The Nation Newspaper

Category: Campus Life

  • Nile varsity training 70 students

    The International Climate Change Development Initiative, through her SDGs4Universities programme, trained 70 students of the Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja Wednesday last week.

    The programme which held at the Conference Hall of the University exposed the students to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework and how to take innovative actions in their local community that promote the 17 goals.

    Director of Student Affairs, Nile University, Mrs Fausat Aleshinloye, said the institution welcomed the training as a platform to empower its students to do more in their communities.

    “We believe the Sustainable Development Goals will expose our students to understand how they can make social impacts beyond educational knowledge, as well as, interact with other young people doing amazing things in their communities. Our university will always welcome opportunities like this that helps us to amplify our efforts towards sustainability and sharing best practices to inspire students to implement their own plans.”

    In a presentation at the SDGs4Universities, Semiye Michael, one of 2018 United Nations Goalkeepers and co-founder of DEAN Initiative shared some of his solution-based actions towards driving the SDGs in Nigeria with the students.

    Another speaker, Rita Idehai, explained how students could identify some social challenges prevalent in Nigerian universities and measures they could take to solve them.

    Rose Keffas, a special adviser to Princess Adejoke Adefulire, the Senior Special Assistant to the President Muhammadu Buhari on the SDGs inaugurated a 20-man SDGs Ambassador group who would undergo further training on ways to advance the SDGs in the university, demanding accountability from government and creating solutions to social challenges.

    SDGs4University project coordinator, Olumide Idowu, said the project would expand to other universities.

    “We are taking this project to many other universities across Nigeria to promote knowledge and action about the Global Goals among young people in universities across Nigeria – private and public,” he said.

  • FUOYE students allegedly evicted from apartment without notice

    Some FUOYE students have allegedly been evicted from their respective apartments without the expiration of their rents and due notice.

    As a result of the growing population of admitted students and the insufficient hostels to accommodate them, returning students living in the host community often face hike in house rents and sometimes possible eviction without due notice. This is the case of many students, UCJ FUOYE gathered.

    Speaking to UCJ FUOYE, a victim identified as Jegede, a returning students of Theatre and Media Arts, narrated how his rent skyrocketed to 200,000 from 120,000 and was evicted from his three bedroom apartment with his friends while their rents haven’t expired nor served a quit notice.

    He said: “Our landlady called around December and told us our house rent has been increased from 120,000 to 200,000 and we pleaded with her to reduce it but she didn’t. Meanwhile, she didn’t fix our borehole and light as promised while we were living in the house. And we told her we can’t rent the apartment for 200k. On resumption in January, our loads have been packed out without the expiration of our house rent that will be due on January 27, 2019. Now, I am without a home to stay”.

    To confirm this purported claim all efforts of reaching the landlady were unsuccessful as at the time of filling this report.

    Also Bolaji Israel, a 300 level student of History & International Studies, narrated how his landlord increased his house rent exorbitantly and told him to pack out on the day his house rent expired without serving him three months quit notice as required by the tenants and landlord law of Nigeria.

    When the university’s PRO, Mr. Godfrey Bakji, was contacted in a bid to know what the school management is doing about this latest development, he said, “I don’t have any cogent information as regard that as I speak. I am outside Oye when I get there I will sample two or three opinions and get back to you on developing stories. Some of them might be evicted because of the increment in house rent”.

    Also, speaking to UCJ FUOYE, the Students Union Vice- President, Adeleye Adedapo, expressed displeasure over the issue and blamed the landlord for ignorance about the law.

    However, it’s pertinent to note that illegal eviction of a tenant from an apartment is punishable under section 401 of the criminal code: cap c 16, laws of Ekiti State 2013.

  • 47 years after, PTI to award degree

    •Matriculates 1,896

    Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State is set to award Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.), its Principal/Chief Executive Officer Prof. Sunny Esayegbemu Iyuke, has said.

    He broke the news during this year’s combined matriculation for full time and School of Industrial Continuing Education (SICE) as well as part-time students for this academic session.

    The proposal, he said, would be presented soon to PTI’s Governing Council, and the National Universities Commission (NUC) for approval.

