Nine more Universities on the way says FG

The Federal Government has concluded plans to approve nine more universities. This will bring to 18 the number of universities it had approved in last three years.

The Education Minister, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, who announced this, also stated that the government had earmarked N1.3tn as intervention grant to its universities courtesy of the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy Assessment Programme.

Shekarau stated this in Abuja while X-raying the Nigerian Basic Education Sector (2011-2015). The minister said, “If not for technical reason, another nine (9) would have been approved before now.

Soon, we shall sort out all the outstanding issues and they will receive government approval. This will bring to 113 the number of universities in the country and 18 private universities approved in the last three years.”

The minister said that the NEEDS Assessment intervention grant was sequel to several deliberations between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

He explained, “We have persistent complaints from our universities about dilapidated laboratories and so on; then the government took the bull by the horn.

President Goodluck Jonathan set up a committee to go round the universities on the platform of NEEDS Assessment which was conducted two years ago.

“At the end of the assessment, the universities came up with a bill of N1.3tn required to address the necessary need in public universities and the government accepted it.

Since the government cannot dish out N1.3tn all at once, there is an agreement between the Federal Government and the leadership of the ASUU that the needs be addressed over a period of five  years with a provision of N220bn every year.”

According to the minister, the NEEDS intervention is in addition to normal budgetary allocations to universities and TETFund interventions, among others.

On the incessant strikes by unions in the tertiary institutions, Shekarau said the Federal Government was trying to address the challenges.

He said, “I think we are making some progress on incessant strikes in the sector. We have succeeded in ensuring we have strike-free sessions in our institutions. We are determined to achieve this and the issue of strike would soon be a forgotten issue.

“This doesn’t mean there won’t be problems. There is hardly any sector where there is no problem but frank and strong discussions can resolve them. It is our hope that exchange of views would help us to be strike-free in this country.”

Courtesy: www.punchng.com

We will rebuild Chibok girls’ school says FG

The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Thursday  12 February 2015 said the Federal Government would soon
begin the reconstruction of Government Secondary School ,Chibok , Borno State.

The finance minister stated this on Thursday when she led a government delegation to visit Internally Displaced Persons from Chibok settled in Buzunkure, Kuje area council of the Federal Capital Territory.

The school came into limelight when over 213 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram about nine months ago.

While stating that the purpose of the visit was to support and encourage them, she noted that already, President Goodluck Jonathan had approved the reconstruction of the school.

This, according to her, would be achieved under the Safe School Initiative. She said, “She said that the major focus of the Federal Government was to ensure that Boko Haram was removed so that people could move back to their communities.

“Displacement is not a permanent condition; the idea is for you people to be able to go back and not to build you camps in different places.

“The second thing is about the school, Government Secondary School, Chibok, about two days ago, we had a conversation for a long time; we have been waiting for the right circumstances.

“That school, the President (Goodluck Jonathan) is determined and he promised publicly that he will have the school rebuilt, the plans are ready; they are working with engineers.

“In no few distance, we will be able to start work in that school, he has already approved that.” Okonjo-Iweala added that 44 students among the IDPs would be added to about 2,400 other students that
would be transferred from schools in the north-eastern states to various unity schools in other parts of the country.

This, she said, was being done with funding from donors including Britain, United States of America, Norway, World Bank, and the African Development Bank
under the safe school initiative programme.

She said, “We will add the names to the list but we will come back to you to do it in orderly fashion to make sure that we are reflecting what the parents and children want.

“If they want to be placed in schools close to here, we will do it, if they want to be in secondary schools, elsewhere, we will do that, it is a voluntary thing and
we will try to meet up with their demands.”

Earlier, the Coordinator of the IDPs, Mr. Gapani Yanga, had said that one of the major problems of the people was how to ensure that the pupils were back to school.

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Courtesy: www.punchng.com

Please, Increase funds for Scientific Research

THE Federal Government has been urged to
increase funding for scientific research in the
country, to keep pace with advancement in other
parts of the world.

A professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the
University of Abuja, Prof. Joseph Nwafor
Nwabueze stated this at the 12th Inaugural
lecture of the institution titled: “Igwe Na Ndu:
The role of metals in life.”
Prof. Nwabueze implored the government to
stop paying lip services to science and
technology but rather make available special
intervention funds to universities to adequately
equip their basic science departments for
teaching and research.

Nwabueze noted that the state of science
research in Nigeria is deplorable because of lack
of modern research facilities, which he described
as twin problems of lack of infrastructures and
poor funding.

“ Everybody agrees that science primarily is the
bedrock of sustainable development. Scientific
research in Nigeria is being hindered by the twin
problem of infrastructure and poor funding.
“The laboratories are without chemical and
research equipment. Municipal services that are
taken for granted in other climes are lacking.

The lecturer said well-equipped advanced
science laboratories should be established, at
least one in each geopolitical zone which should
have sophisticated research equipment.
Nwabueze commended the Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU) for its “sustained
struggle for better funding of the university.

The former deputy vice-chancellor academic,
also cautioned the federal government against
politicising the opening of new federal
universities in the country.
He said if the federal government could not
adequately fund 24 universities, how does it
hope to fund 37.

He maintained that the resources used in
creating the 13 universities should have been
used to expand and adequately fund the existing
ones.

“I do not believe that universities should be
established for political reasons. Why must
there be a university in each state of the
federation, even in those states that hardly fill
their quota in existing federal institutions?” he
said.

According to him the increase in the number of
federal universities has further worsened the
situation of underfunding in the education sector
in the country.

“If this trend is not halted, we may soon be
confronted with demands for the establishment
of a federal university in each of the 774 local
government councils.

Written by Kanayo Umeh

http://m.ngrguardiannews.com