President Bola Tinubu has said his administration has commenced moves to review the conditions of service and remuneration of university staff across the country, with a view to aligning their pay and welfare with prevailing economic realities and improving the quality of teaching, research and learning in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

Tinubu speaking at the 49th Convocation Ceremony of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to dialogue as the key to achieving lasting industrial peace in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

Tinubu, represented by ex-Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Professor Kabir Bala, emphasised the need for mutual respect and collaboration between the government and university staff.

He admonished university staff to dialogue with the government to resolve differences, saying “doing so would ensure universities can remain open, stable, conducive and productive.”

According to the president “Government remains committed to dialogue as the surest path to lasting industrial peace in our tertiary institutions.

“The Federal Government is, therefore, intensifying efforts to review the conditions of service and remuneration of university staff to reflect the realities of the present-day economy. In collaboration with relevant staff unions within the university system and the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, we are already developing a sustainable framework that rewards dedication, innovation and productivity while also ensuring fiscal responsibility.

 “Let us, therefore, continue to resolve our differences through dialogue and mutual respect so that our universities can remain open, stable, conducive and productive. We are expanding opportunities for collaboration among the university system, industry, and government.”

Addressing the graduands, Tinubu said, “Your generation represents the hope and promise of a better Nigeria. Our nation looks up to you not just to succeed, but to make a difference in your chosen professions, in your communities, and in the global arena. Wherever life takes you as ambassadors of this university, remember to carry the Great Ife spirit of excellence, courage and progress.”

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, while delivering the convocation lecture, titled, ‘Raising a New Generation of Leaders for the World in Such a Difficult Time Through University Education’, urged universities to start departments that will award degrees in leadership to graduates.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Simeon Bamire, in his address, said a total of 6,5262 students graduated with various degrees during the 49th convocation.

Providing a breakdown of the graduates, Bamire said, “Undergraduate diplomas – 54, classified degree – 5,253, unclassified degree – 295, Postgraduate – 959”.

The Nation

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By Amaechi Agbo

‎President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured of Nigeria’s readiness to host the 2030 Commonwealth games. Nigeria’s quest to host the Games in four years’ time  took a massive step as it welcomed the Commonwealth Sports Bid Evaluation Committee to Abuja on Thursday.‎

President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, formally received the delegation at the Presidential Villa where he reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to hosting an inclusive, diverse, and world-class 2030 Commonwealth Games on African soil.‎

Gbajabiamila and a strong federal government team of Ministers and senior government officials held strategic talks with the delegation led by Darren Hall, Director of Games and Assurance at Commonwealth Sport, and a member of the 2030 Evaluation Committee. 

President Tinubu emphasised that the Commonwealth champions unity and diversity, and Africa deserves its moment after nearly a century.‎

‎Africa has never hosted the Games since their inception in 1930. Nigeria made an unsuccessful bid to host the 2014 Games. The city of Durban in South Africa won the bid to host the 2022 Games, but could not do so due to financial difficulties. Birmingham in the UK took over and hosted the Games.

Thus, Nigeria’s bid to host the 2030 Games would be historic. 

‎In his welcome remarks, Gbajabiamila called on the visitors to savour Nigeria’s renowned hospitality: “You’re very welcome to Nigeria. I hope you enjoy our great hospitality, which we are known for.  Mr President also asked me personally to convey his regards; he fully supports this bid.”‎

“The President has written a Letter of Guarantee to you; his full weight is behind this bid.”‎

“What I can assure you is that we’re ready. We’re willing, we’re able, and we actually want this. It’s been almost 100 years. The games have not been held on any soil in Africa.

‎”The element of inclusivity is what the Commonwealth is, and we hope that will benefit us.”‎

President Tinubu stressed that his administration has set some bold reforms to reposition sports, having realised its role as a strategic driver of national development.

He added that he scrapped the Ministry of Sports and replaced it with the National Sports Commission to drive sports development.

The President further assured the delegation that all infrastructural, security, and hospitality needs will be met ahead of schedule.‎

He emphasised that Nigeria’s bid is not just about hosting but also leaving a legacy for youth and national development.‎

Shehu Dikko, Chairman of the National Sports Commission, made a strong case for Nigeria over India, stressing that Africa has 21 Commonwealth nations, and Nigeria, as the continent’s giant, deserves the honour.‎

“One thing I want to assure you is that the President sees the hosting of the Commonwealth Games in 2030, if we win the bid, as a celebration of the country’s growing force in sports, beyond just participation.”

