Category: Campus Life

Telecoms firm, Globacom, has explained the reason it supported an entrepreneurial summit organised by the University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter of the Educational Management Students Association (EMSA). It is to assist youths and entrepreneurs create employment opportunities, it said.

Globacom’s Enterprise Sales Manager, Mr Jide Ibigbami, told participants at the event, held at the Faculty of Education Hall, to avail themselves of the company’s products, such as Glo Yakata and Oga SIM, to improve their innovative skills, saying the products were designed to be affordable for  young people to enrich their search for creative ways to create jobs.

Ibigbami praised the association’s leadership for organising the summit on entrepreneurship, which he described as “very germane”, given the rate of unemployment in the country. He expressed optimism that the event would stoke the interest of the participants in innovation and offer them a platform to leverage opportunities that will make them self-reliant.

Globacom, he said, has designed technological solutions to assist students in all levels of education in improving their skills towards achieving their life dreams.

He said the telecom firm has a campus wi-fi service with access control that prevents students from visiting phishing websites that can damage their mobile devices. He also said Globacom initiated “Personal Trackers” product, which parents could use to monitor their children’s movement.

Delivering a paper titled: Surviving in a depressed economy, UNILAG’s Director of Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Centre, Dr Sunday Adebisi, described an entrepreneur as “a person with an eagle eye to spot opportunities and convert them to profitable business ventures”. He challenged the students to come up with various entrepreneurial ideas in their fields of study.

He said entrepreneurs solved real life problems with innovation and creativity. He said students must embrace innovation to be to problem solvers, adding that rushing after white-collar jobs could make them jobless after school.

Adebisi called for a national policy on entrepreneurship and a review of the country’s curriculum to provide for intensive entrepreneurship and innovation studies.

A 400-Level Education Management student, Maryam Davies, praised Globacom for supporting the event, saying the summit gave her the opportunity to learn how she could take advantage of social media to create job opportunities for young people.

The association’s Welfare Secretary, David Makinde said the summit had empowered the participants and inspired them to solve problems.

“It is not compulsory the idea should be a new one, but we must devise practical solutions to make life better for all of us,” David said.

Lagos State University (LASU) records confirm Olasunkanmi Arowolo as its youngest academic staff member. The 25-year-old Graduate Assistant in the Department of Journalism, School of Communication was employed after his first degree, based on the recommendations of his department and faculty. He shares his thoughts on teaching with SANDRA ANIMAM (Mass Communication).

At 25, when most of his peers are probably still pursuing admission or studying in tertiary institutions to get their first degree, he has become a lecturer. Olasunkanmi Arowolo is the youngest academic staff member at the Lagos State University (LASU), where he got his Bachelor’s degree at 22.

Arowolo, a lecturer in the Department of Journalism in the School of Communication, hails from Iba in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.

He was employed last year, having graduated top of his class. Although Arowolo never graduated with a First Class, which could have translated to automatic employment for him, he finished with a Second Class (Upper Division) – the best result in his set in the Department of Mass Communication.

Based on the recommendation of his department and faculty, the school took Arowolo as its youngest lecturer.

Did he set out to be a lecturer? “Yes,” Arowolo replied, saying his dream is to impart knowledge to others.

He said: “I had always nurtured the ambition to lecture, but I never had any school in mind. When I went for National Youth Service, that was when I developed interest in lecturing at LASU. So, immediately I was through with service, I wrote a letter to LASU authorities and by the grace of God, I was employed as a Graduate Assistant. I got my offer of appointment on June 5, 2017 and I resumed the next day.”

When he showed up at the department to teach, few students saw him as a lecturer. His boyish countenance and youthful swagger  make him look like a student in the department. His rapid education got many wondering if he had not been unduly promoted since his primary school days.

But did Arowolo get undue advantage throughout his education pursuit? “No, I never had double promotion in my primary and secondary schools,” he said.

He said: “I have had to answer this question every time, because people compare my age with my achievement. The proprietor of my secondary school, Mrs. Eyo, jovially asked me the same question when I went to get my original West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and National Examination Council (NECO) certificates for screening to start my Master’s degree. She said my education was rapid. She asked me to calm down. I told her that, I was still young and wanted to get every certificate I desire while still young. This has been my spirit since childhood.”

Arowolo attended Command Children’s School in Signal Barracks between 1997 and 2003. By September 2003, he resumed his Junior Secondary School education at Pakún-Ìla Comprehensive College in Iba New Site.

He requested for a change of school when he discovered he was lagging behind in Literature-in-English. This request, he said, was in protest against his father.

