The Nation Newspaper

Category: Campus Life

  • Getting that dream job

    Getting that dream job

    Do graduates have prospect of getting jobs in the face of rising unemployment? Panellists at a Job Fair held at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) last Tuesday believe graduates can get their dream jobs if their curriculum vitae reflect their competence and character. WALE AJETUNMOBI reports.

    Students are unhappy with the admission process of universities and other higher institutions which they claimed has robbed them of studying their choice courses.

    The students said the problem could lead to a career crisis for many youths.

    Many students have been studying courses they did not pick because of the schools’ space constraints.

    Arutu Yinka, a 200-level student of the Department of English Languge at the  Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, said: “I opted for Law, but was given English. At first, I wanted to reject the admission but after spending three years at home, I had to take what was available and the available now seems to be my calling.”

    He said it was advisable for institutions to give students options rather than denying them admission. “It is now left to the student to determine whether he or she will develop interest in it or wait for another year to write JAMB,” he added.

    Another student, Bello Mustapha of the Department of Local Government and Developmental Studies at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Oyo State, said: “ I did well in my UTME and the test conducted by the school. I scored 29, and the cut-off mark for Marketing was 25, which ordinarily qualified me for the merit list. But I was given Local Government and Departmental Studies, all the same.”

    Bello said he was disappointed when the admission list came out as he could not find his name on his choice department’s lists. “I didn’t know what to do at first because I love and wanted to study Marketing as a profession,” he said.

    Olowookere Damilare, a 300-level student of the Department of Zoology, OAU, said: “My score couldn’t meet up with the admission requirements of Pharmacy, my first choice. I had to grab Zoology with both hands because thousands of people are outside seeking admission to universities.”

    Olowookere urged students to desist from forcing themselves to study certain courses that could jeopardise their future career plans.ow can graduates get their dream jobs in the face of rising unemployment?  It is simple, say employers and job experts.

    According to them, all they need to do is to ensure that their curriculum vitae (CV) reflect their competence and character.

    They proferred these tips at the Graduate Employment and Job Fair organised by Smiles Consulting in collaboration with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), National Directorate of Employment and National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria. For four hours, job seekers, corps members and students listened as they learned how they can get their dream jobs.

    The event with the theme: You’re hired, was held in the Multipurpose Hall A of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) last Tuesday.

    It featured a panel of discussiants, comprising the chairman of Brilla FM, Larry Izamoje, General Manager (Africa/Middle East), Lucozade Ribena Suntory, Mr Chidi Okoro and Managing Director of L’OREAL Africa Central, Mr Idorenyen Enang. The discussions were moderated by Smiles Consulting director Harry Nnoli.

    Nnoli, who is also an author, said the objective of the event was to enhance graduates employability, noting that the programme would boost the morale of the unemployed and underemployed to develop and position themselves for opportunities in the job market.

    He said: “All we are out to do is to challenge and inspire you to take necessary actions. Until you take actions, you will remain in the state of inertia.”

    During the panel session, Okoro, former Managing Director of GlaxoSmithKline, noted that the nation was in deficit in terms of job provision, but said the job seekers themselves made the situation worse with their incoherence in application writing and arrangement of their Curriculum Vitae (CV).

    He said good certificates could bring graduates to the door, stressing that the key that would open it was their attributes and character.

    “A job seeker has to have a combination of humility, competence, resilience and integrity,” he said.

    Whenever there is vacancy in any firm, Izamoje said, the company is looking for an employee that will add values to its vision and not someone that will drain the company’s fortunes without adding values.

    He inspired the youth with how he established Brilla FM from his meagre salary at the defunct Concord, urging the participants not to be a millipede in a country that has great potential.

    He said: “Hire yourself if they don’t hire you. Make your passion your ?????. Locate your passion and be persistent in it. You must plan your goal, practicalise and prioritise it. After the whole effort, relax and play to refresh your enthusiasm towards achieving your goal.”

    To Enang, a good CV is not an assurance for employment. He believes the integrity and character content of graduates should be their CV. “Discipline and focus are the values that can help employed youths to keep their job,” he added.

    UNILAG Acting Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof Rebecca Soremekun, who stood in for the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Rahaman Bello, said graduates must take up the gauntlet and leave their state of inertia. Rather than perfecting their CVs to get undeserved jobs, she urged the participants to show good character and add values to the vision of the companies they may find themselves.

