Nigerian professors cripple universities with indefinite strike

University lecturers across the country begin an indefinite strike from today.

National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Ukachukwu Awuzie who made this known Sunday in Port Harcourt said this time the strike would be" total and comprehensive".

According to him, there would be no grading and marking of scripts during the duration of the strike action.

He explained that their decision stemmed from what he described the refusal of the federal government to implement the core components of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement.

According to him with the failure of federal government to address the issues even when ASUU granted it a two months grace period it had become clear that the government was not willing to honor the agreement.

Describing the decision to embark on the indefinite strike as very painful Prof Awuzie who was flanked by other members of his executive said the union would alien with allied unions in the country to resist the proposed removal of fuel subsidy by the government.

"NEC, having noted that the federal government neglected, ignored, failed and refused to implement the core components of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement after more than two years of its signing, having squandered two months it requested without achieving any progress in the implementation of the agreement, having sacked the Implementation Monitoring Committee that served as the forum for dialogue with ASUU on this dispute, is convinced that the government is terribly insincere and is manifestly unwilling to genuinely implement the agreement it freely entered into with ASSU.

The government has abandoned the main tenet of industrial democracy- that all agreements freely entered into must be honoured.

"Therefore, ASUU resolved, painfully, to direct all members of ASUU in all branches nationwide to proceed on a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike, beginning from the midnight of Sunday, 4th December, 2011.

For the avoidance of doubt, a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike means: no teaching, no examination, no grading of script, no project supervisions, no inaugural lectures, no appointment and promotion meeting, no statutory meetings (Council, Senate, Board etc) or other meetings directed by government or their agents",

"The World Bank and IMF were decisive in sponsorship and constitution of the Economic Team, which was put in place following the inauguration of Mr President after the April 2011 elections.

"The ruling class has failed. It cannot provide jobs, education, healthcare, affordable transportation, roads and so on. It is incapable of uniting the people; it uses ethnic origin as a political weapon. The ruling class violates the integrity of the judiciary.

The faction in power, with President Jonathan as head, is unable to protect the people from hunger, robbery, murder of innocent citizens and generalised insecurity. Politically, Nigeria is in a precarious position in spite of the 2011 general elections.

"In recent months, federal government has intensified its campaign for devaluation, privatization and petroleum price increase, which the Nigerian labour movement, including ASUU, shall resist", he said.

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Afro Beat singer Femi Kuti gets third grammy nomination

Nigerian musician and respected Afrobeat singer Femi Kuti has been nominated at the 54th edition of the prestigious Grammy Awards.

Femi picked up his third ever nomination in the World Music Category for his 'Africa for Africa' album last night Wednesday, November 30, 2011 when the list was unveiled at the 'Grammy Nominations Concert Live!' in Los Angeles, US.

In 2003, Femi, eldest son of late Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo Kuti picked up his first ever Grammy Award nomination but lost out to Panamanian salsa singer Rubén Blades.

He similarly lost in 2010 when he was nominated in the same category. US banjo player Bela Fleck walked away with the award.

His recent nomination sees him up against Latin/Roots music band AfroCubism, South African male choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Malian band Tinariwen.

'We're extremely happy, and hoping they give him this time around' Femi's elder sister and Positive band veteran Yeni Kuti told us this morning over the phone. 'It's his third time and he has really worked hard'.

Femi Kuti himself, currently touring Europe, is unreachable for now. 'I can't say if he'll attend or not, but I hope he will. He did not attend last year," Yeni says.

US rapper Kanye West leads the pack with seven nods, making it the second year in a row a Hip-hop artiste has reached that feat. (Eminem topped the nominees list in 2010, with 10nods. He walked away with two wins).

Kanye is closely followed by UK singer Adele who is tied with Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars with six nods each. But the controversial rapper-producer was, surprisingly missing on the biggest award category 'Album of the Year'.

Other notable acts that missed out on the big prize are Taylor Swift and veteran singer Tony Bennett.

The awards ceremony is billed to hold on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

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John Mikel Obi says Chelsea will win Champion League this season

Nigeria international John Mikel Obi has said his English club Chelsea will win the UEFA Champions League for the first time this season.

The London club were beaten finalists in the 2007/08 season.

"We are doing well in the competition and I think we will win it," said Mikel.

In an interview with Nigerian sports paper Soccer Star.

"The Champions League is the ultimate. That is the only trophy we have not won and everybody wants it. We have come close to it, but winning it this term would be great.

