The Federal Government (FG) has approved the re-constitution of governing councils at public tertiary institutions.

Folasade Boriowo, media head at the federal ministry of education, confirmed this on Saturday.

In June 2023, the National Universities Commission (NUC) dissolved the councils of all federal varsities on a presidential directive.

The federal directive also affected the governing boards of government-funded parastatals, agencies, and institutions in education.

It stalled administrative decision-making in public tertiary institutions by mandating these universities, colleges of education, and federal polytechnics to seek ministerial approval for functions previously overseen by the governing board or councils.

The re-constitution of governing councils now comes after 11 months of repeated calls from education stakeholders.

Among them is the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which argued that the non-reinstatement or reconstitution of governing councils in universities was causing an uptick in cases of “illegality and flagrant violation” of institutional autonomy in public universities.

Chris Maiyaki, the NUC’s executive secretary, said a committee was set up to ensure the most qualified people are put in the councils.

“As soon as they are constituted, they will be made to undergo orientation courses immediately, to ensure they are in tune with the expectations of the knowledge of government structures and laws of institutions,” the NUC head had stated.

“It will also help them to understand those cross-cutting issues that we need to nip in the bud, to ensure our institutions regain their glorious paths.”

The Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage will reconvene on Tuesday, May 23 to further negotiate a reasonable new minimum wage for workers, after the organised labour walked out of the negotiation on May 15.

An invitation letter sent to the labour leaders by the chairman of the committee, Bukar Goni, states that the other members of the committee have agreed to shift grounds from the N48,000 proposal which was made on Wednesday.

The letter appealed to the labour leaders to speak to their members and attend the reconvened meeting next Tuesday.

The organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have proposed a new minimum wage of N615,000, which is way higher than the N48,000 proposal by the government.

The organised private sector, on the other hand, proposed an initial offer of N54,000. After dumping the talks, the labour leaders addressed a press conference where they expressed their anger over the Federal Government’s offer.

They blamed the government and the private sector for the breakdown in negotiation.

May 31 Deadline
The Federal Government had failed to present a nationally acceptable minimum wage to Nigerians before the May 1 Labour Day.

The situation has forced labour to be at loggerheads with the government. In the wake of the tussle, the NLC President Joe Ajaero insisted on the N615,000 minimum wage, arguing that the amount was arrived at after an analysis of the economic situation worsened by the hike in the cost of living and the needs of an average Nigerian family of six.

Ajaero and labour leaders have given the Federal Government a May 31 deadline to meet their demands.

On January 30, Vice President Kashim Shettima inaugurated the 37-member tripartite committee to come up with a new minimum wage.

With its membership cutting across federal, and state governments, the private sector, and organised labour, the panel is to recommend a new national minimum wage for the country.

During the committee’s inauguration, the Vice President urged the members to “speedily” arrive at a resolution and submit their reports early.

“This timely submission is crucial to ensure the emergence of a new minimum wage,” Shettima said.

The 37-man committee is chaired by the former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Goni Aji.

With the cost of living rising following the removal of fuel subsidy, calls for a new minimum wage have continued to make headlines in Nigeria.

The police in Kwara State have commenced an investigation into the disappearance of the umbilical cord and placenta of a newborn baby at Government Cottage Hospital, Iloffa in the Oke-Ero Local Government Area of the state.

The mother, identified as Mrs C. Williams, a class teacher at Orota Secondary School, Odo-Owa, was reported to have had the child on Sunday night but was not given the umbilical cord and the placenta by the hospital’s workers.

Five of the workers were later arrested in connection with the missing parts and were being detained by the general Investigation unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department of the command in Ilorin.

The suspects detained by the police include a resident doctor, three nurses and a ward attendant at the hospital.

It was gathered that the police were invited when efforts to settle the controversy at various levels failed.

It was further gathered that it took the efforts of elders of Odo-Owa community to calm some angry youths who suspected foul play and were about to burn down the hospital on Tuesday over the incident.

Williams, while narrating her ordeal, said that she was rushed to the hospital while experiencing labour pains on Sunday afternoon and gave birth to a baby at about 7 pm the same day.

“I was feeling some labour pains on Sunday and I got to the cottage hospital, some minutes past 1 pm on Sunday, and told the nurse I met on duty that I was having contractions; she was the one that attended to me after confirming that I was truly in labour.

“She took me into the labour room and asked me to wait because I still had more time. Not quite long after I came, the doctor also came in and instructed the nurse to usher me into the labour room,” she said.

She said that after having the baby, the following morning, she was discharged and allowed to go home.

She, however, said that the hospital workers gave her a bag containing her items but did not give her the placenta and the umbilical cord of the baby when they asked her to go home.

“Although they handed a black nylon bag to me, I discovered that there were two missing items inside the nylon; they are the umbilical cord and the placenta,” she said.

Police Public Relations Officer, Ejire-Adeyemi Toun, confirmed the incident, adding that the investigation was ongoing.

“The police are investigating the incident and five suspects have been arrested in connection with it,” the PPRO said.