Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar has said for war against insecurity to be won, everyone must join hands with security operatives and the government.

He advised the people, especially reporters; to beware of the effects of fake news on the country, saying it fuels insecurity.

Abubakar spoke yesterday while fielding questions from reporters after a tour of Air Force Comprehensive School (AFCS), Iyana Offa and other facilities in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The Air Force boss, who had visited Governor Seyi Makinde at the state secretariat, said the visit was part of a strategy to look at what was required in terms of identifying and filling structural and organisational gaps in Ibadan.

He said: “First and foremost, we are here as part of our strategy to look at what is required in terms of structure. We used to have a military airlift command here in Ibadan, but at a time we had to relocate the unit and bring back another smaller unit.

“But what we are doing now is trying to identify gaps in our organisational structure and we believe that gaps exist here in Ibadan.

“We are here very excited because we believe the state government is also working to see how the airport will become better than what it is today and we want to take advantage of that. The Air Force can also key into that and we will have a much bigger unit than what we have right now.

Governor Makinde said the state government decided to expand the Ibadan airport so the aircraft can refuel in Ibadan instead of going to Lagos.

He added that the award of the Ife Road-Ajia-Airport road project was also to engender free movement for the expected increase in traffic flow that will come with the expansion of the Ibadan airport.

About 753 members of the Nigerian Union of Traders Association in Ghana have presented a letter to the Federal Government requesting for evacuation from the former Gold Coast.

The Save-Our-Soul letter was presented to the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa in Abuja by the union President, Dr Ken Ukoaha, and some members.

This is happening against the backdrop of the imposition of $1m business equity on non-Ghanaians as well as other conditions.

On Tuesday, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, had urged the traders not to leave Ghana, noting that the government was still engaging with the Ghanaian authorities over the matter.

But a statement from Gabriel Odu, of the NIDCOM Media, Public Relations and Protocol Unit on Wednesday disclosed that the 753 signatories expressed their willingness to return home.

They alleged that their shops had been locked for almost one year by the Ghanaian authorities, “more so, since all diplomatic niceties at the highest level between Nigeria and Ghana have not yielded positive results, they are left with no choice than to ask for evacuation.”

“Now, landlords are coming to ask us for rent. How do we pay with our shops locked up for so long; were are dying here,” the statement quoted them as saying.

However, Dabiri-Erewa again called for peace, stressing that all relevant stakeholders would continually be engaged.

She also said Nigeria would not hesitate to gladly and safely welcome her citizens back to the country.

(The Punch)

Goment for United Kingdom [UK] don answer di petition wey Nigerians sign to ask make di commonwealth kontri put sanctions ontop di head of Nigerian leaders as “punishment to anyone involved in violation of human rights”.

According to dis petition wey receive 219,665 signatures, Nigerians tell di UK goment to use policy wey allow dem sanction anyone wey no respect human rights around di world.

Di UK parliament for dia response say dem dey concern about di violent wey happun during di EndSARS protest and dey wait for di investigation of di Nigerian goment into reports of police brutality for di kontri.

UK Parliament dey consider all petitions wey get more than 100,000 signatures for a debate. So far di EndSARS petition from Nigeria don pass 200 thousand signatures.

However, UK add say dem no dey “publicly tok alias speculate on future sanctions designations”.

EndSARS protest against police brutality turn violent after thug attack di peaceful protesters and later begin dey vandalise both properties of goment and private citizens.

BBC News, Pidgin

The 73-year-old died after a short illness, according to Ghanaian media. He served as president of the country for roughly two decades up to 2001.

The former president of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings, has died at the age of 73, according to media reports on Thursday.

The former leader who seized power twice via military coups was admitted to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana’s capital, Accra, last week after suffering from a brief illness, state-owned newspaper Daily Graphic said on its website.

Two coups

Rawlings was born in Accra in June 1947, to a Ghanaian mother and a Scottish father. 

He came to global prominence in 1979 when, as an army lieutenant, he ousted General Frederick Akuffo as president.

