The Vice Chancellor of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, Professor Aloysius-Michaels Okolie, on Wednesday, inaugurated the committee on the implementation of the new minimum wage.

While inaugurating the committee in his office, in Agbani, Enugu State, he explained that the committee became necessary following the directive of the state Commissioner of Education, Prof. Ndubueze Mbah, to collate relevant data and work out modalities for implementation of the N80,000 minimum wage as approved by the Governor of the state, Barr. Ndubuisi Mbah.

The committee which was headed by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Chike Nwoha, was given the following terms of references:

“To collate data from sister State universities in the South East and two federal universities from the zone on the implementation plan, including pattern of consequential adjustments.

“To determine workable strategies for implementing the new minimum wage for ESUT workers.

“To develop a template for presenting the findings to His Excellency for adjustments in the monthly subvention paid by the Government.

“To advise on other measures for liquidating other outstanding debts owed to ESUT workers.”

Other members of the committee include the ESUT Registrar, Ambrose Ugwu; ESUT Bursar, Dr. Austin Ojeh; ESUT ASUU chairman, Professor Emeka Nnamani; ESUT SSANU Acting chairman, Mr. Ikechukwu Ezeanioma.

The rest include, ESUT NASU chairman, Cosmas Aja; ESUT NAAT chairman, Mrs. Antonia Onyia; and the Deputy Registrar- Establishment, Victor Nwachukwu who would serve as the secretary of the committee.

In his post inauguration remarks, the Chairman of the Committee, Professor Nwoha, thanked the Vice Chancellor for finding them worthy to serve.

Though he said that the responsibility was tasking, he assured that given the capacities of the members of the committee, they would not fail to deliver on their mandates.

The committee has two weeks to submit its report.

The post ESUT Constitutes Committee on Implementation of New Minimum Wage appeared first on ESUT Monitor.

The Vice-Chancellor, ESUT, Professor Aloysius-Michaels Okolie has disclosed one major achievement the management wishes to achieve this year.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with ESUT Monitor in his office recently where the VC x-rayed his key achievements in 2024, he disclosed the management’s major target in the New Year which is ensuring that all programmes in the university gets accredited

“What we want to achieve this year is full accreditation of all programmes, including Law. It’s not by talking; we have done our work for accreditation and giving a good environment. His Excellency has been very supportive. Last year we achieved over 97% accreditation, this year we are targeting 100%,” the VC said.

Prof Okie noted that what the management needs from the staff and students us maximum support to bring to bear the plans for the year

“What we need from the staff and students is support and understanding. As students, we can change the narrative. While we are having new programmes approved, we must ensure that others are running optimally.
“

The post ESUT’s VC Names Major Target in 2025 appeared first on ESUT Monitor.

The National Assembly have resolved to remove the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) from the Federal Government’s 2025 budget grant, citing concerns over the board’s financial management.

Lawmakers argued on Monday that it is unjustifiable for JAMB to remit N4 billion to the federation account while receiving N6 billion from the government in 2024.

This decision followed a presentation by JAMB Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, before the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives, led by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), during an interactive session on revenue projections for 2025.

Oloyede revealed that JAMB remitted N4 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund but received N6 billion from the Federal Government in 2024. This prompted committee members, including Abiodun Faleke and Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo), to question the rationale behind funding a self-sustaining agency with government grants.

“You remitted N4 billion and received N6 billion from the Federal Government. Why not keep the N4 billion and stop the government from funding JAMB?” asked Faleke, Chairman of the House Committee on Finance.

Senator Oshiomhole criticized JAMB for spending N1.1 billion on meals and refreshments in 2024.

“Are you being freely fed by the government? This money comes from poor students, many of whom are orphans,” he said.

He also questioned the N850 million spent on security, cleaning, and fumigation, and N600 million on local travels, challenging the justification for these expenses.

Further scrutiny was directed at the N6.5 billion allocated for local training and N1 billion for a staff housing scheme. Oshiomhole called for a breakdown of these expenditures.

Meanwhile, the Senate expressed concern over the low remittances from MDAs in 2024, pointing to a significant gap between the revenue generated and amounts remitted to the federation account.

This was disclosed by Senator Sani Musa, the Chairman of the Joint Finance Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives, during an interactive session on revenue projections by MDAs for 2025.

Musa highlighted the Senate’s deep concern over the significant gap between the substantial revenues accrued by these agencies and their consistently low remittances to the federation account.

