Category: Campus Life

Youths have been described as vanguards of progress and positive change agents in their respective communities if their boundless energies are well harnessed and directed.

This was the submission of former Chairman, Ondo State Teaching Service Commission, Prof. Francis Igbasan, while speaking as a guest speaker at the fourth annual lecture series of Ikale Youth Ambassadors, which held last Thursday at the United Grammar School, Ode Irele.

The event witnessed donations of over 1,000 branded exercise books to pupils of the school. The gesture was in honour of the Patron of the group,  a distinguished son of Ikale land and Vice Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun.

Igbasan in his lecture identified ages 15-35 as the most active segment of the youth and conceded that those above 35 years, but who share the ideas of a progressive society are also regarded as youths.

His words: “Youths represent a vast and often untapped resource for immediate and long term community development efforts. So, the youth constitute the major resource base for any country that want to embark on any meaningful community development programmes.

“A whole range of community development activities such as construction of bridges and culverts, schools, markets, music and drama, preservation of natural environment, vocational skill training seminars, membership empowerment and awareness raising campaigns, are some of the roles performed by youths.”

He cautioned that for youths to be effective agents of community development, they must adopt the concept of active participation, which makes them a subject rather than object of development. According to him, it also guides them to appreciate that success could be achieved when they participated willingly in their own affairs.

Igbasan also listed poverty, low level of awareness, illiteracy, unemployment, lack of cooperation among youths, lack of skills and opportunity as factors militating against the potential and effectiveness of youths in their community development efforts.

Speaking earlier, co-ordinator of the group, Mr. Olusola Bobola and secretary, Dr. Gbenga Daso, charged participants to see themselves as beacons of hope and agents of transformation in their communities. The duo noted that the era of absolute dependence on government is gone, adding that youths should position themselves as drivers of the emerging change in global developmental efforts.

The publicity secretary of the group, Mr. Seun Akindele, who gave the vote of thanks, appreciated the organisers for their support and cooperation.

Other speakers at the event called on the youth to rise-up to the challenge of contributing their quota to the socio-economic development of their communities.

The event also witnessed cultural dance and display by members of staff and pupils of the school, as well as members of the group and other guests.

An investigative reporter with Campus Life AROGBONLO Israel, has been announced winner of the Student Journalist of the year category at the annual MACOSA Award for Media Excellence in Kogi State University. The award committee assessed entries for accuracy, clarity, originality, creativity and unique delivery styles.

The event was held on Friday at the the Gruve Eatery, Kogi State University, Anyigba.

Commenting on his feat, Arogbonlo Israel who was dazed when he was named winner described the award as a: ‘rare gift in my lifetime’

He continued: “The road to journalism is really multitasking and time consuming but with efforts and dexterities, becomes so easy to trek upon. It has not been so easy to combine school activities with journalism as both are full of capacities which must be handled with care. I would like to dedicate this award to Mr. Ajetunmobi Ridwan Adewale (my boss) and to all my well wishers for making this day a dream come through.”

The committee chairman,  Ekundayo Dotun said the objective of the annual event was to encourage students to do quality journalism and urges other students to put more efforts in whatever they find doing in the course of their study.

Dr Dan Anyanwu has been inaugurated as the 12th Provost of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education (AIFCE), Owerri in Imo State.

Declaring the event open, Chairman of the occasion and former Provost of Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, Anambra State, Prof Josephat Ogbuagu, expressed delight over what he described as “smooth transition” of office.

Commending members of staff and students of AIFCE for their support to the outgone Provost, Prof Blessing Ijioma, Ogbuagu urged the college community to also render maximum support to Anyanwu’s administration.

According to him, the event marked an end of a glorious era and the inauguration of a new tenure of transformation in the institution.

Ogbuagu said: “Nigeria needs our collective efforts to move forward, and live her full potential. We will continue to pray that the labours of our heroes past shall never be in vain. This is to achieve a sustainable development with the rest of the world and become a home the future generation would be proud of.”

He continued: “For us in teachers’ education, the talk has always been quality, sustainable, and functional education. When you look at the world in general, you will agree with me that developed countries of the world thrive on quality education, which is the pillar of development, a key to industrialisation and societal growth. To achieve quality education is a task before all of us. It demands selfless contribution, mutual co-operation and teamwork.

The college Governing Council led by its Chairman, Alex-Hart A. said the occasion marked a new era in the history of the institution. Alex-Hart said he is optimistic that Anyanwu’s installation through a process that had been widely adjudged as fair and transparent would usher in a new beginning in the College. He described Anyanwu as one that would harmonise the college community as one family, in the quest to repositioning the institution.

