FG may bar unvaccinated Nigerians from government facilities by Deborah Tolu-Kolawole and Solomon Odeniyi

THE Federal Government may consider barring unvaccinated individuals from accessing government facilities, among other measures, if the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy being witnessed continues, The PUNCH has learnt. It was gathered, however, that the decision would only be taken if the government did not notice any significant improvement after the ongoing enlightenment and engagement across the country. Recall that the Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, had said the government might enforce the law against those who refuse COVID-19 vaccination. The Edo State Government had already started barring government workers without COVID-19 vaccination certificates from accessing government buildings. When asked on Friday if the Federal Government was also considering such step, the Secretary to the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Dr Mukhtar Muhammed, told The PUNCH it would be considered if it became necessary. Muhammed said, “We don’t have such plans but if it becomes necessary, it is something that can be considered. “There is a lot of mobilisation going on. We have community engagement in all the states where the communities and traditional leaders are engaged. “We will continue to persuade people through all available means to make sure that people would realise the need and take the vaccines by themselves. For now, there is no plan to do that.” Read Also Vaccination: Senate to probe maltreatment of Nigerian travellers in Ghana Compulsory vaccination ignites anger, revives debate on alleged COVID-19 funds embezzlement UK recognises vaccines administered in Nigeria, 4.6 million get jabs 1.6% fully vaccinated- NPHCDA Meanwhile, data obtained from the website of the NPHCDA on Sunday revealed that as of September 18, 2021, only 1.6 per cent of the over 200 million Nigerians had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. According to the NPHCDA, only 4,373,434 eligible citizens have taken their first dose of the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines, while 1,764,649 of the initial four million had taken their second doses. Shuaib added, “We will continue to monitor for side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines and as it is common with all vaccines, there have been reports of mild to moderate reactions. “This is normal with any vaccination. We are working with NAFDAC to keep a close watch on those who have been vaccinated for any unlikely case of serious adverse effect,” he said. As of September 18, 2021, no fewer than 201,630 confirmed cases had been reported in Nigeria with a total of 2,654 fatalities, with 190,288 cases discharged. PUNCH.

UNILAG crisis: What caused Babalakin/ Ogundipe faceoff ― Visitation Panel By Adesina Wahab

The face-off between the former Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, Dr Wale Babalakin, SAN, and the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, that rocked the university for some months last year has been attributed to the various interpretations given by both sides to the Procurement Act 2007 which led to conflicts in the areas of responsibilities of the Council and the management. This was contained in the 261-page report of the Visitation Panel set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to look into the affairs of the university from 2016 to 2020. The Panel, headed by the former Chief of Army Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai, also observed that another major area of disagreement was the interpretation of the University of Lagos Act 1967. The Panel, which also had as members Mr Olufemi Agunbiade, Mr Agele John Alufohai, Malam Abubakar Maikafi, Mrs Ogochukwu Rose Onuoha, Mr Umar Yahaya and Mr Ashafa Ladan, did not mention specific areas of the Procurement Act and UNILAG Act that caused the said disaffection. It, however, recommended that, “It is necessary to review and properly interpret the Procurement Act 2007 and the University of Lagos Act 1967 so as to avoid conflicting responsibilities and forestall the possibility of unhealthy rivalry.” While the panel commended the management and Council in some areas, it lashed them in certain aspects. For the management, the panel said only 10 out of the 29 income-generating units such as UNILAG Holding, UNILAG Consult etc were shown in the accounting books and called for the blocking of leakages in those areas. The IGUs generated N34 billion during the period under review. It also faulted the accounting software being used by the university and that the format of periodic budget performance report presented to the Governing Council has major deficiencies, adding that, “It lacks the critical aspect management information, performance review criteria, and presentation.” It lauded the management for giving the internally generated revenue of the university a boost, adding, “The leadership quality of the different organs had been laudable over time that has earned it national and international reputation with consequent ranking among the 1000 top universities globally until the 2018 crisis.” It also advised that the Governing Council should stick to its responsibilities as contained in the extant laws. On the total amount that accrued to the university between 2016 and 2020, the panel put the figure at N84.18 billion compared to N94.5 billion it got from 2011 to 2015. Allocation from the Federal Government was N53.25 billion, while the IGR was put at N28.93billion. Out of the money from the government, the sum of N46.8 billion was for overhead costs, emoluments, and others, leaving a huge gap in the finance of capital projects. The panel also faulted the inability of the university to meet the benchmark of the National Universities Commission, NUC, in the number of lecturers with doctorate degrees. While the NUC suggested that not less than 70 percent of university teachers should have P.hD, only 623 lecturers or 37 percent academic staff have the degree. Out of a workforce of 4,855, only 1,673 are academic while the rest are non-academic. Of the academic staff, 244 are professors, 188 are associate professors, 388 are senior lecturers, 292 are lecturers 1, 72 are graduate assistants, three are reader/ librarian among others. It appealed to the government to help the institution build up the capacity of its teachers. Vanguard News Nigeria

