The Nation Newspaper

Category: Campus Life

  • Making education the right of all

    Making education the right of all

    In all climes, education is taken as the right of citizens. In Nigeria, our Constitution is not equivocal about the educational rights of the citizens. This forms a strong foundation on which the government bases its policy and social reform.

    As exemplified by the late sage and ardent supporter of education, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and his political contemporaries, such as the late Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe and Sir Tafawa Balewa, education for all citizens is the bedrock of social and political development of any society.

    However, the present crop of leaders has not found the provision of Constitution meaningful the way our founding fathers did. Spurred on by selfish desires and personal profits, their failure to build on the educational system bequeathed to us have helped in creating an educational mirage in the system.

    Our education used to be ranked among the best in the world but not anymore. Our leaders have turned a blind eye to the foundation and chose to play politics with everything that has to do with education.

    A few years ago, there were speculations that the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations and other examination bodies would be scrapped to make education accessible to the people; the bodies wax stronger daily.

    Despite reports of examination malpractices, registration bottleneck, non-release of results, high registration fee, mass failure and increase in the number of applicants annually, the government is yet to introduce reforms that would minimise the challenges and make education attractive to the youth.

    According to statistics, more than one million applicants write the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) annually. The figure rose to 1.7 million last year but only 520,000 placements were available for this number. Former Minister for Education Prof Ruqayyatu Rufa’I wondered what the fate of the unlucky 1.2 million applicants would be.

    One, too, wonders what the country is turning to. One might want to ask the fate of applicants that will, for one reason or the other, not make the examination, if only to buttress the ex-minister’s statement. When the results for the 2013 UTME were released, more than half of the 1.7 million candidates that wrote the test scored below the average of 200.

    According to the examination body, only 10 candidates scored above 300 as against three that had 300 aggregate in 2012. The question, therefore, is whether the successful candidates are worth the admission with the kind of grade they’ve got?

    Even the rigour of post-UTME screening is another factor that denies many applicants admission. The exercise has turned to a money-spinning venture for most of universities. Every year, thousands of undergraduates rush to universities to take their screening test. It appears the higher the number of applicants, the more the profits universities’ managements get.

    Some got admitted through hard work and luck. But they still have to pay the school authority to stabilise the admission. You wonder how? Acceptance fees! You offer a student admission to study in order for him to be useful for himself and the society, and you turn your left hand behind your back to demand for fee from him to “thank you” for offering him the admission.

    This is what I call open daylight robbery and bribery. As it is always the case, failure to comply leads to withdrawal of the admission. Then the student battles exorbitant school fees. So how does education become the right of a citizen?

    How can that poor family living in mud house afford to educate two children? What is the future of a kid who has to hawk and expose him to danger before the family can pay his school fee? In an ever-revolving world, where education is held in high esteemed and its products are respected and placed in good positions, what legacy does Nigeria is bequeathing to its future leader?

    For the education sector to be truly revitalised and upgraded, all the ailments that have been working against the development of the country, including bribery and corruption must be cured. Tertiary institutions must be purged of termite milking the system dry of values. A bottom-up approach should be institutionalised into the governance and education must be restored as the right and not a privilege for all.

     

    Ayodeji, 400-Level English, OAU

  • Students mark World Water Day

    Students mark World Water Day

    Members of the Environmental Health Technology Students Association (EHTSA), Federal University of Technology in Owerri (FUTO) chapter, have celebrated the World Water Day.

    In his remark, President of the association, Celestine Onah, said: “Despite the fact that water is one of the basic essentials for life, it is a scarce commodity in many parts of the world because 20 per cent of the world population does not have access to safe drinking water. In Nigeria, access to potable water is a challenge.”

    He said the 2008 Joint Monitoring Programme of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF) stated that the proportion of world population using water from improved sources decreased by three per cent from 1990 to 2006, while the urban population with access to improved sources of drinking water decreased to 65 per cent from 80 per cent in 1990 to 2006. He added that the bodies also revealed that access to potable water in rural areas reduced to 30 per cent from 34 per cent in 1990 to 2006.

    He said the day was set aside to remind people about the significance of potable water and to promote sustainability for fresh water management and protect its sources and consumption.