    She also urged them to utilise social media for business and employment networking, rather than using the medium to socialise.

    Representative of the Director-General of the NYSC, Mrs Rachael Idaewo, said the event was a golden opportunity for students and graduates to change their lives for the good. While noting that the labour was rough highly competitive, she said NYSC would continue to expose the serving youths to programmes that would make them entrepreneur and gainfully employed.

    The event also featured question and answer session, where the participants bore their minds on issues that set limitation for employment in the country.

  • ‘NANS should demand good governance’

    A former Vice President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Kabir Adamu, has urged the association to demand better funding of education.

    Kabir, who is the chairman of Northern Students’ Forum, made the call while speaking to CAMPUSLIFE on issues affecting the association. He faulted the postponement of NANS convention by planning committee, noting that there was no basis for the shifting.

    He said NANS must demand better governance in 2015, urging students to reject desperate politicians. He said: “As the 2015 general election approaches, I urge students to unite for a collective purpose. They must join forces to bring down the mightiest walls of oppression and injustice in our society and we should reject the temptation of desperate politicians, who use crude tactics of divide and rule the people.”

    He said students must be vigilant and never lose hope for a better country.

  • 15 injured as students arrest suspected robber

    No fewer than 15 students of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Ogbomoso, Oyo State narrowly escaped death on Saturday when a bus in which they were taking a suspected robber to police station skidded off the road.

    The accident occurred on Owode road, a few kilometres to Owode Ogbomoso Police State, where they were taking the suspect. It was learnt that the students sustained injuries after the Students’ Union bus summersaulted five times.

    The suspect whose name could not be ascertained was caught while breaking into a female hostel in Adenike area. He was stripped naked by students, who accused him of raping his victims. Students used all kinds of material to hit the suspect before Students’ Union leaders arrived at the scene to stop their colleagues. They decided to hand him over to the police.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the suspect struggled with the students in the vehicle on their way to the station, resulting into a crash. The accident sparked a protest by students.

    Fawole Isreal, a student, who witnessed the incident, said: “The suspect was caught in Adenike area of the campus as he broke into a room. He was rescued by Students’ Union officials from the crowd that wanted to lynch him. The union leaders pleaded with the crowd to take the suspect to the police station. On the way, the suspected robber struggled with the student in the bus and that resulted in an accident. The bus tumbled about five times. The students were injured.”

    The students led the suspect to the palace of the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Oyewunmi. The protest was led by the union president, Ajibola Areo, and another student, Sheriffdeen Bolarinwa. The protesters complained about criminal activities around the campus.

    It took the intervention of the school authorities to calm the aggrieved students, who refused to hand over the suspect to the police.

    Policemen at Owode Ogbomoso Police Station assured the students of justice.

  • Omisore’s bus gift divides OAU students

    Omisore’s bus gift divides OAU students

    The Students’ Union Government (SUG) of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State is divided over a bus donated to it by Senator Iyiola Omisore, who many students consider a persona non grata. Some executive members argue that the bus was given in “good faith”; others describe it as a “Greek gift”. OLUWAFEMI OGUNJOBI (Language Arts) and SEHINDEMI AJOSE (400-Level English Literature) report.

    It was supposed to be a gift that would make students happy. But it turned out to be otherwise. A bus donated by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate Senator Iyiola Omisore to the Students Union Government (SUG) of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife has caused a crack in the group.

    Barely three months after the SUG came on board, some members are moving to suspend their president, Isaac Ibikunle, over the bus.

    It was alleged that Isaac and the General Secretary, Oludayo Shittu, unilaterally decided to send a request to Omisore for the vehicle. Other members claimed not to know anything about the gift.

    To the students, the bus from Omisore, who has been declared a persona non grata on the campus, is an insult on their sensibilities. They said the bus should not have been received from Omisore because he remains in the bad books of students over the controversies surrounding his political activities.

    The students, who returned to school last week, 67 days after they were sent home for demonstrating against fee hike, are criticising their union for collecting what they called a “Greek gift”.

    Isaac and Oludayo, who received the vehicle on the students’ behalf, said Omisore donated the bus to aid students’ struggle.

