The Nation Newspaper

Category: Campus Life

  • Be wary of information on social media – DVC UNILAG

    The Deputy Vice Chancellor of University Of Lagos, Professor Folashade Ogunshola has advised people to be wary of the information they see on social media.

    She gave the advice at the 6th Ngozi Agbo Media Lecture and Summit held on Thursday October 11 2018.

    Ogunshola who was one of the special guests at the summit in her speech noted that while social media is a powerful tool used to share information, it can also be used  to mar and defame someone.

    Read Also: Kwara warns school administrators against unauthorised fees

    ”There is a major responsibility on the media, so they don’t get caught on emotion, rather write stories based on evidence and fact’.

    ”Journalists should strive and get balanced news and evidence based information,” she said.

    Ogunshola further stated that If journalists don’t start working on investigative report, the social media will be used for oppression.

    “Since there is no regulation of the social media many bloggers tend to use it for disseminating fake news which most times many people tends to believe without even checking for facts.”

    She also advised journalists to extend their reach outside Nigeria and increase their global footprints.

  • Rumpus over UNILORIN’s ‘outrageous convocation fee’

    Is convocation fee of N20,800 mandated on graduands of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) a last-minute extortion by the school? This is a question graduating students of the school want management to answer as they alleged introduction of the fee was a way being used by the school to “extort” them.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the school mandated all the graduating students to pay the N20,800 before they could be allowed to attend their convocation, which starts next Tuesday.

    The students wondered why the school made the payment of the fee compulsory, noting that convocation should be optional and should not be made forced on students.

    The students particularly protested the list of items for which the money was meant, pointing out that they only needed two items in the list.

    The breakdown of the fee showed that each graduating student is to pay N2,000 for convocation gown and order of proceedings, N5,500 for transcript, N400 for the convocation video to be burn on compact disc, N1,400 for muffler, N2,500 for certificate folder, N5,000 for certificate and N2,000 as administrative charges.

    Master’s and post-graduate students are to pay for the same items, but with an increased administrative charges of N500 which raised the fee to N21,300 for the post-graduate graduands.

    The graduating students rejected the fees, telling the school not to burden them with “needless charges” after paying their final school fees. The students wondered why the school is asking them to pay for certificates and transcripts, while also querying the logic behind the directive mandating them to pay for certificate jackets.

    The graduating students also raised objection on the price tag on each item in the list, alleging the management deliberately increased the cost to extort them.

    Last year, CAMPUSLIFE gathered that graduands paid N12,000 for all the listed items in the convocation package. Going by the breakdown of last year’s convocation fee, N2,000 was paid for convocation gown, N2,000 for order of proceeding, N5,500 for transcript, N1,100 for muffler, N400 for convocation VCD, and N1,000 as administrative charges. No graduand paid for certificates last year.

    While the graduating students are yet to understand reasons to pay for their certificates, they are also curious to know why the school mandated them to pay administrative charges.

    A graduating student, who simply gave his name as Miftaudeen, said: “We don’t know what the ‘administrative charges’ is meant for. The school didn’t explain to us why it is charging us for administrative assignment for which the Federal Government is paying their salaries. I personally question this item. Why should graduands be asked to pay for administrative task? The reason for the convocation fee and its increment remains unknown to us.”

    The graduating students also accused the school of extorting them when they were asked to pay N2,500 to bind their final year projects. UNILORIN, it was gathered, forcibly centralised binding of project and introduce penalty for final year students who failed to pay for the “unsolicited” service.

    Before the school took over the business of binding students’ projects, individual students, on their own, usually got their projects banded by commercial printers within and outside the campus at cheap rate. It costs N400 to bind a copy of the project, while students pay N1,600 to bind four copies, which are expected to be submitted.

    Students protested when the school announced the cost of binding the project work. The project binding cost, CAMPUSLIFE gathered, was later reduced to N2,000 after complaints by the graduating students.

    Commercial printers around the campus also complained that the school action deprived them of their trade.

    The aggrieved graduands took to social media to express their grievances at what they described as “outrageous convocation fee”. They said the convocation fee was higher than the national minimum wage, describing the fee as “a daylight robbery”.

    The students created two hash tags – #UnilorinDaylightRobbery and #UnilorinEnoughisEnough – on Twitter to channel their complaints.

    Kanayo Bobby wrote: “I don’t understand why we need to pay N20,800 when we are leaving the school. Are we going to receive lectures after graduating from the school? When I told my dad that we are asked to pay N20,800 for convocation, he asked if I was owing school fees. Enough of this official extortion.”

