The Nation Newspaper

Category: Campus Life

  • The ayes have it

    The ayes have it

    Their discussion was robust; their arguments were tempered by the will to forge a common front. Amid the vigorous session, the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, walked in. He was accompanied by Hon. Segun Olulade, a member of the assembly from Epe Constituency.

    To welcome the Speaker, the discussants momentarily stopped the debate and rose to their feet.

    The discussants were speakers of Students’ Union Governments (SUGs) from different higher institutions in the Southwest that organised a conference with the theme: Empowering young parliamentarians through a good parliamentary process to make a difference.

    It was the fourth edition of the summit, which was initiated by Muiz Adeniran, speaker of the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) students’ union in the 2009/10 session.

    Other dignitaries at the summit included Speaker of the House of Representatives,Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, who was represented by his Special Assistant on Youth Development, Mr Mohammed Umar, and Senator Oluremi Tinubu, represented by Hon. Olanrewaju Oshun, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

    Others included the YABATECH Rector, Mrs Margret Ladipo, represented by the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Mr Omobayo Raheem; chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, Comrade Ayodele Adewale, represented by Ms Adeyinka Adeyemi, his Special Assistant on Public-Private Partnership, and Secretary of the Joint Action Front (JAF), Comrade Abiodun Aremu.

    To make the guests and the audience understand their message, short dramas were presented by students’ union leaders, where the SUG speaker of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Adetunji Ajala, played the Senate President, and his counterpart from the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Kehinde Olofintuyi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, at a joint session. The drama depicted how the legislature could be used for the common good of the masses.

    In her brief speech, the speaker of YABATECH Students’ Union, Titilayo Arikawe, who is the leader of Lagos State Tertiary Speakers Forum (LSTSF), said the summit was organised to nurture upcoming parliamentarians by learning from the lawmakers.

    Adeniran praised the college’s management for supporting the initiative. He urged the participants to show good examples and engage the leaders on how the country could evolve from underdevelopment.

    Tambuwal, who spoke through Umar, said he had concluded plans to select 10 student-parliamentarians from various institutions and train them quarterly on parliamentary process. He said the move could equip the youths with ideas on how the nation could be moved forward.

    Ikuforiji, who said he put God first in everything, sought the permission of the students and the guests to observe Jumu’at prayer in the college mosque. He was allowed to go while Olulade engaged the student-leaders on issues that could fast-track development in the nation.

    A couple of minutes later, Ikuforiji returned to talk to the student-parliamentarians. He said he believed most of the challenges the students faced were issues they knew how they started, urging them to engage the leaders constructively and be part of the solution.

    Ikuforiji urged the students to join hands with the Lagos State government to move the state to the next level.

    Oshun, who spoke on behalf of Senator Tinubu, said the lawmaker saw the summit as an inspiration to youths and advised the students not to relent in their efforts to mentor responsible youths. While answering a question on who a leader is, Tinubu said a true leader must be approachable and listen to people’s wishes.

    As future leaders, Adewale advised the students’ leaders to reflect the wishes of the colleagues on the campus, saying no leader could lead in isolation or without followers. “As a leader you must prepared to mingle with your people, particularly because legislative post is an elective position,” Adewale said.

    Aremu, who spoke on the state of education, said the youth were being governed by abnormal generation. He told the students that the only way to liberate themselves was to know their right and fight for it.

    Participants came from institution such as FUTA, Federal Polytechnic, Ede (EDE POLY), University of Ibadan (UI), LASPOTECH, Osun State College of Education, Ilesha (OSCOED) and Osun College of Technology, Esa Oke.

    Others are Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) and University of Lagos (UNILAG), among others. The event ended with recitation of the national anthem. Certificates were also given to the participations.

  • Gujba, Mubi and the conscience of a nation

    As education under siege? I ask this question today not because of the ongoing ASUU strike and its fallout, (I will return to that next week) but because of the wanton and senseless massacre that took place in Gujba, Yobe State penultimate week where 50 students of College of Agriculture were gunned down in cold blood.

    My editor, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso painted the picture graphically in his characteristic style last Thursday (“A bloody birthday”, October 3). He wrote: “If the Abuja incident (referring to the Apo 9) was contentious in its motive and the identities of those involved disputable, not so the massacre of students in Yobe. Students of the College of Agriculture, Gujba were in bed last Sunday when a group of armed men stormed their hostel, woke them up and lined them up outside where they were executed. Forty – the official figure – died immediately in the Boko Haram attack. One died the next day in the hospital”. The students were between 18 and 25.