    He noted that though 2,800 candidates applied for admission for Higher National Diploma (HND), National Diploma (ND) and Certificate Programmes for the 2018/2019 Session, 1,896 candidates were admitted.

    Iyuke, who  said the PTI was established 47 years ago as a hub petroleum studies, urged the students to strive for academic excellence and project the good brand, the institute had built. He advised them to abide by the school’s rules, warning that infractions would be punished. He listed these as exam misconduct, certificate forgery, stealing, physical and sexual assault, cultism, drug peddling and smoking of Indian hemp on campus.

    Iyuke said: “No student should take laws into his or her hands. Any student caught or involved in unlawful protest or assembly on campus is deemed to have breached the matriculation oath; and the consequences will not be palatable. Management has zero tolerance to these social vices.

    “However, if there is any cause for complaint, please channel them through the approved channel of communication. I assure you that management will address all genuine complaints within the institute’s rules and regulations.

    “Finally, Management encourages students’unionism whose leadership is expected to partner with management to achieve the institute’s vision, mission and goals. In the words of Vincent Lombard, ‘The achievements of an organisation are the result of the combined effort of each individual’. Let us contribute our quota to the development of the Petroleum Training Institute.’’

    He said the institute would provide them with the enabling environment to make their stay conducive, adding that hostels had been renovated, street lights, electrical and plumbing fittings provided.

    On power supply, he announced that the institute had reduced electricity bills drastically from N16million to N6million, urging the students to minimise power use.

  • Music and social change (IV)

    As I conclude this series on the impact of music on social change, it would be imperative to look at yet another genre of music that impacted my generation and acted as a catalyst for understanding poverty and social justice. This genre is soul music. Soul is a form of urban black popular music, derived from rhythm and blues of the 1950s, which crystallised in the late 1960s and peaked in the mid-1970s. Its distinctive sound is characterised by the incorporation of the rhythms, musical and formal structures, and vocal stylings of black gospel music.

    These elements gradually dominated or replaced the blues, jazz, and pop elements associated with the 1950s rhythm and blues styles. The lyrics of soul maintained the topics of romance and social relationships and expanded topical coverage to include social and political commentary inspired by the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements. Thus soul music is defined by both its lyric content and musical features. Early soul styles paralleled the broad popularity of the prevailing black gospel music and coincided with the beginning of the 1950s Civil Rights Movement.

    It is instructive to note that music played a central role to these movements. As protesters move in procession they sing spirituals, gospel music, and rhythm and blues which provided the core repertoire that singers transformed into freedom songs during sit-ins, marches, and freedom rides. The result was the further blurring of the sacred-secular boundaries within these political contexts.

    It wasn’t long before soul singers became community icons, promoting concepts of black solidarity, black pride, and black empowerment. Radio stations initially banned these recordings because of their overtly political messages. Nevertheless, soul eventually became the most popular and influential form of black musical expression in post-World War II America. It also followed African soldiers who fought on the side of the Allied Powers back home to their respective countries in Africa and helped set the stage for the independence movements that was to begin some decades later.

    As a sign of soul music’s growing popularity, budding mainstream acceptance, and eventual appropriation, Billboard in 1969, changed the name of its rhythm and blues charts to Soul. Prior to this, a Detroit police tactical squad had in July 1967, entered a club called the blind pig that was serving alcohol and playing soul music after hours. The event being held at the club that night was a reception for black Vietnam War veterans, and when officers tried to make arrests, they met resistance. The confrontation escalated, and residents of neighbouring streets began to riot, setting fire to stores known for their discriminatory practices and soon to white-owned businesses as a whole.

    The raid provided an opportunity for black to vent their pent up anger that has been simmering since the abolition of slavery and the segregation policy of the government. After the riots, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to investigate its root causes. In their report, the authors explained, “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white – separate and unequal. What white Americans have never fully understood – but what the Negro can never forget – is that…white institutions created (the ghetto), white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.” The commission recommended that federal funds be allocated to economic empowerment, but the rising cost of the Vietnam War rendered that a political impossibility.