He pointed out that this discrepancy hampers the government’s ability to fund critical infrastructure projects and social services, raising issues of inefficiency, mismanagement, and potential revenue leakages.

The post National Assembly Moves To Stop FG From Funding JAMB, Queries N1.1 Billion on Meals appeared first on ESUT Monitor.

Enugu – The seamless academic activities that has projected the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, as the best among its contemporaries in the country could be punctured as the unions in the university have threatened to embark on an I definite strike from Saturday, January 18, 2025.

The threat to embark on the industrial action was contained in a circular issued by the the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of all unions on campus dated 17th December, 2024.

According to the letter tagged “Notice of Strike/Industrial Dispute”, jointly signed by all the chairmen and Secretaries of all the four unions on campus – Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU); National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT); Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU – and addressed to the Vice-Chancellor, ESUT, Professor Aloysius-Michaels Okolie, noted that the decision to embark on Indefinite strike was the management’s failure to respond to their demands .

The unions noted that should the management fail to act on their demands by defraying the outstanding arrears owed to ESUT workers at the expiration of the one month notice, between December 18 2024 and January 18 2025, the unions may not have any other option than to embark on indefinite strike

The circular reads;

NOTICE OF STRIKE/INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE

The Joint action Committee of all unions on Campus hereby wish to notify you and your management that the patience of all Esut workers who are represented in all the unions on Campus have been stretched Beyond their elasticity Limit.

It is close to (3) years (three) since you assumed office as the vice-chancellor of our premier University. The unions had on several occasions brought to your notice that we are being owned backlog of arrears of entitlements but unfortunately, all our appeals to you and your management to start addressing this demands has fallen on deaf ears.

Sir, the purpose of this communication is to notify you that you have between today, 17th day of Dec. 2024 and 18th day of Jan. 2025 to defray the outstanding arrears owed to Esut workers.

At the expiration of this one month notice, the unions may not have any other option than to embark on indefinite strike

Thanks for your anticipated co-operation.

The post ASUU, NAAT, SSANU NASU ESUT To Embark On Indefinite Strike On Saturday If… appeared first on ESUT Monitor.

The Oxford English Dictionary has expanded its lexicon with 20 Nigerian words and expressions in its latest update.
The newly added entries include popular terms like “japa,” “agbero,” “eba,” “419,” and “abi,” among others.

These words, deeply rooted in the everyday lives of Nigerians, highlight the influence of Pidgin English, street slang, and cultural expressions that are increasingly gaining global recognition.

Notably, some of the words, such as “japa” and “jand,” appear as both nouns and verbs in the dictionary.

Pronunciation guides have also been provided to assist non-Nigerians in accurately articulating the words.

A Nigerian English consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary, Kingsley Ugwuanyi, announced the update on LinkedIn on Tuesday.

He expressed excitement over his role in drafting the words and recording their pronunciations.

Ugwuanyi wrote, “I’m thrilled to announce that the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Oxford Languages | OUP has officially published its latest updates, featuring an amazing collection of Nigerian English words that beautifully reflect Nigeria’s culture, creativity, and the unique ways we express ourselves as Nigerians.

“This time, I not only drafted most of the words but also had the incredible opportunity to provide their hashtag#pronunciations! So, when you explore the OED online and click on the pronunciations, you’ll hear my hashtag#voice bringing these words to life.”

Among the entries, “japa” is defined as “the emigration of Nigerians to other countries (esp. those in Europe or North America) in search of further education, employment, or economic opportunity.”

“Agbero” is described as “a person (usually a boy or young man) who works as a tout, typically at car parks and bus stops, collecting money from passengers and drivers, and ushering passengers onto vehicles. “

The term “419,” widely known in Nigeria, is defined as, “Fraud (now usually perpetrated on the internet) involving requests for advance payment in return for a substantial share of a large amount of money, which ultimately is never given. Frequently as a modifier, as in 419 email, 419 scam, etc. Cf. yahoo n.2”

The other words added include abi, adire (batik), area boy (lout), cross-carpet, cross-carpeting, eba, Edo, gele (headgear), jand (noun, verb), janded (adjective), Kanuri, Kobo, Naija, suya, Yahoo, Yahoo boy and Yarn Dust.

