The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has elected a new president.
Tijani Usman, a student of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria emerged winner after polling 163 out of the 239 total votes cast to defeat his closest opponent, Jubril Ahmadu, also from ABU who scored 56 votes.
The convention held in Delta State.
Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, Dr Theresa Akande, has appealed to the State Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr Frederick Lakanu, to release some students and residents of the Erinfun Community arrested during Saturday’s protest against month old power outage and lack of portable water.
The Rector joined by the Institution’s students’ body had absolved the students of complicity in the unrest which halted commercial activities and vehicular movements for nearly two hours around Erifun.
It would be recalled that purported students of the School numbering almost a hundred had on Saturday massed on the Ado-Ijan Ekiti main road as early as 7 am and, joined by residents around the area, barricaded the road and halted vehicular movements for nearly two hours.
Although no life was reported lost, it took the intervention of anti-riot police squad to disperse the protesters and free the road for an almost one kilometre line up of captive motorists on both sides of the road, a development which led to the arrest of nearly forty students and members of the Erinfun community populated mainly by the Ebira.
At a press conference in Ado-Ekiti, capital of the state jointly addressed yesterday by Dr. Akande and the President, Students’ Union Government of the institution, Mr Ajibola Oladapo, explained many innocent students and staff of the Polytechnic were arrested and detained by the police during what they called “An indiscriminate arrest”.
Akande lamented the influx of miscreants into the Erinfun community which had allegedly heightened insecurity around the area.
Dr. Akande said: “Some of the students who were dismissed from other schools had been settling there and this made it to look as if our students were involved. Those who partook in the protest were majorly miscreants from other schools and residents in the Ebira Community.”
On the alleged attack on Aare Afe, Ajibola had said: “As peace-loving students, we are particularly appalled at such acts of barbarism, especially against a revered personality like Chief Afe Babalola’ status. It is worthy to note that the management of this institution, which also suffers from the same fate, have been doing all that is humanly possible to provide basic amenities on the polytechnic campus.
“We deeply appreciate this and thus we had no cause to complain of lack of power supply or water or go on demonstration over same”, he said.
Ajibola equally appreciated the police for their efforts in bringing the development under control, urging them to order the release of students and other persons wrongly arrested during protest.
Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University, Prof Adekunle Bashiru Okesina, has received the Distinguished Pathologist Award. He was conferred with the honour in Arusha, Tanzania, during the First College of Pathologists of East Central and Southern Africa meeting.
The award, it was gathered, is in recognition of his contributions to Chemical Pathology. Prof. Kanya, President of College of Pathologists of East, Central and Southern Africa (COPECA), urged Prof Okesina to remain committed to global best practices in the field of pathology.
The College of Pathologists of East, Central and Southern Africa (COPECSA) is a professional membership organisation dedicated to the advancement of the science and practice of pathology.
The organisation which was launched in August 2010 in Kampala, Uganda, COPECSA draws its membership from pathologists registered and practising in thirteen member countries within the East, Central and Southern Africa region.
Three students were hospitalised following a stampede for hostel accommodation at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University (UDUS), Sokoto, last week. HALIMAH AKANBI (300-Level Law), IBRAHIM JATTO (Zoology) and ISMAT ANIFOWOSE (300-Level Economics) report.
For students of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), securing accommodation on campus has always been a problem. Though the institution has vast land, it can only provide accommodation for less than 20 per cent of its students.
Every year, it is a struggle to get space in the hostel. The story is the same this year. The rush for bed space is began as soon as the management got applications for accomodation.
Out of desperation, students besieged the designated submission centres the previous night. Some of them passed the night there to submit early.
At 7am, there was a crowd of students, pushing and shoving before the university officials arrived to start the exercise.
In the ensuing commotion, three students fainted. They were rushed to the health centre. The presence of the school security personnel did not stop the chaos, as scores of students sustained injuries.
When the situation was getting out of hand, the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Dr Adamu Aliero, stopped the exercise.
Days later, the Students’ Affairs Division announced an alternative application method. The unit introduced online application, which required students to log in to a special portal within seven days.
The chairman of the bed space allocation committee and Deputy Dean of Students’ Affairs, Dr Aliyu Gobir, said the online application was necessary to avert chaos.