    Speaking on this year’s theme, Water and energy, Celestine said: “The United Nations is paying attention to the water-energy nexus to particularly address inequities, especially for the ‘bottom billion’ who live in slums and impoverished rural areas and survive without access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, sufficient food and energy services.”

    It called on Nigeria to improve the current water supply level of 44 per cent, saying it was below the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target of 75 per cent.

    A participant, Orimoloye Emmanuel, said: “considering the importance of water as a basic necessity, it should be made available in its purest form, and should be one of the fundamental human rights”.

  • Union leaders suspended

    Union leaders suspended

    The legislative arm of the Students’ Union Government of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) has held an emergency sitting to nullify the decision of the executive arm on the suspension of the union’s president Usman Musa Maizare and his Secretary General, Adamu Aliyu Shuaibu. The parliament faulted the executive’s decision, saying it had no constitutional power to suspend an officer.

    The lawmakers said the suspended officers should be reinstated and any official entitlement accrued to them during the period of suspension should be given to them. The executive arm was directed to write a letter of apology to the house for contravening the provisions of the constitution, saying copies of the letter should be pasted at strategic places of the school campus.

    The executive arm had suspended the duo for flouting the union’s constitution by soliciting for sponsorship for a programme without the knowledge of other members. Their decision was based on the evidences provided which showed that the duo solicited for financial support of about N 250,000 in several places to execute project unknown to the council.

    Maizare admitted the allegations levelled against him but said he was not aware of the constitutional provisions in question.

    The decision of the council came hours after the house issued the president a 10-day ultimatum to refund the N 60,000 he misappropriated or face either suspension or impeachment.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the suspension, which was to last for four weeks for each officer, was to enable proper investigations. The House Committee on Rules, Ethics and Congress Petition chaired by Mutiu Jimoh, was responsible for the probe.

  • Religious activities return to OAU centre

    Religious activities return to OAU centre

    Following the conclusion of the 2014 Nigerian Universities Games (NUGA) at the ObafemiAwolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State, religious activities have resumed at the sports complex.

    Before the NUGA took off, management directed all fellowships to vacate the complex to allow for renovation exercise. The religious groups were directed to relocate to the designated ground for such activities but students said the distance from their hostels would make it difficult for them move.

    “My church has completed its building at the religious ground but I can’t imagine going that far and late at night for our weekly meetings,” a student, who preferred to anonymity, said.

    When asked how his fellowship members were coping with the development, Dayo Atanda, a former Evangelism and Mission Secretary of the Foursquare Students Fellowship (FSF), said students walked a long distance to worship.

    “They told us to vacate the complex not only because of NUGA but permanently. We have to resume back there because of the distance and the cost of developing buildings at the ground allocated to us,” Atanda stated.

    Justin Oyetola, a student pastor of the Redeemed Christian Fellowship, said his fellowship which used to hold its weekly workers fellowship at the ground had to vacate permanently before the commencement of NUGA games.

    “They have told us to leave there, so we took the opportunity of NUGA to move fully to a venue at the religious ground. Though it is challenging, we will move to our own building as soon as it is completed’

  • Students escape death as truck loses control

    Students escape death as truck loses control

    Tragedy was averted last Friday when a truck carrying gravels hit another vehicle conveying students of the Abia State University (ABSU) from St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Owerri road to campus. The accident occurred in Okigwe axis.

    The driver of the truck was said to be driving on the wrong lane when it lost control.

    An eye-witness told CAMPUSLIFE that the driver took the wrong lane to escape gullies on the road. “Even though the bad spots on the road might have made him to take the other lane, one cannot deny the fact that the driver was also reckless,” the eyewitness said.

    The truck smashed part of the students’ vehicle before it rammed into the premises of a new generation bank.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that exhaust of the truck broke the glass of the building, causing thick smoke to fill the banking hall. The driver and his assistant were said to have died at the of this report.

    Eye witnesses praised the driver for not killing the students.

    Chuks Ukabuilu, a 300-Level student of Nursing, said he was grateful that his laptop was not damaged.

    “I thought my laptop would be crushed because the truck was on it. It is a miracle that nothing happened to it,” he said.