    Since this was not forth coming, soul songwriters took a different approach – spread the message through songs. One of such artistes is Isaac Hayes who wrote and sang “Soul Man.” “I remember in Detroit, I saw the news flash where they were burning (the neighborhoods). Where the buildings weren’t burnt, people would write ‘soul’ on the buildings. The big thing was ‘soul brother.’ So I said, ‘Why not do something called “Soul Man” and kind of tell a story about one’s struggle to rise above his present conditions.’ It’s almost a tune (where it’s) kind of like boasting I’m a soul man – a pride thing. ‘Soul Man’ came out of that whole black identification.” Hayes wrote.

    In the aftermath of the riots, Hayes made a deliberate decision to counter negative images of black men by focusing on an ordinary person trying to create a better life for himself. The song was a break through hit. “Soul Man” went on to become one of the most popular ‘Stax Records’ songs of all time, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967 and number one on the Billboard R&B chart for seven weeks in a row in October and November of 1967. It won the Grammy Award for best rhythm and blues group performance, vocal or instrumental. ‘Soul Man’ thus became an important record, keying in to the then-newly emergent black consciousness that was perhaps best summed up by the phrase ‘black is beautiful.’ It wasn’t a surprise that in 1967 the song became an anthem for black America. This is the power of music at its utmost best.

    The Staple Singers was another group that belonged to that tradition. Beginning as a gospel group, they became soul superstars at the height of the civil rights movement. They attempted to broaden their audience by augmenting their religious repertoire with message songs. Musically and politically, the Staple Singers was a model of racial collaboration in a time of societal upheaval. Artistes like James Brown, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye and others also played significant roles in impacting lives through music and social empowerment.

    In the early years of the movements, the western world experienced a phenomenon that can be referred to as a “Soul Explosion.” Throughout that era, what was once considered “black” or “coloured” music began to crossover into “mainstream” or “white” America with unprecedented success.  The effect that this phenomenon had on those involved in the Civil Rights movement is one of a profound and varying nature.  Black artistes reached the summits of commercial success while black consumers found a voice for unity, strength and perseverance. Meanwhile, white audiences let a significant part of black culture into their world in a period where segregation of both bodies and cultures was the norm.

    Although sometimes unintentional, this access to black society helped to alter white perceptions of African Americans. The venues for creation and consumption of soul music threatened to and, in many cases, did break down the barriers of segregation in America. The legacy of music as a tool for communication and unity that soul music created is still alive. Even today, explicit in a hip hop culture, which finds  great  consumer  appeal  amongst  white  audiences  just  as  soul  appealed  to white  America  in  the  1960s,  the  continuance  of  political  commentary  can  be  seen.  As  the  growth  in  popularity  of  soul  music  continued,  economic  success  generated wealth amongst many artists, producers and record labels. This income allowed  many  black  artistes  to  become  quite  wealthy,  and,  for  the  first  time  in  American history, these black artistes began to control their product from start to finish.

    Back home in Nigeria, it was Afrobeats as popularised by the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti that came close as a music genre that was capable of instilling the consciousness for social change. Yes, reggae played a part, but not as forceful as Fela’s songs and messages to which millions of Nigerians identified. Because Fela sang about day-to-day struggles of the average Nigerian his songs often hit home with definite and determined precision. But like I did mention earlier in the series, Nigerians simply danced away rather than joining ranks to demand for genuine social change. It would appear that that era is gone for good and we missed a golden opportunity in exploiting the power of music in instigating social change.

  • Dalung visits UNIBEN

    The Minister for Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung has praised the management of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) for maintaining sporting facilities in the institution.

    Dalung made the remark last Monday after touring sporting facilities available at the institution.

    The minister said the purpose of his visit was to ascertain the level of the state’s preparedness towards hosting the 2020 National Sports Festival.

    Dalung, who was received by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Faraday Orunmwense, along with principal officers of the university, used the occasion to appeal to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off the ongoing strike so that students could return to school.

    Speaking on the importance of sports to societal development, Dalung highlighted the achievement of the present administration in the area of sports to include reintroduction of the Nation Sports Festival six years after it was last held.