He said: “Accommodation problem is not peculiar to UDUS alone; it is a problem in most universities. We have hostels that can only accommodate less than 25 per cent of our students. The allocation of bed spaces is based on first-come-first-serve, which is the reason students slept at the submission centres to apply early. In this year’s exercise, there appeared to be more pressure becaue everybody wanted to apply. We had to cancel the manual application procedure for the online application after a careful study of the situation on ground.”
The cancellation of the manual application procedure was to avert danger, Dr Aliero said. He said the rush for submission could lead to a stampede, adding that the management did not expect such chaotic conduct of students.
Asked what the university was doing to provide more hostels, Dr Aliero said: “The management is doing its best and we have been engaging private firm to come and build more hostels. Just recently, the Kano State government came in to build a new hostel. We have also taken over abandoned hostel project by Zamfara State government. Old Hostel library has been rehabilitated to accommodate female students. More are still coming.”
Students hailed the management for stopping the exercise, urging it to hasten the completion of hostel it is building. This, Hannatu Aliyu, 100-Level Physics, said would reduce the stress students go through because of the distance of the campus from town.
Abdulgafar Saka, a 200-Level Economics student, said: “The reason why we experience accommodation problem every year is the distance of the school to Sokoto town. It is a punishment for students living off-campus to go to school every day. It is annoying to see students struggling to get bed spaces in the school hostels. The probability of getting a bed space is not certain. Management needs to be up to the task of providing accommodation for the students.”
To Waheed Yusuf, a student of Faculty of Social Sciences, the government should be blamed for not putting students into consideration in the planning of the school. “The government was selfish in its thinking when the school was being established,” he said.
Olufunmilayo Oladeji, an Agriculture Science student, said: “The problem is not whether students apply manually or via the internet. It is the fact that there are no enough spaces in the hostel to accommodate students. Although, online registration is preferable if only students must be assured of fairness in the selection process.”
It is to be seen how fair the method will be when students resume for 2014/2015 academic session in a few weeks.
Members of the National Association of Mass Communication Students (NAMCOS) at the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State, have organised orientation for freshers at the institution’s Stella Obasanjo Hall.
Speaking at the event, Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Osogbo branch, Baba tunde Fanawope, advised the students to be focused and take their studies seriously.
The Head of Department, Mr A. A. Oyewole, charged the freshers to shun examination malpractice and cultism.
President of the association, Ahmed Ibrahim, thanked lecturers and students for being present at the programme. He taught the students how to calculate their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA), advising them to study hard to excel.
The Students’ Adviser, Mr Chuks Osoji, spoke on the need for the students to obey rules and regulations guiding the school.
The programme also featured presentations by students. ,
Some freshers who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE said they were excited to be admitted into the polytechnic.
Lecturers in the department who attended the ceremony included Mr A.A Oyewole, Mr Bankole, Mrs Oluwakemi Ogungbamigbe, Mr ibukun Ajibola, Mr Chuks , Mr Zacharaya,
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Zone B axis, has hailed the Delta education policy as the state celebrates its 23rd anniversary.
Speaking with student-leaders, the zone’s Public Relations Officer, Pedro Obi, said: “Today is a day for us all as a people to reflect on our past, re-evaluate our present and if positive, consolidate on it to secure a solid future for the generation yet unborn. For the past few years, the state has witnessed a lot of transformation in the education sector, ranging from infrastructural re-modelling of primary and secondary schools to the numbers of policies on education management.”
He continued: “NANS is fully aware of the enormous responsibility on the state government as the state unarguably hosts the highest number of state owned tertiary institutions in the country, with four more polytechnics in the pipeline; making a total of 13 state-owned tertiary institutions, the highest in Nigeria.”
The association also praised the Delta State Commissioner for Youths, Hon Ebifa Ijomah and the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Student Matters, Owhoforador Oghenewegba, for carrying the students along in the affairs of the state.
Pedro called on Nigerian students to shun violence and embrace peace to move the nation forward.
Students in the English Department of the University of Agriculture (UNIAGRIC) in Makurd, Benue State last Tuesday, abandoned academic activities to honour their class representative, Joseph Pevigo, at his birthday.