    Students who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE decried the poor state of the road. “We are happy and grateful with what the state government is doing in Okigwe especially on road projects. However, we will be happier if the government can quickly finish the road projects to avoid further accidents,’’ a student who did not want to be named, said.

  • A worthy alumnus

    A worthy alumnus

    Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs Mr Kingsley Kuku has built a magnificent Students’ Union Building for his alma mater, the Ekiti State University (EKSU). The building was inaugurated last week, reports TUNJI AWE (300-Level Political Science).

    IT began with the question: “What can I do for my university?” In response, the Vice-Chancellor said: “I want you to build a world-class centre for the students.”

    “Okay,” he responded. This conversation took place in February, last year.

    Last week, over 1,000 students clad in customised T-shirts with the inscription: “Thank you Kuku” gathered at the university roundabout at 11:30pm to receive a worthy alumnus. Amid cheers and heroic songs, the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Kingsley Kuku, was welcomed to his almamater, the Ekiti State University (EKSU).

    The excited students were full of praises to the alumnus, who built a multi-million naira Students’ Union Building (SUB) for them.

    The crowd of students swarmed around Kuku, as he stepped out of his Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV). He was clad in immaculate white native attire. His security aides had an hectic controlling the crowd. The Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof. Oladipo Aina, gave him a warm hug and walked him through the guard of honour by the school Cadet Corps.

    Afterwards, the VC, accompanied by his deputies, Prof Olugbenga Aribisala and Prof Esther Aderibigbe, Registrar, Dr Omojola Awosusi and Kuku’s friend, Allen Onyema, led the presidential adviser to his office for a brief meeting.

    Prof Aina praised Kuku for fulfilling his promise, saying the alumnus, through the gesture, has supported the management’s drive to make the school world-class.

    Kuku said the institution made him what he is today, praising his friends for contributing to the successful delivery of the Students’ Union house. He said Onyema donated the largest sum towards the completion of the building.

    After the brief meeting, all roads led to the new building for its inauguration. Before it was opened, Kuku addressed students, saying: “I am the happiest person, today, because a little over a year ago, I asked the Vice-Chancellor what I could do for my alma mater. Prof Aina said he wanted me to build a befitting Students’ Union centre. In response, I asked him to allow the conduct of a free and fair election that would bring in a duly constituted students’ union leadership; he did.

    “When I came last year, I met a transition committee on ground but I was not happy with the situation. Thank God, today, you now have a students leadership that was freely chosen by you all.”

    He described Prof Aina as a first-class Vice-Chancellor, saying the school’s helmsman introduced student-friendly policies. He promised to always support the students morally and financially.

    Kuku’s friend, Onyema, who spoke with the students, promised to give the union a Coaster Bus. There was excitement at the centre when Kuku and his associates, who were former National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) leaders, began to chant Aluta songs.

    The president of the union, Babatope Ibitola, expressed gratitude to the donor and his friends, saying the building would be their symbol of unionism.

    Dr Awosusi, who was the administrative officer at the Faculty of Arts when Kuku was a student, said: “Hon. Kuku has demonstrated, through this gesture, that he is a person that is seeking better life for Nigerian students.”

    The VC urged students not to destroy the building in the name of protest, urging them to learn from Kuku and become worthy ambassadors of the institution.

    Kuku attended Ekiti State University when the school was Ondo State University, Ado Ekiti (OSUA). As a student, he was seen as rebellious, having led several protests against the management over anti-student policies.

    Kuku, who is from an Ijaw community in Ondo State, was disqualified from contesting for Students’ Union president in his time. One of his mates, told the crowd, “Kuku was a powerful student-comrade. When he decided to contest for the union president, no student was willing to contest against him but the management disqualified him before the election. That was the year the union had executive without president.”

  • The exploitation of our fault lines (2)

    I concluded last week’s article with series of questions raised by Borno elders two weeks ago about the security challenges being faced in the north east. As a student of history – and inasmuch as I desire not to – I cannot but draw a parallel with what is happening presently in the middle belt to what happened in the Darfur region of Sudan from February 2003 prior to the referendum that split the country into two.