‎Habu Gumel, President of Commonwealth Sport Nigeria, said the country is ready to host an environmentally sustainable Games.‎

Mainasara Illo, Chairman of the Bid Committee, presented Nigeria’s proposal, highlighting key plans and innovations.‎ He revealed that Nigeria proposes 15 sports, with football introduced to boost excitement, global visibility, and audience engagement.‎

Darren Hall, Director of Games and Assurance, thanked President Tinubu and the Nigerian team for their warm welcome.

“I have been most thrilled by the passion of the Nigerian people in all their endeavours, including sports.”‎

He said the Commonwealth, now comprising 56 nations, aims for greater diversity as it approaches its 100-year milestone.‎

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammed Idris, Minister of Aviation, Festus Kayamo, Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism, and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa and‎ Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Gaidam, attended the meeting and made statements in support of the bid.

‎

Nigeria and India are the two official bidders for the 2030 Games, with Abuja and Ahmedabad, in Gujarat, as their proposed host cities.‎

‎After thoroughly evaluating both bids, the Commonwealth Games General Assembly will decide the host city in November 2025.

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President Bola Tinubu has appointed Bishop Matthew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, Kaduna State.

Additionally, the President appointed principal officers for the university, including Prof. Qurix Williams Barnabas as Vice Chancellor, Sanusi Gambo Adamu as Registrar, Ibrahim Dalhat as bursar, and Prof. Daniel Abubakar as university Librarian.

President Tinubu also approved the appointment of Mr Thomas Etuh, representing the North Central, Chief Fabian Nwaora (South East), Prof Femi Taiwo (South West) and Zarah Bukar (North East). as members of the university’s Governing Council.

All the appointees were carefully selected based on their distinguished careers, leadership experience, and dedication to advancing education in Nigeria.

President Tinubu implored them to use their collective expertise to position the university as a hub for academic excellence and research, aligning with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

President Tinubu urged the newly appointed officers to provide visionary leadership and lay a solid foundation for the university’s growth as it prepares to admit its first cohort of students in September 2025.

The Federal University of Applied Sciences was formerly known as Nok University. It was renamed following the federal government’s takeover of its assets.

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By Amaechi Agbo

The Minister for sports, Senator Owan Enoh has apologized over Team Nigeria’s Poor performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Team Nigeria, made up of 88 athletes went to the Games but won no medals. A sad record they set in London 2012 Olympic when they had similar outcome.

In a statement on Saturday, the Sport’s minister tendered apology to Nigerians for the inglorious show in Paris.

The Minister who explained how preparations were made for the Olympics blamed Sports Federations for prioritizing Olympic qualification above preparations for the Games proper.

Sen. Enoh who said that the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu provided the funding for the Team’s training and participation added that the lessons from the Paris 2024 have been let and stressed that improvements will be effected going forward

Read his statement below:

The Olympic Games, Paris 2024, have ended, and I accept that our performance should have been a lot better. It obviously fell short of our objectives, expectations, and hopes of Nigerians. I must apologize to our compatriots and reflect on what went wrong while looking forward to the Paralympic Games, Paris 2024 (August 28 – September 8th).

When I assumed office as the Minister of Sports Development in August 2023, I was confronted with the task of executing four international competitions namely the AFCON, the African Games, the Olympic and Paralympic Games in a matter of a few months. I was also reminded that the Olympic Games is the world’s supreme sports competition, and countries require at least four years to prepare for it. I held extensive discussions with the management staff of the Ministry and got to know that preparations for the Olympics, which was less than a year away, had not started.

In the true Nigerian spirit, it was our view that we should spare no effort to sustain the international sports image of our country. Our target was to re-enact the Atlanta 1996 performance or even improve on it. To this end, we embarked on a progressive approach to drive forward the performance of our athletes and coaches. In my first week in office, I requested all National Sports Federations to furnish me with plans and programmes. I also embarked on a nationwide inspection of our sports facilities.

Subsequently, I constituted a Ministerial Podium Performance Advisory Committee comprising seasoned sports performance professionals to drive our preparations.
At this time, we had hardly qualified for the Olympics in any sport.

We focused on both the AFCON and the African Games (both of which were happening in quick succession) while our athletes also participated in Olympic and Paralympic qualification tournaments. This had the disadvantage of compelling the athletes to attain peak performances several times within a short space of time.