    A student named Afeez, wrote: “UNILORIN used to be known to trend for good reasons, that is learning and character. But now, it is trending for extortion. N20,800? That’s so much for convocation. The school management should kindly cut these ridiculous charges and save itself of ignominy. It is a daylight robbery.”

    Mumeen Tosho wrote: “Minimum wage is still fixed at N18,000. National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members” monthly allowance is just N19,800, but UNILORIN convocation fee is N20,800. Are we paying another school fees again or what?”

    The graduating students also criticised the school for its failure to send their names for National Youth Service.

    A graduating student, who gave his name as Teslim, wrote: “UNILORIN is printing our certificates abroad for over N68 million. The school has been extorting me for five years now. We can’t even register for the ongoing NYSC Batch C registration because the management is yet to submit our names for National Youth Service.”

    An alumnus wrote: “Imagine if unilorin eventually succed with this extortion attempt. N21,000 per graduating student multiplied by 8,000 granduands; that is roughly N192 million. For who? Enough is enough.”

    Reacting, UNILORIN’s Director of Information, Mr Kunle Akogun, described the students’ allegation as “baseless”, saying the convocation was not newly introduced as being speculated by the graduating students.

    He said the fee was only “reasonably increased” from N18,000 paid by graduands last year to N20,800.

    He said: “Those complaining about the fee should look at the breakdown and show us how the school is extorting them. The certificates are being printed outside the country to improve the security feature on the document. I wonder why they said the school should not ask them to pay for certificate. This is a culture in an academic environment and UNILORIN is not acting strange in this regard. Also, administrative charges are paid every year by graduands.”

  • How applicants fare after PTI’s entrance exam

    The Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) in Effurum, Delta State, has been known to have strict policies, which makes many Nigerians to perceive the school as a citadel of learning meant only for smart and serious students. This notion came to be, given the fact that the PTI entrance examination is difficult for applicants and cannot be compared to that of other tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

    Mostly, those well-prepared are offered provisional admission into the institute. But, most time, applicants who are well-prepared for the entrance examination are scarcely admitted. So, it is seen as a privilege to be in the institute as a student.

    The most PTI entrance examination conducted in the recent times was that of the 2017 academic session in which the number of applicants eventually admitted was small out of large number of persons who wrote the examination all over Nigeria. It was never anticipated.

    And almost all the results of every first year examination in the school taken by students come with an “advice to withdraw” notice for some students in all the departments. To avoid this, students usually study hard and keep focus on their academic pursuits. No PTI student wants to be caught cheating. Once a student is caught cheating in an examination hall, with unassailable evidence, the institute summarily expel such student and this is a standard which keeps all students in every department on their toes, resulting in students’ total dependence on themselves to prevent being expelled.

    PTI students can stand with colleagues from other institutions and match the brain power of their peers from other schools. PTI alumni are distinguishable based on their contributions to skill development and prosperity of several organisations.

    All these good experiences earned the school a good reputation, locally and internationally. But, since the introduction of new policy, which makes it mandatory for the school to admit applicants through United Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the impeccable status of the school is threatened. A policy that should have improved the institute’s rating has become a blow to its reputation.

    The number of students admitted for the 2017/2018 academic session was beyond the quota that institute can handle based on the facilities it currently has. This is due to the policy put in place which substituted the PTI entrance examination with UTME. This gives more people an opportunity to gain admission into the institute, but with the huge number of applicants admitted, it appeared as though admission was offered to every single person who applied. To me, the admission process seemed incredible, because we all know some unworthy applicants could have been admitted through this process.

    However, after their orientation, it is expected that these newly admitted students will buckle up and study hard to keep the admission, especially those in the National Diploma programmes. There is a feeling that the school would prune the number of admitted students through first year examination.

    But, are these set of fresh students serious with their study? It has been observed that some of them are still going to campus party and attending social events while their academic goals suffer.

    The recently released results of the first semester examination, which were exceedingly poor, is a pointer to the fact that majority of these freshers would be asked to withdraw at the end of the session. It comes as no shocker to some of us.

    What used to be one or two withdrawals from the departments may likely become mass withdrawal at the end of the session.

    Writing this does not give me joy, because I am currently a PTI student and I have imagined what it would feel like to be withdrawn from the institution after paying numerous amount of fees, especially in a country as ‘good’ as Nigeria.