"We talk about it every now and then. The owner, the manager, the fans and the players and everybody around here talk about winning the Champions League. I'm sure that is our main target this season."

However, Chelsea would first have to qualify for the next round of the competition from Group E by beating Valencia at home Tuesday night.

They are locked on eight points with closest rivals Valencia after five matches.

"We are walking a tight rope now and have to go all out to win the last game at home against Valencia. We need to win because any scored draw won't be good for us," Mikel revealed.

Mikel too has not given up on his club reclaiming the English Premier League crown even though they are 10 points adrift of leaders Manchester City after some indifferent showings.

"The league is still young and anything could still happen. We can win it. We have what it takes from the technical bench to the players on the pitch," he insisted.

"We are getting back to good form. We made some costly mistakes which we have worked on. The 3-0 victory over Wolves in our last game was a good boost."

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Nigeria now ranked 40th in most corrupt countries

Nigeria inched up four notches on the world corruption index, ranking as the 40th most corruption nation on earth, according to a report released by the Transparency International yesterday.

The nation ranked 143 of 183 countries scored on the 2011 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), with 2.4 points on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean).

Last year, Nigeria ranked 134 of 178 countries with 2.4 points, making it the 44th most corrupt nation in the world.

This year's index scored 183 countries and territories based on perceived levels of public sector corruption, using data from 17 surveys that look at factors such as enforcement of anti-corruption laws, access to information and conflicts of interest.

The CPI shows some governments failing to protect citizens from corruption, be it abuse of public resources, bribery or secretive decision-making, TI said in a statement posted on its website.

Transparency International warned that protests around the world, often fuelled by corruption and economic instability, clearly show citizens feel their leaders and public institutions are neither transparent nor accountable enough.

"This year we have seen corruption on protestors' banners be they rich or poor. Whether in a Europe hit by debt crisis or an Arab world starting a new political era, leaders must heed the demands for better government," said Huguette Labelle, chair of Transparency International.

New Zealand ranks first, followed by Finland and Denmark. Somalia and North Korea (included in the index for the first time), are last.

Since 1995, TI publishes the CPI annually ranking countries "by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys. The CPI generally defines corruption as "the misuse of public power for private benefit."

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Nigeria deports 25 Chinese

About 25 Chinese with irregular resident permits have been sent packing by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

Comptroller General of Immigration, Mrs. Rose Uzoma, who disclosed this, while briefing the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs, also said about 400,000 foreigners were residing in the country.

Uzoma told the Senator Dahiru Kuta-led committee during a visit to the NIS headquarters in Abuja, that Nigeria was less attractive for foreign investors when compared to other African countries like Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Kenya.

She said: "You have heard so much about Chinese staying illegally in Nigeria, we do remove Chinese regularly. If we discover them we remove them, last week we removed 25 Chinese, we depot those who commit crimes.

"I am not saying that you cannot find one or two foreigners who are not living here on regular immigration status. But, again, there is no country in the world where you cannot find such people.

"Seeing foreigners on the streets of Nigeria does not mean that they are of irregular status. Most of them are legal residents. Distinguished Senators, there are not many foreigners in Nigeria. We have well over just 300, 000 legally resident in Nigeria in a population of over 160 million people.

"Those of us who travel, when you are coming back to Nigeria, I am sure you can count the numbers of foreigners in the aircraft. Nigeria is not yet a destination of choice. You see foreigners in Senegal, there are more in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya and other places' you see lots of tourists there."

The Comptroller General who also responded to the Senators' query on the rising incidents of human trafficking in Nigeria said the NIS is encumbered by inadequate staff and finance to tackle the menace.

She added that with about 23000 staff, the NIS cannot properly man the nations land borders, but added that the international airports have been properly upgraded to combat any attempt at trafficking.

"We have secured our international airports; it is very difficult for those people to go through the airport. But our land borders still remain porous. The strength of any security outfit depends on the strength men and logistics. If you secure the international airports, they will go through the land borders."

In his closing remarks, a member of the committee, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, echoed the chairman in commending the NIS, but added that the committee would ensure that the service adheres strictly to federal character principles.

This, he said, would create sense of belonging amongst all Nigeria, despite adding that it is not intention of the committee that merits and standard should be traded for federal character principle.

"Because of the crucial nature of your assignment, we do not want efficiency to be sacrificed for efficacy of federal character. If we are not efficient in our borders, we will be in trouble," Chukwumerije said.

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