    He posed a fundamental question in the course of the article whether it was right for the government to go ahead with the independence celebration with so much innocent blood shed. “I do not think so. Shouldn’t we have declared a national day of mourning? I believe we should have,” he wrote. In a saner and conscience driven society this is what would have happened, but not in Nigeria. It was Aljazeera that first showed the footage of the gruesome scene of the massacre. I later saw some pictures the next day in which the service chiefs were busy stretching out their hands toward our “birthday cake” since they were not so close to the President – and his team – who were holding the knife!

    How many Nigerians, I wonder, remembered that only two weeks before that incident that more than 200 Nigerians were killed in yet another suspected Boko Haram attack, this time a well-coordinated ambush. Some reports said close to 100 Nigerian soldiers died in the ambush because they ran out of bullets! The army swiftly denied the figure. Their bodies were still being recovered from the bush when the Westgate crisis broke. Our leaders got busy offering “help” to Kenya in the aftermath of the incident totally oblivious of the innocent blood flowing in their domain.

    Don’t get me wrong, just like every human being; my heart went out to the families of the innocent victims that were brutally killed by a depraved organisation with an equally depraved ideology. But what “help” can a government that looks the other way when its own citizens are mowed down possibly offer other than to play to the gallery? I almost wept when some of our leaders were quoted as saying “only…” a certain number of people were killed. Can you beat that! When have they suddenly had the power to create a human being that it is “only” when a million perhaps die that they’ll be moved? Have we sunk this low that human lives have suddenly become a matter of debate over statistics? Where has our consciences gone? For how long will we continue to waste our youths?

    Should we heap the blame at the feet of the government alone? What of her citizens? Did you feel anything in the air that a terrible calamity just befell us? We were busy “monitoring” events in Kenya and other places while back home nobody seemed to bother about those killings. Rather, the government was more interested in a national conference and gullible Nigerians are joining the fray and shouting themselves hoarse without understanding the dynamics, machination and intents of the corrupt political and ruling elites. They are saying it’ll be the magic wand that will resolve all our problems and show us how to live, interact and relate with each other!

    Remember the Mubi Massacre where 40 tertiary institutions students were murdered in cold blood a little over a year ago? I’ll ‘forgive’ you if you’ve forgotten, after all, this is perhaps the only country in the world where citizens do not remember what happened a week before, or is it the frequency and intensity of the events or the impunity which they assume that is the problem? Do you still remember the pension scam? What happened to those involved especially a certain director that even defied the Senate arrest warrants! I can go on and on, but that is not my focus.

    Let me refresh your memory again because our consciences have become numb, or as The Bible puts it “seared”. Reuters was the first to break the news of the Mubi massacre a few hours after it happened. My first reaction then was to castigate the foreign media for being at it again. I began monitoring the local media, but it was all blank. A few hours after the Reuters report, it was picked up and actually appeared in the online version of some newspapers. A cold chill went down my spine; I was shocked, befuddled and dumbfounded at the same time. Who or which group carried out this senseless murder? What was the motive? What would anyone gain by killing students? My mind was abuzz with questions that I could not find ready answers to.

    On Independence Day last year, a group of yet to be identified assailants stormed three tertiary institutions in the town of Mubi, Adamawa State; the Federal Polytechnic, Adamawa State University and the School of Health Technology. About 26 students were killed at the Federal Polytechnic with the other two institutions accounting for 14 deaths. Lecturers and students who witnessed the gory spectacle said that some of those killed were final year students who were preparing to defend their academic projects while others were just starting their examinations.

    In Abuja, then Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, briefed the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the killings which elicited condemnations from all members. As has always been the norm now, Presidential spokesman. Dr. Reuben Abati said President Jonathan described the killings as tragic, sad, barbaric and shocking.

    “The President has directed security agencies to investigate the matter and get to the root because this kind of incident, where people were called out and shot, is really shocking. He directed that no stone should be left unturned in the bid by the law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators of the mayhem are brought to book”. Abati said the government regretted that the massacre occurred when considerable progress was being made in tackling the security challenges in some parts of the country. So, one year after that “shock” where are we? Are we close to finding the killers?

    What about the “Aluu 4”? One year after we are not close to really fishing out the brains behind the murder of the students of University of Port Harcourt which painted us as barbarians on the prowl since the gory spectacle went viral.

    How will I forget to mention the event of last July where no fewer than 29 students and a teacher were murdered by the same suspected Boko Haram terrorists at a Government Secondary School in Mamudo, also in Yobe State. According to the security agency’s spokesman, Lieutenant Eli Lazarus, the gunmen “stormed the school around 5:30 am and began to shoot at the students from different directions,” thus creating the pandemonium that left the school children at the mercy of their executioners.

