NYSC , ‘I’ll never allow my children serve in trouble spots’

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•2012 Batch 'B' Corps members returning from parade rehearsal at the FCT Orientation Camp, Kubwa, Abuja ....yesterday

•Reps support protesters •NYSC: no cause for alarm The outrage over the postings of graduates to volatile states by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) continued yesterday, with the House of Representatives, Lagos lawmakers, students of the Lagos State University and prominent Nigerians kicking against the move, report Oziegbe Okoeki, DELE ANOFI and Bukola Amusan, Abuja

Is the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) not concerned about the safety of graduates posted to trouble spots for the mandatory one-year service? This was the concern of many Nigerians yesterday as the commission insisted the Corps members posted to the North are safe.

The NYSC, in a statement by its media manager, Mrs. Abosede Aderibigbe, said necessary security  measures have been put in place.

Mrs. Abosede said: “This is to inform all 2012 Batch ‘B’ Corps Members and the general public that state governments and the NYSC operators have put in place measures to guarantee the security to lives and properties of corps members deployed to camps for the on-going orientation course. 

“Prospective Corps members should therefore proceed to their respective camps for induction into the noble scheme.

  “However, those who have genuine reasons to seek for relocation out of their states of posting, should register first in their states of deployment and then submit application there for consideration.

 “The two grounds for consideration remain marital (for those who are married) and health (for those with extreme medical ailments).”

The statement informend that the coordinators have been empowered to attend to relocation requests. 

The House of Representatives said it was wrong of NYSC to insist graduates must serve in trouble spots.

The decision of the lawmakers followed the adoption of a motion by Peter Edeh (ANPP, Ebonyi) , who said the NYSC should be directed against deploying Corps members to the crisis-ridden states.

Eden said: "It would be callous to allow innocent children to be posted to places where they don't know what to do in times of trouble.

"Let us do what is practical. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) says security and welfare should be the primary concern of government.

"Local extremist Islamic sect, Boko Haram has been largely responsible for sustained terror campaigns in many parts of Northern Nigeria, including the country's capital, Abuja."

Bitrus Kaze (PDP, Plateau) noted that 2011 post election violence in some parts of the North led to  loss of lives of scores of Corps members that were drafted  by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as ad-hoc staff to man polling centres.

The Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila (ACN, Lagos), said the government might not be able to stand the traffic of litigations, if it decided to pursue NYSC postings to violence prone states.

He said: "If some states are temporarily left out in view of their security challenges, it does not affect the objectives of the NYSC Act."

Those who argued against the motion said it would set a negative precedence for future postings.

It was agreed that Corps members willing to serve in troubled states should be allowed.

Constitutional lawyer, Mr Fred Agbaje and Chief Maxi Okwu yesterday urged the Federal Government to intervene in the deployment of NYSC members to troubled states.

Agbaje told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)  in Lagos that he was in support of Corps members refusing their postings to the trouble spots.

He said: “If I was a young graduate, I will do the same. As a parent, I will never allow my children to serve in such areas where it is obvious that the security of the Corps members cannot be guaranteed.

“In America, the citizens are ready to die for their country because America can go to any length to make the required sacrifice to protect one of its own.’’ 

He said families of Corps members that were victims of the insecurity in North during the political crisis of 2011 were yet to be adequately compensated.

According to him, the protesting Corps members should be re-deployed to other parts of the country where there is relative peace, rather than be forced to areas that had claimed so many lives.

Okwu, who is also the national coordinator of the Patriotic Alliance of Nigeria (PAN), said the NYSC decision could not be final.

He said: “The Federal Government should direct the Minister of Education to overrule the NYSC on the matter. It is heartless and insensitive to insist that these innocent youths go and serve in trouble spots in disregard of the current continued killings in those states.” 

The KOWA Party has called on the Federal Government to stop the deployment of the Corps members to the troubled states, pending when the security situation in those areas improved. 

Its national public relations officer, Prof. Oluremi Sonaiya, said the lives of Corps members could not be guaranteed in the midst of the atrocities of the Boko Haram Sect in some Northern states.