    He urged the university management to keep up the good work it was doing in the area of sports while adding that his ministry was aware of the exploits UNIBEN students were achieving in International competitions.

    Responding , Prof Orunmwense thanked the minister for the visit and said he was appreciative that the Minister was impressed with the sporting facilities available.

    “Over the past seven years, UNIBEN has hosted major national sporting events and at every point, improved on the standard of facilities available. Little wonder we are known as the university with the best sports facility in Nigeria. We are ready to support the state government in organising the 2020 National Sports festival in Edo State. ‘’We will improve on the standard of facilities available before then”.

    The University Director of Sports, Dr Felicia Igbase, used the opportunity to present an award of excellence to Dalung for supporting the 2018 UNIBEN Sports award.

  • MAKING NYSC OPTIONAL

    As a little girl, attending a university to me seemed the greatest thing a living being could achieve, and whenever I set my eyes on people in white polo with the inscription ‘NYSC’ and green khaki trousers, my stomach churned out of excitement and yearnings, for when my turn to wear that would come.

    And that was because my mom made me believe that I had to wear that to be successful in life. Since then, I’d begun to see the youth corps members as some super beings on whose shoulders lie the restoration of our nation’s hope. I had designated them as the emblem of that popular nursery rhyme: “Leaders of tomorrow;” who had been offered sound education. I thought by the time my “future” and that of my contemporaries come, they would hand over the baton of “leadering” tomorrow to us. I was just a child.

    That anecdote is just to tell how much my childhood deluded me, because my expectations were betrayed.

    Alas! Growing up, and getting to understand the dynamics of our existence as a nation, and of course, having being admitted into the university, I realised that all I had had in my head were mere illusions. The reality of being a University graduate and an NYSC member is far from what I had always pictured.

    The Scheme, when it was established, according to decree No.24 of 22nd May 1973 was aimed at “proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria for the promotion of national unity”.

    Apparently, the scheme hasn’t attained its goal even after 45 years of its establishment. Because tribalism, nepotism and religious intolerance remain serious issues in our country. This is where the restructuring should actually start from, the body should set her priorities right and work towards the laid down fundamental goal.

    Read Also: CURBING UNEMPLOYMENT WITH NYSC

    A very huge amount of money is reportedly spent annually on the scheme. But, pathetically, the ones on whom the money is spent every year end up “in need,” when they get to the labour market. Of what use therefore is a national “pocket-gulping” budget that yields nothing but an annual increase in the unemployed populace in the labour market? These are the people I thought would get successful immediately after NYSC.

    Besides, this scheme isn’t the end itself. It’s simply a means to the end. An “unreliable” one at that.

    It isn’t totally a waste of time as some of those who had been there say it’s fun. They get to know new places and cultures, and what comes after the “post-graduation expedition”? Oh yes, the very few lucky ones among them get retained at the end and the rest are back on the streets.

    Going through the exercise should not be made compulsory. We should be given the freedom to broaden our horizons as much as we want immediately after graduation.

    Scraping it totally might not seem a plausible idea to the body. However, graduates should be allowed to see it a choice rather than an obligation. As such, it should stop being a major prerequisite to our career development.

    There’s a lot to patriotism and serving our fatherland than the NYSC exercise.

    Maryam Abdulkareem, University of Ilorin.

  • CURBING UNEMPLOYMENT WITH NYSC

    When the Scheme was founded in the era of Gen. Yakubu Gowon, shortly after the 1967 Civil war which lasted three years, it was with the aim of promoting peace and unity among ethnic nationalities.

    Since, as commonly said, a society where there is no peace, there’s no achievement.

    On the other hand, however, the scheme has only done little in putting an end to tribal-based conflicts, as not a few inter-ethnic genocides have followed its establishment.

    Even a lot of Corpers of seek to be redeployed when they get posted to areas deplete of their kinsmen. They don’t feel safe being in another man’s land.

    About 300,000 graduates, according to Vanguard Newspaper, are mobilized every year by NYSC.

    It is common knowledge, however, that many of these graduates are half-baked and quacks. Many can hardly even speak or write correctly in English. Due to the indeficiency in our education system, many lack the industrial knowledge of their field of study.