I was also enlightened that athletes of many countries had qualified almost one year ago and had already structured their training programmes for the Olympics. We were not deterred.

Tobi Amusan failed to replicate her 2020 Tokyo performance

I convened a series of meetings involving the Presidents of the National Sports Federations, their Technical Directors, and Secretaries General. These meetings examined the preparations for the competitions. The Ministerial Podium Performance Advisory Committee was in attendance to discuss and streamline methodologies and training methods in the best possible way, considering the time constraints.

After the African Games, subsequent meetings were limited to the Federations that had bright chances of qualifying for the Olympics. Medals projections were made by all the Federations, although their athletes were still trying to qualify; which lasted until about June 2024. The concerned Federations obviously prioritized qualification over preparations for the Games. This seems to have always been the case.This has to change.
At the end of the qualification period, the selection of athletes and coaches was the absolute responsibility of each Federation. A few attempts to question selection after I got complaints were strongly resisted and defended.

To achieve our targets, we approved onshore training in different locations in the country in addition to the offshore training camps for our teams in Saarbrucken, Germany, and Sevilla, Spain. Ten out of the eleven sports trained in Germany.

The choice of the training facilities in Germany was based on the very positive recommendations of the Ministry team and included the President of one of our Federations who as a former world champion and Olympic gold medal winner, is quite familiar with Olympic-standard facilities and equipment.

At the training camp, the Ministerial Podium Performance Advisory Committee offered scientific preparation and mental strength training support. The very high quality of their participation was confirmed by independent sources comprising athletes, coaches, and team administrators.

In all these, the President and Commander in Chief of the Federation, HE Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ensured that funds were not a limiting factor. Athletes competition requirements were provided, allowances were paid early, and training grants were disbursed to all athletes. I made myself readily available to deal with any issue throughout the competition. Therefore, the underwhelming performance of our team is puzzling. We owe Nigerians an explanation.

As a responsible organisation, we have swung into a review process. We shall evaluate the competition readiness of every athlete comprehensively, including their injury and medical history within the limits of patient confidentiality. The role of coaches and administrative staff will also be examined.

There must be a lot of lessons to learn from our performance and improvements must be made in all ramifications.The last time we returned from the Olympics without a medal was in 2012.The next two Olympics after that we’ve had a bronze medal in 2016 and a silver and bronze in the 2020 Olympics.

As a country, we deserve more.Let’s turn the disastrous outcome of the 2024 Olympics to a huge positive for Nigerian sports.

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With the new 2024/2025 Academic Session set to begin in ESUT on October 7, ESUT Monitor takes a look at why the management may increase the school fees of both the returning as well as the postgraduate students of the university. 

A realistic check about the economic trajectory in the country and the increasing hyperinflation that has characterised the nation’s economic frontiers, avers that there are every likelihood that the current status quo with regards to tuition fees in the university may not remain. 

At the commencement of the current session, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Aloysius-Michaels Okolie made it clear that despite the economic hardship experienced in the country and the obvious parameters to effect an upward review, the management would not tamper with the school fees. This, he has kept.

But with the current academic session set to elapse in September, will the management still retain the current school fees status?

ESUT Monitor takes a look at the indices that may make increment extremely ineluctable.

Fuel Subsidy Removal and Inflation

During his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy. This led to instant unrestrained increase in prices of goods and service in the country.

Expectedly, inflation rose to unimaginable level as Nigerians groan under harsh realities of the new economic policy of the new government. As at May 2024, Nigeria’s inflation stood at 33.95% from 33.69% in April of same year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This increase of 0.26%-points marks a steady rise in the cost of living, with year-on-year inflation rates jumping by 11.54%-points from 22.41% in May 2023.

According to the report, “In May 2024, the headline inflation rate increased to 33.95% relative to the April 2024 headline inflation rate which was 33.69%. On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.54% points higher compared to the rate recorded in May 2023, which was 22.41%. This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in the month of May 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., May 2023).

“The major contributing items to headline inflation in May 2024 include food and non-alcoholic beverages (contributing 17.59%), housing, water, and electricity. gas and other fuel (contributing 5.68%), and clothing and footwear (contributing 2.60%).”

Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 27.04% on a year-on-year basis in May 2024, up from 19.83% in May 2023.

The most significant contributors to core inflation included rents, passenger transport, and the cost of medical services.