In her valedictory speech, the immediate past Provost, Prof Blessing Ijioma, expressed gratitude to God for granting her a successful tenure. she thanked members of staff and students for their prayers and support throughout her tenure. She also listed her achievements while on the saddle, and prayed God her successor also succeeds.

In his remark, Anyanwu, sought a concerted efforts to drive the institution towards an Eldorado.

He said: “I will build on the legacies of my predecessors in AIFCE and with your cooperation we will take the college to an enviable height.

A non-governmental Organisation, Positive Force Forum, has brought youths together  for a leadership seminar in Modakeke Community of Osun State.

The seminar, which held at the weekend, began in 2018. It is in its second year.

Themed: “Effective and efficient political leadership”, the seminar held at St Stephens Government Middle School, in Modakeke. It focused on youth in political participation as well as leadership grooming.

The convener, Dr. Titilayo Ayotunde of Department of Demography and Social Statistics, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, said the gathering aimed to groom youth towards good governance.

Educated youths need to come back together to influence others. It is on this vision that I want us to come together. Politics is not just for experienced people. We also have our role in ensuring that normalcy is restored at the grassroots,” he said.

The guest speaker, Adebayo Abayomi, a professor of Economics at OAU, said the youth have a role to play in political leadership and other responsibilities to the community. To play this role, he enjoined them to be actively involved in political processes.

Abayomi said: “Leadership is key to direction and it is time we started highlighting the problem of our leaders. We have leaders, who do not have experience and it is time we all come in.

“To perfect change in this part of the world, we all need to get involved, and our orientation that politics is meant for some people must change,” he added.

Abayomi said the solution to the myriads of problems bedevilling the country is not increment in workers’ salaries, but failure of governments to properly manage the nation’s resources.

He said if resources are well managed, everyone at the grassroots would find good job and provide living for their families.

Corroborating Abayomi, former Chairman of Ife-East Area Office, Wale Amusan, said change in orientation should be from the grassroot to the top. “To have effective and efficient political leadership, we must start from the bottom to the top. We must all be involved. It is not right to say politics is meant for some people. It is for all of us,” he said.

Chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Fatai Kolawole, urged the youth to understudy the present leadership to prepare themselves for future leadership roles.

Kolawole, who is Osun State SUBEB Permanent Secretary, added that the future has already started for the present generation of youths.

Also presenting a paper titled: “Assessment of the leadership roles of political office holders”, Kolawole called on political office holders to fulfil their mandate with regards to the development of the country.

Some of the attendees expressed their desire to embrace grassroots politics.

What was he doing with the boxers of his colleague? A 100-level student of the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, could not answer the question when he was caught with the boxers and some charms. His fellow students, descended on him before help came his way, KAYODE ARIYO reports.

It was like a bolt from the blues. The missing underwear of a male student of the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti in Ekiti State were found in the wardrobe of his colleague.

This attacted anger from other students who  apprehended the suspect when he attempted to run away.

The incident, which occurred on Monday, threw the entire campus into pandemonium.

The stolen item belongs to the representative of Pace Setters Hall of Residence Comrade Akinola Ayomide, popularly known as Mayegun. The underpants were found with the accused with charms wrapped around it.

The suspect, identified as Tunde, but popularly known as Zacchaeus, is a 100 level English Language student. He had allegedly left the campus for some days only to return to meet his waterloo.

Our reporter gathered that many students   claimed Zacchaeus is an internet fraudster, also referred to as yahoo yahoo, due to his questionable lifestyle.

Earlier, according to some students, Zacchaeus had boasted to his friends that he would buy a car before the end of the year.

One of the residents of the hall, Oseni Michael, told our correspondent that the suspect had joked to his roommates that he could use them for ritual, adding that they underestimated his ability.

“There were times we had complained of missing underwear. But since we usually find them afterwards, no one suspected anything,” Oseni added.

Luck, however, ran out on Zacchaeus on Monday afternoon when he was found with a male underwear with some fetish items wrapped around them in Zaccheus’ wardrobe.

“We didn’t trust Zaccheus from the beginning.  Lately, he has been singing around that he will purchase a car before the end of this year. One of us, who kept his piano in the wardrobe, wanted to take it out when he, unfortunately, saw the calabash hidden inside the wardrobe. On checking it, he found the male underpants of Mayegun. He was able to recognise it because the male underpant has a hole. Mayegun had complained that the underpant had loosened and become too big for him before it disappeared. He called on us and we saw the boxer along with schnapps and other fetish items wrapped around it. When we searched the wardrobe further, we discovered two other underwear.