    The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equity Movement took up arms against the Sudanese government which they accused of oppressing Darfur’s non-Arab population. Following this armed struggle for self-determination the government – as its strategy to counter the insurgency – armed nomadic Arab pastoralists known as the Janjaweed, which in Arabic, I am made to understand mean “spirits on horseback” to attack and terrorise villages owned by farmers. The farmers and pastoralists had been historically locked in tussles over land down the ages.

    The Janjaweed is composed of mostly Arabised indigenous Africans and a small number of Bedouins. It is instructive that majority of other Arab groups in Darfur did not support the Janjaweed, even the Sudanese government, at a point, publicly denies its support for the group. This notwithstanding, international organisations strongly believe it provide financial assistance, weapons and assisted in coordinating attacks and operations.

    Though the case in the middle belt is totally different from that of Darfur because there is no armed insurrection, but one cannot run away from the fact that none of these so called “Fulani herdsmen” or “Unknown gunmen” have been caught so that they can tell us what their grievances are.

    Even beyond the middle belt, this same scorched earth campaign is being carried out. Ten days ago, a former commissioner in Kaduna State, Dr. Isuwa Dogo appeared on Channels Television and cried out that the people of Southern Kaduna are on the verge of being wiped out by armed militias from yet to be identified locations.

    According to Dogo, they creep up on sleeping villagers at night and set houses on fire. They wait for the terrified, screaming occupants – defenceless men, women and children – to come running out for safety. Then, they systematically shoot, slash and machete them to death and melt into the bush like shadows. The following morning, they are either described as “unknown gunmen” or more fancifully as “Fulani herdsmen” in the media.

    This is the dilemma we are presently facing as a nation and the dilemma will get intense as we march toward 2015. Since I was given a kind of “on the spot analysis” of what is happening in Benue and other surrounding states by the undergraduates, the question on the lips of one of them, which Governor Gabriel Suswam and others have echoed is this: what manner of “Fulani herdsmen” are these that carry sophisticated weapons, ford the savannahs of the Middle Belt, attack villages in the same typical Sudan Janjaweed style and vanish into thin air? What manners of “Fulani herdsmen” are supplied with food, arms and ammunition (as Borno elders allege) with helicopters? Who are these people?

    Until we try to answer these questions we may be groping in the dark or be looking for a needle in a haystack. To me, I believe what we are dealing with requires more of our brains than our brawn. Come to think of it, the attackers are using more of their brains than brawn. Have we ever thought of the fact that these people know the landscape, the setting and the routines of their target victims? How would they attack a village without carrying out reconnaissance in the daytime to ascertain the strength of that village? Why is it always women and children that are slaughtered? Agreed, the “Fulani herdsmen,” by virtue of their nomadic lifestyles may be involved; but most people in these areas do not believe it is the same Fulani herdsmen of the past that are perpetuating the present carnage.

    They believe there are specialised military and security knowhow, powerful financial muscle and sinister political motive behind all this. I think so too. If our intelligence agencies can fish them out, the rest of the work will be easy as our armed forces will simply move in and complete the mop up operation.

    What are some of the lesson I think we should learn? I believe if a stranger enters any village for the first time people should be able to identify such a stranger, even in a locality strangers can be easily identified. Recall that at a point during the ongoing carnage in Maiduguri, the people formed the “Civilian JTF.” Benue and surrounding states should replicate this against the so called “Fulani herdsmen” or “unknown gunmen” ravaging their villages.

    Local young people in the various communities should be organised to help in reconnaissance and vigilante backup of military efforts. This is not going to be easy for one strong reason: most of the virile young people are now out of the villages and wasting their lives in the urban centres in search of nonexistent jobs or quick wealth. This is the main reason why women, children and old men are often the casualties in these attacks. This is a challenge the government should look into.

    What can I deduce from all these? Beyond our hating each other, our country has a lot of enemies waiting eagerly for it to disintegrate. Some of them are foreigners, but most of them are Nigerians. There are many evil-minded Nigerians who during the day grandstand about Nigeria being an indivisible and indissoluble nation, but during the night they conspire to make the country a difficult place for those who do not belong to their group. These groups do not care the number of innocent lives lost if their perceived ambitions are achieved.