Is’haq Oloyede and the JAMB revolution, By Kunle Akogun

There is no doubt that since his appointment as the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) five years ago, Prof. Is’haq Oloyede has remained one of the most visible poster boys of President Muhammadu Buhari’s war against corruption. The reason is simple: The Professor of Islamic Jurisprudence and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin has so sanitised the operations of the tertiary institutions’ admission body in five years that it seems that the 44-years old Board had never been in any tangible operational existence before 2016! For this singular reason, his reappointment for another term of five years, announced on Friday, 20th August, did not really come as a surprise to many watchers of the great revolution going on in JAMB since August 1, 2016. Indeed, when his first tenure ended on July 31st, 2021, not a few discerning Nigerians openly canvassed his reappointment into the same office, if only to allow him consolidate on the unprecedented socio-economic revolution he initiated and sustained not only in JAMB but in any Nigerian public institution. For, which sane captain changes a winning team? In one of such altruistic advocacies, a former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Peter Okebukola, said that Prof. Oloyede’s first term in office has “been marked by unprecedented success”, having elevated the quality of university education in Nigeria by ensuring improved quality of candidates for admission into the university system. Prof. Okebukola added that with 82 innovations in JAMB, Prof. Oloyede should be allowed to consolidate the gains of the last five years and see to the completion of his ongoing programmes and projects. It is a thing of personal joy for those of us who know this erudite scholar intimately that Prof. Oloyede did not disappoint his teeming admirers since his appointment. Rather, he shamed the vociferous opposition to his well-merited appointment. Not only did he institute an enhanced welfare scheme for JAMB staff that greatly boosted their morale, Prof. Oloyede’s messianic tenure substantially restored the sanctity of the Board’s main mandate: the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME). And, as evident in all the five admission exercises he superintended, JAMB’s technology considerably improved, with high level of transparency and advanced networking. The scrapping of the traditional scratch card system for checking results is also another positive rebellion by this audacious JAMB helmsman. And the drastic reduction in the application fees is a serious relief to sundry admission seekers and their parents and guardians. But by far the most remarkable feat by any non-revenue yielding MDA in the country is the consistent remittance by Prof. Oloyede’s JAMB of whopping sums of money in billions of naira to the Federal Government coffers in each of the last five years. This is indeed praise-worthy, especially in a country where even some MDAs that were specifically and originally established to collect revenue for the government often turn round to ask the same government for extra-budgetary bail-outs to supplement their overheads! By this feat, Prof. Oloyede merely lived up to his well-known credentials of administrative acumen, financial discipline and legendary transparency in public service. An erudite Professor of Islamic Jurisprudence and the first ever Unilorin graduate to make a first class degree in the institution, Oloyede became a household name during his tenure as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, having largely succeeded in turning the second generation University into a world class institution. This, he achieved by dint of hard work, resilience, consistency, tenacity of purpose and unparalleled team spirit. Indeed, Prof. Oloyede’s trajectory has been a study in service excellence, administrative acumen, religious commitment to the achievement of set goals, and unapologetic insistence on fairness for all. This much has been duly acknowledged by dispassionate watchers of his profile since he emerged the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin in 2007, especially with his sterling track records of achievements. It’s no surprise, therefore, that many well-meaning Nigerians continue to harp on the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to renew the appointment of this modern Midas to consolidate the good job he has been doing in JAMB in the past five years. After all, he is statutorily entitled to two terms of five years each, subject to the wish of the President. At a point, however, there were reports that Prof. Oloyede appeared not to be too keen on doing a second term, as he was said to have insisted that he had made his mark and would like to yield the ground for other persons to be given the opportunity to serve the nation at the JAMB level. The veracity of this report could be gleaned from the swiftness with which he handed over the Registrar’s baton, without any prompting whatsoever from any quarters, to the available most senior Director at the nick of the expiration of his FIRST term! The common sit-tight scheming among Nigerian public officials does not seem to hold any attraction for him! His reappointment is, therefore, a very commendable masterstroke by the President. For, Nigeria still needs the services of this highly cerebral and effective public officer for another five years at JAMB to personally nurse the several ongoing innovations, which he initiated in the organisation to irrevocable and unabortable fruition. For instance, such initiatives as the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) for automation of admission process; the institution of Equal Opportunity Group for the conduct of the Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for Blind Candidates; the expansion of the capacities of CBT centres for standardization purposes; the introduction of E-Ticketing (for Complaints; the introduction of the Integrated Brochure and Syllabus System (IBASS) for prompt delivery of admissions requirements; the use of Biometric Authentication to confirm validity of registration, the introduction of E-slip printing; the introduction of management dashboard to monitor registration and admission exercise real time; the use of CCTV cameras in all CBT centres to monitor the examination and registration process real time; and exemplary funds management; as well as prudent and judicious use of JAMB’s financial resources, all need to be consolidated upon in order to avoid the incidence of the well-known Nigerian syndrome of policy summersault and programme discontinuity that often characterize the advent of any new administration in this clime. Kunle Akogun, a former group news editor at ThisDay Newspapers, is the director of corporate affairs at the University of Ilorin