    In a statement, Isaac said: “Since inception of our administration, it is a known fact that politicians in major political parties have been meeting us to seek support as it is done across the country. But our position has always been that they should institute a landmark project that will benefit OAU students.  Such is the bus donation and scholarship for students. Both the All Progressives Congress and the PDP have promised us a bus each.

    “Meanwhile, on July 31, the PDP candidate, Otunba Omisore, donated a brand new 18-seater bus to the Students’ Union Government. The gesture was to aid the mobility of the union officials, especially in times of struggle. This is against the constant seizure of the union’s bus by the management whenever the students disagree with the authorities.”

    But, the SUG’s Vice President, Funmi Oladejo, said she was not aware of the meeting where the decision to request a gift from Omisore was taken. In a statement titled: When silence is no longer golden, Funmi denied knowing anything about the bus, saying it was not the agenda of all members of the executive council.

    The Public Relations Officer, Bamidele Oludare, accused Funmi of conniving with people he described as “disgruntled elements” to misrepresent the union.

    A former SUG president, Davidson Adejuwon, said the gift was an unpardonable desecration of what OAU Students’ Union stands for. “Isaac not only received the Greek gift from the politician, he childishly inscribed Omisore’s name on it to further insult students,” he said.

    Davidson said a former governor begged his administration with four buses, which he refused to collect to protect the union from undue influence by politicians.

    A member of the union, who pleaded not to be named, said: “Except there is an immediate purging of the executive arm of bad eggs, our union may have exchanged its integrity and progressivism for an odious gift from a politician”.

    Some students, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE, asked that the bus be returned and the union leadership punished for its thoughtlessness.

     

  • Students get lawmaker’s scholarship to South Africa

    To promote the entrepreneurship and principles of free markets and liberty among the students, lawmaker representing Oshodi-Isolo Federal Constituency 1, Hon. Maruf Akinderu-Fatai, has given scholarship to seven students in his constituency to attend Students and Young Professionals Liberty Academy (SYPALA) in Pretoria, South Africa.

    The lawmaker, Akinderu-Fatai, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Compliance, said the sponsorship was in line with his youth development programme. He said the knowledge that would be acquired by the beneficiaries would be positively used to improve the lot of their colleagues and the nation.

    The beneficiaries will join over 100 youths from across Africa participate in the conference holding at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, with the theme: Creating the foundations for a free prosperous Africa. The event was organised by African Liberty Organisation.

    Akinderu-Fatai said he learnt about the international programme when he was invited to similar event at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria, Kaduna State in 2011. He said he sponsored 10 students in his constituency to the event in the year.

    Five students made the trip to Catholic University in Mozambique and six to Kabarak University, Kenya in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

    While presenting the travel documents to the beneficiaries, Akinderu-Fatai said the aim of the event was engage the youth to promote entrepreneurship, peace and liberty in Africa and train them to become successful entrepreneurs.

    He urged the students “to make us proud as ambassadors of Oshodi and Lagos.”

    The program, Akinderu-Fatai said, will draw resource persons from the academic, private sector, public and non-profit organisations, who will mentor the youth as to develop Africa.

    “The curriculum will also present case studies from different parts of the world to demonstrate the cross-cultural importance of liberty, peace and prosperity. The event will feature collaborative group project to encourage extensive interaction among participants,” he said.

  • ‘Environmental health solution to healthcare problems’

    Memories of the 25th inaugural lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) will linger following what participants termed its uniqueness. The lecture was delivered by Prof A. N. Amadi, Head of Department, Public Health.

    Speaking on “Environmental health: The dynamics, application, implications and way forward in Nigeria’s healthcare delivery system,”  Prof Amadi described environmental health as a polyvalent public health field. He said it is a complex profession but a good area public health.

    Prof Amadi said wrong priorities, lack of political will, preference for curative than preventive health, restriction of decision making to few practitioners, were some of the factors influencing environmental health practice in Nigeria.

    He explained that the implications of environmental health included social misery, widespread damage to human health, pollution to the living environment and water resources, depressed economic productivity

    Prof Amadi said when properly managed, good environmental health could result in decrease in mortality and morbidity rates of sanitation-related diseases; increase in productivity and reduction of poverty, improvement of nutrition and the physical mental growth of children; improvement of school enrolment, attendance and performance; and increase in the survival of people living with HIV/AIDS, among others.

