The Nigeria’s House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the incessant cancellation of examination by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

The lawmakers mandated its committees on Primary Education and Services to investigate the cancellations alongside leakages of question papers.

The decision to investigate WAEC followed a motion moved by Ben Kalu (APC, Abia) on Wednesday during plenary.

In his motion, Kalu lamented the incessant cancellations by the council, calling for more vigour in the management of the examination.

He said: “WAEC has, at several times in the past, cancelled examinations for similar reasons including the cancellation of Literature in English Papers taken by private candidates in 2021.”

He gave instances of cancellation of results due to leakages, blaming the ineptitude of the council for the situation.

“On September 15, 2021, in a notice issued by its Public Affairs Department, WAEC cancelled Physics 2 & 1 and Business Management 2 & 1 Examinations, which were originally scheduled for Wednesday, September 15, 2021, citing leakage of some examination papers on social media as a reason for the cancellation,” he said.

Kalu, who is also the spokesperson of the House, disclosed that it cost WAEC N1.5 billion to conduct the SSCE examination.

He further lamented the N7 billion deficit the council is currently running on.

Consequently, the House mandated WAEC to establish more rigorous standards for the administration, monitoring, supervision and evaluation of O’ Level examinations in the country.

The committee charged with the investigation was mandated to report back to the House in four weeks.

Few days into the one-month warning strike declared by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has said the government was surprised by the union’s action.

The minister, who spoke to the media on Wednesday, shortly after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said the government and the striking lecturers will soon reach an agreement towards ending the ongoing industrial action.

ASUU had on Monday announced the commencement of the one month waring strike after its National Executive Council meeting which took place at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka.

ASUU whose request is for the government to address its demands which includes the immediate deployment of its University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) to replace the government-imposed Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS); release a white paper on the visitation panel to federal universities, endorse the renegotiated 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, among others.

The minister was quoted to have said all the lingering issues are being addressed and that he was surprised when ASUU declared the strike on Monday.

“Certainly, we are going to reach an agreement and it will be very soon. Unfortunately they have gone on strike and I am just looking for them because all the issues are being addressed”.

“They submitted a draft agreement which the ministry is looking at. A committee is looking at it, immediately it finishes, the government is meant to announce what it has accepted. Then suddenly, I heard them going on strike. We want a peaceful resolution with the union

“The federal government is ready to meet Asuu on all the issues they have raised and if there are so many meetings and the gap is not closing, I think it is not the fault of the government.”

However, the ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, when contacted, said the government or its delegation has not reached out to the union.

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics ASUP has asked its members to be ready to stop work at any time when the need arises.

This was stated by the National President of the union, Anderson Umezurike Ezeibe while addressing members of the union at Hussain Adamu Federal Polytechnic, Kazaure.

The directive is coming a few days after the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU embarked on four weeks warning strike.

He said the ASUP had called off its industrial action on June 10th 2021 based on agreements it reached with the Federal Government.

Anderson explained that part of the agreement include the release of N15 billion for the revitalisation of Polytechnics and Monotechnics and payment of the arrears of minimum wage, the inauguration of the governing council and the pay as you earned liability issue”

He said since the agreement was reached, the Federal Government has only fulfilled a few while others have not been achieved.

“Despite the suspension of the strike the revitalization fund is yet to be released after its approval by the President Muhammadu Buhari as well as the minimum wage arrears”

“Renegotiation document is still on, the renegotiation process of the agreement is also going on”

“Therefore strike is a legitimate instrument of engagement for Government failure to meet our demands,” he said.

“Strike is a decision taken by National Executives, so any time we give a progress report if it doesn’t meet the approval and satisfaction of NEC strike became an option”

He noted that the NEC will take its possible decision on its next meeting to hold in March in Mubi.

The Adamawa State University (ADSU) in Mubi has complained that indigenes of the state are not filling the slots provided for them in admissions.

Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Kaleptapwa Farauta who made the complaint during a press interview at her office, expressed the hope that the people of the 21 local government areas which make up Adamawa State and contribute to the funding of the university will begin to seek value for their investment by making their children attend the university.

The Vice-Chancellor stressed that getting enough indigenes to fill their quota poses a major challenge for the university.

She said, “We have the challenge of students in the LGAs not applying to be students of the Adamawa State University. The people in the LGAs are our major stakeholders, but they don’t apply to come here.”

She said the locals were yet to accept that they need to benefit directly from the university to justify their investment, reiterating that rather than such happening, the University finds after every admission exercise that so many of the LGAs fall short of the number of new intakes expected from them.

The VC said, “They let go of their slots by not bringing enough candidates to fill up the gaps. This is a major challenge because being a state university, we are expected to provide adequately for every part of the state.”

Professor Kaleptapwa who spoke to newsmen on the side of NUGA Prelimanay zonal playoffs which entered its third day at the ADSU Sports Complex on Wednesday, said, “We want to use this medium to ask our people to please bring their children to this university.”

Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Obviously inspired by the month-long strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of University, is spoiling for war over alleged recalcitrance of the Federal Government to pay N15 billion revitalisation funds.

The National President of COEASU, Smart Olugbeko, in a statement on Tuesday, said it appears the government is testing its patience by reneging on meeting demands raised by the union all of which would strengthen teacher education in Nigeria.

Olugbeko threatened that the Union will in the next few weeks call a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting to take necessary actions as permissible by the Trade Union Act if the government fails to do the needful.

Highlighting the grievances of the Union, Olugbeko said, ”in its characteristic disposition to peaceful resolution of issues, COEASU has between August and December 2021 met with the Minister, the Permanent Secretary, Directors, and other officials of government, who have roles in addressing the lingering issues between the Union and the government many times”.

He said the issues of Renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement, the crises being created by the imposition of IPPIS and the release of the N15 billion Revitalisation Fund are critical to the development of Colleges of Education in Nigeria and the Union has put these among others in the front burner for government to quickly resolve them.

”As critical as these issues are, the Federal government has been lackadaisical in resolving them,” he said.

The Federal Government in 2013 constituted a Presidential Committee to assess the needs of Colleges of Education in Nigeria, the Report submitted in 2014 by the team indicated that the sum of Three Hundred and Ninety-One Billion, Eighty-Six Million, Seven Hundred and Thirty-Eight thousand, Six Hundred and Thirty-Six Naira (N391,086,738,636.00), which was later reviewed in 2017 by the Federal Ministry of Education to Four Hundred and Fifty-Six Billion, Five Hundred and Ninety-Nine Million, Nine Hundred and Fourteen Naira, Eighteen Kobo (N465,599,691,914.18), would be needed to reposition Colleges of Education in Nigeria for better performance and for national development, he added.

However, the Federal Government citing paucity of funds in 2018 agreed to release N15 billion to revitalise Colleges of Education in Nigeria but failed to redeem the pledge.

Olugbeko further revealed that “COEASU has been consistent in mounting pressure on the government to release this fund to colleges to meet their urgent needs that are hampering teaching and learning.

“The government has totally abandoned its responsibility of adequately funding of teacher education as it has left Colleges of Education in Nigeria to continue to suffer from infrastructural decay while the running of the Colleges is being done by the paltry Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the Colleges.

“This attitude of the government has further watered-down standards in our colleges and demotivated both staff and students as there are inadequate lecture rooms, ill-equipped laboratory, obsolete library, and unconducive learning environment.

“Government has demonstrated total disrespect for our maturity in handling issues and has mistaken our understanding for weakness. The Union is therefore calling on the Federal Government to quickly commence the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement with the Union and release the N15 billion Revitalisation Fund to our Colleges”.