Ishaq Oloyede: Snake charmer By Ray Ekpu

There are two tough positions in Nigeria’s public service whose incumbents deserve tons of public sympathy. The chairmanship of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is one of them. The other is the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). Politicians want to “win” elections at all costs so they use money and violence to get things to go their own way. Some parents want their children to get into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions by hook or crook so they and their children do anything fair and foul to secure admission. So the JAMB office is a yearly theatre of battle and whoever is the Registrar bears the brunt of that battle. Since JAMB was set up in 1978 as the sole examination board for tertiary level institutions, there has been plenty wahala principally for three reasons. One, there are more children eager to go into tertiary institutions than there are vacancies for them. Two, many of the students eager to get in do not qualify by JAMB’s examination standard to have a place. Three, as there are no facilities provided for remedial programmes for these under-achievers, the pressure on JAMB becomes almost unbearable. So why can’t the country provide a one year remedial programme for those who cannot get into tertiary institutions through JAMB? After one successful year they can get into the first year programme of the universities or polytechnics or colleges of education. I am not unaware of the fact that some universities offer one-year diploma programmes in some courses. Those who do well are promoted into the second year of that course. But you first have to be able to sell your mother into slavery to be able to pay the fees for such programmes. If you don’t have a mother or you have one that you do not want to sell into slavery or she is too old to be purchased as a slave, then I say to you “tough luck.” That is not the kind of programme I am referring to. I am talking of a year’s remedial programme that equips the student to be admitted into the first year programme of any of the universities. This means that the student who is unable to get into the university through JAMB can still get in through the remedial route. The only difference is that he has to put in one extra year to get there. Why is that not possible today? We used to have this programmes years ago. The answer is that in Nigeria we do things differently. That is why people get into the universities on ridiculously low cut off points. The good thing is that it is the universities that now have to decide on their cut-off points. The dregs will go into universities that do not have high standards while the brilliant ones will aim at the high-flying institutions. These are some of the complicated decisions that JAMB has had to contend with since its inception. One man who has faced these intractable problems with a great deal of courage, integrity and transparency is the current Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede. Oloyede, 66, is a thorough bred student of Arabic and Islamic Studies, having been trained in Islamic Studies in Agege, Lagos State, Offa, Kwara State and the University of Ibadan before he enrolled for a degree course at the University of Ilorin. In 1981 he was awarded a first class honours Bachelors degree in Arabic Studies. In July 1982, he was appointed an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Religions of the university. He went on to nick a Ph.D in Islamic Studies from his alma mater, University of Ilorin. During his student days he got several scholarships, prizes and awards as an attestation of his exceptional brilliance. Of course, his brilliance cannot be in doubt because Arabic, just as Mandarin or Russian uses its own peculiar alphabets, which are different from the regular alphabets that are used in the English-speaking world. Those hen-scrawls in Mandarin, Russian and Arabic look to me utterly undecipherable. How anyone could decipher them and still got a first class in it is a minor miracle. Arabic lacks the pin-point exactitude of mathematics or engineering so anyone who acquired a first class in it must have the attributes of a genius. It was no surprise that Oloyede rose like a meteor through the Unilorin university system to become a professor at 41 and the Vice Chancellor of that university at 52 years. He had also been chairman of the Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities. In 2015, he was appointed Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Fountain University. He is also Secretary General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. His tour of duty in various positions in the university system (he was also Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration as well as Academics) had amply equipped him for the JAMB job. And when it came he was ready for it. JAMB is a place where there is always a lot of bustle and brouhaha. There are crooks within the system, who want to corrupt