Rawlings relinquished power soon after, handing over to civilian rule, but orchestrated another coup two years later, citing corruption and weak leadership.

From 1981 to 1993, Rawlings ruled as chairman of a joint military-civilian government. In 1992 he was elected president under a new constitution, fully assuming the role the following year.

He served two terms and was succeeded by John Kufour in 2001.

jsi/msh (Reuters)

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called for an urgent need to design and develop suitable curriculum assessments and monitoring systems that will focus on improving the quality of education during and post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Osinbajo, who was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Chukuemeka Nwajuiba, stated this in Abuja yesterday at 2020 Nigeria’s Annual Education Conference.

The conference, which was held in collaboration with national and international partners, has its theme: “Building an Effective, Resilient and Sustainable Education System for Nigeria’s during and Post-COVID-19 Pandemic: The Way Forward”.

The vice president said the adaption of the curriculum was necessary to facilitate learning in hybrid schooling situations in view of the unexpected disruptions of education system by COVID-19 pandemic.

According to him, the possibilities of designing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics curricula such that they can be taught virtually should be worked out by appropriate government offices and stakeholders.

“The theme of this conference is a true reflection of an unusual global challenge faced by education in recent days.

“The emergence of Coronavirus pandemic has no doubt adversely affected the education sector and the economy at national and global levels.

“Let me point out that to cushion the effects of the pandemic, the world is embracing technological innovations. Virtual interactions have increasingly replaced face-to-face engagement and limit the total disruptions to many sectors,” he said.

Minister of Education Malam Adamu Adamu reiterated the commitment of the ministry for continued deployment of technologies and the internet in education to ensure that online education became an integral component of school education.

Adamu, represented by Mr. Sonny Echono, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, said the disparities in access to distance learning across the country must be removed to enhance the sustainable system of education.

Similarly, the representative of UNESCO Regional Office Director, Mr. Mamadou Lamina, said the organisation was committed to supporting the government of Nigeria in the area of education.

*323 government Agencies didn’t submit their reports to the Auditor General and also about 63 have never submitted at all – Dayo Olaide
*All heads of MDAs should be compelled to publicly declare their assets. – Segun Elemo
*MDAs has not been responsive to the people and that is not fair to the people and the country as a whole – Olaniyi Olaleye
*In 43 Years Of Its Existence, NNPC produced an audited account just once – Mr. Shina Fagbenro

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has said that corruption in Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, are major clog in the wheel of progress in the public service of the federation.

SERAP disclosed this during a media presentation on November 10 where it unveiled its findings on MDAs based on the 2017 report of Auditor General of the Federation.

The event, which was anchored by Ayo Makinde, featured a panel discussion and an interactive session on the theme; Above the law: “Why are authorities turning a blind eye to corruption in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and its impact on public services in Nigeria”.

Amongst the invited guests were Director of National Orientation Agency(NOA), Lagos branch office, Mr Waheed Olalekan Ishola; The representative of the Auditor General of Federation; The  Deputy Director Mc Arthur Foundation in Nigeria, Mr. Dayo Olaide; and the Executive Director of Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI), Segun Elemo.

The Deputy Director Of Mc Arthur Foundation, Mr. Dayo Olaide, expressed his joy by acknowledging the efforts of persons whom out of their busy schedules made it to the program. He listed some corrupt practices and how same can be ameliorated in the MDAs. He said the provision of the Nigerian constitution empowers the Auditor General of the Federation to make financial reports of all the governmental agencies and bodies and observed that the office of the Auditor-General is no more independent. While making reference to 2016 Auditor General’s report, he said about Three hundred and twenty-three (323) of the government Agencies didn’t submit their reports to the Auditor General and also about sixty-three (63) Agencies had never for once submitted their financial reports. While giving his good-will message, he said the event would state and call out the President and the Accountant General of Federation to live up to expectations of the masses.

He gave assurance that the Mc Arthur foundation is committed to eradicating corruption in every facets of our organizations in Nigeria.

During his presentation, Mr Segun Elemo, commenced by reiterating the importance of media in the society. He stated how the office of Auditor General has now been abused by always targeting the annual report on the decision and reports given by the Executive without a thorough investigation. He also stated that the lackadaisical attitude of government towards education has been a setback for the country and that the level corruption within University communities in Nigeria is alarming.

According to him, all Universities earn their capital and recurrent budgets from the Federal government and receive tuition fees from students without having a capital project executed in their respective campuses save they wait for government’s intervention.

Using University of Ibadan as an example, Elemo said when the school was being called upon to make their audit and send to the Auditor General of Federation, the University management gave an excuse that the school Bursar went blind and as such, nothing came out of the request.

He also made mention of the mismanagement of public funds in the National Examination Council(NECO) where #7.2 Billlion naira was traced to the management of the agency to have no report nor was it utilized for a project within the agency. The said fund was to be used in procuring certificates and ledgers. Hence, all these scandals doesn’t always reflect in the Auditor General’s reports.

Mr Elemo proposed that there should be modern audit law to replace the outdated 1960 Audit Act which is not in tune with the current happenings in Nigeria.

He concluded that in the 2017 report, #9.8 Billion naira was not accounted and as such, some mechanisms are needed to be put in place to fight against corruption before the president hands over in 2023. He also made the following recommendations:

a- Immediate and stringent sanctions

b- Establishing an independent commission of inquiry with subpoena power to conduct a transparent, comprehensive and impartial investigation into systematic corruption within ministries, Departments and Agencies.

c- Prosecution without delay and according to international fair trial standards of anyone implicated in corruption and other serious abuses in MDAs.

d- All heads of MDAs should be compelled to publicly declare their assets.

During the panel session, one of the panelists, Mr. Olaniyi Olaleye, stated that Nigerians only focus on the corruption at the top without looking at the corrupt practices amongst “ourselves” and misappropriation of funds at the local government and state level. He stated that Nigeria continues to take loan from other countries and In fact got itself disgraced to have gone to request for a loan in Brazil while we always have no account on capital expenditures as to what the loan has always been used for.

He also lamented that MDAs have not been responsive to the people and that is not fair to the people and the country as a whole.

Also, a panelist, Mr. Shina Fagbenro in his own opinion said NNPC is the largest source of revenue in Nigeria. In 43 years, NNPC just produced an audited account and the first account was produced in June, 2020. It was produced due to FG’s request for loan from IMF which was a condition for getting loan from IMF.

Mr Elemo opined during the session that the NNPC should be treated same way FIRS is being treated. NNPC shouldn’t be forced to make a report before they give their report.

Mr Olaleye noted finally that the National Assembly gets 97% from allocations. Hence, they should also make a public budget stating that the only time we had the senate published her budget was in 2017 during the time of Dr. Bukola Saraki.

He concluded on the paramount need of accountability on the part of the legislature.

Professor Hamman Tukur Saad, Chairman of the Federal Government Visitation Panel on the University of Lagos (UNILAG) said he regretted signing the report of the panel.

He stated this in a letter to the Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari. His letter was dated Tuesday, November 10, 2020.

Professor Saad said, “As Chairman, I didn’t want to sign the final report but I felt that would be a slap on the face of the government and it would generate so much bad publicity in the public domain, that I would rather sign on the understanding that the matter would be referred to the Shehu of Borno as the Chancellor.”

He told Professor Gambari that as soon as the panel was inaugurated, he secured the mandate of the Federal Ministry of Education to bring in the Chancellor to mediate in the UNILAG crisis and that the “Final recommendation of the panel was that the matter should be referred back to the Chancellor, irrespective of what the panel recommended.”

Professor Saad lamented that “As it stands now I feel I was made a fool of and stabbed on the back by people I trusted.” He added that “Furthermore, It will be impossible for any Council to manage a university in this country if the recommendations of the panel are implemented in a Whitepaper.”

He complained that “A Whitepaper based on the report submitted by the panel and neglecting the final recommendation of referring will raise many questions.”

Professor Saad had also in a letter to the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, cast doubt on the integrity of the report submitted by the panel on Thursday, 17^th September 2020.

In the letter dated October 7, 2020, titled RE: SUBMISSION OF REPORT OF THE VISITATION PANEL ON UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS CRISIS TO HONOURABLE MINISTER. , he said the panel report was one-sided because the majority of the members were biased in support of Professor OluwatoyinOgundipe while the Terms of Reference (ToR) were also skewed against Dr Wale Babalakin SAN.

He told the Minister that “When you read the Report you will notice that it was very one-sided, so to speak, the option was for the Chairman to refuse to sign the report and that would have been a slap on the Government’s face. In any case, the issue is not that the report was false but it contained half-truth in order to protect one party and magnified the facts from the other party by pushing the blame to one side, omitting what could have balanced the report.”

He stressed that “In case you may like to read between the lines on some of the recommendations as they affect the Management, especially, the Vice-Chancellor. As far as the majority of the team was concerned they would like to save the VC’s who was presented as a victim, having been sacked by the Council and no effort was spared in minimising his faults, which were often obvious:

• Take the issue of splitting contracts so that the figures would be within his approval limits; in the renovation of his house and that of some Principal officers the evidence was clear, one Contractor would be given four contracts on the same project on the same day each package to be within VCs approval limit. A number of such cases were evident, but the only way the Chairman could get that in the report was to compromise by rendering such as “Contracts were packaged in a way that bordered on contract splitting, in order to keep them within approval limits”.
• The recommendation was VC should be cautioned against contract splitting. To me, this was enough for the Government to reject this recommendation and subject the culprit to the consequences.
• On the issue of frivolous expenditure at the expense of the core mandate of the University, teaching and research, within the period in question VC and his cronies undertook 75 external trips costing hundreds of millions of Naira, while the total annual DTLC of all the Departments of the University was just N35 million per annum.
• Again the recommendation was that the money they took for local travel while on overseas trips should be refunded by beneficiaries. While the VC got approval for his own trips from Chairman, he, in turn, approved all the others which Council was never aware. Again Chairman of the panel could not obtain a consensus on how to handle this. So it was left to Government.
• On the accusation of Management hiding the financial status of the University from Council, the Bursar disclosed that he only presented Budget Performance to the F&GPC, not the whole Treasury content. Apparently, some almost N10 billion was never visible to the Council, yet interested parties in the panel harassed him and cajoled him in to retract his statement, swearing that they have seen reports to council that contained such information. The perception was that as a non-academic staff he wanted to rope in the VC. The recommendation was that the Council should be abreast with the finances of the University at ever quarterly meeting.
• There are a number of other issues that may have been glossed over in the report to save the VC but this is not the time to delve into them. The recommendation that the VC should be reinstated was limited to the procedure of his termination. It did not mean he should be absolved of all wrongdoing. If among the faults enumerated in the report the Government believes he should be sacked, that does not contradict our recommendations.”

On Babalakin, Professor Saad said, “There are a number of memoranda sympathetic to the Chairman of Council for the good work he was doing and for his being above the board when it came to financial probity, but these did not show up in the report because it appears three of the ToRs were targeted at the Chairman in his role of removing a VC and appointing an Ag VC.”

See Prof. Saad’s letter below:

PROFESSOR HAMMAN TUKUR SAAD, OFR, FNIA
Department of Architecture, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria,

Email: [email protected]                         Tel:+234808*6*40*6
REF: P5662/SPVP/UNILAG/01                 DATE October 07, 2020

Honourable Minister of Education
Malam Adamu Adamu
Federal Ministry of Education, Federal Secretariat,

ABUJA

Dear Malamin Malamai

RE: SUBMISSION OF REPORT OF THE VISITATION PANEL ON UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS CRISIS TO HONOURABLE MINISTER.

This is to once again thank you for considering me worthy of undertaking the onerous task of acting as Chairman of this important Panel and giving the panel a free hand to undertake the assignment. This is very rare in government assignments, in my experience.

Having submitted the report to you and listened to your reaction in private to the panel after the public ceremony, I really got disturbed, especially your honourable comment on the intervention of the Chancellor at the late hour.

On the whole, the Terms of Reference of the panel were framed in such a way as to fish out culpable parties and dish out punishment to them. This I believe is the mindset of legal practitioners who may have been involved in framing the ToRs.

However, the omnibus ToR 5 provided an opportunity for us to explore other channels of resolving the conflict and saving us the bitterness that would ensue after the White Paper might have vindicated some parties. That was why we made frantic efforts to get the Chancellor and Shehu of Borno to wade in and save the day.

A lot of time and human resources, especially that of the Chairman were channelled towards that effort, instead if issues of punishment which were the preoccupation of the lawyers among us, and we had more than enough of them. In our working team of 9 persons, 5 were lawyers by accident or design.

Be as it may, a Visitation Panel cannot stand the rigours of the judicial process and that is why the Visitor’s decision cannot be overturned in a Court. The mechanism affords the academia with their idiosyncrasies an alternative way of resolving conflicts and issues within their domain.

Consequently, having got the Chancellor involved and got him to commit himself to resolve the issue I as Chairman felt relief because no matter what legal rigmarole the lawyers in the panel were able to push the panel into the final say will be from the Minister of Education.

In fact, the recommendation of the Report was to the effect that “no matter what was recommended in the report, Government should utilise the offer presented by the Chancellor to resolve the matter” On a lighter mood, the Chairman is not a Japanese and not a serious student of Japanese Culture but knows some smattering of anthropology to understand that that is how conflicts are resolved among the Japs, since no party was willing to commit hara-kiri and close the matter.

When you read the Report you will notice that it was very one-sided, so to speak, the option was for the Chairman to refuse to sign the report and that would have been a slap on the Government’s face.

In any case, the issue is not that the report was false but it contained half-truth in order to protect one party and magnified the facts from the other party by pushing the blame to one side, omitting what could have balanced the report. But the content of the Report is to a greater or lesser extent valid.

The recommendations may be contentious but knowing fully well Government with go with the Chancellor, I agreed to sign. The issue was rancorous and was attracting the attention of NUC staff where the meetings held. That was not healthy.

In case you may like to read between the lines on some of the recommendations as they affect the Management, especially, the Vice-Chancellor. As far as the majority of the team was concerned they would like to save the VC’s who was presented as a victim, having been sacked by the Council and no effort was spared in minimising his faults, which were often obvious:

• Take the issue of splitting contracts so that the figures would be within his approval limits; in the renovation of his house and that of some Principal officers the evidence was clear, one Contractor would be given four contracts on the same project on the same day each packaged to be within VCs approval limit. A number of such cases were evident, but the only way the Chairman could get that in the report was to compromise by rendering such as “Contracts were packaged in a way that bordered on contract splitting, in order to keep them within approval limits”.
• The recommendation was VC should be cautioned against contract splitting. To me, this was enough for the Government to reject this recommendation and subject the culprit to the consequences.
• On the issue of frivolous expenditure at the expense of the core mandate of the University, teaching and research, within the period in question VC and his cronies undertook 75 external trips costing hundreds of millions of Naira, while the total annual DTLC of all the Departments of the University was just N35 million per annum. Again the recommendation was that the money they took for local travel while on overseas trips should be refunded by beneficiaries.
• While the VC got approval for his own trips from Chairman, he, in turn, approved all the others which Council was never aware. Again Chairman of the panel could not obtain a consensus on how to handle this. So it was left to Government.
• On the accusation of Management hiding the financial status of the University from Council, the Bursar disclosed that he only presented Budget Performance to the F&GPC, not the whole Treasury content. Apparently, some almost N10 billion was never visible to the Council, yet interested parties in the panel harassed him and cajoled him in to retracting his statement, swearing that they have seen reports to council that contained such information.
• The perception was that as a non-academic staff he wanted to rope in the VC. The recommendation was that Council should be abreast with the finances of the University at ever quarterly meeting.
• There are a number of other issues that may have been glossed over in the report to save the VC but this is not the time to delve into them.
• The recommendation that the VC should be reinstated was limited to the procedure of his termination. It did not mean he should be absolved of all wrongdoing. If among the faults enumerated in the report the Government believes he should be sacked, that does not contradict our recommendations.

