Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has admonished fresh graduates of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, to be resilient so as to able to overcome challenges in life.

The governor while speaking at the 14th combined special convocation for admission to higher and honorary degrees of LAUTECH said,”he was resilient and determined to succeed, adding that this was what helped him to win after several failures recorded in his political adventure.”

In a report captured by Eaglessightnews from Sunday Punch, Gov Seyi Makinde added, “So, you will need resilience to recover quickly from challenging or disappointing situations and try again. Without resilience, some of us would not be where we are today. I was a successful businessman before I decided to go into politics.”

“Like you, I faced a new terrain. I failed so many times at it. But each failure was a call to try a new strategy. Did I feel like quitting sometimes? Yes. But resilience kept me going. And today, here I am addressing you as the Visitor to this university and Governor of Oyo State.”

Governor Makinde in his statement also enlightened Nigerians to make wise electoral decisions, saying wrong electoral choices were capable of ruining the future of the younger ones.

Credit: Punch News.

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Mangement

We are setting a new standard for educational devt-govt
The Oyo State Government is set to hand over the Government College Ibadan to the Government College Ibadan Old Boys Association (GCIOBA) for management, operation, and development.
The state government made this disclosure following the signing of an agreement between the government and the Incorporated Trustees of the GCIOBA, noting that the handover followed the Old Boys Association’s request to manage, operate and develop the school in order to maintain and sustain its legacy.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Olubamiwo Adeosun, and the Commissioner for Education, Barr. Abdulrahman Abdulraheem represented the state government, while the Incorporated Trustees of GCIOBA led by the President of the Association, Dr. Wale Babalakin represented the school.
Speaking on behalf of Governor Seyi Makinde at the agreement-signing ceremony, Mrs. Adeosun said that the state, through the agreement, was initiating a process that would ensure the state gets the best from the education sector.
She said that a study conducted by the Makinde government upon assumption of office in 2019 indicated that the state government needed over N40 billion to take the education sector to the barest minimum standard.
According to her, it was clear from the beginning that the state could not do it alone.
She said: “If you have been following Oyo State when this administration came on board, we had four cardinal points, and education is one of them. So, education is very key to us, and I think when the first assessment was done, what was needed to even bring our educational sector up to the basics was over N40 billion. So, we were very clear from the beginning that we would not do this alone.
“Also, when we looked at the various bodies that could assist us in making us realise our objectives, the Old Boys Association was one of them.”

She expressed the hope that GCIOBA would bring the school to a standard that other schools would follow, adding that the agreement was a pilot scheme that the state hoped would bring the best to its education sector.
While speaking at the event, the President of GCIOBA, Dr. Babalakin said that the Trustees were happy to pull through the ‘unusual agreement.’

He said: “I want to let you know that you would see a massive transformation of this institution and it will be what the governor wants it to be; the envy of schools in Nigeria.
“I will like to appreciate the team of the government led by the indomitable Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Bamiwo Adeosun. She has been able to guide the process to this level. I also thank the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, who has been following and putting in the necessary clauses. We also thank the Commissioner for Education.”
A copy of the agreement indicated that the GCIOBA’s desire to maintain and sustain the preeminent status of the institution, founded in 1929, coincided with the Governor Makinde administration’s policy to designate some secondary schools in the state as schools for gifted students.
According to the agreement, GCIOBA will be granted “the right and authority during the term of this Agreement to manage, operate and develop GCI in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement.”

A Board of Trustees is to be set for the school, which according to the agreement, will comprise nominees from the state government, GCIOBA and the parents association.
When completed, the handover will see GCIOBA being responsible for the provision of additional infrastructure and improvement of existing ones in the school, provision of security with the assistance of the state government, employment of competent staff, and payment of the same.
Other responsibilities of the Old Boys Association are the provision of modern teaching aids that will enhance the standard of education and the maintenance of the free education policy of the Makinde-led administration except in cases where boarding facilities are provided by the GCIOBA, among others.