“This provoked other residents of the hostel who resorted to demonstration. The angry students descended on Zacchaeus and almost beat him to a pulp. Zacchaeus was on the verge of being set ablaze when he was rescued by the porters in the residence, who immediately got in touch with the Director of Students’ Affairs, who in turn, called the security personnel.

“The Directorate of Students’Affairs, the security personnel, and student representative bodies immediately rushed, to the scene  to control the situation.

In his reaction, Mayegun expressed shock at the situation.

He said: “I went to town yesterday and on my way back, I saw one of my friends who pointedly told me: ‘You have been used’. I couldn’t understand this until I was taken to the room of Zacchaeus where I saw my underwear in a kind of calabash along with schnapps and some fetish items wrapped around it. I could hardly wait for Zacchaeus’ arrival and I asked him how my underwear got to his wardrobe along with those charms. He tried to escape, but we chased and grabbed him,” he said

Mr Charles Egunjobi, the DSA, described the incidence as ‘unbelievable and unexpected’, promising that management would treat the matter with  despatch.

He said: “This is really unusual of the school,” Mr Egunjobi said.

The management has issued a directive that the guy should be handed over to the police. As you can see, the police from the Ikere-Ekiti Area Command are here.

“Next time, when students are involved in a situation like this, I expect them find a lasting solution through non-violent means. The students aren’t supposed to make a noise or take laws into their hands,” Egunjobi further counselled.

The Students’ Union Government (SUG) President Afolabi Henry; and Speaker Lawal Qomorudeen, Nigerian Universities Engineering Students Association (NUESA) President-elect,Comrade Olakitan Stephen and other students’ condemned the barbarous act.

They implored their colleagues not to engage in violence as no one could predict the outcome of such  action.

Afolabi said: “The tension when I got here was high. We had to call on the security unit and the (police) Area Command.The students should desist from putting their names, that of the school, and other people into jeopardy. No matter what, things should be done according to the law. Violence will only create more problems. We assure students, we will do our best to ensure justice. This will serve as a note of warmning to all students.

Olakitan also sued for calm.

“It’s really incredible,” Olakitan said in shock. “If this could happen in students’ environment, this shows how desperate people can be. Zacchaeus’ action calls for serious beating, but I will just urge the students to be calm and let the appropriate authority take it up. The students leaders will follow up the case and ensure justice for all,” he pleaded.

Olowokere Joshua, one of the students, who reside in the hostel, attested to Zacchaeus’ ability to commit such atrocity.

“He can do it. He took someone’s underwear last week and returned it after two days, claiming he was only joking with him and that he just pitied him,” he alleged.

Another student, who simply identified himself as David, added: “He is a 100-Level student of English. He has not sat for any exam this semester. He is a traditional guy. He spends all his money on charm and often threatens to harm others metaphysically whenever he’s offended.”

Attempts by our correspondent to speak with the suspect were not successful, no thanks to the angry mob. Eventually, and at the instance of the management, the suspect was whisked away amid students hurling stones at the police van.

We are in the season of inflamed emotions and less rational thoughts, you notice this whenever elections are by the corner. It is therefore not unusual that the state of the nation often tops the agenda whenever you see Nigerians gather together. The question that often pops up in such gatherings is ’how did we get here and how do we forge ahead?’ For me, one fundamental quotient is missing – critical thinking. We all need to imbibe critical thinking techniques. With it, we will be able to separate facts from opinions, examine an issue from all sides and make rational inferences devoid of biases.

This makes rational critical thinkers the voices of reason in times of mass hysteria or panic. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”  The critical thinker usually has the comprehensive skills to consider all possible options toward solving a problem. He often remains calm and knows when he is right. Critical thinkers are less likely to fall for scams or tricks because they approach everything with a healthy amount of scepticism. Those who lack critical thinking skills often assume that everything they hear is true, regardless of the source.

Socrates, it was who set the agenda for the tradition of critical thinking. Simply put, it is to reflectively question common beliefs and explanations, carefully distinguishing those beliefs that are reasonable and logical from those which – however appealing they may be to our native egocentrism, however much they serve our vested interests, however comfortable or comforting they may be – lack adequate evidence or rational foundation to warrant our belief.

Socrates’ practice was followed by the critical thinking of Plato (who recorded Socrates’ thought), Aristotle, and the Greek skeptics, all of whom emphasised that things are often very different from what they appear to be and that only the trained mind is prepared to see through the way things look to us on the surface (delusive appearances) to the way they really are beneath the surface (the deeper realities of life).