    On the way forward, Prof Amadi called on government and stakeholders to exercise the will-power to do what is right and urgent, adding that decision making in the health sector should be open to many practitioners in the field.

    He also recommended that current environmental health services facilities should be upgraded and  new ones be built.

    In his closing remark, Vice Chancellor, Prof CC Asiabaka  thanked the lecturer for his contributions in the field of environmental health practice in Nigeria.

  • Scholarship for best post-UTME candidates

    THE University of Ibadan (UI) has released the results of the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    At a press conference at the Senate Chamber, the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Isaac Adewole, said of the 8,844 candidates, who sat for the exam, over 6,000 scored above 50 per cent. No fewer than 2,351 failed; 226 were absent.

    The school’s Admission Committee chairman, Prof James Olopade, said management had approved the award of scholarship to the best six candidates in the examination. He said the scholarship would be subjected to their fulfillment of the university’s admission requirements.

    The awardees, according to him,  included Oluwakayode Animasahun; Efeturi Ajari; Olawale Ojo; Oluwaferanmi Omitoyin and Matthew Aremu.

    He said the university was working to surmount the challenges it encountered during the examination.

     

  • We need more than tears

    Pain and joy are two antithetical features of human existence. While pain reminds one of the sore sides of life; joy brings one to its brighter flank. Via pain, we reveal traits that may not show in our everyday life – those that are only triggered by horrendous occurrences. One of such traits, of course, is tearing. But then, how to we describe tears spurred by no emotions?

    As a matter of fact, Nigeria is in pain. Pain caused by long years of deceitful leadership, religious xenophobia and ethnocentrism; long years of autocratic-democracy. Amusingly, Nigerian leaders still don’t find a reason to desist from deceits. Instead, their kit of guile keeps accumulating.

    Just like the popular “New Year, New System” saying, many Nigerian leaders who, indeed, are good at improvising, now find it official to shed tears when they get to scenes of fatalities, even those ones that have happened weeks after. But, are tears strictly elicited by sights of terrible incidents or merely from the sound of inhumanity whatsoever? Do we start crying after seeing the corpse of our relative, or on hearing the news?

    About three years ago, the President was spotted wiping his face with his handkerchief at the site of the destroyed UN House in Abuja. It was a devastating sight indeed. But instead of instigating strident moves toward finding a lasting solution to the cause of the incident, it was only a dress-rehearsal for the real tear-opera we were to watch.

    Just in about a month ago, the First Lady was also reportedly moved by emotions to weep on a national TV. It was another emotion-spurring incident. But then, Sun Myung Moon explains in Return to tears that tears could be shed for two people: for oneself or for another person. So, what was spurring the emotion: the thought of probable loss of the Aso Villa in 2015 or a share in pains of the aggrieved parents?

    To continue the opera proper, another character joined the cast of wailers. Brig. Gen Ibrahim Sabo, Chairman of the Presidential fact-finding Committee on the Chibok issue, also shed tears during his committee’s meeting with the disconsolate parents of the abducted girls, one month after the incident. Is that how he sheds them daily, or he needed to court attention at all cost, like Robert Greene said in 48 Laws of Power?

    Truthfully, I have no problems with those manifestations of emotion. Good leaders share in the problems of their followers. Even Sun Myung Moon explained that God cried for the fall of mankind. But then, almost as immediately, God made provisions for amelioration of man’s conundrum. So, when a leader snivels without taking action, there’s need for a probe.

    Unmistakably, it’s been four years into this political dispensation, and four years of unprecedented killings and destitution. And, of course, it’s been three years since Mr. President openly expressed his displeasure with the Boko Haram barbarism. Yet, nothing has been done, not even close, to allay the fears of the people or solve their problems. Nigerians still live in trepidation-primus inter pares. Hardly does a day pass that we do not record deaths in any part of the nation. And with all this privations, our leaders still derive joy in celebrating centenary memorial.

