BREAKING NEWS. ASUU TO SUSPEND STRIKE AFTER CLOSED DOOR MEETING WITH FG

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says it has agreed to consider the federal government’s offer and suspend their strike. The news comes after 12 hours, 30 minutes of a closed door meeting between ASUU and a government delegation in Abuja which started 1:38pm on Thursday, September 7 and ended 2:15 a.m. on Friday, September 8.

According to PT, the leadership of ASUU, however, said though it accepted the proposal presented by the government, it will take the proposal to its members and get back to the government in a week. The national president of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi, told journalists after the meeting that the union will come back after one week to take its final decisions.

In his words:

"Now we have some concrete proposal that we will take back to our members for consideration."

Adamu Adamu, the minister of education, said ASUU’s demands have been addressed and the union will get back to the government in a week after consulting with its principals.

Recall that the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists, (NAAT), announced that they would join the ASUU strike on Wednesday, September 6.

The president of SSANU, who is also the chairman of JAC while speaking at a press conference in Abuja explained reasons for the industrial action, saying the nationwide strike would be total and comprehensive.

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GOVERNMENT BEGINS PAYMENT OF UNIVERSITY LECTURERS ' SALARY ARREARS

* ASUU insists on N200b revitalisation fund

• Resident doctors may end strike today

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has disclosed that the Federal Government has begun the payment of salary arrears of the striking university teachers.

But the lecturers, under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) insisted that the Federal Government must remit N200 billion into the universities’ revitalisation fund before the ongoing strike can be suspended.

ASUU leaders, who came to the negotiation table with a former President of the union, Prof. Assisi Asobie and President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abuba Wabba, explained that the payment of their salary arrears without getting a commitment to the payment of the N200 billion for the rehabilitation of the universities would portray the union as being only concerned with the welfare of its members and not the general improvement of the teaching conditions in the institutions.

Issues in contention include the registration of Nigerian Universities Pension Management Company (NUPEMCO); fractionalisation of salaries in federal universities and gross under-funding/non-funding of state universities and arrears and the implementation of earned academic allowance; and the non-release of funds for the revitalisation of public universities as spelt out in the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding.

Other issues are guidelines for the retirement benefits of professors in line with the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement; Treasury Single Account (TSA) and withdrawal of support for universities’ staff primary schools.

Similarly, the members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) may call off their ongoing industrial action today after an emergency congress meeting.

The insistence of the doctors to have the evidence of the implementation of the agreement reached with them last Thursday was responsible for the 10-hour marathon meeting that ended yesterday morning.

The Guardian learnt that the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) insisted that the Federal Government should provide the evidence of implementation to avoid the situation which the academic and non-academic staff unions of universities found themselves.

NARD said it was no longer interested in signing a memorandum of understanding without physical and verifiable implementation of the agreement and would not suspend the ongoing action.

The agreement termed ‘Memorandum of Terms of Settlement’ addressed the six issues raised by NARD: shortfall in salaries; failure to rectify the salary shortfall from August 2017; failure to circularise house officers’ entry point; failure to correct the stagnation of promotion of NARD members and properly place them on their appropriate grade level; failure to enroll and capture NARD members on the Integrated Personnel Payment Information System (IPPIS); and failure to budget, deduct and remit both the employer and employees’ contributions pension to NARD members’ Retirement Savings Account since 2013.

On the non-payment of salaries, the meeting noted that the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) did receive one Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE) of the sum of N13.2billion to address the shortfalls in public sector, including the payment of the salaries of affected doctors in Federal Tertiary Health Institutions (FTHI).

It was agreed that payment would be made directly to the affected FTHI for doctors and other members of staff that have been authenticated, and a soft copy would be forwarded to the Ministries of Health and of Labour and Employment, chief medical directors, NARD and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).

And providing evidence before the NARD emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting slated for today, members of the association that have been authenticated must have received their payment on or before Friday morning.

The Federal Government noted that the shortfalls were basically experienced by those not on the IPPIS platform termed ‘non-regular allowances/payments’.

It was also noted that the Office of Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) is currently capturing the paramilitary staff on IPPIS platform and would be ready to deal with members of NARD by first week of October, precisely on October 4, 2017.

So, it is expected that the 100% payment would be implemented as from October 2017, as September salaries are already at an advanced stage of preparation. Any shortfall that occurs is to be treated together with that of August 2017.

The role of the Cash Management Department and PICA in the payment of the Non Regular Allowances (Non IPPIS), and in finding a permanent solution to the issue of salary shortfalls was acknowledged.

The meeting resolved that the ministers of Labour and Employment, and Health, together with the Budget Office of the Federation, and one member each of NARD and NMA would soon discuss the matter with the ministers of Finance, and Budget and Planning.