She said: “The Federal Government should post these corps members to other states in the federation where there is peace, or let them stay back in their respective home states-states.’’ 

The Lagos State House of Assembly also protested the posting of Corps members from the South to the North. It has written a letter to NYSC management to rescind the decision. The lawmakers, in a resolution at the plenary on Monday, condemned the posting. 

The House urged the NYSC management “to post all graduates meant for the NYSC scheme out of the troublesome states in Nigeria where there is violence and threat to life.”

 The House yesterday hosted graduates of Lagos State University (LASU) who staged a peaceful protest  over their posting to the North. 

One of the students posted to Taraba State, Lai Adebayo, said it is unfortunate that NYSC management could post students from Southwest to crisis-prone areas, considering large number of Corps members that were killed recently. 

He said: "We are the future of tomorrow.  So, we don't want to die before our time and that is why we protested to the Assembly. Members of the House and Governor Babatunde Fashola should as a matter of urgency intervene for us to be redeployed back to our state."

Adebayo said many lives were lost in Taraba State, where he is posted to. 

Chairman of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), LASU chapter, Comrade Sessi Funmi who accompanied the students, appealed to members of the House not to allow youths from the Southwest to be posted to  the  North. 

She said: "Most of them are not familiar with that area and in the process they can get into trouble with Boko Haram crisis. Our youths must not be sacrificed and that is why we reject the posting. Let them post the students to Abuja or other areas that are free from crisis."

She presented a letter of protest to the chairman, House Committee on Education, Hon. Alawiye King representing Lagos Island 2. 

Responding, Alawiye-King assured them that the House would ensure they were not forced to serve in the North. 

One of the parents, Isaiah Odiurho, appealed to the Lagos State government to assist them. 

He said: "My son was posted to Taraba and I don't want him to die now, so government should assist us. We are not saying they should not serve but we don't want them sent to crisis prone areas."

The protesters carried placards with different inscriptions, such as: "Do we look like soldiers? Many graduates were killed" and  "LASU says no posting to Northern states among others."

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NYSC: Any value for human lives?

SIR

The insistence of the management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to post new corps members to any state in the country shows how those in authorities value citizens’ lives. With the federal government’s obvious cluelessness on how to tackle the Boko Haram menace that is tearing the country apart, it will amount to

insensitivity of the highest order for any government agency to send educated Nigerian youths to crises prone areas. 

Just recently, President Jonathan in a live national TV broadcast told a bewildered nation that he could not travel to Boko Haram states in a helicopter for security reasons. It is in this same country that some overzealous and misguided government officials are insisting that those who represent the future of the country must go to observe their mandatory one year national service. 

NYSC seems to have forgotten in a hurry the Bauchi massacre of 2011 where close to 20 corps members were hacked to death by some religious extremists. Many families are still nursing the wounds of this incident especially in the southern part of the country where parents toil day and night, sell all they have and go a-borrowing to ensure that their children graduate from higher colleges.

To the Boko Haram members and their high profile sponsors, “western education is sin.” Why will NYSC send “sinners” to where they will be killed by those who confess that the more sinners they kill, the bigger their reward?

On most occasions when government officials display obstinacies like this, they are up to a game. It is either they are blowing someone else’s flute and/or there is money to be made or stolen; for the NYSC’s insistence, it is the both. It is not unlikely that the NYSC officials or the NYSC management is using this as a tool to upscale the bribes they collect twice every year from the candidates lobbying to be posted to a particular place. 

NYSC like all other agencies of the Nigerian government is also deeply enmeshed in the corruption that has turned the nation’s albatross.

After the unfortunate incident of 2011, as the usual government empty promises, President Jonathan and the bribe infested National Assembly assured the nation that the NYSC, which was established in 1973 by Yakubu Gowon government to begin the process of reintegration after the civil war, will be redesigned and reorganized to prevent future waste of human lives. Sadly, there is nothing on the ground to show that the government has lifted a pebble in this direction. 