    Well, I celebrate all fresh students who did well in their first semester examination and those who did not do too well, those who had poor results should know that there is always room for improvement. The choice is theirs to make.

     

     

     

  • Demographics on my mind

    Alarmed by its rapidly growing population, the government of China, in 1979, took a radical step by introducing the one-child population policy as part of its larger family planning policy. According to the Chinese government, 400 million births were prevented through the policy. However, in November 2013, following the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, China announced the decision to relax the one-child policy. In between the policy – 1979 and 2013 – China had developed and lifted over 500 million people out of poverty.

    The National Population Commission (NPC) – through its Chairman, Mr. Eze Duruiheoma – earlier this year released Nigeria’s current population estimate which was put at 198 million people with urban population growing at an average annual growth rate of about 6.5 per cent. “Nigeria remains the most populous in Africa, the seventh globally with an estimated population of over 198 million. The recent World Population Prospects report predicts that by 2050, Nigeria will become the third most populated country in the world,” he said.

    He added that over the last 50 years, the Nigeria’s urban population has grown at an average annual growth rate of more than 6.5 per cent without commensurate increase in social amenities and infrastructure. It grew substantially from 17.3 per cent in 1967 to 49.4 per cent of the country’s total population in 2017. In addition, the 2014 World Urbanisation Prospects report, predicts that by 2050, most Nigerians – 70 per cent – will be residing in cities.

    In terms of demographics, the class of the population mostly engaged in urbanisation and migration were young people, adolescent girls and boys, women of child bearing age and the working age population. Existing urbanisation trends, coupled with internally displaced persons (IDPs) in cities, pose critical challenges to securing sustainability in Nigerian urban centres, including efforts to make them smart and responsive to the human influx.

    “The Displacement Tracking Matrix Round XXI of January 2018 identified an estimated 1.7 million IDPs in over 321,580 households across six states of North-east Nigeria with 40 per cent residing in camp-like settings in urban areas plus 1.4 million returnees. The number of IDPs represented a 4.5 per cent increase compared to the 1,702,680 identified in Round XX (Dec. 2017),” Mr. Duruiheoma added.

    He also rightly pointed out that Nigerian cities host wide spread poverty, under-employment and unemployment at an average of 18.4 per cent. Add this to the insecurity in the country – which is fueling the upsurge in IDPs – and inadequate and inequitable healthcare services and access to education and you will come to the inevitable conclusion that we are in trouble.

    It has often been said that “Nigeria’s population is a strength.” But if we look at it critically, is it really a strength? As far as I’m concerned, our population can only be a strength if it is well-educated and healthy and if the economy has the capacity to provide them with employment that sustains households’ income to buy the goods and services produced by several businesses. If we want to be fair on ourselves, we know this is not the case.

    Today, Nigerians spend billions of naira on education and medical tourism. The reason for this is because our education and health sectors have virtually collapsed. Yet, these are two key sectors vital to the development of any nation. Bill Gates – and lately, the World Bank – have both emphasise the urgent need for the revitalisation of our health facilities and investment in human capital. With over 10 million out-of-school children, and millions others with substandard education, Nigeria is in a bind. But we carry on as if all is well.

    So, how do we begin to fix this? The government must undertake unpopular policies such as population control, cutting of costs, enforcement of tax compliances and relinquishment of government control over infrastructure spending. Government can also look at the option of selling some of our oil and gas assets and use the proceeds to improve critical infrastructure such as the ports, railways, roads, schools, hospitals and a robust national grid. The NLNG example shows that this is possible.

    I must however point out that this can only be carried out in a very transparent way devoid of corruption. Transparent mechanism must be put in place to track every kobo that would be invested on the infrastructure. Prior to this, there must also be a clear-cut roadmap detailing immediate, short, medium and long term goals of what need to be done and the anticipated outcomes. The anticipated plan must also include what will be done with the out-of-school children and how to correct the substandard education received by millions of Nigerians.

    Of course, you cannot move a step without carrying the people along. In essence, a lot of work will go in the area of massive awareness creation. Government will need to convince people -with appropriate data – on the need for population control. People need to know that uncontrolled population growth will ultimately put pressure on critical infrastructure like hospitals and schools. The problem of waste management is also there as being experienced in major cities across the country.

    During a recent road trip, we passed a convoy of youths wielding various tools – cutlasses, hoes, spears, bows and arrows and what have you. I counted over twenty truck loads. I was visibly shocked about the huge number wondering where they are headed.  Throughout the journey I kept reflecting what would happen if these youths are unleashed on a community. This is the other side of our uncontrolled population growth.

