Obaseki for his unparalleled commitment to the actualization of the Labour house, and called for its sustained maintenance and utilization for the purposes for which it was built.

The event climaxed with Governor Obaseki’s announcement of N70, 000:00k minimum wage for Edo State public sector workers with effect from the 1st of May, 2024.

The event was attended by members of the State Executive Council, the Speaker and members of the Edo State House of Assembly; NLC president, Comrade Joe Ajaero; Comrade Festus Osifo (TUC President).

The programme also featured the recognition of other Labour heros such as Pa Michael Imoudu, Pa Jonathan Ihonde, Comrade Festus Iyayi, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, amongst others.

News

Tinubu, GEJ, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Others To Grace Igbinedion University 25th Anniversary

Published

2 hours ago

April 30, 2024

Editor

President Bola Tinubu; former presidents of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd.) are among dignitaries to grace the 25th anniversary of Igbinedion University, IUO, Okada, Edo State.

Vice-Chancellor of the university,
Professor Lawrence Ezemonye, , disclosed this today, Tuesday, 30th April 2024, during a world press conference held at the institution’s campus.

According to Ezemonye, President Tinubu would be the special guest of honour, while former President Jonathan would chairman the event and Abubakar would be a special guest of honour.

Reeling out activities slated for the anniversary, Ezemonye who said different activities have been lined up for the 25th anniversary, noted that the University Founder’s Day would be held on May 10th with Anniversary Colloquium, titled: ‘Re-Imagining Tertiary Education for Africa’s Present and Future Realities’.

He listed Hon. Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman; H.E. Professor Mohamed Bellhocine, AU Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, H.E. His Excellency, Shri. G. Balasubramanian, High Commissioner of India to Nigeria, amongst others, as guest speakers.

Speaking on the 25 years journey of imparting knowledge on Nigerians and beyond, the Vice-Chancellor said at inception, IUO started with a modest figure of 115 enrolment, but has over 7,000 male and female students on campus today.

He said: “Over the years, IUO has been able to provide value and significance in the higher education landscape.

Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye (First right) alongside other principal officers of the University unveiling the 25 years anniversary logo on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

“We are the first private university in Nigeria to produce Medical Doctors, Pharmacy and Law graduates.

“The first to produce a First Class law graduate who repeated the same feat at the Nigerian Law School and went on to become a Professor of Law, Deputy Vice Chancellor of a university and the youngest Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

“We are the first private university in Nigeria whose First Class Law graduate also obtained First Class at the Nigerian Law School (2005).

“We pioneered entrepreneurship as an academic programme in Nigeria before it was adopted by NUC as a mandatory component of the curriculum of Nigerian universities.”

Ezemonye, while noting that IUO commenced academic activities with 5 Colleges at inception, boasted that the University has expanded to 7 Colleges and 3 Schools today.

“The academic departments/programmes have witnessed exponential increase from 7 at inception to 85, made up of 34 undergraduate and 51 postgraduate programmes,” he added.

He continued: “We have produced over 16,000 graduates across disciplines spread across the globe, with records of stellar performances in their respective fields of endeavour.

“All courses/programmes are fully accredited not only by the National Universities Commission (NUC) but also by relevant professional bodies.

“Our admission quota for Medicine, Nursing and Medical Laboratory Science was recently increased by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) and the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) by 100 per cent each.”