The government can make it voluntary for those that like risky adventures or in the alternative, spell out a comprehensive security arrangement backed up by world class life insurance for candidates that are forced to go there. The governors of Boko Haram states must sign undertakings that no harm will come near corps members posted to their states. NYSC can also create special incentive for members that are

willing to go after all, this is the reason many African immigrants accept to join US Army to fight in Iraq, Afghanistan and other warring countries.

The southern governors should also make their position known on this issue; they may keep silent if they are pleased with the bodybags that are being parceled to them in the past two years as a result of the Boko Haram killings. Parents and guardians must also resist the attempt to force postings on their children if they value their lives and consider the sufferings they undergo to see them through colleges. The media, religious bodies, parents/teachers associations, traditional rulers and Human Rights Groups/NGOs should rise up in support of corps members that refuse their postings to Boko Haram states at least now that the federal government is yet to figure out how it intends to solve the problem; the recent cosmetic change of guards in the nation’s security apparatus notwithstanding.

source: 

 Sunday Odeleke

Houston TX USA.

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Akwa Ibom e-library to open soon

THE new Akwa Ibom State e-Library will soon open to the public, the Commissioner for Information and Communications Mr Aniekan Umanah has said.
 He told reporters in Uyo that the registration is available to online and On-site readers; while the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) links the world e-library and other e-resource websites.
Umanah revealed that the official website address of the library is ww.ibomelibrary.org, adding that it has e-resources that can only be accessed onsite (intranet) within the facility of the Library.
The Commissioner also said the state is processing a top level domain website www.ibomelibrary.gov.ng to ensure that all components of the library are easily accessed by registered users from all parts of the world.
Similarly, the Principal Consultant at the e-Library Prof Felicia Etim said to have access to the facilities of the e-library both online and on-site users must first register and be issued with access-card or account details.
She explained further that after acquiring the access card, users should go online, click on My Account, then Register and Log In after which they can search for e-resources of their choice, print or download depending on their subscription level.
Etim also informed library users that experimental websites like www.akselibrary.org and www.akselibrary.org.ng were not valid for access to the e-library.
Modalities for payments and account details, she explained, are  being worked out and added that the date for the full opening of the library will be announced next month.

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Post-UTME crisis hits UNN

The post-UTME test began on June 18 but the next day, it was cancelled. The University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) has rescheduled it for July 27 and 28, but the applicants are demanding an explanation on what happened. ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA reports
They trooped to the university town of Nsukka in Enugu State in large numbers. They were eager to write the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) which was initially slated for June 18 and 19. The test began on June 18, but was postponed the next day because of what was disclosed as “a breach of process.” The University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) has now fixed the test for July 27 and 28.