FULL LIST: 419, Agbero, Japa… 22 Nigerian words now in the Oxford Dictionary

1. 419, n.
2. abi, adv.
3. adire, adj. & n.
4. agbero, n.
5. area boy, n.
6. cross-carpet, v.
7. cross-carpeting, n.
8. eba, n.
9. Edo, n. & adj./2
10. gele, n./2
11. jand, n.
12. jand, v.
13. janded, adj.
14. japa, n.
15. japa, v.
16. Kanuri, n. & adj.
17. kobo, n./2
18. Naija, adj. & n.
19. suya, n.
20. yahoo, n./2
21. yahoo boy, n.
22. yarn dust, v.

The post Yahoo, Japa, Agbero, Eba, 16 Other Nigerian Words Added to Oxford Dictionary appeared first on ESUT Monitor.

By Amaechi Agbo

Nigeria, for the very first time, squashed Ghana in an African Nations Championship qualifying fixture, and with so much style, to earn the ticket to the eighth instalment of the competition scheduled for Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda in February 2025 after a 3-1 whiplash of the visitors at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Saturday.

Three well-taken goals in six minutes wrote a new chapter in the history of contests between both nations at this level, and it was seriously not at a turn that Ghana would have wanted it.

Coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani expressed confidence ahead of the game, saying his boys would play an attacking game, but it was Nigeria that was on the front foot throughout the first period and could have finished the half with more than their three brilliant goals.

First, telepathy was at play as Captain Junior Nduka flung the ball from the defence to Remo Stars’ team-mate Ismaila Sodiq, who sprang Ghana’s offside trap and buried the ball past goalkeeper Benjamin Asare in the 18th minute. Two minutes later, it would have been two for the Super Eagles B but Adamu Abubakar’s close-range shot found the back of defender Abban Ebenezer and went shy of the goal.

From the resultant corner kick, Captain Nduka made hay, sweeping the ball past Asare as the visiting rearguard ball-watched against a Nigerian side playing with so much gusto.

Three minutes later, from a defensive mix-up between goalkeeper Asare and defender Nurudeen Abdulai, Saviour Isaac snatched the ball at pace and slotted past Asare to make it 3-0.

Dominated and flustered, the Black Galaxies were pleading for mercy, but it would still have been four if veteran forward Sikiru Alimi had not been tardy with a good chance as Isaac sent him through on the counter in the 44th minute.

In the second half, with the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Chief Bukola Olopade and President of NFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau among the watching dignitaries, the Super Eagles refused to take their feet off the pedal, as Isaac, and later Alimi with a brilliant header off Sodiq’s free-kick, could have added to the visitors’ misery.

Ghana hit one back with 18 minutes left to play, when the precocious Stephen Amankona fired to the blind side of goalkeeper Henry Ozoemena after an exchange of passes with Albert Amoah.

Still, it was too little too late. Ghana’s miserable year was complete, with the Black Stars’ horrendous group-stage exit at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, failure of the Black Stars to qualify for next year’s AFCON, and the failure of the Black Starlets to qualify for the Africa U17 Cup of Nations.

Deservedly, Nigeria celebrated wildly at a return to the CHAN, at which they won the silver medals in Morocco six years ago, and at the expense of bogey team Ghana for that matter.

President of NFF, Alhaji Gusau said: “We are very happy to end the year on a high. Returning to the African Nations Championship has been part of our agenda and we are happy to have achieved that. Now, the real work begins, which is to ensure that the team is adequately prepared to go for the trophy in East Africa early next year.”

Galaxies’ Coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani attributed his team’s failure to the fact that Daniel Ogunmodede’s charges were hungrier for glory. “They were full of running and played their hearts out. Congratulations to Nigeria because they deserved their victory. They were the better team.”

Ogunmodede said it was not yet time for celebrations. “We are happy to have given Nigerians a good gift for this yuletide period, but we will not over-celebrate this achievement and forget the crux of the matter. We will work hard so that we can contend very well for the trophy at the finals in February.”

The post How Nigeria Defeated Ghana in Uyo to Qualify for CHAN 2025 After 6 Years appeared first on ESUT Monitor.

The Vice-Chancellor, ESUT, Professor Aloysius-Michaels Okolie has disclosed that the Enugu State Government has not increased the University’s subvention for the past two and a half decades

The Vice-Chancellor who stated his in an Interview on the backdrop of the implementation of the ₦80, 000 new minimum wage in the university, noted that the management would not be able to effectively pay the new minimum wage without an upward review in the monthly subvention the school receives from the government.