    These are the internal enemies the nation must rise up against. But we cannot comfortably confront this leviathan in whatever guise if there is injustice, deprivation, corruption and other vices in our midst. It is left for the government to create economic policies that will put young men and women back into our local communities. This is very critical.

    In a state like Benue where agriculture is the mainstay for now, what effort is being made to make it attractive to the youths? Has anyone thought of introducing youth-friendly large-scale commercial farming and its attendant value chains to reverse the urban drift? The enemy will not dare to attack a community that is well defended by its own virile youths because our enemy is a big coward and a predator that stalks its prey in the night. Cowards are what they are; cowards.

    This nation has tremendous resources, both material and human that has not been harnessed which cheap and easy crude oil money has blinded us from seeing. Bringing the youths back to rural communities will remain a daunting challenge if our profligate and ostentatious lifestyles are not checked. Nigerians in their late 30s and beyond living in Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Aba should look around and ask themselves where are the factories that used to dot their cities before now? They are mostly gone with their warehouses not centres of worship by our religious groups.

    Some of these factories were supplied raw materials from our rural communities which help to keep our youths engaged and focused. Some of them need not come to the cities before they can live peaceful and comfortable lives. If this is the case, it would be difficult for “Fulani herdsmen” or “Unknown gunmen” to ravage their communities.

    Those concocting these evil plots know we have series of fault lines in this country which is being fuelled by the high rate of poverty in the society. This is the reason why I refused to join the bandwagon in praising our re-based GDP. Just like a former minister said: “GDP is good, but you can’t eat it.” It’s as simple as that. We’ve had a jobless growth for years now, with the level of poverty increasing. If nothing should open our eyes to the challenge we face as a nation, the fatal Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment exercise should.

    We should strive to prevent these youths – who are getting angrier by the day – from joining the ranks of “Fulani herdsmen” or “Unknown gunmen.” Anyway, some have already taking kidnapping as a profession. How do we get them back to live normal rewarding lives?

  • Stemming suicide on campus

    Stemming suicide on campus

    Suicide is a planned act; it takes boldness and calculated zeal of the victim to plan and ‘successfully’ execute it. It is also the only act, in which the first successful attempt teaches victims life experience they will not come back to relive. No victim lives to tell his experience on suicide.

    However, the spate of suicide has ballooned in recent times. Many people are toeing the path of quick death because of societal frustration, academic tribulation, economic depression and some other reasons. They are fed up with life and things happening around them; they are left with no other option but suicide.

    Reasons for suicide vary from one country to another. In Nigeria, we have our own peculiar economic meltdown, a situation that is sending many citizens, who cannot cope, to their early death. For students, the society no longer supports learning to make it affordable. Some, who are ready to learn, are frustrated by stringent academic regulations, making it impossible for them to achieve their academic pursuit. They contemplate suicide as the only way out.

    Yet the government appears not to have an idea on how to salvage the situation. The society has turned upside down. People are disenchanted with development. The universities’ irresponsible fee regimes and many other challenges make many people go mad. Many persons prefer taking their life instead of having a terrible state of mind.

    But, despite the societal challenges, is suicide really the way out? For me, I prefer to die fighting than to surrender to suicide. Committing suicide leaves a huge dent on the lineage of the families of the victims and their values; neighbours would see them people with small mind. The stigmatisation and opprobrium such act bring to the family cannot be quantified. Nobody would love to have any form of relationship with such families.

    Suicide is a very serious act the government needs to pay attention to after terrorism. When people who are not ready to die contemplate suicide, we should ask questions. The rising cases of suicide in our universities should be checked by authorities.

    Drastic steps such as psycho analysis of students before admission should be introduced in higher institutions. Depression starts when a situation that seems insurmountable worries the mind for days, weeks, months or even years without sharing it with people or the authority concerned. Victims feel they don’t deserve the attention of other people or organisation. These woes keep piling up until their minds couldn’t take tolerate anymore and they start thinking the way out.

    If the suicide story is true, the recent controversial death of Oladipopu Ige, a Law student at tthe Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, should be seen as a case study. He could have been alive if he had the opportunity to share his challenges with his parents. Alas, his message to inform his mom of the suicide move did not deliver on time. His mom had a flat battery.

