BusinessDay 22 Oct 2017

Sunday 22 October 2017
C002D5556
BD SUNDAY 19
Focus
9 days to go: Will FG meet ASUU’s conditions?
MABEL DIMMA
It is just nine days to the end of the
month and expiration of the ultimatum
issued by the Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU), to the
Federal Government to meet the six
new conditions it rolled out. Lecturers,
parents and students alike are watching the
development with bated breath. And the
question on their lips is, “will this present
administration of President Muhammadu
Buhari finally put to rest the imbroglio between
ASUU and the government?”
The union, which embarked on an industrial
action on Monday, August 14, 2017,
accused government of failure to redeem
the terms of agreement signed in 2009 and
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) endorsed
by both parties in 2012.
The action, which lasted five weeks,
one of the shortest in the country’s history,
was called off as a ‘conditional suspension’
to give the Federal Government time to
implement what was contained in the
memorandum of action the two parties
entered into.
There were several meetings between
both parties. The last meeting with ASUU,
led by Prof. Abiodun Ogunyemi, its national
president and Senator Chris Ngige,
minister of labour and employment, who
led the Federal Government team was
meant to last for an hour, but both parties
ended up negotiating for almost four hours
before any agreement was reached the
various contending issues.
After the meeting, Ogunyemi said in
event the government in her characteristic
nature failed to implement the agreement,
the union will not hesitate to take appropri-
ASUU Leaders
ate action and that all the items on the list
had a time line.
The union went ahead to issue a statement
which read in part: “After an elaborate
and extensive consultation process,
the National Executive Council (NEC) of
ASUU has agreed to conditionally suspend
the on-going action, taking into cognisance
that major proposals from government
to address the contending issues in the
strike action has a deadline of the end of
October, 2017.
“As a Union of intellectuals, ASUU shall
not relent in confronting all human and artificial
barriers to a transformed university
education for the betterment of Nigerians
and our dear Nation. For us, this may be a
life-time project. We owe it to prosperity,
for the sake of our children and their children’s
children.”
After the said meeting, Ngige said all
the grey areas had been sorted out and an
agreement reached and that the content of
the agreement was taken from the series
of meeting with the union since the commencement
of the strike. He said members
of the union had insisted that they were
tired of having agreements which were
never implemented
Ngige also said that both the government
and the union understood themselves
and agreed in several issues, and
thus gave his assurance that the agreement
reached will be implemented by the gov-
ernment in line with available resources.
According to reports, the areas of agreement
include funding for revitalization of
public universities and the issue of Earn
Academic Allowances; the issue of University
Staff Schools and the implementation
of the judgment of the National Industrial
Court; National Universities Pension Management
Company; and guidelines for pension
matters for Professors.
Ngige said the union agreed to the
exemption offered by the government
regarding the TSA, which include the issue
of grants, endowment fund as well as
salary short fall which he said is already
being implemented by government. On
the issue of state universities, he said they
agreed that the union will submit a position
paper to the federal government on their
observation with a view for government to
advise state government on the funding of
state universities.
He described the union as patriotic
members of the society, pointing out that
anybody who demands better working
equipment is no doubt a patriot.
While the expiry date is round the
corner, parents, students and several
other affiliate unions pray that the federal
government will make good its promises
in order to avert another such protest with
universities shutting down for several
weeks.
Meanwhile since the agreements
were reached and the industrial action
called off, and initial statements
made, nothing else has been heard
from both parties. There are talks in
some quarters that the deal is still
on; probably government is taking
its time to come out with something
worthwhile.
Aishah Ahmad: Coming to the party with class and competence
HASSAN UMAR
As the world awaits the response of
the Senate to President Muhammadu
Buhari’s request for the
confirmation of Aishah Ahmad’s
appointment as a Deputy Governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), it has become
necessary to revisit and address the misplaced
objections that greeted the appointment.
Our society is fast becoming a corridor
of contradictions. In one breath, we want
the young to rule, in another we see them
as too young to rule. In one breath, we want
women in office, in another; we see them
through the limiting prism of religion. It will
be a tragic disservice to this great nation if
the Bukola Saraki-led Senate cannot rise to
the occasion and place merit above any other
consideration. The Senate must do us proud
by focusing on nothing but Aishah’s technical
and leadership competence.
