Alumni Association of the
National Institute (AANI)

Constitution

1. Name
 The Association shall be known as the "Alumni Association of the National Institute" which name may, where appropriate, be abbreviated to AANI (herein-after referred to as the Association) and which office shall be situated at the Federal Capital, or any other place in the Federation, as the Association may, from time to time, decide.

2. Aims and Objectives
 The aims and objectives of the association shall be:

  • To promote the noble ideals of the National Institute especially as embodied in its motto "TOWARDS A BETTER SOCIETY"
  • To promote understanding, unity, brotherhood and co-operation among the alumni of the national Institute.
  • To strengthen the link between the Alumni and the National Institute.
  • To interact with other organisations or association, with similar aims and objectives.
     

3. Membership
All the alumni of the National Institute are deemed members of the Alumni Association: provided that a member may be suspended from participation in the activities of the association if his annual subscription fees, as provided for in section 15 of the constitution, shall remain unpaid for three calendar years of if he absents himself from three Consecutive Annual General Meetings of the Association without reasonable cause after he shall have received notices of the said meetings.

4. National Executive Committee
There shall be for the association in a national executive committee, which shall consist of all the persons holding elective officers under the provisions of section 7 of this constitution

5. Functions of the National Executive Committee

  • The National Executive Committee shall have overall responsibility for running the affairs of the association and may take all such lawful steps and actions as may be deemed necessary for the proper management of the association and the ultimate realisation of its aims and objectives.
     
  • The National Executive Committee shall have power to appoint such sub-committees as it thinks fit from among its members and shall be free to co-opt any member of the association to serve on any of the sub-committees.

6. Meetings of the national Executive committees
The members of the national executive committee may meet together once every three months for the despatch of any business, adjourn and otherwise regulate their meetings as they think fit.

  • The members of the National Executive Committee may meet together once every three months for the despatch of any business, adjourn and otherwise regulate their meetings as they think fit.
     
  • The President may and the Secretary-General shall on the requisition of three members, summon on emergency meeting of the national Executive Committee.
     
  • The quorum for any meeting of the national executive committee shall be five members.
     
  • If the President, the vice president and the Secretary-General are not present at any meeting of the National Executive Committee, the zonal chairman of the zone in which the meeting is being held shall preside at the meeting, but if the zonal chairman is not present, the members shall elect one of their numbers to preside at the meeting.


7. Officers of the Association
With the expectation of the zonal chairmen who shall be elected at the zonal meetings under the provisions of section 14(iii) of this constitution, the officers of the association listed below shall be elected once every 2 years at an annual general meeting of the association.  Officers whose terms of office expire shall be eligible for reelection but shall not hold the same office for more than two terms.

-Election of all officers shall be by secret ballot and the officers shall be:
a. The President
b. The Vice-President
c. The Secretary-General
d. The Assistant Secretary General
e. The Financial Secretary
f. The Treasurer
g. The Publicity Secretary and the Legal Adviser
h. The Legal Adviser

iii. The immediate two past Presidents of the Association shall be members of the National   Executive committee.

iv. No member of the National Executive Committee shall be involved in Partisan Politics.

8. Duties of Officers

 i. The President shall...
a. Cause the secretary to summon the general and special meetings of the National Executive Committee of the Association.

b. If present, preside over and direct all meetings of the National Association and the National Executive Committee and shall have a casting vote.

c. Protect and hold the constitution, and the rules and regulations of the Association.

d. Direct and supervise that affairs of the association in a manner that will projects its good image.

e. Represent the interest of the Association at all times when necessary or desirable and shall cause such interest to suitably represented.

f. Act on behalf of the Association in all cases of emergency where it is justifiable impossible to convene a meeting of the National Executive Committee: provided that all such actions shall be subject to the ratification of the national Executive committee.

g. Carry out such other functions as may be assigned to him by the Association or the National Executive Committee without prejudice to the duties of other officers.

ii. The Vice President shall...
a. Under the direction of the President, assist the president in his official duties and act for him in his absence.
b. Carry out any other duties as may be assigned to him from time to time by the President.

iii. The Secretary-General shall...
 a. Keep the minutes of the general meetings and of the National Executive Committee

b. Transact the routine and administrative business of the association.

c. Produce and submit to the annual general meeting for its ratification an annual report on the activities of the association for that year which report should have been previously considered by the national executive committee.

