National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
North
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Bauchi teachers begin strike EZEKIEL TITUS BAUCHI
T
eachers in Bauchi State public primary and secondary schools have decided to embark on an indefinite strike over deductions from their salaries. The state Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, ASSUS, Comrade Abdullahi Mohammed Tanko Ningi, made this known while briefing journalists at the
Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Secretariat yesterday. He said the measure was to protect the education sector from being plundered. Tanko added that the teachers were not happy with deductions from their salaries through a letter from the office of the head of service addressed to the finance commissioner. The union demanded the immediate refund of all monies deducted by the government from its members;
including the five per cent deducted from leave grant of officers on grade level 14. It also called for the immediate stoppage of further deductions. The ASSUS chairman directed all the local branches to ensure the strike was monitored strictly in their respective jurisdictions. ASSUS bemoaned the differences in the salaries of teachers in Bauchi State compared to states like Borno, Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa and Taraba.
Tanko said teachers in the state would not accept deductions in their allowances and urged Governor Isa Yuguda to immediately direct the appropriate agency to begin the negotiation of N18,000 national minimum wage. Tanko urged members to be focused and resolute irrespective of threat, intimidation and insinuations from any part of the state, saying further directives would be communicated to them in due course.
Members of Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, Bauchi State chapter, protesting the 10 per cent deduction from workers’ salaries in the state, yesterday.
Plea bargain, necessary legal tool, says Ekiti ex-AG WOLE ADEDEJI ILORIN
F
ormer Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Ekiti State, Mr. Dayo Akinlaja (SAN), has said the controversial plea bargaining in Nigeria’s legal system was not meant to encourage corruption. He said what matters most was a strong legal framework that would ensure recovery of stolen public fund and properties through a very short process.
Akinlaja spoke on: “Repositioning the Judiciary and Deepening Democratic Culture in Nigeria,” at a media forum organised by the Kwara State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, in Ilorin on Wednesday. He said without plea bargaining, court process could be frustrated for many years. This, according to him, may not recoup the stolen money because of the conviction of the accused at the end of it all. Akinlaja, however, con-
demned the judgement that gave the convicted director of police pension fund, John Yusufu, an option of fine. He said given the sum of money involved in the matter, the judge ought not to have allowed the convict an option of fine. The former AttorneyGeneral said plea bargaining ensured speedy dispensation of corruption cases. According to him, what the country’s judicial system makes of the mechanism of plea bargaining matters and not the plea
bargaining itself. Akinlaja also said corruption was the bane of Nigeria as a nation. He, however, said the judiciary should be immune to corruption to enable it perform its constitutional roles and functions. The former commissioner for justice said it was a delusion to say the judiciary was at its finest level, adding that democracy could not survive without strong judiciary that would perform constitutional roles and functions assigned to it.
Land sales: Clear your wife’s name in court, elders reply Saraki
I
lorin elders have told Senator Bukola Saraki to clear the name of his wife, Toyin, over the purported sale of the Old Ilorin Praying Ground (Yidi) in court and not on the pages of newspapers. The elders also described as misplaced an attempt to “deceive the public” Saraki’s claim that his wife was “wrongfully and mischievously” joined as a defendant in the suit challenging
the sale of the land. They said through his comment, Saraki had arrogated to himself the powers of a judge who should determine whether or not his wife was genuinely joined. The elders, including Dr. Saliu Ajibola Ajia, Dr. Saad Omoiya and Alhaji Saleh Duro Garba, spoke in a joint statement issued in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. They are the plaintiffs
in the suit recently filed before an Ilorin High Court in which Mrs. Saraki, among others, is alleged to have benefitted from the sale of the land. The statement reads in part: “We wish to make clear to Saraki that the only place to exonerate his wife is in the law court and not on the pages of newspapers. “Besides, we believe that Mrs. Saraki should speak for herself as an individual
who can sue and be sued, instead of Mr. Saraki becoming her spokesman. “As law-abiding citizens, we have submitted our grievances for the court to determine. By saying his wife was wrongfully joined as a defendant in the suit, Mr. Saraki was arrogating to himself the powers of a judge who would determine whether somebody was rightfully joined in a suit or not.
51
Kogi LG polls: 800 PDP members obtain nomination forms OYEWALE IBRAHIM LOKOJA
A
bout 600 aspirants are jostling to contest for 21 chairmanship seats and 239 councillorship posts on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ahead of local government polls in Kogi State. The PDP Administrative Secretary, Mallam Yusuf Isah Balarabe, who disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent in Lokoja yesterday, said the party was ready for the polls. Balarabe explained that over 70 chairmanship aspirants had already signified their intention to contest the 21 council chairmanship seats. He disclosed that almost all the present heads of Management Team of the councils and their assistants were eyeing the seats in the various local government areas. The administrative secretary pointed out that at least 530 aspirants were battling to contest for councillorship seats in the 239 wards in the state, adding that all of them had obtained nomination
forms, waiting for party primaries coming soon. Balarabe noted that the party hierarchy in the state would soon fix a date for the primaries, which would not be earlier than March, adding that it was then all political office holders, including the liaison officers in all the 21 councils would resign their appointments. Meanwhile, the three visible opposition parties in the state, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, and the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, are not leaving any stone unturned in their preparations for the elections. Speaking in a telephone interview with our correspondent yesterday, an ANPP Board of Trustees member, Otunba Babalola Fabunmi, said the party would actively participate in the council polls provided the Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission would conduct free and fair elections. On his part, the state Chairman of ACN, Alhaji Haddy Ametuo, said his party was aiming to capture as many as possible councils.
Kwankwaso inaugurates 44 craft institutes to boost self-reliance AUGUSTINE MADU-WEST KANO
K
ano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, said his government wass determined to encourage technical education to promote self-reliance. To achieve this, Kwankwaso yesterday launched 44 new craft schools to actualise his administration’s desire in that direction. The schools offer metalwork, woodwork, refrigeration and air conditioning, auto mechanics, welding and fabrication, weaving, electronics installation, plumbing, tailoring, fashion design and interior decoration. Speaking at the launch, Kwankwaso disclosed that with the new institutes, there are 50 technical schools now located in almost all the 44 local government areas of the state, which he explained would consolidate efforts, aimed
at ensuring self-reliance among youths. He said: “We want youths to possess technical skills, and the vision is that some graduates of these schools will become industrialists and while others will graduate into the polytechnics in furtherance of their education.” The governor added that the initiative was to foster productivity and reduce poverty. Kwankwaso said that at the moment, the state was facing severe dearth of technical manpower in key areas of development in both public and private sectors hence the need for the establishment of the technical colleges across the state. He said with the establishment of the 44 schools, the government had created 1,320 jobs, including the principals and other supporting staff who received offers of employment at the launch.