    Yet, they spend a whole year in NYSC, teaching, some sitting indolently in Local governments, without any addition to their industrial skills. While those they that do are those who have ‘legs’ in certain big companies.

    Read Also: TIME TO REPLACE NYSC WITH N-POWER

    Meanwhile, when a graduate of Yoruba is posted to a hospital, or a graduate of Adult Education to a Stock Exchange firm, what kinds of manpower do you expect in the labour market?

    For a nation to develop, every youth must be readied for the realities of the economy, and how to strive in spite of it, rather than because of it. It is, therefore, the duty of the government to strengthen the cause of entrepreneurship in the NYSC.

    Even the allowances of Corpers— the N19,500— cannot take care of their needs, let alone help them in starting up a business of their own. The 70billion Naira yearly allocations to NYSC should be thus put to better use.

    Provide funds for prospective entrepreneurs among Corpers, and curb the menace of unemployment in Nigeria.

    BAMIDELE AYOBAMI LUKMAN, USMANU DANFODIYO UNIVERSITY, SOKOTO

  • Exams at OAU despite ASUU strike

    Despite the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, the second semester examination for the 2017/2018 session has begun at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State. Students are complaining of being tested on courses they were hardly taught. The school, backed by the rival Congress of Nigeria University Academics (CONUA), are insisting on the exams, reports FAROMBI OLUWASEUN.

    The Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, is conducting examinations for its students despite the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike.

    The university commenced the second semester examination for the 2017/2018 session began on Monday – 71 days after the ASUU strike  started.

    However, some departments at OAU are carrying on with academic activities because their lecturers have renounced ASUU membership.

    A parallel union, the Congress of Nigeria University Academics (CONUA), was born in OAU last March after lecturers broke away from ASUU following some disagreements.  They claim the industrial action is not binding on them.

    While lecturers loyal to ASUU have not been working, their CONUA counterparts have been attending classes.  This has caused confusion among students who are now sitting for examinations in courses for which they were not well prepared.

    A 400-Level Law student, who pleaded anonymity, said since the beginning of the semester, they only had an introductory class for a maritime law course he offered as most of his lecturers belonged to ASUU. He said students did not even have an outline for the course.

    “I was shocked when the examination date for the course was fixed, which was released less than 48-hours to the exam day,” he said.

    Another student, Dauda Nahimot, studying Botany, lamented that there was not enough time to study before the examinations were fixed, despite not having regular classes.

    She said: “We should be given at least two weeks extension to cover up what we missed.  Even two weeks won’t be enough; we cannot cover up for the practicals anymore. We missed more than five weeks of practicals which span three hours every week.”

    Another student, simply called Tayo, faulted the organisation of examinations despite regular classes noy taking place.

    “I am in my final year at Electrical and Electronics Department and we did not have the minimum of 12 weeks teaching and one compulsory lecture free week before we can proceed to examination as provided in the university regulations. The management should not in the name of stable calendar jeopardize the lives of students.

    “Some departments have fixed lectures for Saturday and Sunday. Yet, students are expected to be in the examination hall the next day,” he said.

    Chairman, CONUA, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, said the group was not on strike and would continue running the day-to-day activities in the school.

    “We cannot generally be part of what we are not privy to. We were not taken into consideration; we were not approached on the issue. So, we can’t be part of the strike. Our members still respect statutory duties,” he said.

    CONUA Secretary, Henri Oripeloye, added:  “We are bound by the university rules. So if the university says exams will hold, so shall it be.”

    Commenting on the allocation of some ASUU lecturers’ courses to CONUA lecturers, he said there was nothing wrong with it, so far it is the decision of the management.

     

    ASUU OAU: exams null and void

    ASUU on its part has declared the ongoing examination invalid.

    The union called the attention of both parents and students to the criteria for conducting examinations.

    In a statement signed by its chairman, Adeola Egbedokun, and the general secretary, Kayode Atilade, the union faulted the decision of the school management to coerce students to sit for examination in courses where the required minimum of 75 per cent attendance as stipulated in the school regulations had not been reached.