“I literally told my father that I would not return to school, if he would not withdraw me to a better school,” he said.

His father agreed and enrolled him at Henna-Teck International College in Iba Town, where he completed his secondary school education in 2007.

Arowolo said the new school was the turning point in his academic pursuit. “I took General Certificate of Examination (GCE) when I was in SSS 2, and I had five credits, which made me to apply to the Lagos State University. I got my first admission in 2009 before I sat for WASSCE. I was offered History and International Studies,” he said.

History and International Studies was not the course he wanted; he preferred Law. Then, he moved to the Department of English Education, before he sat for another Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

“It was painful that Law faculty had accreditation issue then and all students were moved to Mass Communication. I accepted my fate. That was where God wanted me to be; though Mass Communication was always my second choice of discipline,” he said.

As a Graduate Assistant, Arowolo is attached to ace journalism lecturer, Prof Lai Oso, who he is assisting. He said he was learning the ropes faster by maintaining cordial relationship with senior lecturers in the department.

He said: “I believe being submissive in every relationship is key to achieving success. I always give honour to whom it is due. I am learning from elders in the department and I work as a loyal servant. I want to drink from their wealth of experiences. I have an interpersonal relationship with all senior lecturers and I seek advice from them regularly. I have the aim to grow in the profession like them.”

As the youngest lecturer, does he have challenges teaching the courses given to him? Arowolo said the only challenge he had was to update his knowledge before going to classroom to teach.

He said: “The world is changing and as a lecturer, one has to move with change. There are a few things to learn every day and I am not reluctant to learn. I still feel like a student, because I am learning every day. I want to do everything to be better and I don’t think there is a lecturer that wants to display ignorance in front of updated students. Definitely, I prepare before going for classes. Just like students prepare for examination, lecturers also prepare for teaching.”

Arowolo said he ensures there is discipline in his class. But, he said he usually had issues with students who didn’t believe he could be a lecturer at such young age.

Reliving one of such moments, he said: “It was unexpected. I was assisting a senior lecturer to take a practical class at Communication Annex. The class clashed with another faculty’s lecture. My class was moved to another venue. When I got to the venue, a student screamed “the lecturer is around”. The whole class burst into laughter. One of the students asked where the lecturer was, while I stood before the class. Then, a student pointed at me. The whole class looked at me in disbelief. Then, they started laughing at me because they thought I could not have been a lecturer, given my age and youthful countenance.”

Could Arowolo have done anything outside lecturing? “No,” he said, adding that he had wanted to go into journalism practice. “But I found out that the reality of journalism profession was not what I expected.”

“I could have been a lawyer and I may still become a lecturer of Law, but I think it is predestined and it is by self-will that I am where I am today,” he said.

To be a good lecturer, Arowolo said one must have a mastery of language and the charisma to hold the class. He said a lecturer who is worth his salt must maintain good relationship with students, without any compromise.

He said: “Every lecturer must have updated knowledge about their discipline. A good lecturer must continue to engage in research. This is the best way to remain relevant in this profession.”

Arowolo is still single, but his ideal woman must be hardworking and God-fearing. He said he regularly turns down advances from female students, adding that he does not want to be distracted from his job.

He said: “It takes discipline to cope on a campus as big as LASU. Whenever I see a lady who is trying to cross her boundary, I become strict and harsh towards her. Although people get to say a lot of funny stuff about me, I am not moved. Some of those things are not based on facts. They are mere distractions.”

Although Arowolo is jovial, his no-nonsense trait made some of his students to dub him a disciplinarian.

He said: “Students always say I am disciplined and tough. To me, I like doing things the right way; it gives me the real result. The real results may not always be what many are expecting, when you know the right thing and you are not doing it, it is like you are causing more problems. When things are repeatedly done wrongly, it gets on my nerve and I feel uncomfortable. I believe what is worth doing at all is worth doing well.”

Where does he see himself in the next five years? Arowolo said he would have had his doctoral degree and become a career academic.

He advised students who are looking up to him, saying: “Learning is not an easy task, but it is enjoyable. Learning requires not just hard work but working right. Do the right thing at the right time; being at the right place at the right time. Learning and doing are what makes a person to be better. The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”

Colonial mentality is a form of internal oppression in which the colonised prefer and think highly of the customs, values and beliefs of their colonial masters.” – Nadal, 2011.

Wikipedia defines colonial mentality as the “internalised attitude of ethnic or cultural inferiority felt by a people as a result of colonisation, that is, them being colonised by another group.”