NARD was assured that notwithstanding IPPIS coming into existence in October, 2017, the arrears accumulated in salary shortfalls on the Non Regular Platform would be paid based on the old payment regime and liquidated.

On the failure to circularise house officers’ entry point, it was noted that the Ministry of Health National Salaries Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) had made a computation of the financial implications for them amounting to approximately N422, 564,729.34 and that the monetary problem of their entry step would be captured in the 2018 budget.

On the failure to correct stagnation of promotion, it was concluded that while the appeal filed by the Ministry of Health in the Appeal Court against the judgment of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) on skipping is pending, skipping for doctors should, however, continue as it currently applies to other health workers, and that hospitals that are yet to implement skipping for doctors are to commence.

It was also resolved that there should be no “same scale” promotion except at the terminal grade level and in accordance with the Public Service Rules. Payment for skipping shall stop if the Appeal Court invalidates it.

The failure to enroll NARD members on the IPPIS was also tackled as the meeting concluded that based on the information given by members of NARD, it was noted that only 18 federal tertiary health institutions have so far submitted their nominal roll.

The meeting agreed that NARD members should be on the IPPIS platform and that the CMDs as well as the MDs should be requested by the Ministry of Health to submit their nominal roll to the Office of the Accountant General of The Federation (OAGF) and copy to the Ministry of Health and that of Labour and Employment on or before September 15, 2017.

The meeting admitted and considered a letter by the Federal Ministry of Finance on “Re: Stoppage of Budgetary Provision And Deduction at source For the Contributory Pension Scheme For Resident Doctors” which reaffirmed the earlier position taken that resident doctors are entitled to the Contributory Pension Scheme.

The Federal Government is to appeal to state governments and organisations that owe salary shortfalls/emoluments to health workers to make genuine efforts to liquidate them in the spirit of revamping the health care system in the country.

It was, therefore, agreed that NARD national officers would present the outcome of the re-negotiated Memorandum of Terms of Settlement to an emergency meeting of its members by today with a view to suspending the strike once there is evidence of payment of the mandate as presented to the meeting.

Both parties agreed that members of NARD would not be victimised as a result of this strike if suspended, after the emergency meeting.

The agreement was signed by the NMA President, Prof. Mike Ogirima; NARD President, Dr Onyebueze John; Minister of State, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Prof. Stephen Ocheni; Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole; and his Labour and Employment counterpart, Dr. Chris Ngige, among others.

The Secretary General of NMA, Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu, in a telephone interview with The Guardian yesterday said: “There were grey areas with the first MoU. We have reached agreement on a number of issues and have signed a new MoU. What is left is for the NARD executives to take the issues agreed on to their emergency congress scheduled for Friday (today). If their members are okay with the positions we have taken, then they may decide to suspend or call off the strike

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ASUU STRIKE: We Have Reached Agreement With Lecturers – FG (see Details)

The federal government of Nigeria has stated that it has reached an agreement with members of the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.

The minister of Education, Adamu Adamu made this known at a reconciliation meeting with Executive members of ASUU, officials of the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders on Thursday in Abuja.

According to him, the two most contending issues were the allowances and the revivalisation of the universities system.

“I think we have already reached agreement on one and I hope we will be able to reach agreement on the other,” he said shortly after the meeting.

Also, speaking after the meeting, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said that the meeting was convened to resolve rough edges to enable the union call off its strike.

According to him, strike is approaching one month and that it is adversely affecting the academic calendar of the universities.

“So the major essence of our reconvening today is to see that areas of mistrust are broken down between the government side and yourself so that we can have some kind of bargaining agreement on the way forward, so that the school system will come back to life.

“The children can take their exams, degrees or promotional exams,” he said.

He noted that there are urgent issues at hand that were mandatory for all to fashion out ways of resolving them. Ngige said that reconciliation meeting was recognised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and that there was need for to dialogue.

“If there are impediments we will all put heads together and resolve them.

“By God’s guidance, we will assist in making life better for our students and lecturers, parents and the entire people of Nigeria,” he said.

Also, Mr Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU president commended the ministers for the observations on the letters that were exchanged between the union and the government.

“We have conveyed the position and feeling of our members on the issues in contention via a letter dated Aug, 28 and we were also in receipt of government’s position in response to our letter.

“Our members have also come with open mind in that government will play its own part to reassure our members that their observations are going to be attended to,” he said.

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Biafra: Mbaka Reveals How Igbos Will Treat Each Other If Their Nation Is Achieve

Biafra: Mbaka reveals how Igbos will treat each other if their nation is achieved

Controversial Enugu-based Catholic Priest, Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka has predicted what will likely happen should agitators succeed in their push for the actualisation of Biafra.

Mbaka said he was convinced that fault lines between different Igbo communities would arise if Biafra ever became a reality.

The priest made this prediction while addressing a cross section of Igbos in East London, on Tuesday.