    The release further stated that the school was operating against the university regulations by organising examination after barely five weeks of lectures instead of 12 followed by a lecture-free week, and two weeks for examinations, making a total of 15 weeks for the semester.

    “The current rain semester of 2017/2018 session commenced 2nd October 2018 while ASUU strike commenced on the 4th of November.

    “Consequently the semester was barely five weeks at the time lectures stopped, with the implication that courses have not been fully taught,” ASUU said.

    The union described as illegal, the reallocation of courses by the management to lecturers with low expertise, stating that courses were allocated based on lecturers’ areas of specialization and experience.

    The union said the Vice Chancellor, Prof Eyitope Ogunbodede, as well as the Deans and Head of departments should be accountable for the implications of this action.

     

    OAU Students’ Union Action Committee Petitions NUC

    The Action Committee of OAU Students’ Union has petitioned the National Universities Commission (NUC) as regards the conduct of examinations, which has been kicked against by some students.

    The Action Committee was set up after the suspension of the students’ union activities and its executives in 2017.

    The petition, released by the committee and signed by the pro-tem chairman, Gbenga Oloniniran Von, said: “We wish to clearly state that upon resumption of the 2017/18 Rain semester in the university on the 2nd of October, lectures barely began at various faculties and departments until the third week of resumption.

    “Since the commencement of lectures in the semester, by the virtue of the ongoing nationwide industrial action of the Academic staff union of universities, ASUU, certain courses in various departments, particularly in the departments of Botany, Zoology, English, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Agriculture, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Geography, Arts and Social Sciences Education, Facility of Administration (Departments of International Relations, Public Administration, Local Government Studies), just to mention a few, have not held a single class till this moment for some of their courses.

    “It became a shock to students upon realization that these same courses which lectures have not held, have equally been included in the examination timetable.

    “This development is out rightly contrary to the university regulation guiding the conduct of examinations and the qualifications of students to sit for it. According to the regulation of Obafemi Awolowo University, a semester requires about 12 weeks of lectures and a lecture free week before examinations.

    “Contrary to this, in this semester, some lectures have barely held for more than five weeks. Seventy five percent of students attendance is also required before students are qualified to sit for examinations, this has not been the case for this semester.”

    NUC was also briefed on how the lecture-free week has also been filled with classes and the steps that have been taken to communicate the danger of the decision to the management.

    The committee also made recommendations to the NUC as regards this issue and the educational sector.

    “In lieu of this, we use this medium to call the attention of the National Universities Commission, as a responsible body and arm of the government, to immediately probe this academic irregularity that is ongoing in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife before situations get out of hand.

    “We wish to also use this means to state that the NUC should not just stop at conducting accreditations exercise in universities, but should always table the reports with adequate recommendations to the responsible quarters of the government for swift intervention to save public education from emptiness and total ruin that is fast encroaching them.”

     

    OAU insists on exams

    Meanwhile, in a telephone conversation university Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, stated that the management is undaunted by the threats of the lecturers and that the examination would hold as scheduled.

    “Some lecturers from the CONUA have been working while some of the ASUU counterparts have refused to attend classes. It is not possible for us to boycott exams because some lecturers have decided not to go to class,” Olarewaju said.

    Speaking on ‘illegal’ reallocation of some courses to other lecturers who have no expertise in them as alleged by ASUU, Olarewaju said that the ASUU lecturers had decided to withdraw their services and the management sought for alternatives.

    Giving an analogy of a driver that has refused to drive a car, he said; “the fact that one is not driving a car does not stop others from driving it. Let them see if the car will not move.”

    Olarewaju, who described the ASUU members as ‘being threatened’ also condemned the instruction of boycotting examination given, saying the union is not authorised to declare such in the university.

    Also, in a statement, the university Public relations officer said the university was behind in the academic calendar and yet to complete the 2017/2018 academic session when some others had started the 2018/2019 academic session.

    He said: “A rebranded OAU that will no longer graduate students with many extra years, who have never failed any course but simply suffered the misfortune of incessant strikes.