    The population issue is a ticking time bomb, especially for a country that hardly plans. Beyond investing in infrastructure, how do we intend to provide employment which is the other side of the coin? Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, who built billion-dollar technology companies in two very different areas, see more seismic problems ahead.

    At his Harvard University commencement speech, Zuckerberg said: “Our generation will have to deal with tens of millions of jobs replaced by automation like self-driving cars and trucks. When our parents graduated, purpose reliably came from your job, your church, your community. But today, technology and automation are eliminating many jobs. Membership in communities is declining. Many people feel disconnected and depressed, and are trying to fill a void.”

    For us, that “void” has manifested in the increasing cases of kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery, cultist activities, ritual killing, excessive gambling and a plethora of societal problems. Gates, on the other hand, said: “I just want to say one word to you. That word would likely be robots.” What was his point? Robots are already taking jobs meant for humans. It won’t be an overstatement to assert that we’re already feeling the pangs of unemployment.

    We should all be concerned because population explosion may be considered positive hindrance in the way of economic development of a country because of the pressures it put on infrastructure and other facilities. In a ‘capital poor’ and technologically backward country like Nigeria, growth of population reduces output by lowering the per capita availability of capital.

    Due to higher birth rate and low expectation, the percentage of dependents is very high. A large part of the population is in the non-productive group which simply consumes and does not produce much. The rapid growth of population thus diminishes the availability of capital per head which reduces the productivity of the labour force. Income is reduced because it caters for the “consumers” thereby curtailing the capacity to save which, in turn, adversely affects capital formation.

    A rapidly growing population also increases the requirements of demographic investment which at the same time reduces the capacity of the people to save. Beyond corruption, our investment requirements are going beyond our investing capacity. I visited a teaching hospital recently and I was silently weeping. I couldn’t believe what I saw; this use to be a centre of excellence in the past but now looks like a “mere consulting clinic,” (apologies to Lt. Gen. Joshua Dogonyaro (retd)).

    Visit a normal maternity clinic in any of our general hospitals and you’d be amazed by the number of expectant mothers you’ll see – doctors and facilities are often stretched beyond breaking point. The time to act is now.

     

     

  • The Nation correspondent, 22 others bag First Class at Caleb University

    Head of Crime Desk of The Nation on Saturday, Kunle Akinrinade, was among the 23 graduands of Caleb University in Imota, Lagos State, who bagged a First Class degree.

    Akinrinade and other 476 graduands received their certificates at the 8th convocation of the university, held last Friday.

    The Overall Best Graduating Student, Miss Anthonia Christabel Nya, of the Department of Computer Science, finished with 4.81 Cumulative Grade Point Average(CGPA).

    In her valedictory speech, the 23-year-old Anthonia, who is an orphan, praised God for the feat, appreciating the university management, lecturers and guardians for supporting her throughout her studies.

    Akinrinade, a multiple award-winning journalist, had his Higher National Diploma (HND) in Mass Communication from the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) in Ikorodu. He was admitted into the university’s Mass Communication Department in 2015/2016 session and finished with 4.67 CGPA.

    The senior correspondent said he returned to school with a goal to improve his academic credentials in response to unnecessary discrimination against polytechnic graduates.

    The high point of the event was the conferment of honourary doctorate degrees on an erudite scholar, Prof Toyin Falola of the University of Texas and businessman, Dr Goodie Ibru.

    At the convocation with the theme: The release of Amethyst Graduating Class of 2018, the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Ayandiji Aina, disclosed that the number of First Class graduates was an improvement from the figure recorded last year.

    He said: “Last year, we produced 17 First Class graduates. But this year, we are graduating 23 First Class students and this clearly shows an improvement in our record of performance. The graduating class also comprises 199 Second Class (Upper Division), 148 Second Class (Lower Division), 28 Third Class and 79 post-graduate students, out of which eight bagged distinction.”

    Aina used the occasion to disclose that the National Universities Commission (NUC) approved the school’s request to start doctoral programme in architecture and other post-graduate programmes.

    In his speech, the Pro-chancellor and chairman of Governing Council, Prof Fola Tayo, lamented the rising immorality and decadence in the country, blaming the problem on loss of values.