    Should we say it was because of the epileptic power supply that made Oladipupo’s alleged suicide successful? I will blame his friends because they saw him in solitary places at night and they could not call the authorities’ or his parents’ attention to him.

    The society is not helping matters. What else has the government done to salvage the nation from the grip of acute poverty? The youth hope for a better future; nobody is ready to shape the good future for them. Those whose zeal has not been damped by the inhuman events happening in the society they come from are dejected by the poor state of things. The rich are getting richer, while the poor court penury and sorrow without a sign of getting out of the state.

    The level of poverty is high in this country. Some people die because they could not afford N200 bus fare to their destination; they jumped onto a cheap canoe and got drowned in the river. We have resources to make things work fine in this country, but government officials steal the money for personal use. Why would the poor not contemplate suicide?

    It is time we checked corruption in the system and make life meaningful to the masses again. We cannot afford to see the future of the country waste away in suicide while we look elsewhere. If we fail to act, the present cases of suicide may have been a child’s play.

     

    Ezekiel, 300-Level Pharmacy, UNIBEN

  • Students put medical college on Google map

    Members of the Google Students’ Club at the Lagos State University (LASU) have mapped up the institution’s College of Medicine in Ikeja as part of measures to make direction easy for new visitors to the school. A novelty football match was held between the members of club and the medical students.

    The match referee, Olatilewa Audu, said the match was played to celebrate the mapping up of the college, describing it as good innovation. He assured that the map-up would help to make the college to be popular on the internet, urging members to be committed to the discharge of their duties.

    A member of the club, Rasheed Rasaki, said the club, which was a network of technology-oriented students, had helped him develop internet-related skills, saying he was happy that the mapping project was successful.

    A Google student-ambassador in LASU, Oyinkansola Mabeko, 300-Level Mass Communication, said the objective of the club was to familiarise students with various Google applications, including Google+ , Gmail, YouTube, Google play, saying it would help to improve their learning experience and give them the opportunity to compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world.”We are the campus contact for Google teams, delivering Google’s experience and values through serving and improving engineering community technically and personally. This is actually our second major map up project,” she stated.

  • NANS holds convention

    NANS holds convention

    The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Zone B, which comprises institutions in Southeast and South-south, has held its annual convention at the College of Education (COE) in Akampka, Cross River State.

    The zone co-ordinator, Chinomso Obasi, thanked the students for attending the conference, adding that the struggle of association was not for selfish gains but sacrifice and patriotism.

    He listed his achievements in the last one year to include the reinstatement of students’ unions in many schools where union activities were proscribed.

    “We made sure that in our administration, we succeeded in establishing duly elected governments for the students’ unions in the zone. Some of the schools were operating with care-taker committees while some had no student government at all. But when we made moves, we caused the managements to see the need to give the students the chance to have their own government,” he stated.

    The Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to the President on Students and Youth Affairs, Hon. Jude Imagwe, praised the students of the Zone for maintaining decorum and peace. He expressed the readiness of the Federal Government to provide platform for students to achieve excellence. He said: “The Federal Government led by Dr Goodluck Jonathan is ready and committed to ensuring that the students come out of school being the best in their fields and disciplines.”

    The election started when the Kadiri Aruna-led committee dissolved the zonal executive members and other standing committees.

    Ikechukwu Okorie emerged as co-ordinator of the zone. Others elected include Richard Ekutu, Deputy Coordinator; Chuks Okafor, Secretary; Paul Eze, Director of Sports; Chibuzo Pedro, Public Relations Officer; Victor Ezenagu, Director of Action and Mobilisation, Aliyu Enadamen, Director of External Affairs; Aniefiok Inyang, Director of Special Duties; Rodney Okwusi, Treasurer; Mercy Ogar, Financial Secretary and Lah Amabu Ledogoh, Assistant Secretary-General.

    Okorie thanked God for his emergence, praising students in the zone for supporting him. He said: “I lack words to express my gratitude. I don’t know what to say but I am most grateful to God and to the senators for electing me to serve in this capacity. I will always be there to serve Nigerian students and I will work with everybody to make sure we realise our objectives.”