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ASUU strike: FG, lecturers disagree over planned meeting

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With no feasible date to end its ongoing strike, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASSU) has insisted it has not received any notice for any meeting from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, as is being speculated.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, during a meeting with the National Association of Academic Technologists last Friday, promised to meet with ASUU this week.

This week was also the last week of the ASUU’s two months rollover strike.

But the National President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has said that the union had yet to receive any notice of a meeting from any Federal Government ministry.

“No, we have not received any notice of meeting from them. They didn’t call us. We are not begging them to meet with us and we will not go to them if they do not invite us. It is part of his (Ngige’s) political campaign, we didn’t receive any invite,” he said.

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When asked what would be ASUU’s decision at the end of its two-month rollover strike which ends on Friday, Osodeke said, “My people will decide.”

He added, “No meeting, if we do not hear from them, our National Executive Council will meet at the expiration of this week.”

But the spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, Ben Goong, faulted Osodeke’s claim on the notice of the meeting.

Though Goong did not give a specific date for the meeting, he noted that the government had continually reached out to the union.

He said, “The negotiating team is meeting ASUU this week. I cannot say when but I am very sure they will be meeting. The team has reached out to ASUU.

“It is not true that we have not been communicating with them. ASUU is making series of demand including increase in salary, if we have not been communicating, who then are they making their demands to?”

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Meanwhile, the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities has reiterated the need for the Federal Government and the striking ASUU to resolve lingering issues in order to end the ongoing strike.

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UK local election: Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting valid ID

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Former prime minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, was turned away from his local polling station after forgetting to bring the required photo identity.

 

Johnson had joined locals in South Oxfordshire on Thursday to vote in the police and crime commissioner election.

Polling officials however told him he would not be allowed to vote without providing his identity.

There are 22 acceptable forms of ID in the UK including passports, driving licences, blue badges, and certain local travel cards.

 

As prime minister in 2022, Johnson introduced the Elections Act which requires photo ID — a development that sparked intense criticisms from Britons.

Last year, the Electoral Commission warned that the new law could exclude hundreds of thousands of people, including minorities and those with disabilities.

A spokesperson for Johnson confirmed he had forgotten the photo ID, but that he was able to cast his ballot after he returned with a valid ID.

READ  ASUU strike: FG makes U-turn, withdraws order to re-open varsities

 

“Mr Johnson voted Conservative,” Sky News quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Downing Street said it would “look into” changing the controversial rules which require photo ID in order to vote, so that ID cards of veterans can be added to the list of valid identification.

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Governors can pay N615k minimum wage if they get priorities right – NLC

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President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, says state governors can afford to pay the proposed N615,000 minimum wage if they get their priorities right.

Ajaero spoke on Thursday during an interview with Channels Television.

 

Recently, organised labour announced that the new minimum wage should be pegged at N615,000.

The proposal came amid ongoing minimum wage negotiations between federal and state governments on one hand, and organised labour on the other.

 

In 2019, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari pegged the national minimum wage at N30,000.

After the new minimum wage was announced at the time, it took some states forever to implement the increment.

 

Asked during the interview if organised labour’s proposal of N615,000 is realistic, Ajaero said the amount is the “most realistic” given the galloping inflation in the country.

 

The NLC president said organised labour considered factors like transportation, housing, and feeding before arriving at the sum.

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“If you are talking about being realistic, the N615,000 demand is the most realistic. Being realistic is not about slave wage,” Ajaero said.

 

“However, N30,000 is big money if inflation is brought down, and at a single digit.

“Look at the indices that create inflation. If you check them, you can talk about being realistic. All other factors in the country are going high and wages remain constant.”

 

Asked if states can afford the N615,000 proposal, the NLC president averred that it is not about ability to pay but the priorities of states.

“I think we need to understand the issues of ability to pay and not getting the priority right,” he added.

 

“Most of the states that have shown willingness to pay the current minimum wage are not among those getting the highest revenue.

“During the time of Muhammadu Buhari, some states were declared not having enough money to pay and he released funds for them to pay.

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“Those states still refused to pay. It is not the question of either the quantum of money that they have or not, it is what they decide to do with such money.

 

“If they get their priorities right, then a lot can happen.”

 

Organised labour has also threatened to embark on a strike if a new minimum wage is not announced before May 31, 2024.

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15-yr-old Kwara public school student scores 362 in UTME

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A student of a public secondary school, Government Secondary School, Omu Aran, Kwara State, Olukayode Victor Olusola, scored 362 marks in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, to be among the contenders for the highest scorers in the examination.

Though the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, Prof. Isaq Oloyede, organisers of the exam, had said the Board would not announce the highest scorer to avoid last year’s experience of confusing claims, Olukayode’s score is celebratory, as it is among the highest in recent years.

He scored 95 marks each in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry and 77 in English Language.

 

His exploit is coming against the backdrop of the poor performance of candidates in the exam in which 1.4 million scored less than 200 marks out of 400. The exam was taken by over 1.8 million candidates

Also, Olukayode’s excellent performance is coming at a time when confidence is greatly eroding in what public schools have to offer and some private schools are boasting of being the most expensive in the country.

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Olukayode was born in 2009 and hopes to study Electrical Electronic at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.

 

His mother, Beatrice Tosin, while giving all the honour to God, also praised the studious and hard working nature of her child.

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