    He said: “Nigeria is not lucky to have had leaders that would make it upright in morality and good character. People aspiring to lead our country are known to morally bankrupt and despicable in character. Most of them are wanted for terrible crimes, including illicit financial and drug dealings, in the United Kingdom and the United States.”

    Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of the institution,  Prof Peter Okebukola hailed the management for making efforts at setting global best practice in quality education and its commencement of postgraduate studies and first doctorate programme.

    Okebukola said: “We appreciate the NUC for providing the enabling environment for Caleb University to creating the needed impact in the education of the country, while joining other leading universities to raise the bar of excellence.”

     

  • Girl-child education brings long term prosperity

    Of all the women in the world, Oprah Winfrey stands out. She is a perfect blend of the beauty and brain. Hers is the validation of the fact that the DNA of women is not wired to be an intellectual vegetable nor are her hands only meant to cook vegetables.

    When compared with men on quality education, the woman can hold her own. Not only is she a living testimony to the fact that education makes a mind that knows, she is a life sample of the midas touch with which education mends a broken heart.

    This touch was the torch with which she earned herself and carved a name for herself in the media profession. So much that The Time magazine of August 8, 1988 wrote this about her: “Few people would have bet on Oprah Winfrey’s swift rise to host of the most popular talk show on TV. In a field dominated by white males, she is a black female of ample bulk. As interviewers go, she is no match for… What she lacks in journalistic toughness, she makes up for in plainspoken curiosity, robust humour and, above all, empathy. Guests with sad stories to tell are apt to rouse a tear in Oprah’s eye… They, in turn, often find themselves revealing things they would not imagine telling anyone, much less a national TV audience. It is the talk show as a group therapy session.”

    The Time narrative beautifully reveals the sad tales being told by the female gender. It is a revelation to the fact that Oprah, like her guests, and every other woman around the world, has had a sad story to tell. Behind these stories are the cases of all gender-related crimes and many other challenges confronting the girl-child. It therefore becomes essential for us to know what we are grappling with. Doing so would lead us seek a breakaway from the challenges of the woman.

    This breakaway which we seek, and must continuously seek, is, however, deeply rooted in the challenges that confront the female gender. One of these challenges is the unequal access to education.

    And if we must alter this story we must reverse this trend. Because by allowing equal distribution of education be the bedrock upon which the society is erected, we are one step ahead in laying the foundation of the society of our dream. Without aiming at education as a panacea aimed at bettering the lot of the girl child – and by extension the world – we are only erecting a castle in the air with the bricks of hallucination.

    In spite of the important recommendations in Sections 18(1) and 42(2) of Nigeria Constitution, which guarantee the equal right to education, women in Nigeria are still groping in the darkness of unequal education. In fact, having ratified the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights in 1990, which provides that every individual shall have access to education, a wide dichotomy still exists between the men and women in Nigeria.

    Last Thursday, Nigeria joined the world to celebrate the Girl-Child Day. But, the sad reality is that our country still entertains primitive stereotypes and archaic beliefs. Here, girls are still being seen as people not fit to be educated. Some people still believe, in this part of the world, that women are nothing but sex butterfly.

    According to the World Bank, the female adult literacy rate for Nigeria is 59.4 per cent, a far cry from 74.4 per cent male literacy. The Central Bank of Nigeria took it a step further by establishing that the gender gap in literacy rates between boys and girls is 18.3 per cent, in favour of boys. In the Northern part of the country, it is sour story; 80 per cent of women in the Northeast and Northwest are illiterates. In fact, the ratio of girls to boys in Northern schools is put at 1:2. In some Northern states, the ratio is even 1:3. It is as bad as that.

    Why are we here? Even though the breeze of civilisation has been blowing back and forth on our land, we are yet to detach our minds from some poor and primitive traditional beliefs about educating a girl. And like a deep scar that has refused to heal, our thoughts have continued to be at home with these beliefs. Until we are saved from this retrogressive trap, the girl child has no hope of being saved from this hydra-headed monster haunting her.

    Poverty is another challenge fuelling this wildfire. Poverty in the land is profound. Hardly can average families make ends meet. In a bid to eke out a decent living, some family heads meet their end. And if education ever comes as an option in such families, the boy-child is ranked top of the scale of preference. It is this same impoverishment in the land that has continuously burdened children to play the role of bread winners even though are not of age.

    How can we balance the equation? First, we need to go back to the source of the problems identified. Discovering this has revealed that the inequality in education has its root in our minds. So we need to unlock our minds from the way we view the girl-child.

