…As Makinde warns head teachers: Don’t hold meetings during school hours

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday commiserated with the Tijjaniyya Movement in Nigeria over the death of 40 of its members killed in an auto crash on Sunday.

Scores of others were injured in the incident.

The victims were on their way from Kwandari in Plateau after celebrating Maulud in Saminaka, Kaduna State when their bus collided with a truck at Lere, Kaduna.

President Tinubu condoled with the families of the victims and with the governments of Kaduna and Plateau states, Mr Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President, Information and Strategy, said in a statement.

He prayed for the repose of the souls of the departed.

The President directed the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) to improve highway monitoring and reduce the number of road accidents nationwide.

In the meantime, the Oyo State Government on Tuesday in Ibadan warned head teachers in all public primary schools against holding any form of meeting during school hours.

Dr Nureni Adeniran, Chairman of Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (OYO-SUBEB), gave the warning while monitoring schools’ resumption.

He said the development was to ensure strict adherence to the unified school timetable in all public schools in the state.

“This is a warning to all head teachers and teachers to desist from holding meetings during school hours.

“Henceforth, any primary school head-teacher who indulges in such an act will be severely dealt with,” Adeniran said.

He appealed to unions and associations within the basic education sub-sector “to adhere to the warning as the new session begins”.

The OYO-SUBEB Chairman directed the Education Secretaries to disseminate the information to all head teachers in their respective local government universal basic education authorities.

The OYO-SUBEB Chairman who expressed satisfaction with the turnout of pupils in public schools urged the teachers to be dedicated to duty.

He reiterated the commitment of Gov. Seyi Makinde’s administration towards delivering quality education in the state’s public schools.

…As Students protest power outage 2 weeks before first Semester exams

The authorities of the University of Benin on Thursday shut down academic activities in the institution indefinitely.

The university in a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Dr Benedicta Ehanire, attributed the decision to the refusal of the students to shift grounds on their demands.

The Newsmen recall that the students on Wednesday took to the streets, blocking the ever-busy Benin-Ore Highway to protest weeks of power outages on campus.

The students, who had two weeks until their first-semester examination, said the situation was severely affecting their preparation.

The students also called for a downward review of transport fares by the UNIBEN shuttle service, which was increased with effect from July 1.

It was reported that the university was thrown into a blackout by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) following the inability to reach an agreement over contentious electricity billings.

The monthly bill was said to have jumped from about N80 million to between N200 and N280 million, forcing the university to resort to power generators as well as rationalisation of power on the two campuses and hostels.

When a news correspondent spoke with the protesting students amidst heavy rainfall, they were hellbent on continuing the rampage unless their demands were met.

But in the notice of closure made available to newsmen, Ehanire described the students’ demand for a 24-hour  supply of electricity as unrealistic.

“Following the insistence of students of the University of Benin to shift grounds on their demands for twenty-four hours supply of electricity and more, considered unrealistic by the University’s Senate, the University has shut down academic activities indefinitely.

“Students are to vacate the hostels immediately while all the relevant units of the University are to take note and comply.

“However, non-teaching staff and staff on essential duties are not affected by the shutdown,” said the university’s spokesperson.

…ASUU urges FG to honour agreements, memoranda

The Academic Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU), Kano zone, has called on the Federal Government to address all the outstanding issues in the agreements and memoranda they signed with the union to ensure industrial harmony in Nigeria.

The call was made by the Zonal Coordinator, Mr Abdulqadir Muhammad, during a news briefing at the end of a zonal meeting comprising the seven universities in the zone on Thursday in Kano.

He explained that the issues include renegotiation of the Federal Government – ASUU 2009 agreement and funding for the revitalization of public universities for global reckoning, and respect for university autonomy, among others.

According to him, the non-signing of the draft renegotiated agreement has led to widespread discontent and declining morale among their members, resulting in brain drain

“Therefore, ASUU Kano zone calls on the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to respect the provisions of the International Labour Organization(ILO) convention, to which Nigeria is a signatory.”

He also called for the release of funds for the payment of salary arrears, Earned Academic Allowances (EAA)  and withheld salary.

On university autonomy, the union called on the Kano State Government to immediately reinstate the arbitrarily dissolved governing council of the two state-owned universities.

ASUU Kano zone further called on the state governments to take a queue from the presidential directive resulting from court ruling to exempt tertiary institutions from IPPIS and stop illegal enrollment of their members into related platforms.

On the state of the nation, ASUU expressed worry over recurring insecurity, poverty, unemployment, rising cost of living, livelihood displacement, and heightened destitution in the country.

They also called on the government to urgently review the Nigeria University Commission, (NUC) Act to check the proliferation of universities in the country without adequate provision for funding.