On the side of the Pro-Chancellor, his case is straight forward and does not need much elaboration:

• The procedure and steps he took to remove the VC left a lot to be desired, so also were the steps he took to appoint an acting VC. Even me as Chairman felt I could not follow the complicated legal arguments he used in justifying the action.
• Even the lawyers among us were at a loss. So we were unanimous that the removal of VC and appointment of Ag VC did not comply with due process.
• On the other hand, the steps taken by the government even before the panel was inaugurated has presented the panel with a fete accompli. Government by nullifying the appointment of acting VC by the Council has shown where it stood, so the matter was scarcely deliberated upon.
• Again, the Vice Chancellor’s resorting to Court shows his ignorance of the Laws governing the University. I believe in the report the VC was recommended to be reprimanded even though he had withdrawn the case.
• There are a number of memoranda sympathetic to the Chairman of Council for the good work he was doing and for his being above the board when it came to financial probity, but these did not show up in the report because it appears three of the ToRs were targeted at the Chairman in his role of removing a VC and appointing an Ag VC. These other positive sides of him and the Council did feature.
• The Recommendation that the Council be dissolved is a very controversial one. On one hand to single out the Chairman for whatever faults or errors the Council may have committed would be unfair since it is a collective responsibility.
• The Only fair treatment of the issue would not be in keeping with the tradition of the University System and Laws. Whenever a Council is dissolved Internal members from Senate, Congregation and Convocation, as well as Ex-Officio members, stay put waiting for the government to reconstitute its members to come and join them. This ensures that internal members who usually perpetuate the problems are always safe.
• This was one of the reasons why I opted out for settlement through the office of the Chancellor. We are going into serious crises in the university system if we adopt the Dissolve the Council Formula.
• I am never in favour of the dissolution of the Council, even though the Chairman has committed hara-kiri by resigning, rightly or wrongly.

Once again, thank you very much for your consideration, I hope this clarification can aid you in looking at the issue in another light.

Yours Sincerely

Prof. H. TukurSaad
ABU ZARIA

…warns it may trigger another protest

Ohanaeze Ndigbo has frowned at the reports that bank accounts of key members on the EndSARS movement were frozen by the Federal Government.

Ohanaeze warned that such action could trigger another protest that no one knows how it would end.

A statement by the acting Secretary-General, Prince Uche Achi-Ogbaga and the media adviser to the president general, Chief Nnia Nwodo, Emeka Attamah, the apex Igbo group said there was no need to freeze the accounts, noting that their protests were legitimate.

The statement reads in part: “The protest is a legitimate weapon of complaint in a democracy.

“The right to protest any perceived negative action of government or organisation is upheld in the Constitution of the country.

“In fact, President Buhari himself led many protests against former President Jonathan.

“The #EndSARS protest was peaceful and legitimate until some hoodlums were sent to disrupt and make it violent. So, freezing the accounts of the alleged leaders of the protest is high-handed, ill-advised and unnecessarily vindictive.

“Moreover, it has the capacity of triggering off another wave of protest, the end of which nobody can fathom.

“The frozen accounts should be released immediately to allow sleeping dogs lie. “Some people are sponsoring Boko Haram, have they frozen their accounts.

“The protesters were peaceful until some SUVs were seen in viral videos dropping hoodlums we started causing chaos. Have they fished out the people. “Let this Government be sincere to itself”.