The birthday party, according to his colleagues, was in recognition of his sterling leadership qualities.
The students staged a drama in honour of Pevigo, and followed it up with dance presentations.
In his remark, Pevigo described the occasion as memorable, saying he would forever cherish the love shown by is course mates.
The Redeemer’s University (RUN), hitherto based at the Redemption Camp on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has moved to its permanent site in Ede, Osun State.
President of the Redeemer’s University Students’ Association (RUNSA), Adelekan Doyin, said students would be resuming at the new location for the new academic session.
“The permanent site is close to completion. The classrooms have been built and are currently being furnished. The hostels for students have also been built and are also getting finishing touches,” he stated.
Vie-Chancellor, Prof Debo Adeyewa promised the permanent site would be very conducive for learning, saying work was in progress at the site.
Speaking on accommodation, he said two students would be allocated to a room with a private lavatory.
He assured that management had made provision for buses to convey the students from different states in the country to the new campus.
The Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) has called for entries for its essay contest titled: The need to include gender sensitive reporting in Mass Communication schools’ curriculum. The competition was part of the activities marking NAWOJ 25th anniversary.
Participants must be final year students in the following higher institutions: University of Nigeria, Nsukka; The Federal Polytechnic, Kaduna; The Federal Polytechnic, Ibadan; Nigeria Institute of Journalism, Lagos; University of Jos; University of Maiduguri and Federal Polytechnic, Auchi.
According to NAWOJ president, Mrs Ifeyinwa Omowole, participants must write an essay of not more than 500 word long. Entry must be sent to: info@nawoj.com before/on September 15.
Three winners will get N200,000 each and one year internship in media organisations.
Olanrewaju Ogundipe is the chairman of Council of Faculties’ Presidents at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Vice Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, a body charged with writing a new constitution for the Students’ Union Government (SUG), which the management wants to restore. The 400-Level Business Administration student tells TOLU GEORGE (400-Level Finance) why students unionism must return to the school.
It has been almost 10 years since students’ unionism was proscribed at the University of Lagos (UNILAG); do you think there is a need for it now?
Yes, because it is the mouthpiece of students and the essence of a union is to protect the rights and interests of its members. Members of the academic staff and non-academic staff have their own unions. So, why shouldn’t the students have their own union, too? Over the years, we have been deprived of so many things because we didn’t speak with one voice. To some extent, the Council of Faculties’ Presidents has been playing the role of the students’ union, but that is not enough.
There are some students, who do not want the union restored, because they feel their complaints could be channelled through the Council of Faculties’ Presidents…
But this body cannot function as a properly constituted students’ union. As the chairman of the council, I play two roles. First, as president of my faculty and second, as chairman of the faculties’ presidents. While I am trying to attend to things in my faculty, I am also trying to sort things out with the management. All these coupled with my studies are a load of tasks on my head. But, if we have a constituted union, it would be easy for the officers because the role of each person would be clearly defined. Then, the burden on faculties’ presidents would reduce.
What is the level of support from the management?
The authorities are totally in support of restoring the union. In fact, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Rahamon Bello, inaugurated the committee charged to draft a new constitution. He engaged the students in the process. Every faculty has two student-representatives in the committee. Halls of Residence chairmen and a few lecturers are also part of the committee. The VC said the management will not impose any provision on students.
Given the violence students’ unionism is associated with in some schools, don’t you think that the union could cause disturbances when restored?
With or without a students’ union, if there is a need for the students to agitate on some certain issues, they will do that without being prodded by anyone. There was no students’ union when we protested against registration and accommodation challenges. This tells us that students do not need to be told what to do; but the essence of the union is to speak for the students in a responsible manner. When there is an organised body, there will first be consultations and dialogues before protest can be thought of.
As Vice Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, what are the activities of the body?
My role majorly is to coordinate meetings and to see that a successful students’ union body is constituted. At our last meeting, we divided ourselves into sub-committees to hasten the process. There are committees overseeing structures of the union, such as finances, faculties, Halls of Residence, colleges and code of conducts.
When shall we see students’ union in UNILAG?
The management proposes next session, which means that elections should hold this semester. But it may also depend on when we are through with drafting the constitution. If we conclude on time, then there would be a students union in UNILAG next session.