The consultant in charge of the staff promotion examinations of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), who is also the Head, Department of Theatre and Cultural Studies, Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK), and former President of Society of Nigerian Theatre Artists (SONTA), Professor Emmanuel Dandaura has assured candidates that wrote the Institute’s 2015 staff promotion exam that, each of them would get the grades they deserve.
Speaking to NICO News shortly after the exercise, which took place on Thursday, 29th January at the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), Kubwa-Abuja, Professor Dandaura disclosed that this year’s NICO promotion examination had a twist from the previous years.
According to him, the twist was informed by the need to test the candidates’ knowledge of issues in the public domain, especially the political arena as well as ensure that staff of NICO were abreast of current affairs, topical issues and the Presidential System of government which is practised in Nigeria, stressing that the only way to do that was to ask one or two questions in that regard.
His words: “This year, what we did was to ensure that we reflect current trends; because as a staff of NICO, you ought to also be abreast with current affairs. We also thought we should test the candidate’s knowledge on laws that are still topical, like the Freedom of Information Law. The political atmosphere is charged with issues in the public domain and so, we thought we should also ask one or two questions that will test people’s knowledge on the presidential system of government as well as their knowledge on how the legislature works and the place of NICO within the entire administrative structure.”
He however argued that NICO staffers should not just be good cultural officers but those that were aware about what was happening on both the administrative structure and also the larger society in general, adding that his commitment of an atmosphere of fairness to every candidates who wrote the exam was sacrosanct.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary, Dr. Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma, while welcoming staffers, expressed satisfaction based on the fact that the exercise was taking place in January as against what obtained in the past, as he encouraged the officers to concentrate on the questions that had been set and to do their best in order to pass the promotion exercise.
Ayakoroma, who is also a Visiting Associate Professor to Nasarawa State University, Keffi, further disclosed that the examiner’s decision on the exercise was final because he was solely responsible for setting questions, marking the scripts and computing the promotion results.
The NICO boss reiterated that the Institute would not condone any form of cheating in the exams, and that, Management staff had always been neutral and should not be held responsible for the success or failure of any staff; rather, what determined the promotion of any candidate has always been the candidate’s performance irrespective of the 20% continuous assessment.
Candidates that took part in the written exam were grouped into three (3) categories: level 3-5, 6-10, and 11-15, having eight (8) officers, one hundred and twenty-seven(127), and six (6) officers, respectively, totalling one hundred and forty-one (141) staff.
Directors present at the 2-hour promotion exercise included, Barr. Abayomi Oyelola, mni (Admin & HR), Prince Bamidele Olusa (Research & Documentation), Mr. Godson Ordu (Accounts & Finance), Mr. Louis Eriomola (Lagos Liaison Office), Mrs. Bridgette Yerima (Training School), and Mr. Alex Omijie (Orientation & Cultural Affairs).
Njideka Dimgba
Corporate Affairs Unit
NICO, Abuja-FCT