By Moshood Adebayo and Gabriel Dike
Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, yesterday, declared era of crisis in Lagos State University (LASU) is over. Ambode assured that his administration was poised to reposition the institution.
Ambode, who is the visitor to LASU, spoke at the convocation ceremony of the university. He said as soon he assumed office; he set machinery in motion to restore peace in institution after a prolonged crisis.
The new Chancellor, Justice Adesola Oguntade, who was installed and presented with his staff of office by Ambode, also said “after the storm, we need to give peace a chance in LASU.’’ The governor, who commissioned several projects, including LASU Radio and buildings, said the repositioning of LASU by his administration was yielding results.
His words: “All we need in LASU is peace and every other thing will follow. My administration is committed to repositioning of LASU. Our vision for LASU is to make it one of the best in Nigeria and the world and also produce the next generation of leaders for the state and country.’’
Ambode informed the gathering, which included the Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Adebule, vice chancellors, traditional rulers, led by the Oba of Lagos, Wale Babalakin and Chief Kensington Adebutu, that he had increased the subvention of LASU as well as signed a new law raising the retirement ages for professors and non-academic staff to 70 and 65 years respectively.
Oguntade, however, appealed to staff and students to make LASU a worthy institution and shun crisis.
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Lanre Fagbohun, also gave credit to Ambode and council Chairman, Prof. Adebayo Ninalowo for the peace being enjoyed in LASU.
On the second day of the convocation ceremony, 2,947 postgraduate students were conferred with postgraduate diploma and masters. Fifteen others were awarded PhD in various fields.
Nigeria federalism fraudulent –Amosun
From Segun Olatunji, Abeokuta
Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, yesterday, declared the form of federalism being practised in Nigeria as fraudulent.
Against that backdrop, Amosun called for the implementation of the recommendations of the last National Constitutional Conference convened by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014.
The governor said this in Abeokuta yesterday when he delivered the 2016 Democracy Day lecture organised by the Ogun State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), which had the theme: ‘Democracy in Nigeria, the pains, the gains: Ogun example.’
He argued that when compared, resources allocated to the centre and the federating states were disproportionate, in spite of the fact that the states bear more responsibilities.
“The federalism enshrined in our constitution is an important area of our democracy. But, do we have a good federalism in Nigeria? What we have in Nigeria has been described as fraudulent federalism, because a federalism that put all the power, all the levy and all the money at the centre but put all the responsibility at the state is not a good federalism. Today in Nigeria, the Federal Government takes 74 percent of wealth of the nation, the 36 states and Abuja share 26 percent. But the states are given all the bureau agencies. So, there is pain. For example, Ogun State has 70 bureau agencies; most of these agencies require the state to support their activities financially…”
Represented at the lecture by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, Amosun noted that the past 16 years of democracy in Nigeria had not been without its pains and gains at the local government, state and federal levels of governance.
He, however, expressed hope that as Nigeria progressed; her democratic culture would continue to undergo refinement.
The governor appealed to Nigerians to endure the pains inflicted on them by the current economic hardship, assuring that their travails would soon be a past experience.