d. Carry out any other duties as may be assigned to him from time to time by the president, the national executive committee or the general meeting.

 iv. The Assistant Secretary General shall...
a. Under the direction of the secretary general, assist him in the performance of his official duties and act for him in his absence

b. Maintain an up-to-date register with addresses of members.

 v. The Financial Secretary shall...
a. be responsible for the collection of monies payable to the association either by individuals, groups of individuals, zones of the association or other organisations and bodies and shall issue receipts to the payers.  He shall, within seven days of collection, pay such monies direct to the Treasurer for payment into the bank Account of the Association, and in all cases obtain receipts for such payments.

b. Maintain an accurate account and up to date record of the financial transactions of the association.

vi. The Treasurer shall...
a. receive from the financial secretary or other sources all monies due to and make all payments due from the association.

b. Present the national Executive Committee quarterly surplus and deficit / Assets and liability statements of account.

c. Present a detailed statement of account to the annual general meeting of the association.

vii. The Publicity Secretary shall...
be responsible for publicizing the activities of the association and fostering its public relations in general.

viii. The Legal Adviser...
shall be responsible for giving legal advice to the association and performing such other legal services as he may be called upon to render by the association.

ix. The Zonal Chairmen shall...
be ex-officio members of the National Executive Committee but shall-none-the-less have full deliberative and voting rights as National Executive Committee members.

9. Vacation of office
The president may resign his office before the expiration of his tenure of office by giving three months written notice to the National Executive Committee. Any other officer may resign his office before the expiration of his tenure of office by giving two months written notice to the President.

10. Annual General Meeting
a. the annual general meeting of the association shall be held on the first Saturday of march each year.  The Secretary-General shall circulate the notice for such a meeting to all members at least 28 days before the date of the meeting.

b. The following business shall be concluded at the annual general meeting:

1. The annual report of the secretary general

2. The report of the accounts of the previous year

3. The election of officers and members of the national executive committee in accordance with the provisions and section seven of the constitution of the association.

4. The appointment of Auditors, and their remunerations.

5. Any other business notified to the Secretary General not later than two weeks before the time and date of the meeting.

c. Any member who wishes to place an item on the agenda of a general meeting may do so, provided he gives a written notice therefore to the secretary-general, not later than two weeks before the meeting is due to hold.

11. Emergency General meeting
The national executive committee may summon an emergency meeting of the association by giving twenty-one days notice to deal with any matter of importance affecting the interest of the association or relating to any of its aims and objectives.

12. Conduct of General meetings
 1. The quorum for all meetings of the association shall be thirty-five members.

2. If the president and the vice president are not present at any meeting of the association, the members present shall elect any of their numbers to preside at that meeting.

13. At an annual General meting of the Association, the president shall fill any vacancy / vacancies on the national executive committee, by conducting an election of new officers / officer to fill consequential vacancy / vacancies, which may rise after a duly constituted Annual general meeting.

14. Zones of the Association
1. The alumni of the association residing in the following sates of the federal republic shall be composed into zones of the association as follows:

Bauchi Zone

Comprising Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba and Plateau state

Enugu Zone

Comprising Anambra, Benue, Cross River, Imo, Enugu, Abia, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom State

Ibadan zone

Comprising Edo, Delta, Kwara, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, and Osun state

Kaduna Zone

Comprising Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, kebbi, Katsina and jigawa State

Lagos Zone

Comprising Lagos State

Abuja

Comprising Abuja, Kogi and Niger States

Provided that the Association at a general meeting shall have power to create more zones or merge existing zones as may be necessary.

ii. The alumni residing in each zone of the association shall, once every two years by secret ballot, elect a zonal committee to conduct the affairs of the zone.

iii. Each zonal committee shall consist of a zonal chairman, who shall preside over the meetings of the zonal committee, and such other officers as the zonal alumni shall deem fit to elect.

iv. Each zonal committee shall have power to regulate its own meetings and collect such dues and levies as shall be agreed at the meetings of its zonal alumni.

iii. The Association shall encourage the formation of state chapters under the zones set out in this section.