   The applicants are aggrieved.
   They said the university’s public apology is not enough to assuage what they called the ‘unquantifiable’ suffering. They were made to go through; they are also asking UNN to provide centres outside the university where candidates can rewrite the examination where they reside.
Meanwhile, the university has dispelled rumours that the leakage of the examination papers was responsible for the postponement.
The test started on June 18, with students in the faculties of Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences before it was cancelled the next day. Candidates in the faculties of Social Sciences and Arts were worst hit.  
A statement by the university attributed the cancellation to “a breach of the process”. 
The statement reads in part:  “University of Nigeria postponed the examination earlier this month following a breach of the process and the management’s insistence on maintaining the integrity of the UNN process and examinations.
“The Vice-Chancellor and university management regret the inconvenience caused prospective students and their parents by the previous cancellation. However, the university insists the pain was necessary to avoid damage to the integrity of the institution through a flawed examination process.” 
But the candidates are demanding an explaination of what the university mens by “a breach of the process” if truly the examination papers were not leaked.
The rumour last week was that the examination questions were leaked by an official of the university, necessitating the  cancellation.
 Efforts by our reporter to get Mr Gabriel Ndu, communication secretary to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Barth Okolo, to speak on the cause of the cancellation failed. he was not willing to speak beyond the official statement issued.
“See, my friend,” Ndu told this reporter on phone, “people have been saying a lot of things as reasons for the cancellation.  I understand why you want me to throw more light on what we meant by ‘a breach of process’. But I advise that you do not get involved in conspiracies. All I know is that the university has a standard and we do not want it compromised.”  
Many candidates who arrived in the state for the examination left bitter. They travelled from distant places to write the examination. 
Because of the examination, many hotel operators increased lodging fees. Sources also told The Nation that some lecturers made their Boys Quarters available to those who could pay. Some students also turned their hostels to ‘guest houses’ for money.
Transporters, food vendors and sellers of various items, such as stationery, also made brisk business.
A candidate, Gloria Ogwoma said she paid N500 instead N250 as transport fare from Enugu to Nsukka and N3,000 instead of N2,500 to return to Abuja where she lives.
“I was lucky not to have paid hotel accommodation because a Good Samaritan, who is a friend to my parents, offered me one. But I appeal to the university to please help us,” Ogwoma said.
Sola Adeoye, another candidate who travelled from Ogun State, was not too lucky. Besides, the long journey which made him tired on arrival, he paid N4,000 for accommodation in a room he described as ‘totally substandard’
“The hotel room was so poor, and because there was no insecticide, I suffered mosquito bites till daybreak. The toilet was also bad. But what could I have done? I arrived this place about 11pm on Monday (last Monday); and the hotel management told me that was the only room available as other rooms had been booked. I then told myself I was not here to enjoy hotel facilities but to write my examination, so, I had to endure the pains.”
He added: They (UNN) should give a specific reason why the examination was cancelled. They initially said the examination leaked; now they are saying another thing.”
Chima Eze (not real names) who came for the examination from Lagos also has an ugly story to tell. Though she arrived early on Sunday, she is thanking God for not falling into the hands of conmen.
She told this reporter on phone: “Some guys came to me and said they could help me link up with some powerful people in the university who could help me perfect my admission if I could pay N50,000. 
“They even promised to help me get the post-UTME question papers that day for N5,000. When I refused, they kept pestering me. I later realised they were fraudsters taking advantage of many of us desperate for admission. I even heard some fell prey.”
On the new dates for the examination, she said: “If the university cannot give us a genuine reason for cancelling the exam, then it means their action is not fair. They should not only offer public apology but make provision for outreach centres where those of us from outside the state can write the exam in designated states where we reside.”
Another candidate, who pleaded not to be mentioned, demanded public apology in national newspapers and not just some statement from UNN. He also said he would not attend the rescheduled exam except it holds in Lagos where he lives.
“The university knows many of us need this admission desperately; that is why they took advantage of us by cancelling the exam without giving any  thought to our predicaments. If this happens in a private university, I’m sure they will make some arrangement to make the rescheduled assignment more flexible for candidates because candidates’ parents won’t take it lying low,” he said.
The UNN, however, said the management was not considering a refund of candidates’ fees. It was also silent on whether it would heed the candidates’ request for designated centres outside the university.

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PART TIME PROGRAMM SUSPENDED IN UNIVERSITIES

The National Universities Commission (NUC) announced recently that it has asked all degree-awarding institutions to suspend the running of part-time programmes.
According to the NUC Executive Secretary Professor Julius Okojie, the decision was informed by the need to streamline such programmes. He noted that over the years, universities had churned out bad products. He solicited the co-operation of universities “to evolve a more focused and credible system”.
According to him, no university should have more than 20 per cent of its student population on part-time, with excess capacity to teach, adding that “all part-time programmes must be located on-campus. We do not want satellite campuses anymore”. One report said over 10 million students would be affected by the new policy, which most universities have already kicked against.
Notwithstanding reasons that Professor Okojie has adduced for the suspension, the announcement once more underlined the policy summersaults that have characterised the education sector in recent years.
Universities introduced such part-time programmes principally to augment their finances due to persistent shortfalls in government funding. At the same time, they provided members of the community who can afford the cost with alternative platform to obtain higher education with appropriate and verifiable certification. Over the years, budgetary allocations to Nigerian universities as well as the educational sector have been declining. In the 2012 budget, for instance, education has less than 10 percent of the total budget, a far cry from the minimum prescribed by the United Nations.
The challenges that the NUC ascribed to the running of part-time programmes in Nigerian universities cannot be isolated from the dilemma facing the educational sector in general. But its effects are far more problematic, at least in the immediate future, namely, the future of those who hope for higher education via this time-tested route. Recent events at the University of Abuja which culminated in the suspension of some courses by the Federal Ministry of Education are a clear case to be worried about.
These days, government policies seem in most cases to be thought out without considering the wider effects they might have.