Urban inflation in Nigeria stood at 36.34% on a year-on-year basis in May 2024, a significant increase from the 23.74% recorded in May 2023. This indicates a sustained rise in the cost of living in urban areas over the past year. Majority of ESUT staff reside in the Enugu metropolis.

Whereas the rural communities were not spared of this hyperinflation within the period under consideration, rural inflation in May 2024 was recorded at 31.82% on a year-on-year basis, up from 21.19% in May 2023.

An impeccable source in ESUT told ESUT Monitor that giving the economic realities in the country, school fees increase in the new academic session is unpreventable.

“Well, you know as it is now, the one hundred and twenty-four thousand, nine hundred naira (₦124, 900) being paid by all categories of regular students is not something anybody can use and do anything,” the source who craved anonymity, said. 

“Even federal universities have already increased their school fees. I believe the management is thinking that for the university to be sustained and everything working accordingly, there is a need for an increase in school fees, the source continued.”

The source however noted that the university management does not have the constitutional mandate to hike students’ fees.

 “However, it is still in the pipeline because it is not the management that would do it. The management would do a recommendation to the Governing Council who would take it to the government. It is now the responsibility of the government to decide whether it will be possible or not. But for now, you are aware of the cost of coming here (to ESUT Campus in Agbani from Enugu).

“Even the costs of pure water and electricity have increased. Everything has gone up,” the source maintained.

Cost of management

With epileptic or almost lack of steady electricity supply coupled with the recent hike in tariff in the power sector, the cost of running and maintaining the university system has gone up.

Recently during a function, the Vice-Chancellor disclosed that despite the current increase in fuel price, there is no corresponding adjustment to the budgetary allocation for fuelling to all principal officers of the university. This, he attributed to paucity of fund and described it as part of the sacrifices the management team has to endure in order to push the university forward. 

Promotion of staff to new ranks.  

The current management under the able leadership of the digital VC, Professor Aloysius-Michaels Okolie has witnessed an upsurge in the promotion of staff from one level to the other.

Within the past two years of his administration, the university have had tens of new professors and Readers as well as other staff moving in the upward trajectory. Although this is commendable, however, the reality is that the promotions come with additional cost as the affected staff are expected to have a new salary adjustment on their take-home pay. This, invariably, adds another strain on the finances of the university.

Low Government Subvention

Investigation by ESUT Monitor indicates that the management of the university spends over four hundred million (₦400, 000 000) on staff salaries each month. Out of this sum, the state government subvention takes care less than 55% of the total sum. 

Consequently, the university has been subjected to looking inwards and perhaps, outward to augment her monthly salary packages for staff. This has affected the operations and infrastructural development of the university.

Our source said that as a result of paucity of funds, several infrastructure are left unattended.

“There are so many facilities that students are supposed to access, but because of the paucity of funds, the management have not been able to provide them. For example, there is the cyber infrastructure, which is a well-known digital library that was signed. The contract was signed last year with the intention that we would start it up. Students would have access to any type of book in the world. But because of the paucity of fund, it did not take-off.

“There is no way we can take it up because the students need to pay either a token so that the project can be sustained. So there is a need for an increase in school fees. The increase, if it happens, will only apply to first-year students, not continuing students. That is my thinking, but I may be wrong,” the source stressed.

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The Federal Government on Wednesday announced the exemption of Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education, and other tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) payment platform

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) passed the resolution during its weekly meeting presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja

The Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Maman, said the heads of the institutions got relief to embark on recruitment exercise without recourse to the Head of Service of the Federation.

The minister said the president had directed that the Vice Chancellor be taken out of the platform that made recruitment difficult to ensure efficient management of those education institutions.

“Simply, the president and the council is just concerned about efficiency of management of the universities and so it has nothing to do with integrity or options of platforms.

“The president cannot understand why Vice Chancellors should be leaving their duty post and run to Abuja to get staff enlisted on IPPIS when they get recruited.

 “The basic concern is that universities are governed by laws. And those laws give them autonomy in certain respects and most respects and the IPPIS has sort of eroded that autonomy granted universities in accordance with their act,” Mamman said.

In his contribution, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammed Idris, said: “The universities and other tertiary institutions have gotten a very big relief from the integrated personnel payroll and information system. You will recall that the university authorities and the others have been clamouring for the exemption of the universities and other tertiary institutions from this system.

 “What that means in simple language is that the university authorities and other tertiary institutions will now be paying their own personnel from their own end instead of relying on the IPPIS.”

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