    “OAU is running a Senate approved calendar and this cannot be jettisoned based on the whims and caprices of a very insignificant number of academic staff.

    “As of today in 2019, OAU is still in the 2017/2018 academic session and yet to commence the 2018/2019 session not to talk of the 2019/2020 session which should be the ideal.

    “Our esteemed parents, guardians and other stakeholders should please note that it is no longer the intention of OAU to cancel academic sessions as had been in the practice in the past.

    “The University authorities will like to implore ASUU to join this progressive movement and think of a proper and better way of resolving differences other than truncating the academic progress and future career of hardworking students.”

    Also, the university management through the Dean Of Students Affairs, Prof Aransi reminded the students that the rules and regulations guiding examinations remained sacrosanct.

    “The University regulation stipulates that failure to sit for any examination in any course for which a student has registered for attracts a score of OF (Zero-/F).”

    Prof. Isiaka Aransi further assured students that adequate measures had been put in place by the university management to ensure a peaceful conduct of the Examination.

  • Unizik gets SUG leaders

    Joseph Okafor, a 300 level student of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, has been handed the baton as the 27th President of the Students, Union Government of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

    The new president was sworn-in by the Chief Judge of the Judiciary arm of the union, Justice Godson Obinnaya Agbo who had earlier been sworn-in by the Dean of Students Affairs, Prof. Stan Udedi, as stipulated by the constitution.

    Mr. Okafor was sworn-in alongside members of his executive council at the administrative block of the university.

    Inaugurating the newly elected officials, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Joseph Ahaneku, congratulated them for emerging victorious at the keenly contested polls. Prof. Ahaneku while commending the outgoing EXCO for conducting themselves peacefully while discharging their duties, urged the new officials to consolidate on the successes recorded by their predecessors. He urged them to uphold the University name in all their dealings. The University head charged them to be role models to other students and maximize their position for posterity sake.

    The Dean of Student affairs, Prof. Udedi expressed gratitude to the Vice-Chancellor for his student-oriented policy. While congratulating the outgoing leadership of the union, he charged the new leadership to embrace the virtues of sincerity, accountability and credibility.

    In his acceptance speech, the new president expressed his gratitude to the leadership of the Students Affairs and the University by extension for conducting a peaceful, free and fair election. Mr. Okafor listed the key focus of his administration to include Environment and Health; Entrepreneurship and most pertinent, Students welfare. He described the task ahead as herculean and hence sought for the cooperation of all students in building a better union.

    The immediate past president of the union, Mr. Ikenna Igwebuike in his valedictory speech, appreciated the University management for her support and cooperation while praying for the success of the new administration.

  • Ondo TV lauds varsity, RUGIPO mass comm training

    The Ondo State Radiovision Corporation (OSRC) has praised the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko and the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, for producing globally competitive Mass Communication students.

    The station’s News and Current Affairs Director, Miss Nike Busari, gave the commendation at a sendoff for students of the two institutions, who concluded their six-month Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) with the station.

    She said the performance of the outgoing interns demonstrated that the schools are reference points in the Mass Communication and Journalism training.

    Mrs Busari, who praised the interns for being good ambassadors of their institutions, urged them to judiciously use the knowledge gained to position themselves for the challenges ahead.

    “Even though you are leaving us, we still offer you the opportunity to be corresponding for us anywhere you are. If you see any newsworthy event in your schools or environment, send us the reports,” she said.

    Also speaking, the station’s Deputy Director, News, Mr Akinwumi Abodunde, and other members of the department said the interns did well.

    They were unanimous in describing them as dutiful and committed individuals, who diligently executed any assignment given to them.

    Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Olaimolu Diekola thanked the leadership of the station for giving them the platform to acquire practical knowledge.

    The interns are Bunmi Oyebokun, Oluwatosin Daniel, Adekanmbi Mayokun, Sijuwade Toluwani, Olaimolu Emmanuel and Dauda Oluwatoyosi, all from AAUA.

    Others are Adesuyan Olalekan and Olupona Ganiyat (RUGIPO) while Alademomi Adejoke is from Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State. The highpoint of the event was gifts presentation and commendation letter to them.