and damage the system for their own selfish ends. There are also crooks outside the system who want to reap unmerited dividends from a corrupted and damaged system. They both work hand in gloves to bring JAMB to a place it does not deserve to be. That was the situation before Oloyede was appointed. Oloyede’s entry brought an electric spark to the place because he put smiles on the faces of the workers whose welfare he took care of. When he started remitting huge funds into the coffers of the Federal Government a blush of pleasure must have risen to President Muhammadu Buhari’s cheeks. Here are the figures: Between 2010 and 2016, JAMB remitted about N50.7 million to the Federal Government but in 2017 alone Oloyede remitted N5 billion, yes N5 billion, that is 10 times what was remitted by the preceding administration in six years. Let us look at more figures of remittances. In 2011, it was N11.5 million, in 2013 it was N25.3 million. According to the Accountant General’s office there were no remittances at all in 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016. But under Oloyede JAMB was turned into a cash cow. Between 2016 and 2020 Oloyede remitted a staggering N28 billion to the government eventhough during this period he had actually reduced the fee for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) from N5, 000 to N3, 500 in 2017. The impression that Nigerians got of JAMB before Oloyede’s arrival was not that of a possible moneyspinner. It was that of an organisation that needed to be pampered and bottle-fed by the government to do a difficult job that the nation wanted done for the good of all. However, when a former Registrar of JAMB, Professor Adedibu Ojerinde was arraigned on an 18-count charge of alleged fraud and alleged diversion of public funds to the tune of N5.2 billion the scales fell from our eyes. Even though the man is innocent and will remain innocent until convicted, most people never thought that there could be billions in JAMB that could be stolen without the place crashing like a pack of cards. Oloyede has proved that our public institutions can work if people of unimpeachable integrity manage them. JAMB was not set up as a money-making institution but Oloyede has brought top drawer quality to the management of its affairs and turned a near moribund institution into a thriving money-spinning enterprise. Other government organisations that were specifically set up as money-making enterprises but are gulping money certainly have questions to answer for their incompetence. Oloyede is said to have instituted about 80 innovations which have had the overall impact of blocking leakages, improving the central admissions processing system, curbing illegal admission by streamlining and standardising admission data and generally making JAMB more efficient than hitherto. This is not to say that JAMB is perfect. It is not. Many complaints still exist because JAMB is a human institution and it remains a work in progress. However, Professor Oloyede has brought unparalleled integrity, transparency and accountability to the management of the institution. He invites stakeholders in education and better society activists to JAMB’s meetings so that they can see, at close range, the range of problems he is dealing with, the methods of complaints resolution and he is willing to accept suggestions for the improvement of the institution. In the management of affairs in Nigeria’s public offices that is rare. That approach helps in fine-tuning ideas through interaction and it gives an inspirational impact to the organisation. It also puts the organisation at the cutting edge of educational admissions administration and makes it able to absorb new ideas and feedback from the viewing, critical public. Oloyede, a man of great courage did not allow himself to be encumbered by what has come to be known derisively as the “Nigerian factor,” the mean and obscene resort to unfair and unwholesome tactics in achieving results. That would have been the quest for worst practices. Instead he looked for innovations outside the system for examples of best practices. That is why JAMB seems to work. There are two things to remark about Oloyede. He is a muslim. He is a professor. Some Muslims in public office have failed Nigeria by stealing our money and mismanaging our diversity. Some professors have failed Nigeria by rigging elections or harassing female students for sex or male students for money. So Oloyede’s success has nothing to do with his religion or his professorial standing. He is just a good man because it is not the hood that makes the monk or the cassock that makes the priest or the turtleneck that makes the reverend. It is the integrity in him, that rare quality that made him to charm the snakes that were swallowing JAMB’s money before he took office. The snakes vomited the money and where they could not they were put in zoos where they cannot escape. That way he made JAMB’s money inaccessible to greedy snakes. © 2021 Guardian Newspapers