If these programmes had been run for years, and are now found to be deficient, what steps did the NUC take to remediate the situation, instead of their wholesale suspension? What is the fate of those already enrolled into the programmes? It is clear that the idea of part-time programmes was to allow for Nigerians who are employed and may not have the opportunity – or the time – to attend regular classes to improve themselves. Today, students involved in these schemes are young secondary school leavers who feel left out by the bottleneck that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations has become.
The negative effects of the suspension should persuade the NUC to have a rethink and moderate the policy in order to take account of all those involved. In fact, some universities have made it clear that they intend to continue the programmes until the current students enrol in them graduate. A better option would be for the NUC to begin proper monitoring of the programmes and strict implementation of rules on the number of students to be enrolled, and insist that universities improve on their facilities.
Also, the NUC should place a moratorium on further enrolments, while ensuring that students already involved in the system are allowed to complete their courses. Whatever reviews the NUC proposes to make, that should not take too long, and should not include any suggestion of jettisoning the part-time programmes entirely.
Government should also heed the clamour by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other unions in the education sector for proper funding and improved facilities. It is such funding that would guarantee the establishment of more state-owned universities with the required quality of staff and facilities, as against the growth of substandard private universities in the country. There are millions of Nigerians who yearn for quality and affordable education which they have over the years been denied because of government’s dwindling investment in the sector. Until this serious problem is addressed, any attempt at quick-fixes and policy reversals will not augur well for the system.

source (Daily Trust)

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Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike has released her 1st Admission List for 2012/2013 Academic Session.

We are happy to announce that Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike has released her 1st Admission List for 2012/2013 Academic Session.

Candidates who participated in the Post-UTME and are expecting their names in the admission list can start checking it right away.

To check your admission status right now, you will only require your Jamb Registration Number. Once you have that, simply click here to open the admission checking portal.

On the page that loads up, enter your Jamb Registration Number and click "continue".

Your admission status should be made available to you.

If God has blessed you with Admission into MOUAU, share your success using any of the comment boxes below.

Wishing you the best of luck!

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FUTO 2012/2013 RESULT POST UME THE RUMOR SO FAR...

Many rumours are hovering around the internet that FUTO has cancelled the post utme exam that was held on the 14th to 16th of June 2012. Reasons for these rumor was that majority who cheated during the exams scored very high and equally ( e.g 400/400) and to those who failed, failed equally, except to those minors who wrote with their own scored normally as its suppose to be. But one thing aspirants most note is that FUTO has the right to decline or admit those they want to admit regardless of their scores or state of origin. Note that Futo admit based on merit , so the first 32,000 to go its goodluck for you. For " many are called but few are chosen". All you need to do is fast and pray that you get on the list for 2012 admission.
Ignore any rumour you here outside and wait patiently for whatsoever that has a beginning must surely come to an end.. If you are admitted then Good luck to you.. But if you aren't ,then wait for your turn to come.

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Zmobile is a mobile banking service from Zenith bank. Zmobile (meaning Zenith mobile) enables customers of Zenith bank to carry out various banking and payment transactions with their mobile phone. Some transactions currently supported by Zmobile include balance inquiry, mini statement, bills payment, local money transfer, mobile phone top up, inter-bank money transfer, and so on. Zenith bank also offer Internet banking services, which allows take care of most of your banking needs online.

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Zenith bank is one of the largest banks in Nigeria as well as one of the top two banks in terms of customer service in Nigeria. Visit Zenith bank website at www.zenithbank.com for more information about Zmobile and their other banking services. Zenith bank also offer Internet banking services.

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