FG’s N100bn Will Be Shared Among 61 Varsities - SSANU

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has said the N100 billion to be released by the federal government following the report of the Needs Assessment Committee will be shared among 61 universities in the country.

National President of SSANU Comrade Samson Ugwoke revealed this while addressing union members at its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the University of Abuja at the weekend.

The union leader, who briefed members on activities of the Governor Gabriel Suswam-led Needs Assessment Implementation Committee also said in pursuance of its resolve to transform Nigerian universities to international standard within the next four years, the federal government had  approved a sum of N400 billion to be expended in infrastructural development of Nigeria universities and provision of basic needs.

He said the document to this effect was expected to be made available today at the meeting of the Presidential Committee on Implementation of the Needs Assessment in the universities with the leaders of the four university-based unions - SSANU, the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Ugwoke said the N400 billion is different from the N100 billion the Suswam committee has raised from donor agencies and big companies to tackle the problems of Nigerian Universities in the year 2013.

He said, “Let me give you a tip on what the NEED Assessment Committee is doing. The President has approved that within the next four years, N400 billion would be expended in infrastructural development of Nigeria Universities, to transform the universities to international standard.

“N100 billion has been raised by Suswam Committee, he has done that already. 61 universities have been pencilled down as contained in the NEEDS Assessment Committee. These 61 universities will share the N100 billion in various categories which include refurbishing and renovation of lecture theatres and lecture halls, refurbishing and renovation of laboratory/library and the renovation of hostels.

“The second category is building of new hostels of international standard, self-contain room, the latest model in the world. That is the standard to be build in every university, and also the state of the earth laboratories as well as classrooms, lecture theatres and the halls.” 

The SSANU president pointed out that the money has been shared among the universities. He also said out of the N100 billion, N96 billion has been sent to universities.

He added: “The committee is meeting again on Monday, and by Monday, the document will be out. This time around, it is not only by giving university money, but it will be monitored to ensure that the money is used to transform the universities, to bail universities out of the present situation and developed to an international recognised university standard.”

PHOTOS: Governor Tanko Al-Makura's Son Weds In The US

Tanko Al-Makura Jnr, the son of the serving governor of Nassarawa state, Tanko Al-Makura had his Fatiha in Fort Washington, USA on Saturday August 17, 2013.

Governors Babangida Aliyu, Kayode Fayemi and others were at the wedding Fatiha to support their friend, the governor.

See photos from the wedding below.

 

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Our Agenda for 2015, by PDM

Our Agenda for 2015, by PDM

Alh. Atiku Abubakar

. We’re not threatened — APC

The Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) has unveiled its mission statement, following its registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) last Friday.
The new party, which has its root from late Shehu Musa Yar’adua’s PDM, has associates of the former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as members.
Pundits say the new party may pose a threat to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the newly registered All Progressives Congress (APC) that was formed by three key political parties.
But the Interim National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the PDM could not pose any threat to its mission to save Nigeria from the brink of collapse.
Mohammed, in an interview with Sunday Trust yesterday, hailed the registration of PDM, but said the new party would queue behind APC, adding that “we are sufficiently so big that we can’t be threatened by any political party in Nigeria”.
He said, “I think we welcome them into the fold. But we are not one bit threatened. You see we went into the merger with a mission and a purpose- which is to rescue Nigeria from the brink of collapse. That has not changed at all. Today, we are sufficiently so big that we can’t be threatened by any political party in Nigeria.“And why should we be threatened in any effect? Any political party that comes in now will queue up behind us. We should not be worried. Don’t forget that in politics, what decides electoral victory of political party will be those behind it, the strength of the party, the track records of its promoters and what they are going to offer Nigeria. And that is all. I think we are not lacking in any of these compartments. We welcome them to the fold; the more the merrier,” he added.
On the ongoing activities of the APC, Mohammed said “we have embarked on mass mobilization. We are preparing for registration. We have set up a task force to handle the Anambra election in November. There will be a meeting of the party on the 21st of this month (Wednesday)”.
In its mission statement which was sent via email to Sunday Trust yesterday, the PDM National Chairman, Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, expressed the party’s readiness to find lasting solutions to the mounting social, economic and political problems in Nigeria through the institutionalization of a democratic culture that guarantees the rule of law, public accountability and the legitimacy of dissent.
Ibrahim, who was a former special assistant to Atiku and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, also voiced the need to come to terms with the problem of evolving a durable civic culture that believes in the dignity and autonomy of the human person and his individual rights.
He said such civic culture must not only be the one that promotes trust, tolerance, consensus through accommodation and compromise, equity and justice, but also that engenders a public spirit and a positive commitment to people as legitimate partners in national development.
He said the mission statement of the PDM believed that for any social order to be viable and enduring, it must ensure the promotion of national unity by reducing social tension, mistrust, ethnic marginalization, religious intolerance and nepotism.
“Based on the principles and determined will of our members, the PDM has a common vision of hope; the hope that the Nigerian State can still be developed into a modern nation; a nation that will posses real capability to harness her natural resources for the upliftment of the welfare of her people; a nation that will be just, peaceful and politically stable; a nation which will be capable of defending her interests anywhere and everywhere and command international respect; a nation in which all citizens will have the opportunity to lead useful and satisfactory lives,” it added.
Ibrahim, while further highlighting the mission statement of the PDM, voiced the readiness of the party to pursue a set of objectives that will guarantee the following:
“That economic and political power are genuinely democratized through political grassroots participation in the structures and organization of power. In other words, sovereignty, in all its ramifications, belongs to the people alone;
“That leadership will be sought through a rational arrangement which will be informed by the common good and sustained by the popular will of the people;
“That leaders must live by example through personal integrity, honesty, sincerity and commitment to fair play in the service of the people;
“That a new political order is established which will compel the leadership to always balance power and authority with service and accountability. The system will thus guarantee social justice, equality of opportunities, national loyalty and patriotism;
“That all economic policies are directed towards national self-reliance which is the cornerstone of genuine development and nation-building;
“That all efforts will be made to stamp out all anti social behavior such as corruption, terrorism, indiscipline, lack of national commitment and avarice”.
The INEC had on Friday announced the registration of two new political parties; the Independent Democrats and the Peoples Democratic Movement, a party that is being linked to Atiku Abubakar in a statement by the National Secretary of the commission, Mrs. Augusta Ogakwu.
Last Thursday, Atiku had said that his associates were involved in the registration of the PDM, following reports that he and his men had applied for the registration of the PDM because he was sidelined in the Peoples Democratic Party.