15. Finances of the Association
i. Each member of the association shall contribute such annual dues and such special levies as may from time to time be decided at the annual general meeting of the association.

ii. The association may also be financed through voluntary donations from its members or by special levies.

iii. The association shall in addition be financed through donations and pecuniary assistance from such other sources as may be approved by the National Executive Committee:  Provided that the association shall not accept donations or pecuniary assistance from political parties or foreign governments, power or sources.

iv. An account in the name of the association shall be opened with a reputable bank / banks in Nigeria either on a savings or current account or both.  All monies received for and on behalf of the association shall be paid into the association's account at the bank / banks.  The signatories to the account shall be two of the following current officers of the association, either the president and the treasurer or the secretary-general and the treasurer.

v. The financial year of the Association means the period of twelve months beginning in 1st January and ending 31st December.

16. Account and Audit
 The national Executive committee shall cause a true account to be kept of all sums of money received and expended by the association.  The account shall be audited annually by an auditor appointed by the association at a general meeting.

17. International Interaction
The association shall be free to interact with other similar International associations on invitation or application.

18. Infringement of the Constitution
Any member of the association who wilfully infringes or violates the provisions of this constitution or any rules or regulations made there under shall be dealt with according to such penalties as may be prescribed at the annual general meeting.

19. Amendment of the constitution
 The provision of this constitution may be amended at general meeting of the association by two thirds majority of the members present and voting:

provided that the notice summoning a meeting at which the amendment to the constitution will be discussed shall state that an amendment to the constitution would form an item on the agenda of the said meeting and also specify the section or sections intended to be amended and provide the amended daft to be substituted therefore.

Standing Orders
 Alumni Association of the National institute

1. All notices including amendments thereto shall have a mover and a seconder.  No discussion shall be allowed on any motion until it has been proposed and seconded.

2. After a motion has been moved and seconded, it shall then be opened to discussion and amendment.

3. Debates on any motion shall be limited to the immediate pending question, that is, the pending question as stated by the chairman.  The chairman, shall rule out of order any speaker failing to adhere to the subject of discussion.

4. The mover of a substantive motion shall have the right to reject or accept an ammendment.  A rejected amendment to a motion shall be put to the house only on the insistence of the mover of the amendment.

5. No other amendment may be discussed until the amendment under consideration shall have been disposed of.  It is however, permissible for notice of further amendment to be given during discussion of the new amendments until the original amendment shall have been put to the final vote.

6. The mover of an original motion shall have the right to reply at the close of the debate upon his motion.  When an amendment is moved, he shall be entitled to speak thereon in accordance with the procedure for the equalisation of debate, under which the procedure the mover of an amendment may also be allowed to reply at the close of the debate on his amendment.  No further discussion of the question shall be allowed once the question has been put by the chairman.

7. Discussion of a motion (including amendment thereto) may be curtailed in time by a procedural motion from the floor or by the chairman.  If the chairman intends to curtail the discussion however, he shall make clear how much time will be allowed.

8. No motion or amendment which has been moved and seconded may be withdrawn without the consent of a majority of the session.  Neither shall any addendum or rider be added to a motion which has once been stated by the chairman without the consent of the mover or majority of the session.

9. During discussion of a motion or an amendment thereto, the following motions are in order and may be accepted in the following order of precedence.

a. Motion withdrawing a motion.
b. Motion to adjourn
c. Motion to recess.
d. Motion to reverse a decision of the chairman (by two thirds majority of the members present and voting.
e. Suspension of standing orders or a clause of the constitution (by two thirds majority of the members present and voting.)
f. Motion to close debate
g. Motion that the motion be now put to vote.
h. Notion that the motion shall not be pt to vote.
i. Motion to limit or extend limitation of time of debate.
j. Motion to postpone consideration of a motion to a definite time.
k. Motion to refer to a sub-committee

10. A point of order shall be heard at all times except during the act of voting and shall deal with the conduct of procedure of the meeting and concern only on such matters as indecorum, transgression of standing orders, transgression of conference rules, and calling attention to the introduction of matters not relevant to the question under consideration.

11. If information is desired of a person holding the floor, he may decide whether or not he wishes to be interrupted at that time.

12. In debating on any question, each member shall have the right to speak, with the exception that no member who has already spoken on a question can make a second speech on the same question as long as any member who has not spoken on ha question desires the floor.  No member may speak for more than 10 minutes, at any one time, without the permission of the house.

13. When a motion for closure has been put forward and adopted, the chairman shall make a list of the members who may want to speak on condition that those members have not already spoken on the same motion.  Then the list shall be closed, and each speaker shall be allowed three minutes to speak.