The agreement equally maintained that GCIOBA will absorb existing teaching and non-teaching staff posted to GCI, who indicate to leave the service of the Oyo State government and that it will not discriminate against absorbed staff and those in the service of the state government.
The agreement, it was noted, shall commence on the date of the formal handover of school to GCIOBA after the execution of the Agreement and “shall subsist for a period of 25 (Twenty-Five) years.”
The agreement equally indicated that the GCIOBA is expected to, within two years of the execution of the agreement, provide evidence of new infrastructures either completed or ongoing; undertake continuous and regular maintenance of existing infrastructures and undertake the training and capacity building for the teaching staff, among others.

Credit: Southwest Frontier

The Chief Executive Officer, CEO, and Registrar of the National Examinations Council, NECO, Ibrahim Dantani, has revealed that the council requires over N2 billion to settle the allowances of its over 4,000 staff on examination duties.

Wushishi made the disclosure while fielding questions from newsmen at the end of the opening of a workshop on Quality Assurance in Educational Assessment with the theme, “Invigorating and Repositioning the National Examinations Council, NECO, through the Instrumentality of Quality Assurance for Effective Service Delivery in Minna Niger State.

He said soon, over 4,000 of its staff would be engaged on exams duties across the nation.

He hinged the increase in the examination bills to the federal government’s recent upward review of Duty Traveling Allowances, DTA, of lts staff from N16, 000 to N33,500.

Wushishi stated that NECO on its own does not have the money to implement such approval, while appealing to the Federal Government to come to its aid.

Speaking on moves by the Federal Government to stop the collection of 25 per cent from NECO examination fees, the Registrar described it as a welcome development.

He also explained that the workshop would equip participants with the required skills to compete favourably with their counterparts globally which as well will impact positively on the participants.

According to him, “We need to install an e-library, sustainable training for capacity building, making available 24 hours free internet, use of softwares and computer laboratories as well as updating the knowledge of the teachers on their subject areas.”

Wushishi further explained that his expectations at the end of the workshop include better handling of NECO exams, improveS knowledge capacity as well as improved efficiency and effectiveness of the staff.

“We Give FG 48hrs To Finalize Agreements With ASUU…”-NAUS

A group, National Association of University Students, NAUS, has given the Federal Government, FG,48hours to finalize all agreements with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, in order to stop the ongoing strike action.

The group further warned that failure of the federal government to complete settlements with ASUU, it would proceed to carry-out nationwide protests which would destabilise economic activities, and all political activities in the country.

Speaking during a press briefing with journalists in Abuja, the National President of NAUS, Comrade Mujaheed Shuaibu stated that the federal government must ensure that it meets all demands made by ASUU in order to completely eject strike actions from the academic activities in Nigeria
Shuaibu asserted that the strike action has caused inconsistency in scholarship opportunities, research grants, and learning output which they claimed is soiling the image of the nation before the international community.

Shauibu stated: “It is very disheartening to note that the Academic Staff Union of University has gone on strike for half a decade since 1999. The consequences of this development are grave on the part of the students who are the victims of these incessant industrial actions embarked upon by ASUU as a result of labour disagreement with the Federal Government.

The resultant effect of these incessant strike is inconsistency in scholarship opportunities, research grants, & learning output. At the end of every strike action, ASUU members get their salary, government officials & politicians get paid, Cabinet ministers in charge of Education, Labor & Employment also get paid off their allowances after meetings with ASUU, but the students get nothing than the inability to get mobilized for National Youth Service Corps as a result of age limitation scope.

It is more worrisome that most of the industrial actions could have been avoided if the government has fulfilled the agreements freely entered with ASUU over the years.. Nigeria public universities is in a state of comatose and has taken a downward slope in recent years and there is an urgent need to fix the system.

Many Students no longer trust the system of our tertiary institutions as a result of the incessant strike menace and infrastructural neglect for the federal government.

“These developments account for the high level of migration of Nigerian Students to abroad in search of stable and qualitative education. It is obvious and a fact that many of our students that were trapped in war ravaged Ukraine as a result of the strike menace in our varsities and lack of adequate learning infrastructural development.