    The trap in which the mind of the people is entangled needs to be unknotted. We need collective reorientation that will make us drop the outdated notion of seeing the woman as only one thing. We can achieve this by embarking on mass orientation and campaigns, which would be available for people of all classes, ages, demographics, statuses and tribes. Such campaigns as #BuildUpGirls, Education for All (EDA) and #OneBookOnePen, which are currently afoot, are what we can key in and fashion our own template.

    To obey this clarion call, religious organisations, media outfits, governmental and nongovernmental organisation have a key role to play.

    The rural dwellers are mostly disadvantaged to have access to education. And because farming is their major profession, girls are deprived of going to school since they are needed in child bearing to produce large families. Therefore, aside the introduction of mechanised farming through trained agricultural extension farmers to rural areas, schools should be situated in rural areas; and the girl child should be availed the opportunity of being admitted.

    Ensuring the girl child is educated is one brilliant solution to the many problems bedevilling the female gender. Ensuring the girl child is educated is bidding farewell to gender discrimination, societal stereotype, sexual molestation, child and maternal mortality rate, domestic violence, prostitution and poverty which have been preying on her for years. Educating her is also gifting the boy-child a suitable environment to thrive. And together, they can build a harmonious society.

    Prophet Muhammad hit the chord when he said: “Educating the boy-child is educating a man; but educating a girl-child is educating a nation.” Judging from this, we can say, the girl-child deserves the preferential access to education. Educating her is educating the entire world. It all boils down to a simple logic: leaving the girl child uneducated would lead the nation to suffer. Educating the girl child would make the nation to prosper.

     

  • Three undergrads win AAUA alumni scholarship

    Three students of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State, have emerged winners of the Communication Skills Competition (CSC) in the yearly Students’ Empowerment Programme organised by the AAUA Alumni Association.

    Oluwafemi Okegbemi, a 300-Level History and International Studies student, emerged overall best contestant in the competition, clinching the first prize.

    Olawale Olanrewaju, a 300-Level Arts Education student, finished as the first runner-up, while Seun Kupoluyi, a 100-Level Microbiology student, was the second runner up.

    A cash prize N20,000 was presented to the only woman contestant, Oluwabukunmi Olaleye, a 100-Level Law student, who made it to the top 10 and second runner-up in the writing category of the competition.

    Twenty-nine students from all faculties participated in both writing and speaking categories of the contest with the topic: Can the prevailing yahoo plus and other Internet fraud in Nigeria be curbed? If yes, what are the roles of the nation’s higher institutions, governments and parents in curtailing the menace?

    Oluwafemi got a scholarship for a full academic session, while Olawale and Seun got scholarship for a semester each.

    Presenting cheques to the winners, president of the alumni association, Mr Patrick Oluyide, congratulated the winners for the feat, praising the contestants for displaying courage to partake in the competition.

    He said the goal of the contest was to change the orientation of students and make them to embrace values that support dignity in labour and also help them improve their communication skills.

    Oluyide, who engaged the students in training tagged: Effective communication in the business world, stressed the need for the students to bridge the gap between the gown and the town.

    He said: “Most times, what students are taught in the university is different from what the society demands from them after graduation. So, students must maximise the advantage that a programme, such as this competition, offers them to acquire values which the society will request from them when they leave school.”

    The alumni president hailed the contest’s organising committee chaired by Oluwaseyi Oluwalade, describing the event as “fantastic”.

    Oluwafemi, an indigent student, said he did not believe he could win the contest, given the number of contestants that partook in the event.

    He said: “After I finished my write-up, I committed the work in God’s hands. I am overwhelmed with joy that the alumni association will be paying my fees next academic session, because I had been bothered on how to get money to my fees next year. A Good Samaritan paid my fees in the current session because my parents could not afford it. So, I am so happy.”

    Highlights of the event included presentation of trophy to the overall winner, and medals to the winners of second and third positions in both writing and speaking categories of the contest.

     

     

     

  • Human rights groups engage the youth on peace

    Youth for Human Rights Nigeria in collaboration with American Corner at Co-creation Hub (CcHub) and the Southwest zonal office of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has organised a programme tagged: Peace Day, to commemorate International Day of Peace.

    The event with the theme: The right to peace, was organised in line with the Resolution 36/37 of 1981 of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), declaring a day of peace to strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and people.

    The event, held at American Corner at CcHub building in Yaba, Lagos, afforded the participants to learn about fundamental principle of human rights, ideals of peace and how to build a culture of peace and partnership between peace and human rights.