    I know a good leader cries with his men. Just so Evo Morales, first indigenous President of Bolivia, did during his inauguration, when he stood firm to protect his people against the imperialist intrusion of the West. But what we have here is tears of deceit and fake pathos, which reminds one of O’Brien’s help to Winston Smith in George Orwell’s 1984; tears that only elicit a presidential threat of withdrawal of the nation’s army from a state because of a governor’s frankness. I thought a society’s interest supersedes that of any individual. Tears that only leave the whereabouts of 200 glories in oblivion, and 200 families in unwarranted mourning, for more than three months. Tears that make a President say on an international TV that there are illuminations where stiff darkness exists. Tears that could solve no problem –at least it didn’t convince Hitler to lessen his attacks on innocent people nor did it help the Negroes convince the racists of how precarious their condition was. Indeed, tear is not a suitable weapon of war.

    The motive of tears should not be forgotten. It is not a suitable agenda on one’s manifesto, so it won’t boost support in any election, be it 2015 or 2019. It is not a palliative for headache; neither is it a panacea to incivility. It didn’t dissuade Bin Laden from being a terror. Tears won’t make these insurgents release our girls or shelf their abominable acts. It is only an expression of emotion. We need more than tears. Tears bring fears. Fears bring sleepless nights and horrific journeys. To wipe our tears, we need allay our fears. And to allay our fears we need responsive and pro-active measures from our leaders.

  • Hostel elects rep

    Residents of Beta Hall at the Adekunle Ajasin University in Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State have elected their representative in the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) next session.

    Before the election, the students held a manifesto day for contestants to sell their programmes.

    The election, which lasted for one hour, witnessed a large turnout of voters.

    Paul Wasiu was declared winner after polling the highest number of votes to defeat other contenders.

    Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, Wasiu attributed his victory to the trust reposed in him by residents of the hall. He promised not to disappoint them.

  • Unity in diversity

    Unity in diversity

    Despite the security challenges in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) came alive with students showcasing their culture at the Nativity Night, a yearly cultural fiesta with the theme: Unity in diversity. TAIWO ISOLA (300-Level Human Anatomy) reports.

    For most part of the day, it threatened to rain but the students were not bothered. They turned out in beautiful attires and flocked to the Ecumenical Centre for the event. It was the Nativity Night of the Redeemed Christian Fellowship (RCF) at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID). The theme was: Unity in diversity.

    From the hostel to the venue, the fellowship members entertained their colleagues with their sense of cultural fashion. The campus was literally enveloped in the feast of culture. It was the biggest cultural fiesta to be held on the campus despite the security challenges battling the Borno State capital.

    The event brought students from various ethnic groups together to celebrate their cultural heritage.

    Each group was  dressed in its cultural attire.Representatives of Yoruba were beautifully dressed in Aso Ofi, agbada (flowing gown) with Abeti Aja caps to match.

    The Igbo representatives  sparkled in their Ankara robes, beads and walking sticks. The Hausa members displayed their Babanriga and native caps, while the Ijaws wore their hats with pride . The Kanuri, Tiv, Igala, Fulani and Ibibio were not left out.

    Each group showcased its cultural elements such as beads, calabashes and baskets during their stage performance.

    The students danced round the campus before meeting at the exhibition venue, where foods, clothes and many various totems of the participating ethnic groups were displayed. The drama group of the RCF entertained the guests with their play, which they said was to promote unity, peace and love among students.

    The participants and the guests relished the local delicacies serve.  A student described the event as celebration of Nigeria and not a particular ethnic nationality.

    The fellowship troupe and some campus artistes performed cultural dance, drawing applause from the audience.

    Seun Igotun, one of the attendees, said the event added value to his life by helping him learn how to relate with people of different cultural backgrounds. “I have eaten three traditional foods from three ethnic groups. This really shows that, what we need in this country is love and unity. Why should we be fighting ourselves? We are all people of the same root.”

    While speaking on the theme, the RCF president, Henry Emmanuel, said: “The purpose of the event is to foster unity irrespective of our cultural backgrounds. All ethnic groups represented here today are allowed to show their heritage. We are out to encourage the youth to do away with primordial feeling of hostilities towards people who don’t speak their languages.”

    He added that the security challenges in Maiduguri would not dampen the fellowship’s determination to promote unity among students. Thousands of students were in attendance, indicating students looked forward to it.

    A Hausa student, Halima Galadima, who could not conceal her excitement during the Arewa cultural display, said: “I am very happy today. I feel at home once again. I interacted freely and learnt new things about other tribes and their culture.”