It is not out of place to state emphatically that most Nigerians, if not all, are white men in black skins, as we have projected ourselves as promoters of the customs, beliefs, lifestyles and conventions of our colonial masters.

Before I broach the subject matter, let me disclose that I was inspired to write on this topic by two incidents. The first was a fierce argument on the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool, while the other was an embarrassing slavery scene of a Chinese construction company, conveying their black labourers in a manner similar to the slave trade era.

I watched with keen interest how hardworking Nigerian youths engaged in passionate debate about the Champions League final. While the fans of Real Madrid boasted about the unmatched experience of the Spanish team in the competition; those that comprised supporters of especially English teams pledged their support for Liverpool.

However, the sympathisers of Liverpool, I perceived, were only in solidarity walk with the team so that the true fans do not walk alone as they tackled almighty Madrid last May. The ones I identified as supporters of Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United pledged their support for Liverpool on the premise that it is an English team.

“We are loyal to EPL,” one of them said.

“Really,” I muttered. When did an EPL team become Enugu Rangers or Sunshine Stars of Ibadan to deserve our loyalty?

I subjected my brain to rigorous exercise and I resolve that, the self-infected colonial mentality seems hereditary – our forefathers had a taste of colonial yoke during the years of colonial rule and the ambience of colonialism has refused to depart successive generations. Despite being granted independence on October 1, 1960, we still project ourselves to be offshoots to world powers like our very own Great Britain, United States of America (USA), France, and others.

I would not wish to go into political and economic neo-colonialism, a contraption standing against the progress of most African countries, but I shall limit this discourse to deliberate on the traits of colonialism in our society.

Colonial mentality, as asserted by Wikipedia, is an attitude of ethnic or cultural inferiority that has found its way into our subconscious existence and unashamedly seems to be eroding our traditional culture. I shall soon get to the second incident I witnessed, and readers would agree with me that Fela was right when he said: “dem don release you now, but you never release yourself …”

Apart from supporting European football teams, do we not also crave for imported goods? Nigerians define class by foreign appearance. They want to know from what country you got your shirts, which foreign company produced your shoes, and which foreign brand sell the smartest suits?

Our wild appetite for foreign products is legendary. Those in the top echelon of the society join the government in preaching “buy made-in-Nigeria products”, yet they rush to buy foreign products. Isn’t that an attestation to colonial mentality?

As a man, when assessing a lady, you consider European features to be the standard for beauty; you detest our traditional hairstyles like kolese, kojusoko, ipako-elede, but prefer Ghana weavings, Russian style or Brazilian braids. What has happened to an ‘Omoluabi’ appearance?

The height of inferiority complex is the use of bleaching cream. Those bleaching their skin prefer the artificial coke and Fanta colour it gives to their natural dark skin. Some of them bleach their skins and turn out to be worst humans.

Most annoying are those who discriminate against their fellow countrymen in such areas as class, religion and ethnicity. The way Nigerians have personalised and indigenised the foreign religions is amazing; “black folks can tell you about every religion under the sun, but too sacred to talk about their own African gods.”

Favouring traditional European attires (suits) over our own kembe for formal occasions is an evidence that we are comfortable being subservient to our colonial masters. About two weeks ago, one of my friends, Kenny, was clad in Ankara material and he was being queried by his classmates why he would appear native on a Monday. He wondered if it was in the school regulation not to wear native attires on a Monday. Kenny was being scrutinised as though, he was mentally ill, simply because he dropped the colonial convention.

About the Chinese construction company that I mentioned earlier, it is pathetic and dehumanising scene which made me feel ashamed of my fatherland.

Every day, I see Nigerians working with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) being lumped together like sardine fishes at the back of pick-up vehicles to and from construction sites, while the expatriate contractors are ridden in posh vehicles with tinted glasses and police cover.

For how long would our graduates be doing menial jobs under foreigners like their fathers did last century, while the expatriates with college certificates get government contracts all in the name of “technical experts?”

Nigerian leaders are so in awe of expatriates that even in things as mundane as road constructions. Our leaders take pride in being photographed with some second rate foreign contractors. These contractors, I’m sure, are not different from illiterate bricklayers we have here, but the Chinese contractors will be parading themselves as the best professionals in the face of our leaders.

Colonial mentality has eaten deep our brain and its pervasiveness is easily noticed. We are a people who feel inferior of originality in a bid to glorify foreigners and their concepts. When will Nigerians purge themselves of this colonial mentality?

• Oluwatobi is a Mass communication student, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta.