NIGERIA CROWN

The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Monday protested against the decision of the Federal Government to scrap the Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, warning that the scrapping “portends serious danger for the quality of education in Nigeria”.

The union said the decision undermines the autonomy and powers of university senate as the highest policy making body on academic matters, particularly admission of students and award of university degrees.

Some Universities in the country were said to be flouting the directive by conducting the Post-UTME.

The National President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, who tabled the protest at a press briefing in Abuja, said the union was not consulted on the matter.

He said, “The cancellation of Post -UTME, to us, portends serious danger for the quality of education in this country.

“The argument of federal government on the policy is unacceptable and potentially harmful to the future of Nigerian’s education system. We call on government to rescind its decision and convene a genuine stakeholders ‘ meeting on the issue before making any policy statement.”

Ogunyemi faulted the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, saying he does not enjoy the sole prerogative to endorse the examination conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board.

He said, “Such statement coming from the Minister was unfortunate because JAMB should not be saddled with the responsibility of solely conducting entrance examinations into the nation’s tertiary institutions.

“We call the attention of the Honourable Minister of Education to the fact that Post-UTME is a child of necessity and rationality and a decision that Nigerian Universities had to take when the credibility and integrity of JAMB examinations and results became questionable.

“When universities were admitting solely on the basis of JAMB scores unimaginable discrepancies were observed in the JAMB scores of candidates and their performance in the first year in the University.

“Consider a candidate who got a JAMB score of 290 out of a maximum of 400, yet had to withdraw from the University at the end of the first year on account of very poor performance. It is important to note that this happened not in isolated cases. Virtually all universities reported such cases.

“The University of Ibadan conducted a study on the correlation between JAMB scores and performance at the University, and reported a negative correlation between the two. The results were published in the Ibadan Journal of the Social Sciences. The introduction of Post -UTME was based on sound empirical evidence.”

He argued that there has been considerable improvement in the quality of students admitted into the universities since the introduction of Post -UTME which was evident in the declining drop-out rate.

He said universities began charging fees for the conduct of the Post -UTME due to poor funding by government.

The ASUU President said the screening was a quality assurance test which the Federal Government and all Nigerians who care about educational standards should applaud and not condemn.

“The Post-UTME has its problems which we believe can be addressed. To curtail exploitation of parents and candidates, government can improve funding to universities and other tertiary institutions”, he said.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says the point system copied from its website as criteria for admission into tertiary institutions in the country and
currently circulating is a mere illustration.

The board’s Head, Media and Information, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, made this known in statement on Sunday.

Quoting the News Agency of Nigeria , the board said on the contrary, the Federal Government had approved the re-enforcement of admission guidelines as recognised by law.

According to the statement, the admission of candidates into tertiary institutions will be based purely on three pillars: merit, catchment and educationally-less developed states.

It said that the board’s Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, used the point system, wrongfully copied from the board’s website and currently being circulated by some media, for illustration.

“Sequel to the recent workshop convened by the Minister of Education on the modality for 2016 admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria, the Federal Government approved the re-enforcement of admissions guideline recognised by law.

“This is following the cancellation of the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

“This is not the point system as widely circulated in some media.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the board wishes to state clearly that the point system is an illustration by the Registrar of JAMB.

“It is to demonstrate how a few institutions were using the point system to select candidates while some of their counterparts were subjecting candidates to written tests.

“The illustrations are contained in a paper presented by the registrar and placed on our website and was adopted by the media wrongly as the 2016 guidelines for admission,” the statement said.

It added that this year’s admissions would be on merit, catchment area and educationally-less developed states through the following process.

According to the statement, firstly, a list of candidates who qualified for screening into individual institutions based on the three stipulated criteria will be presented.

It added that such screening did not require another test in any form, written, oral or electronic.

According to the statement, candidates are to present their Senior School Certificate Examination results/Advanced Level results for verification and clearing purposes.

Right group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda, to “bring to justice” those responsible for inhumane acts against Nigerian workers, including state governors owing their workers months of salaries.

SERAP letter to Bensouda says; “you use your good offices and position to investigate allegations of collective punishment and crimes against humanity against tens of thousands of Nigerian workers as a result of non-payment of their salaries for several months”.

SERAP’s suit comes one day after Rauf Aregbesola, governor of Osun, the most financially unhealthy state in the country, said, in reference to the hardship occasioned by the state’s indebtedness to workers: “We want to tell our people that if we can endure the 30 days Ramadan hunger, we can endure anything.”

But SERAP, which views this “endurance” as “crimes against humanity”, told the ICC to “urgently commence an investigation proprio motu on the allegations committed against tens of thousands of Nigerian workers as a result of non-payment of their salaries, with a view to determining whether this amounts to ‘other inhumane acts’ within the court’s jurisdiction”.

“We are seriously concerned that non-payment of workers’ salaries by several state governments in Nigeria has made life impossible to live for the workers and families,” read the petition, dated July 7, 2016, and signed by Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organisations’ executive director.

“We also urge you to bring to justice anyone who is responsible for the inhumane acts committed against Nigerian workers and prohibited under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to which Nigeria is a state party.

The petition reads in part: “SERAP contends that severe deprivation and mental or physical health challenges faced by Nigerian workers as a result of the non-payment of their salaries fulfil the requirements of this provision. This means that individual liability may attach to governors who continue to hide under the excuse of ‘limited allocations from Abuja’ to deny these workers the fruit of their labour.”

“The state governors ought to know that their actions and/or omissions would likely to cause serious physical or mental suffering or a serious attack upon the human dignity of workers whose salaries are not paid.

“Non-payment of salaries for several months have reduced Nigerian workers to ‘bare life’, or life not worth living, thus taking away their human dignity. The inhumanity of the non-payment of workers’ salaries is illustrated by the serious threats this poses to the workers’ physical and mental health, and family life as well as their ability to contribute to the development of the country. The non-payment of salaries has created an environment of powerlessness for several workers and perpetuated a system of impunity in many states.

“Article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court criminalises other inhumane acts intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health. The treatment of many workers in several states reaches the level of ‘inhumane acts’ covered under this provision.

“Serious and systematic levels of inhuman and degrading treatment have expressly been recognised as qualifying as other ‘inhumane acts’. The same applies to the deprivation of adequate standard of living of thousands of workers such as adequate food, shelter, and medical care as a result of the non-payment of their salaries.

“In the present case, the inhumane acts include non-payment of salaries of workers; failure of governors to use their executive authority to ensure a viable and corruption-free state, failure to provide the necessary administrative, financial and political conditions to facilitate prompt and timely payment of workers’ salaries.

“To the extent that these acts expose tens of thousands of workers to inhumane acts while denying them the ability to challenge the legality of the action by the state governments, the acts can only be seen as a course of conduct involving the commission of inhumane acts.

“SERAP believes that the non-payment of salaries of workers amounts to a serious attack on human dignity covered in the definition of ‘other inhumane acts’ under the Rome Statute, and fit within the ICC’s mandate. The gravity of non-payment of workers’ salaries for several months should not be dismissed a priori as lesser than that of the radically egregious acts the ICC has so far prosecuted.

“SERAP argues that to deprive workers of their salaries is to deprive them of their livelihoods and basic necessities to the right to life and human dignity, and to and cause them suffering of sufficient gravity and severity comparable to enumerated acts of crimes against humanity under article 7 of the Rome Statute. Because no person can live without the means of living, the non-payment of workers’ salaries has affected individuals’ well-being and prevented them from enjoying basic necessities of life and caused great suffering to them and their family members.

“International human rights law requires states to protect the rights of workers including to timely payment of salaries. The ICC can and should exercise its mandates under the Rome Statute to enforce these internationally recognized human rights by holding individual governors accountable for the crimes against humanity committed against many Nigerian workers.

“Nigerian workers have for many years been victims of particularly heinous violations of international human rights law caused by massive looting of public treasury and mismanagement by high-ranking public officials.

“SERAP is seriously concerned that several state governments in Nigeria are failing and/or refusing to pay workers’ salaries, amounting to billions of naira in arrears. The state governments that have failed and/or refused to pay workers’ salaries include: Bayelsa, Benue, Bauchi, Osun, Rivers, Oyo, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Ondo, and Plateau states.

“SERAP also contends that the gross violations of human rights and deplorable standard of living of many workers and their families in several states of Nigeria are grave and therefore suggest reasonable grounds justifying a preliminary investigation by the ICC Prosecutor.

“Alongside investigating mass atrocity, the prosecutor should seek to investigate those crimes such as gross, systematic and widespread violations of workers’ right to timely payment of salaries that fall under the Rome Statute provision on “other inhumane acts” but remain unacknowledged as grave violations of human rights.