14. It shall be in order to move a reconsideration of a resolution previously adopted during the current session, provided that such a motion is approved by two-thirds majority of the members.  The motion for reconsideration shall be moved by a member who voted with the majority opinion on the previous vote of the matter.

15. A resolution previously adopted may be rescinded only by a majority vote form all the members present and voting provided that the session shall have agreed to reconsider the matter.

16. As far as possible, the chairman shall equalise debate, for and against any motion or amendment.

NIPSS DECREE

 THE EXCERPTS FROM THE DECREE ESTABLISHING THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR POLICY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

DECREE NO. 20.  1ST JANUARY 1979

THE FEDERAL MILITARY GOVERNMENT hereby decrees as follows:

Establishment of National Institute
1. (I.) There is hereby established a body to be known as the national Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (hereinafter in this Decree referred to as "the institute") which shall have the functions assigned to it by this Decree.

(II.) The Institute shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and may sue or be sued in its corporate name.

2. 1.  The government of the Institute and the direction of its affairs shall vest in the board of governors of the Institute (hereinafter in this decree referred to as "the board").

2. Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), it shall be the responsibility of the board to consider and approve:

a. The long-range plan of activities of the institute.
b. The programme of studies, courses and research to be undertaken by the institute;
c. The annual budget of the institute and
d. The investment plans of the institute.

3. The board shall consist of a chairman to be appointed by the Federal Executive Council and the following other members, that is:
a. the chief of defense staff or other senior member of the arm forces;
b. the Director-general of the institute
c. an eminent economist
d. an eminent political scientist
e. the Adviser to the federal Government on Science and Technology;
f. Four persons to be appointed by the Head of the Federal Military Government, being persons who by reason of their ability, experienced or specialised knowledge of administration or of professional or business attainments are capable of making useful contributions to the work of the institute.

4. The Federal Executive Council may terminate the appointment of a member of the board (not being an ex-officio member) if satisfied that it is not in the interest of the institute that the persons concerned should continue in office.

5. The supplementary provisions contained in the Schedule to this decree shall have effect with respect to the proceedings of the board and other matters therein mentioned.

3. 1. The institute shall serve as a high level center of reflection, research and dialogue where academics of intellectual excellence, policy initiators and executors and other citizens of practical experience and wisdom drawn from different sectors of national life in Nigeria would meet to reflect and exchange ideas on the great issues of society, particularly as they relate to Nigeria and Africa, in the context of the dynamics of a constantly changing world.

2. For the purposes of subjection 1. Above, the institute is hereby empowered:
a. to conduct courses for top level policy makers and executors drawn from different sectors of the national policy with a view to expanding their outlook and perspective and stretching there conceptual capacity and qualities of discernment and analysis and thereby helping to improve their overall performance in their different fields of action.

b. To award certificates of attendance to those who participate in a sufficient and satisfactory manner in any of its courses.

c. To conduct seminars, workshops and other action-oriented programmes whether on a continuing or ad hoc basis for leaders in the public services (including the armed forces and other disciplined forces) the private sector, political organisations, professional and other groups with a view to promoting, defining and enhancing appreciation for long-range national plans and objectives.

d. To identify, encourage, stimulate, assemble, organise and help deploy to the best national advantage the country's intellectual talents and experienced policy analysts, who are likely to make positive contributions to the treatment of complex policy problems.

e. To organise and carry out, on an interdisciplinary basis in intellectual support of those charged with making the implementing policy for Nigeria, research in depth into the social, economic, political, security, scientific cultural and other problems facing the country, and to formulate and present, in usable form, available options for their solutions.

f. To disseminate by way of publication of books, records, reports or otherwise, information about any part of its activities, to the extent deemed justified by the board in the interest of the nation, and generally, as a contribution towards knowledge and for better national and international understanding and

g. To promote or undertake any other activity that in the opinion of the board, is calculated to achieve the purposes of the institute.

3. The institute shall carry out its tasks and responsibilities in an objective, non-partisan manner, independently of any group in the body politic.

4. The Institute shall establish and maintain a library comprising such books, records, reports and other publications as may be directed by the board for the advancement of knowledge in the areas of work undertaken by it, for research purposes and for other purposes connected with the functions conferred on the institute by or pursuant to this decree.
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