From this ancient Greek tradition emerged the need, for anyone who aspires to understand the deeper realities, to think systematically, to trace implications broadly and deeply, for only thinking that is comprehensive, well-reasoned, and responsive to objections can take us beyond the surface. Can anyone question the fact that we need deep thinking in Nigeria?

Francis Bacon, in England, was explicitly concerned with the way we misuse our minds in seeking knowledge. He recognised explicitly that the mind cannot safely be left to its natural tendencies. In his book “The Advancement of Learning,” he argued for the importance of studying the world empirically. He laid the foundation for modern science with his emphasis on the information-gathering processes. He also called attention to the fact that most people, if left to their own devices, develop bad habits of thought (which he called “idols”) that lead them to believe what is false or misleading.

He called attention to “Idols of the tribe” (the ways our mind naturally tends to trick itself), “Idols of the market-place” (the ways we misuse words), “Idols of the theater” (our tendency to become trapped in conventional systems of thought) and “Idols of the schools” (the problems in thinking when based on blind rules and poor instruction). His book could be considered one of the earliest texts in critical thinking, for his agenda was very much the traditional agenda of critical thinking.

By virtue of what they stand for, higher institutions are supposed to be the pillar of critical thinking, this is the major reason research is a fundamental part of all studies. But the way things are presently, you have your answer if you attempt to measures the products of our higher institutions. I don’t have to stress this as I assume we are all too familiar with the state of education in the country.

Let’s start from the area of pitching one ethnic group against another. There are stereotypes about almost all ethnic groups in Nigeria. Right from as long as we can remember, we are told to beware of certain ethnic groups because “that’s the way they behave.” We grow up not questioning these stereotypes and when we assume positions of leaderships they are already etched in our minds and difficult to ignore. But a critical thinker will judge people based on their character and not ethnic group.

What about infrastructure? Currently, government at all levels in Nigeria concerns itself with the building of infrastructure. Let me state from the onset that I’m a firm believer in world class infrastructure because they make our modern existence easy. But the big question remains: while we concentrate on infrastructure, should we continue while the moral firmament of the country is tattered? Of course, the building of infrastructure is laudable, but it is only a matter of time, of course, that children who do not understand the value of hard work will destroy whatever physical structure that we build today.

As we build infrastructure let’s not forget that we need to ‘build’ the people that would appreciate and value the infrastructure and literally ‘own them.’ These set of informed citizens are ‘built’ through the educational system to be critical thinkers. To this end, they are taught to consider all options before they act. If time is an important factor, they consider the fastest method of achieving a goal. They may even discover a shortcut. Critical thinkers embody the phrase “work smarter, not harder.” They are masters of efficiency.

A critical thinker has the self-awareness to know the difference between a rational thought based on careful consideration and an emotional response based on personal bias. Emotion is the enemy of reason. By understanding his own perspective, he can also consider the perspective of others and come to a conclusion based on fact, not feelings.

From solving problems to facing real world situations, critical thinking is a valuable skill for students, and eventually citizens, to master because it teaches a variety of skills that can be applied to any situation in life that calls for reflection, analysis and planning.

It is also a domain-general thinking skill imbuing in us the ability to think clearly and rationally in whatever we choose to do. If you work in education, research, finance, management or the legal profession, then critical thinking is obviously important. I must add that critical thinking skills are not restricted to a particular subject area. Being able to think well and solve problems systematically is an invaluable asset for any career.

For instance, it is very important in the new knowledge economy. The global knowledge economy is driven by information and technology. One has to be able to deal with changes quickly and effectively. The new economy places increasing demands on flexible intellectual skills, and the ability to analyse information and integrate diverse sources of knowledge in solving problems. Good critical thinking promotes such thinking skills, and is very important in the fast-changing workplace.

Critical thinking also enhances language and presentation skills. Thinking clearly and systematically can improve the way we express our ideas. In learning how to analyse the logical structure of texts, critical thinking also improves comprehension abilities and promotes creativity. To come up with a creative solution to a problem involves not just having new ideas. It must also be the case that the new ideas being generated are useful and relevant to the task at hand. Critical thinking thus plays a crucial role in evaluating new ideas, selecting the best ones and modifying them if necessary

More than at any other time, we need critical thinkers because it is crucial for self-reflection. In order to live a meaningful life and to structure our lives accordingly, we need to justify and reflect on our values and decisions. Critical thinking provides the tools for this process of self-evaluation. In the same vein, it is the foundation of science and a liberal democratic society. Science requires the critical use of reason in experimentation and theory confirmation. The proper functioning of a liberal democracy requires citizens who can think critically about social issues to inform their judgments about proper governance and to overcome biases and prejudice.