“Investigating violations of workers’ right to timely payment of salaries will allow the ICC to realise a broad notion of complementarity, as it will enable the Prosecutor to provide justice to the workers that many of the states in Nigeria are unwilling or unable to protect.”

SERAP therefore asked Mrs Bensouda to:

“Urgently commence an investigation proprio motu on the allegations of of crimes against humanity committed against tens of thousands of Nigerian workers as a result of non-payment of their salaries, with a view to determining whether this amounts to ‘other inhumane acts’ within the Court’s jurisdiction.

“In this respect, we also urge you to invite representatives of the state governments to provide written or oral testimony at the seat of the Court, so that the Prosecutor is able to conclude on the basis of available information whether there is a reasonable basis for an investigation, and to submit a request to the Pre-Trial Chamber for authorization of an investigation.

“Bring to justice those suspected to be responsible for inhumane acts against Nigerian workers.

“Urge the Nigerian government to fulfill its obligations under the Rome Statute to cooperate with the ICC; including complying with your requests to arrest and surrender suspected perpetrators of inhumane acts against Nigerian workers, take testimony, and provide other support to the ICC.”

The Federal Government, through Minister of Interior Abdulrahman Dambazau in a statement on Tuesday signed by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Bassey Okon Akpanyunghas added Thursday 7th July, 2016 as Public Holiday for the celebration of Eid-el fitr, having declared Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th July, 2016 as public holidays earlier.

According to him, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, has disclosed that the Ramadan fast will contoinue till Tuesday due to the “non-sighting of the moon” heralding the month of Shawwal in the Muslim calendar.

Following this, the federal government has now declared Wednesday and Thursday as public holiday.

He urged Nigerians to use this period of sober reflections to ensure harmony, unity and peaceful co-existence abd at the same time give their full support to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in his sustained effort to pursue socio-economic and political growth of the nation.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced the release of its guidelines for the 2016 admissions’ process.

The method, described as the point system option, was adopted after an extensive one-week meeting JAMB had with universities and other tertiary institutions’ administrators  in the country.

According to the guidelines contained in a statement placed on its website on Monday night, JAMB said that the modalities were going to be based on point system.

While explaining how the admission process would work for Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination candidates and direct entry students, the organisation stated that universities were going to charge fees for screening of candidates at the end of the process for admission.

According to JAMB, the new method uses a point system to offer provisional admission to candidates.

“Before a candidate can be considered for screening, he/she must have been offered a provisional admission by JAMB. The JAMB admission checker portal is going to be opened soon for this process, so praying is all you can do now,” JAMB said.

The second process, it said, was the point system where admission would depend on the point tally of the candidate.

The statement said, “JAMB’s provisional admission no longer makes much sense this year, your points tally will decide your faith. The points are evenly spread out between your O’ Level and JAMB results to provide a level-playing field for all.

“In the first case, any candidate who submits only one result which contains his/her relevant subjects already has 10 points. The exam could be NECO, WASSCE, November/December WASSCE etc, but any candidate who has two sittings only gets 2 points. So this means that candidates with only one result are at an advantage but only just.”

The organisation added that the “next point grades fell into the O’ Level grades where each grade would have it equivalent point;  A=6 marks, B=4 marks, C=3 marks, so the better the candidates’  grades, the better his or her  chances of securing admission this year.

“The next point is the UTME scores where each score range has its equivalent point which can be summarised thus, 180-200=20-23 marks, 200-250=24-33 points, 251-300=34-43, 300-400=44-60 points,” JAMB explained.

Giving a breakdown, JAMB explained that each category would contain five JAMB results per point added.

For example a candidate with 180-185 gets 20 points, while a candidate with 186-190 gets 21 points.

JAMB added that the point system for direct entry would be released soon.

JAMB stated that fees would still be charged for screening which would replace the Post UTME test.

JAMB also emphasised that catchment and educationally less-developed state would still be used for admission into the nation’s tertiary institutions.

JAMB said, “Merit contains 45 per cent of the total candidates for a particular course, Catchment contains 35 per cent and ELDS and staff lists contains the rest. Cut off marks will be released by the institutions this year in the form of points and not marks.

“If a school declares its cut off mark for Medicine as 90 points and JAMB grants a candidate with 250 a provisional admission but his/her total points falls short of the 90 points, then he/she will lose the admission. So the provisional admission is just a means to an end, not the end in itself.”