    The day was also used to mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    At the event, the participants, including secondary school pupils, learnt how to balance their understanding of what the right to peace means, where it came from, how it affected people in their daily lives and why human right needed to be reaffirmed, especially in contemporary times.

    Speaking, the convener of the event and National Coordinator of Youth for Human Rights Nigeria, Mr Duke Ifeakachukwu, gave a general overview of Human Rights and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, charging the participants to add their voices in speaking up against human rights abuses. He said protection of human rights remained the collective responsibility of the citizens.

    He said: “Human rights still seem unrealisable in our country, even though the universal declaration of human rights has achieved so much in other countries of the world. It is time all nations and all people lived up to the responsibility of protecting human rights and review the existing mechanisms through which human rights are being promoted and protected.”

    Emphasising the need to build a nation where peace and justice must reign supreme, Duke disproved claims that violence was inherent in human nature. He admonished the participants to promote ideas that would help Nigeria create a society where peace would reign, adding that Nigerians must be ready to live together by accepting difference of culture, religion, ethnicity, gender, language and other markers of identity.

    Mrs Nneamaka Omo, Head of Human Rights Education Department at National Human Rights Commission, spoke on Active citizenship and human rights in relation to the right to peace, while her colleague from same institution, Mrs Nneka Anigbo, spoke on The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights in relation to the right to peace.

    Both speakers cleared the doubts raised by participants on actions to reduce human rights abuses by the security agencies and people in the positions of authority.

    Another speaker and a volunteer with Youth for Human Rights Nigeria, Ms. Dorcas Idibie, said peace was possible if people were ready to tolerate one another.

    The event was attended by staff and representatives of NHRC, American Corner members, and young volunteers from several states.

    The event also featured musical performance, peace walk, and rendition of peace poems.

     

  • 72 ABUAD students bag first class honours

    .ADESINA, MOMOH TO RECEIVE HONORARY DOCTORATES

    .ABUAD, A MODEL IN NIGERIA, SAYS BISHOP OKE

     

    Seventy two students of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti ( ABUAD ) will graduate with First Class honours at the 6th Convocation.

    The Vice Chancellor, Prof Michael Ajisafe, who disclosed this on Monday at a press briefing to herald activities marking the convocation.

    Ajisafe explained that all the first class graduates have been offered automatic jobs as academic staff.

    Graduating students who bagged Second Class Upper are 343 while 366 obtained Second Class Lower.

    A total of 93 students bagged Third Class. Total number of graduating students is 917.

    Two distinguished Nigerians will be honoured with honorary doctorate degrees.

    They are the President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Channels Television.

    The duo will be bestowed with honorary Doctor of Letters.

    Momoh will deliver the convocation lecture on Saturday.

    Ajisafe explained that the University was graduating its first set of medical doctors which he described as unprecedented.

    Meanwhile, the President of the Sword of the Spirit Ministries, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, has described Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti
    (ABUAD) as a model for other universities in Nigeria.

    Oke, who is also the Bishop of Christ Life Church with headquarters in Ibadan, said ABUAD is the answer to what Nigerians are looking for in Europe and other parts of the world.

    The cleric who said he had been to other universities in Nigeria stressed that ABUAD stands out in terms of academic excellence, quality assurance and a citadel of learning to emulate.

    Oke made the remarks on Sunday at the thanksgiving service to mark the 6th Convocation of the university.

    The bishop said that the ABUAD is a message to other Nigerian Universities, that “they can be centers’ of excellence and an all round human development centers, as well as of global reckoning.”

    He said: “If it is possible in ABUAD, it is also possible in other universities. I have been to the university to study and I have friends who own Universities, but ABUAD stand out.”

  • Polytechnics lecturers accuse FG of intimidation, issue 21-day strike notice

    The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) is threatening to shut down the nation’s Polytechnics if the government allows  the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to continue to intimidate and force its members into the IPPIS payment platform without first securing their emoluments.

    The union is also accusing the government of not keeping faith with the memorandum of settlements signed with the union in 2017, while frustrating the renegotiation of its agreement with government which was supposed to have been concluded in December 2017

    National President of the Union, Usman Dutse said in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja that after all efforts to make the government implement its memorandum of settlement to no avail, they have no option than to give the, government a 21 day ultimatum beginning from 2nd of October.