According to Mbaka, “If you think we have trouble in Nigeria now, we will see trouble in Biafra.

“No Anambra man would let an Enugu man be president, no Imo man would let an Abakaliki man be president”.

Mbaka also faulted claims that the South East is being marginalised.

Citing the immediate past administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, the controversial priest said an Igbo was Finance Minister, Central Bank governor, and so on.

Mbaka also noted that those whom the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu have been able to influence into agitating for Biafra are “the children of the poor,” who are not thinking properly about the implications of secession.

He insisted Biafra agitators were being deceived by Kanu.

Mbaka had earlier disclosed why Igbos must insist on the unity of Nigeria.

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Npower Recruitment Shortlisted Candidate 2017

Npower Recruitment Shortlisted Candidate 2017

The N-Power Programme has selected over 200,000 people for the first phase of the social investment programme.

The list of names and details of those who have been selected are now available on the NPower website.

How to Check Npower Shortlisted List:

N-power 2nd Batch Lists will soon be uploaded online; To check your name follow the steps below;

Visit Npower Portal:  http://npower.gov.ng
Enter your registered Phone number
Then click the check button to check your name. To check, click box below..

If you are shortlisted, then visit npvn.npower.gov.ng/home/

Important Update

All information about Npower will be updated in this website; npower.gov.ng for the meantime the Mgt is working on getting everything ready.

Our attention has been drawn to false and fraudulent reports circulating especially in the Social Media that There are equally false reports and claims about an unauthorized request for vital personal information of beneficiaries such as BVN, Account Number, among others not known to the Presidency or any arm of the Federal Government.

Beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries of the N-Power Volunteer Corps should ignore such reports emanating from fake sources and outlets and only relate with bonafide presidency and FG sources and web portals (http://npvn.npower.gov.ng, http://npower.gov.ng). For the avoidance of doubt, legitimate communication about the N-Power is done through selection@npower.gov.ng or the relevant Focal Persons appointed by each of the 36 States and the FCT.

Any information that does not emanate from this identified sources or directly from the Presidency should be simply and outrightly dismissed.

Date for commencement of the next batch of volunteers for the N-Power program will be announced on http://npvn.npower.gov.ng and http://npower.gov.ng
To check, click box below..

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EVERY RICH MAN IS HANDSOME

Before you join me in psycho-analyzing the issue of a man’s “beauty” being subject to the weight of his pocket, let’s get one thing straight: Money is sexy as hell. Yes, I said so. A while ago, if someone made the same statement and I heard it, I would look at them with disdain, while thinking to myself: “what a shallow somebody” …and naturally, I would roll my eyes… very heavily too.

But, yeah…I see the light now.

Believe it or not, having money is a game changer for anyone: man or woman. But I guess for men, it’s a more dramatic change. No? Have you ever seen the throw back pictures of some Nigerian celebrities who are kind of sex symbols now? Tu face? Flavour? They looked dried up, hungry and excruciatingly unpleasant to the eyes… compared to the way they look now. What is the difference between then and now? Did their facial features change? Did they take some magical pill that made them look hotter than they used to? No. they didn’t. Their “beauty” came with the money they acquired when they “blew”! I mean…except for maybe Bobrisky who went on to bleach and now wears fabulous weaves and wigs, most of these celebrities did not really do anything extra to their looks. They just became handsome and sexy because they gained wealth.

Agreed, there are some who even with the wealth, they still look ugly AF…they know it, we know it… but nobody ever mentions it. In fact, they are used as yardsticks for “handsomeness” and “being dapper”. Why? They have the money!

Yesterday, a close friend asked: MR Jose.. be honest, would you rather an ugly man with an annual income of 500 million Naira or a handsome man who is unemployed or undecided at his career path?” It was a tricky one, so I asked further questions for clarification: “when you say ugly, do you mean repulsive or just not good-looking?” “hmmm…not good-looking” he said. “Hmmnnn…and both are the same age?” I continued, and he says “Yes, both 32”. With the extra questions answered, I did not hesitate. I straightaway said: “I’d go for the Ugly one.”. My friend (clearly shocked since I’m a huge champion of equal love for “struggling” men) yelled: “Liar! Even if he looks like ‘a certain president Nigeria once had’?” and I said: “YES! What do you mean? That dude is super intelligent and sexy! Have you read any of his books?” Of course, that was me trying to be funny, but my “yes” was a certain yes.

Before you judge me any further (because I know you are already doing that), let me walk you through my thought process and how it was easy to pick the ugly rich man. The way I see it, being wealthy or having a huge income is a product of extreme hard work, huge efforts, and sacrifices made in the past by themselves or their families. The man who makes the annual income of 500 million Naira is rich not just because he has money, he is rich because he did something in the past to grow, to maintain money. He has was intelligent, focused, purposeful and tenacious. The handsome man, on the other hand, what did he do to earn his looks? What effort did he put in? Genetics? Proper grooming? Is that it?