What needs to dominate the debate by the
Senate should be whether Aishah Ahmad has
the technical knowledge of the task ahead of
her. A cursory look at her profile shows that
she perhaps has a deep knowledge of the
assignment.
Ahmad, a holder of Master of Science,
M.Sc degree in Finance & Management from
the Cranfield School of Management, United
Kingdom (2006-2007) and a Master of Business
Administration, MBA in Finance, University
of Lagos (1999-2001), was the Executive
Director (Retail Banking) at Diamond Bank Plc
before her appointment.
Having obtained her bachelor’s degree in
Accounting from the University of Abuja,
Ahmad has progressed to become a globally
recognised investment analyst and portfolio
manager, being a Chartered Financial Analyst
(CFA) and a Chartered Alternative Investment
Analyst (CAIA).
With about 20 years’ experience in investment
banking, retail banking, wealth
management, as well as consulting and financial
advisory, Ahmad is a thorough-bred
professional with an enviable track record
as a creative, versatile expert in finance,
banking and capital markets. She is known
for enhancing the value of institutions and
driving exceptional business performance; an
evidence she possesses abilities that make her
a perfect fit for the role of Deputy Governor
at Nigeria’s Apex bank.
In her previous role as the Head, Consumer
Banking at Diamond Bank, Ahmad was responsible
for strategic retail products and
customer segments such as consumer banking,
retail assets, private wealth management
and bancassurance, and was accountable for
a customer base of over 7 million.
Prior to joining Diamond Bank, Ahmad
worked with global financial institutions such
as Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, a member of Standard
Bank Group, where she was responsible
for Standard Bank’s private wealth business
in West Africa. She also worked with Bank
of New York Mellon (UK), NAL Bank Plc and
Zenith Bank Plc.
The position also requires leadership and
people management skills. Ahmad will not
only be managing numbers, she will also be
managing people. She serves as the Executive
Council Chairperson of Women in Management,
Business & Public Service, WIMBIZ; a
reputable non-governmental organisation in
Sub-Saharan Africa peopled by women who
have excelled in their different callings in life.
What this means is that at 41, Aishah Ahmad
has had the rare privilege of leading a number
of female CEOs, female and entrepreneurs and
outstanding women of diverse callings.
Aishah Ahmad
Under her leadership, WIMBIZ has reached
several heights such as holding its first international
conference themed ‘Breaking New
Frontiers in Accra, Ghana, and launching
‘The Big Sister Programme’ a volunteer-based
grassroots female empowerment initiative,
which has benefitted over 2,000 girls across
30 schools in three states of Nigeria.
Ahmad is credited with conceiving and
helping develop the WIMBIZ mobile application,
an online platform for global female
engagement. With Ahmad at the helm of
affairs, WIMBIZ has seen more awareness
of its many initiatives, and its position as the
foremost female-focused NGO for women in
careers, business and public service has been
strengthened and there has been a significant
improvement in the diversity and attendance
rates of its programmes.
She serves on the board of SOS Children’s
Villages Nigeria, a global initiative for disadvantaged
children; and as a Steering Committee
Member for Cherie Blair Foundation’s
Technology for Growth project, a groundbreaking
learning intervention programme
for female entrepreneurs developed in conjunction
with Enterprise Development Centre
(EDC) at Lagos Business School.
At the top echelon of any organisation,
the ideal candidate must have more than the
technical knowledge of the business. He or she
must have leadership and people management
skills. Ahmad appears to have had these skills
tested within and outside the banking hall.
Born October 26, 1977, Ahmad, who is
married to Brigadier Gen. Abdullah Ahmad
(Rtd), with who she has two sons, has over the
years shown competence and commitment
in the areas of finance and socioeconomic
development.
In all, it’s rather preposterous that some
have questioned Ahmad’s appointment on
the basis of her age. At 41, Ahmad is older than
39-year-old French President, Emmanuel
Macron, and the 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz,
the former foreign minister, who was recently
elected Chancellor in Austria. Like these
world leaders, Ahmad has done enough to
deserve the position to which she has been
appointed.
It now behooves the Senate of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria to complete the process
that would avail the CBN the services of
Ahmad, who brings with her: youthfulness,
vigour, experience and leadership to the serious
business at the apex bank.
Umar is a public affairs analyst