    Key issues in the dispute between the government and the union are: The non-implementation of the NEEDS Assessment report of 2014; Non release of promotion arrears of members as well as persistent shortfalls in the personnel releases of Federal Polytechnics since 2016; nonpayment of negotiated allowances in polytechnics; nonpayment of salaries and other staff entitlements in many state owned institutions; non release of CONTISS 15 migration arrears; infractions in the appointment process of rectors in polytechnics; non passage of the amendment bill of the Polytechnics Act and  victimization of union officers.

    While saying that the government was trying to force its members into the IPPIS play platform for the payment of salaries of federal workers, Dutse  said “Our union has been on the discussion table with officials of IPPIS as well as NBTE on modalities for a smooth and safe enrolment of members into the IPPIS platform.

    “The last meeting which took place in march 2018 was postponed to enable the renegotiation committee conclude its assignment and provide the needed security in the capture of the totality of members’ emoluments.

    “However, in an apparent display of betrayal, the NBTE which has refused to commit to the successful conclusion of the renegotiation process is employing underhand strategies to force our members into the platform with or without our emoluments secured.

    “We are appalled that the NBTE had kick started this new arm twisting regime by convening a meeting with the IPPIS and the managements of polytechnics without the unions, where they resolved to force our members into the platform.

    “It is on record that the other legs of the tripod in the tertiary division of the nation’s education landscape are not facing such level of intimidation. This has strengthened our position that the future of polytechnics in the country indeed lie outside the regulations of the NBTE.

    “Following these observations, the meeting of the NEC of our union has been left with no other alternative than to return to the trenches to fight for the sector, our members, our students and indeed the Nigerian state.

    “We are therefore using this medium to issue a 21 day ultimatum effective 2nd October, 2018 for the government to address these lingering issues and call the NBTE to order or face an avoidable total and comprehensive shut down of the sector.”

    Dutse said further that “The memorandum of settlement (MoS) signed as a precursor to suspending the industrial action prescribed actionable timelines as well as a monitoring mechanism in the form of a rapid response team led by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education.

    “In August, 2017 the committee for the renegotiation of the FGN/ASUP 2010 Agreement was inaugurated by the Honorable Minister for Education. The committee was saddled with the responsibility of renegotiating the last agreement signed between the government and our union since 2010. This agreement was due for renegotiation by 2015 according to the prescriptions of the agreement and in line with ILO conventions.

    “The renegotiation process was expected to be completed by December, 2017 according to the design of the committee as well as the mandate of the Honorable Minister on the day of the inauguration. Our union made its submission to the committee in October, 2017.”

    He said added that “the NEEDS Assessment report of 2014 remain unimplemented while the government’s excuse of “searching for sources of funding” increasingly becoming watery in the face of reports of recent releases to a sister sector as revitalization fund, amplifying the echoes of discrimination.

    “Shortfalls in personnel releases still persist in some Federal Polytechnics while arrears of same shortfalls are still owed; allowances of our members are still owed in arrears and unpaid in many institutions without any effort at properly situating the responsibility of paying these negotiated allowances.

    “Salaries are still owed in many state owned institutions with some owed up to ten months arrears. Deductions of check off dues, pension, and welfare benefits of members are also unremitted in some state institutions.

    “Arrears of CONTISS 15 MIGRATION are still owed for the lower cadre with the government appearing rudderless on the issue, while the amendment bill of the Polytechnics Act is yet to be signed into law.

    “Our officers are still being victimized with new grounds of tyranny being broken in reports of purported proscriptions of our union in some states. This is well over the time lines specified for each of these items.”

    The union accused the government of not being interested in smooth implementation of the memorandum of settlement, saying “the rapid response team set up for the purpose of monitoring the implementation of the terms of the MoS operates in serial default of its own terms. The team was designed to meet on a monthly basis to assess the performance indices in the MoS.

    “Regrettably, the team has only met three times in nearly one year. This is despite letters written by our union aimed at jerking the team off its lethargy.  As a result, the monitoring mechanism has broken down, painting a picture of hopelessness in the successful implementation of the terms of the MoS.

    “The renegotiation of the union’s agreement with the government has stalled and is yet to commence in actual terms. The committee was designed to complete its assignment on or before December, 2017.

    “The committee had its last (and 3rd ) meeting in April, 2018 and is yet to reconvene despite letters from our union urging the committee to do the needful in view of the strategic importance of the process to industrial harmony across our campuses. We are therefore led be these to doubt the sincerity of the renegotiation process in its entirety.”