What makes eNaira different from money in your bank account by Victoria Edeme

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s eNaira website has gone live ahead of the October 1 official launch. According to the website, www.enaira.com, “eNaira is a CB -issued digital currency that provides a unique form of money denominated in Naira.” Find out what makes the eNaira different from the money in your bank account — according to the apex bank itself. What is eNaira? eNaira is a central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria as a legal tender. It is the digital form of the Naira and will be used just like cash. What is an eNaira wallet? The eNaira wallet is a digital storage that holds the eNaira. It is held and managed on a distributed ledger. The eNaira wallet is required to access, hold and use eNaira. Is eNaira wallet safe? Yes. The eNaira system uses a two-factor authentication system in addition to cryptographic encryption to ensure the safety of customers’ wallets and the eNaira holding. Read Also eNaira website goes live, displays CBN digital currency features e-Naira offers cheaper, fast remittance option, says CBN SEC defeat CBN to win 2021 financial institutions' football cup How are eNaira wallets created? For smartphone users, download the eNaira app (termed “Speed”) from either the Google Play Store or Apple Store and complete the registration process. For feature phone users, utilize USSD codes and follow the registration prompts. How do I connect my eNaira wallet to my bank account? The eNaira app allows customers to identify a bank of their choice, connect to their bank accounts and perform transactions. What makes eNaira different from the money in my bank account? eNaira is the digital form of the cash and is a direct liability on the Central Bank of Nigeria while the customer deposits are direct liabilities on the financial institutions. How do I resolve failed transactions or raise enquiries on eNaira? Reach out to the customer support of the bank you selected when registering for eNaira through their available channels which include: phone, email, whatsapp, etc. Disputes will be resolved as soon as possible. If issues are not resolved within 48 hours, send an email to CBN’s eNaira Customer Support via helpdesk@enaira.com What are the different tiers of eNaira wallets that I can open as an individual? These are different tiers of wallets and they include: September 2021 TIERS CATEGORY REQUIREMENT DAILY LIMIT CUMULATIVE LIMIT 0 No Existing Bank Account NIN verified telephone number 20,000 120,000 1 No Existing Bank Account 50,000 300,000 2 Has an Existing Account BVN + valid means of identification 200,000 500,000 3 Has an Existing Account Tier 2 requirement + public utility receipt 500,000 5,000,000

JUST IN: Jurors find R. Kelly guilty of all charges

Jurors in R. Kelly’s sex trafficking trial in New York said have found him guilty of sex racketeering, involving a scheme to recruit and sexually abuse women, girls and boys. He was convicted on all nine counts including violations of the Mann Act, which prohibits the transport of “any woman or girl” across state lines for any “immoral purpose.” He faces life in prison. The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about nine hours across two days before reaching their unanimous verdict, New York Post reported. Prosecutors had painted Kelly, 54, as a “predator” who used his fame and a cadre of employees to prey on young victims. “This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot,” Assistant US Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez said in her opening statement last month. Related News R. Kelly gave me herpes, I couldn't walk: Witness Jane Doe Jerhonda Pace: What R. Kelly did to me, T-shirt of semen tendered in court R.Kelly told me to lie I was 19: Jerhonda Pace now 28 “This case is about a predator,” she said. According to reports, the jurors began Monday by sending the judge a note asking for transcripts of testimony by two former Kelly employees and for a legal clarification. Deliberations first began on Friday, before the panel of seven men and five women took the weekend off. The 54-year-old Kelly had pleaded not guilty to the charges. Kelly is best known for the 1996 hit “I Believe I Can Fly”.

COVID-19: Protesters shut down Edo over compulsory vaccination by Adeyinka Adedipe

Members of civil society organisations and students on Monday took to major streets in Edo State to protest against the compulsory COVID-19 vaccination policy put in place by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration. The protesters, who grounded vehicular movement in the metropolis, carried placards bearing inscriptions as: ‘We need security in Edo, not vaccine’; ‘We will resist any form of executive rascality’; ‘Hunger is killing us, not COVID-19’; ‘Obaseki obey court order’; ‘My body is my right’; ‘Share COVID-19 palliative’. They also threatened to completely shut down government houses, government agencies/parastatals, corporate organisations enforcing ‘no vaccine, no entry’ policies, stressing that the protest of Monday was just a warning. Speaking at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Edo State Council, the coordinator of the Freedom Ambassador Organisation, Curtis Ogbebor, said they were out to express their displeasure over the compulsory vaccination in the state, noting that other pressing issues such as security should be the governor’s priority and not COVID-19 vaccination. He said, “We have come out today to send a warning and an advice for him to urgently withdraw that enforcement order. If he refuses to withdraw that order in 48 hours, we will mobilise to shut down the economy of the state. We cannot fold our arms and watch the act of illegality happen in our state. “There are issues of urgent concern like security which is enshrined in the constitution that the governor is under the law to secure the lives and properties of its citizenry. But as we speak, the governor is not concern about the security and welfare of the people. “As of now, no street light is working in Edo State; Benin-Auchi Road is not safe to travel on because of bandits, herdsmen and other criminal elements.” He urged the state governor to also focus on infrastructural development rather than enforcing COVID-19 vaccination. Also speaking on behalf of students in Edo, National Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Student and Youth Association, Osamudiamen Ogbidi, said students in the state reject the forceful COVID-19 vaccination. While noting that the protest was just a warning and that students would be mobilised to shut down the state, he said all other youths in the state also reject the compulsory vaccination.