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ICPC, DSS arrest 48 lecturers, security officers, others for exam malpractices

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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Department of State Services have arrested 48 individuals for alleged irregularities in the conduct of the Joint Universities Preliminary Examinations Board.

JUPEB is an advanced level educational examination that qualifies a candidate for admission into 200 level in any Nigerian and foreign university through direct entry.

It is coordinated by the University of Lagos and has up to 10 accredited universities.

Operation Combo was simultaneously carried out by the operatives of ICPC and DSS in seven states after extensive monitoring of tutorial schools known for notoriously compromising JUPEB examinations.

The sting operation consequently led to the arrest of the President of Tutorial School Owners, the ICPC spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, disclosed in a statement on Wednesday, titled, ‘ICPC, DSS arrest 48 lecturers, security officers, ICT specialists over leakage of JUPEB examinations.’

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According to the commission, the operation, a consequence of a sustained period of surveillance and undercover investigations spanning several weeks, led to multiple arrests of suspects, including parents of candidates.

Also arrested were lecturers and others involved in examination malpractices and other illegalities in the participating institutions.

Some of the suspects have been granted administrative bail while the investigation is ongoing.

The statement said, “The suspects were arrested from Wellspring University, Benin, Edo State; Christopher University, Mowe, Ogun State and Crown-Hill University, Ilorin, Kwara State.

“Again, the raid of tutorial centres by operatives in McPherson and Precious Cornerstone universities in Ibadan and Ilara-Epe, in Oyo State, respectively, led to more arrest of suspects.”

The ICPC further stated that credible intelligence gathered during the operations showed active connivance of the parents of the students and the management of the universities.

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It added, “Three current Vice-Chancellors have been invited by the ICPC for their roles in the unchecked and massive malpractices reported. It was revealed that syndicated social media platforms were created by the facilitators for leaking questions and circulating answers to students for a fee during examinations.

“Investigation also revealed that candidates, who are mostly minors, allegedly paid between N350,000 to N500,000 each to the suspects in the various tutorial schools to engage in the illegalities.”

The anti-graft agency revealed that the cartel, in connivance with the coordinators of the examination centres and other management staff of the institutions, allowed candidates to enter the examination halls with smartphones and other electronic devices to send question papers to waiting groups online and subsequently receive answers to the questions.

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Education

FG postpones students loan indefinitely

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FG postpones students loan indefinitely

The Federal Government has postponed the launch of the Nigerian Students Loan Scheme indefinitely.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyer, made this known during an interview with Arise News on Tuesday.

The loan, which was originally scheduled to commence on Thursday, has been postponed once more. Sawyer explained that the delay is due to some corrections being made regarding the launch.

He said, “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to commit to a specific date. We are sort of waiting to ensure that all the stakeholders are aligned to make sure that nobody is blindsided, then we can actually roll this out in a meaningful, comprehensive, wholesome, and sustainable way.”

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In June 2023, President Bola Tinubu signed a bill to establish a Students Loan Fund that would provide interest-free loans to Nigerians for higher education.

The bill, sponsored by Femi Gbajabiamila, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, was initially scheduled to commence between September and October 2023.

President Tinubu announced that the scheme would commence in January 2024 after his government failed to meet the October deadline the previous year.

In January, the Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, announced during a meeting that preparations for the program had been completed. This included the development of the Student Loan Scheme website and planning for the program’s commencement.

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President Tinubu reassured the leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) during their visit to the State House in Abuja that the program would start once its expansion to include additional features, such as vocational studies, was completed.

 

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Education

‘I got admitted into university at 14’ – Ayra Starr

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‘I got admitted into university at 14’ – Ayra Starr

Nigerian singer Ayra Starr has revealed that she got admitted to the university at the age of 14.

According to her, she had bagged her degree early because her mother said she must graduate before pursuing her music career and she wanted to be a teenage pop star.

She disclosed this in a recent interview with American media giant Billboard News.

Starr recounted: “I got into the university at 14. I feel like my mum has been using music to blackmail me since I was a child. She was like, ‘If you want to do music, you have to do this.’ When she suggested we relocate to Lagos from Benin Republic, I declined initially, but she convinced me that Lagos is the land of music.

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“She insisted that if I want to do music, I would have to finish school first. Usually, a lot of people in Nigeria finish secondary school at 15, 16. I knew that if I waited till I’m 15 [before completing my secondary school], I won’t be able to be a teenage pop star. And I wanted to be a teenage pop star. So, I joined my elder brother and wrote JAMB, what you guys called SAT here.

“To be honest, the result wasn’t crazy to get me onto all these Ivy League schools but it was enough to pass by. It was enough for my mum. I got admitted into a good school. My course was for three years. It was International Relations. And immediately after my graduation, I started doing music covers online and that same year I got signed [to Mavin Records label].”

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SSANU threatens protest as FG pays ASUU withheld salaries

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SSANU threatens protest as FG pays ASUU withheld salaries

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities has said it will ground activities in universities across the country if the withheld salaries of its members are not paid.

This was in reaction to the exclusion of members of SSANU from the payment of the withheld salaries by the Federal Government which only commenced payment for the Academic Staff Union of Universities on Monday.

The chairperson of ASUU at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, confirmed the development to our correspondent.

“Yes, it is true. Payment has started rolling in.”

The salaries were withheld when the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari invoked a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ against ASUU and SSANU who embarked on a strike that lasted eight months in 2022.

However, President Bola Tinubu, in October 2023 approved the release of four of the eight months ASUU’s withheld salaries.

However, the National President of SSANU,  Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, in an interview with The PUNCH complained bitterly about the union’s exclusion from the payment of the withheld salaries.

He insisted that it was a great injustice against SSANU, saying the union was in no way angry that ASUU was paid but it deserved to be paid too.

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Ibrahim said, “This is just terrible, we found out that only ASUU’s payment was approved. As it is, there is tension on all the campuses we are not angry that they are paying ASUU, but they should know that it is not only ASUU that went on strike.

Why should our case be different? The government should pay everyone who works in the university. We can’t guarantee continuous peace in our universities. We have written to the Chief of Staff and Minister of Education and we escalated it to Nigeria Labour Congress. There is a palpable danger if SSANU are not paid their backlog.”

He also said it was confirmed at the office of the Accountant General and IPPIS that it was only ASUU’s payment that was approved.

“We found out at the Chief Accountant General office that it was only ASUU that was approved, we also have confirmation from IPPIS that the payment does not include SSANU.”

He hinted that SSANU members would meet today ( Tuesday)  to take a  decision on the development.

Ibrahim said,  “Our members will meet tonight, or tomorrow morning to decide. We are under pressure; this is a clear injustice as no university can operate without the non-teaching staff.”

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Also, National Vice-President, SSANU, Abdussobur  Salaam, said,  “The Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU should therefore not be held responsible should the wheel of administration and corporate governance be grounded to a halt, as we have exercised enough patience with the government, especially in the face of the harsh economic conditions occasioned by policies of the current administration led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

Meanwhile, ASUU, Abuja zone, on Monday, lamented the death of some of its members.

It attributed the untimely death to the untold hardship in the country exacerbated by lecturers’ poor remuneration and unfavorable working conditions.

The union, in a statement, said no fewer than 46 academics lost their lives in universities under the Abuja zone namely the University of Abuja, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Federal University, Lafia, Nasarawa State University, Nasarawa and the Ibrahim Babaginda University, Lapai. The union said it recently lost an eminent Professor of Fisheries, Johnson Oyero of the Federal University of Technology, Minna due to his inability to afford quality healthcare.

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