Again, “handsomeness” is a depreciating value while wealth is appreciating value. Looks and unnecessary charm in a man will give butterflies, sweet heartburn and all that goofy nonsense that makes life seem enjoyable…but that handsomeness fades with time and circumstances…and along with it the heady feelings and emotions. That is a certainty.

A man who has successfully earned a considerable amount of money is likely to be more financially smart and plan futuristically. His value usually will appreciate with time, and even if he fails or experiences difficulties at some point, there is the high probability that he has what it takes to rise back up again. Considering these remote implication makes it easy to see pick the ugly man.

Basically, the amount of money a man has kind of determines how valuable and how “handsome” he appears. Even Jay Z, who is generally considered ugly, said in Family Feud, one of the songs on 4.44, his new album: “Ain’t no such thing as an ugly billionaire, I’m cute.” Perhaps he was being petty, but he hit the nail on the head. Do you think Beyonce, the epitome of beauty, would have married him and stuck with him despite the lies and cheating, should he have been the regular boy from across the streets? Do you think she would have thought him handsome enough to combine her genes with and birth children? If you asked her now, she would say to you that he is the most handsome man in the world. Why? His financial worth is handsome, ergo, he is handsome.

Don’t get me wrong, this in no way means I no longer have an unabashed soft spot for beautiful people, I still do. But at the same time, I also have a deep respect for financial stability and economic vigor. Like I always say, women (feminist or not) are naturally wired to seek a man who is capable of protecting and taking care of them financially…even when they can take care of themselves already. It is innate, they would prefer a person with whom they can have a secure future with, ugly or not. A man stops being ugly to any woman the moment he is able to make something for himself and can offer her an above-average future.

We need to stop being pretentious about things like this and look past the erroneous idea that a woman who picks an ugly man with money is shallow, does not see him for more than his worth and is only managing him for his money.

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Wizkid: If I Die Today, I Die A Legend

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Wizkid seems to be passing through difficult times due to health complications.

The singer took to his twitter handle few hours ago to inform his fans and also apologized for missing shows.

He wrote;

“IF I DIE TODAY , I DIE A LEG END ”

His fans in turn troop to his timeline to wish him quick recovery.

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FG - ASUU NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE UNDER Leadership of LABOUR MINISTER by PRESIDENCY

Office Of The Vice President Press Release

News reports that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, is now leading Federal Government negotiations with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU is inaccurate.

Media reports seemed to have misrepresented what Labor & Employment Minister, Dr. Chris Ngige meant when he spoke with reporters about the negotiations after the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday.

The Vice President had a discussion after FEC with both the Labour Minister and Education Minister Malam Adamu Adamu around the issues, but has not taken over the negotiations as widely reported. Both Ministers will continue to lead the FG- ASUU talks.

The Federal Government continues to diligently pursue a prompt resolution of this dispute and is confident the matter would be resolved.

Laolu Akande

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity

Office of the Vice President

1st September 2017

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MBAKA : "IGBOS WILL LOOSE MORE , NO HAUSA OR YORUBA HAS PROPERTY IN IGBOLAND by Adole Jose Ehoda

Fiery Enugu-based Catholic priest gave his views today on the current agitation for the secession of southeast Nigeria from the rest of the country as the Republic of Biafra.

Addressing a gathering of Igbos in East London, the controversial cleric said that Igbos should be the last people seeking to leave Nigeria. He said:

“No Hausa person owns property in Igboland. No Yoruba person owns property in Igboland. But 60% of businesses in northern Nigeria are owned by Igbos. 40% of businesses in western Nigeria are owned by Igbos.”

Mbaka implied that Igbos had the most to lose by the breakup of the country. He claimed to know about how much Igbos owned across Nigeria because he was regularly being invited to to say blessings at the opening of new businesses by Igbos, especially in northern Nigeria. He said:

“Go to Sabon Gari in Kano and see what Igbos own there”. He added that Igbos could complain that they were not enough of them in government, but under former president Goodluck Jonathan, an Igbo was finance minister, Central Bank governor, and so on.

He went on to suggest that those Igbos that have been seduced into agitating for Biafra by Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are “the children of the poor”, who in his view, are not thinking properly about the implications of secession. Mbaka said those people were being deceived by Kanu.

Mbaka then moved on to what could happen in an independent Biafra if it ever came to fruition. He said: “If you think we have trouble in Nigeria now, we will see trouble in Nigeria. No Anambra man would let an Enugu man be president, no Imo man would let an Abakaliki man be president”.

He was very convinced that fault lines between different Igbo communities would come to the fore if Biafra ever became reality.When challenged on talking about politics, Mbaka responded that “politics is part of life” and “I read political science and political philosophy”. He added that decisions made by politics affect everyone

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