Prof Okie who acknowledged the management’s readiness to pay, added that the new minimum wage will scale up the wage bill, thus the need for review.

“If you approve new minimum wage, you have to increase subvention. For now, subvention hasn’t been increased for the past 25 years,” the VC said.

He noted that with new programmes being incorporated into the university, new challenges such as staffing would arise as well as the additional salary

“Even with all these new programmes, the subvention is just ₦136 million, and our wage bill is about N440 million.

“The local governments pay N68 million, and if you add that to the state government’s contribution, you get N204 million.

“The last time we checked, they owed us N82 million. Unremitted subvention from the local government hasn’t been updated to know if it has reached N100 million.

“As of May, they owed us over N200 million. We used JAC to ask for the money, and it’s piling up again as debt. In fact, I have to tell you that we received subvention from the state government for November on December 19. If we had waited, we would be paying staff their November salaries on December 20.

“These are the challenges. We are ready to pay the new minimum wage but we also need the state government to review the subvention we are receiving,” the Vice-Chancellor concluded

The post “Enugu State Govt Has Not Increased ESUT’s Subvention for Over 25 years” says VC appeared first on ESUT Monitor.

By Nwobodo Chidinma

Enugu – On 19th November, 2024, the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, showcased to the global community its technological innovations aimed at making lives better.

The 14 Faculties in the University displayed their innovative works ranging from edible food to electrical appliances, footwears, books, electric-powered tricycle, artifacts, among others.

Interestingly, the Executive Governor of the State, Barr Dr Peter Ndubisi Mbah was on ground to inspect the exhibition and he left the Pavilion, happy and later on the convocation day, November 23, made a pledge of ₦50 000 000.00 to support the innovative ideals of the university

The exhibition, which took place at the school pavilion featured an impressive array of products developed and invented by the faculty of Agriculture, including Esut bread, jam, mayonnaise, meatpie, pepper and indomie.

The event provided a unique opportunity for the governor to engage with the faculty members and learn about their innovative ingenuity to agricultural production.

Prof Justina Ngbada, the lead coordinator gave a tour of the exhibition, highlighting the unique features of the innovations.

“Our pepper is different from other peppers in the market” she explained, “we have developed a proprietary blend of spices that gives our pepper a distinct flavour and aroma”.

Dr. Nkem Umera, another member in the faculty discussed the health benefits of the indomie and ESUT Bread. “We have developed a unique recipe that incorporates wheat into our indomie noodle and bread production. This innovation makes our products accessible to both young and old, addressing previous health concerns associated with the usual indomie noodle”.

She also stated the price of the bread is ₦2000.

When asked about the challenges faced by the Faculty during production prof. Emeka Nzeh Dean of the Faculty of cited financial constraints “The main challenge was funding because we have the capable hands. Despite these challenges, we remain committed to driving innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture”.

He also expressed his excitement concerning the visit of the governor and the Vice-Chancellor and the fact that an innovative activity has come to play again in ESUT, stating how agriculture has helped in the growth of the economy in the state

The event marked a significant milestone in the university’s efforts to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture. As the faculty continues to develop novel products.

Chidinma Nwobodo is a 200 level student of Mass Communication Department, ESUT.

The post 2024 ESUT’s Exhibition: Faculty of Agriculture Signposts Invention Promoting Healthy Living appeared first on ESUT Monitor.

By Joseph Joy, Chiekezie Emmanuel, Onyekachi Agu and Ani Ruth

Enugu – In November, the Enugu State Government began the implementation of the ₦80, 000 new minimum wage as approved by the Governor, Barr Dr Peter Ndubisi Mbah in October.

The Governor had in October approved N80,000 minimum wage for the state’s work force, including local government workers, effective October 2024.

Although the Governor lived up to his promise by starting the payment of the new minimum wage to the state workers, ESUT Monitor can authoritatively report that the staff of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, owned by the state government, are not part of those who are currently being paid the new minimum wage.

Prior to the Christmas and New Year break on Friday December 20, various unions in ESUT had threatened to embark on industrial action to press home their demand for inclusion and other outstanding benefits.

This paper understands that while the threat to down tools, perhaps when the university resumes on Monday, January 6, 2025 has not been waved, the staff are agitated over their exclusion from the new minimum wage payment.

Investigation shows that ESUT Staff were also excluded from the wage award of N25,000 the Governor approved for workers from December 2023 till October 2024 when the new minimum wage of N80,000 was approved and consequently reflected in the November salary

Speaking in an exclusive interview with our reporters, ESUT’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Aloysius-Michaels Okolie acknowledged that indeed the staff of the university are not yet paid but offered explanations.

He noted that situation is not perculiar to ESUT but affects all Enugu State owned tertiary institutions who are receiving subventions from the government. He explained further that the ESUT management, likewise other institutions’ Managements are waiting for the state government to issue them a White Paper on the Consequential Adjustment relating to the implementation of the new minimum wage.

“The Council discussed this in our last meeting before we went on break. We’re waiting for the document that reflects the consequential adjustment. Most of them at the ministry aren’t very concerned about consequential adjustments. When you increase the minimum wage, there’s a White Paper that guides the consequential adjustment. We haven’t seen that from the governor.

“You don’t become arbitrary when you increase the minimum wage. It’s not enough to say they’ve increased it, but once the government issues us a White Paper stating the increment, procedure of consequential adjustment, reflecting on what they’ll bring, ESUT will equally join. Assuming they bring 33% from the local government, the implication is that ESUT has been bringing 57% and augmenting it.

“If you move people below ₦80, 000 to ₦80, 000 you should have consequential adjustments. The picture at the ministries isn’t clear, though we discussed it at the Council. How can we get them to bring the White Paper that will guide us to do the needful?

“This issue does not affect only ESUT but also no state university in Enugu State has started implementing it because of the challenges I explained. The heads of other tertiary institutions face the same challenges. We want to pay, but the government must bring consequential adjustments with matching upgrades so we can start paying,” the VC explained.

The post EXCLUSIVE: Why ESUT Staff Are Not Being Paid New Minimum Wage In Enugu State appeared first on ESUT Monitor.

The Head, Department of Mass Communication, ESUT, Barr Dr Chidiebere Ezinwa has on behalf of the Editorial Board of the ESUT Monitor Newspaper, expressed gratitude to the readers of the University’s flagship newspaper, the management and entire university community for their sustained readership and support in the outgoing year.

The HOD who disclosed this in his Christmas and New Year message on Wednesday, expressed gratitude to the student-reporters and all who are working tirelessly particularly behind the scene to sustain the ESUT Monitor Newspaper.

Dr Ezinwa acknowledged that without the expanding readership of the newspaper and unquenchable support from the management, the ESUT Monitor Newspaper (EMN) wouldn’t have attained its status as “the authoritative voice of the university community”

“On behalf of EMN, the HOD, Mass Communication Department extends his gratitude to our numerous readers, staff, students and entire management of Enugu State University of Science and Technology for their kind support to EMN which accounts for its gradual growth from strength to strength.

“We thank you immensely and will never relent in our efforts to serve you better as we look forward to further expansion in the coming year,” he said.

He further expressed his thankfulness to the board of the department, staff, colleagues and students for their steadfastness in ensuring that the quest to reposition the department is yielding desired results and also thanked the university management for the restoration of the ESUT Radio.

“We have been on a journey to reposition the department and make it the best not just in the faculty but in the university. This destination, though still a work in progress, have already achieved measurable targets which wouldn’t have been recorded without the maximum support of the Departmental Board, my colleagues/staff and the students who work collaboratively to ensure that we are pushing to attain our targets.

“Most importantly, I want to appreciate the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Aloysius-Michaels Okolie and his team in ensuring the restoration of our radio station, ESUT Radio, 106.5FM.

“The restoration of the radio station, ESUT Monitor Newspaper and other activities geared at giving the students first-hand experience in journalism aligns with the vision of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Enugu State, Barr Dr Peter Ndubisi Mbah on the need for enthronement of Experiential Learning in our curriculum.

“With your continued support, we hope to take over the airwave and regain our position as the best campus radio station East of the Niger and beyond.

“While we are grateful to all for the support in the outgoing year, it is our firm hope that the New Year would be better.”

He also acknowledged the support of the Dean Faculty of Management Sciences, Prof Uche Ugwuanyi who while as the Director of Entrepreneurship Development Centre, EDC, identified with ESUT Monitor and has consolidated it as the Dean of faculty.

“Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year,” Barr Dr Chidiebere Ezinwa said.

The post Mass Communication HOD Thanks ESUT Monitor’s Readers, ESUT Management For Support appeared first on ESUT Monitor.