    A careful reading of these unfortunate events shows that there seems to be a pattern to this growing madness targeted at schools in Yobe and Borno States. In June, seven students and two teachers were killed during an attack on a school in Damaturu, Yobe state capital, about the same time that some 14 students were killed inside examinations hall in Maiduguri, Borno State, in two separate incidents.

    As far as I’m concerned, nothing can be more dangerous than a systematic attack on students and school children who ordinarily represent the future of our country. There is also no doubt that the increasing violence has deepened the scepticism of Nigerians who have grown weary of the government constant assurance of providing adequate security for the citizenry. Should we allow things to continue this way? We all need to search our consciences because we delude ourselves so much in Nigeria.

  • Does NYSC still have relevance?

    Does NYSC still have relevance?

    It is about that time of the year again when fresh graduates nationwide begin another phase of struggle after passing through stress to get higher certificates. They are preparing to be mobilised for the mandatory National Youth Service. In the next couple of weeks, the graduates will be in different camps of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

    Now, I am not against the scheme as the headline of this article may suggest. I just feel that the programme is losing its relevance and perhaps living on borrowed time. I have my reasons for holding this opinion.

    The average Nigerian student goes to school and spends, at least, four years – that is if he is not an engineering, law or medical student who should complete his studies between 5 – 7 years. But in the academic years, periods of lecturers’ strike and their non-teaching counterparts are calculated and factored, which can make a four-year course to take five or six years for completion.

    After spending at least five years, one graduates from school with its attendant stress, struggle and all other forms suffering. Then, he is mobilised for another round of stress for a year in the service of the nation. By then, a graduate would be reaching an age that employers don’t like?

    In years past, NYSC was seen as a scheme that fostered unity and encourage understanding among tribes that make up Nigeria. It also allowed interaction and union (in the form of marriage) of people who never had history of meeting. It was designed to make the youths contribute to development of the nation.

    The sad reality of it is that, these days, no one believes in the values listed above. First, a fresh graduate thinks of how he can fit in to the society quick enough to pay back his parents’ investments on him throughout his school days. He has siblings that depend on him for various domestic help but then, the nation is saying he should go to a far-flung community to serve.

    What is the essence of rendering a service to the nation? Why should youths give their time to serve a nation that cannot guarantee give them shelter and ensure their safety and future? Has anyone ever wondered why we have square pegs in round holes in various organisations?

    Many of our graduates fresh from school with little or no working experience are thrust on various sectors – schools, banks and local government councils among other – during their service year. Now you have a graduate of engineering posted to a bank as a cashier, what happens? In that one year, he forgets most of his engineering mathematics and studies banking principles to fit into his new job.

    He gets used to banking and is then offered a full time job there on completion of his service. Because he realises that getting jobs in the country is harder than fetching water with a sieve, he decides to take the offer and thus ends up stuck in that sector for a long while. The same goes with other disciplines and eventually, the trend goes on and on.

    Given the spate of violence being reported each day in the country and with little protection for Corps members, they will be targets of violent criminals who see them as strangers and easy prey. Government has no plan for their safety; when bad things happen and Corps members are killed, we start hearing empty threats and promises. But it is the parents that will lose in the end.

    Why then should anyone serve? Service to a nation that does not have our interests at heart is effort in futility. These days, it is commonplace to see graduates influencing their postings to preferable states because they value their lives and desire something profitable.

    Since the original reasons for creating NYSC have proven to be of no use today, can people be allowed to move on with their lives after graduation? Can they be allowed to pursue their dreams and desires rather than being sent to a prison called NYSC camps? Can they serve their nation with their talents? Questions will continue to be asked and debates will rage on until Nigeria realises that it has held back and derailed many youths through this scheme. To the prospective Corps members, may God be with you.

     

    Sam, 400-Level Curriculum and Teaching, UNICAL

  • Corps member holds acquisition summit

    Corps member holds acquisition summit

    A Corps member serving in Ogun State, Tosin Adesile, has organised a skills development workshop to train youths in various vocations. The event was held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre Iwe-Irohin House, Abeokuta, the state capital.

    The exercise, Tosin said, was aimed at preparing the youths for job creation, noting that it was the only way to tackle unemployment.

    The event was attended by Mr Lekan Otufodunrin, Editor, Online and Special Publications of The Nation who was represented by Mr Sanmi Falobi. Others were Niyi Olatidoye, member of Advisory Board of Tosin Adesile Footprints, Mr Tunde Lemo, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), represented by Abiodun Joawo; Ogun State Coordinator of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), T.I. Anosike, represented by Adedeji Tajudeen and Dr John Oni.

    In his address, Lemo described the event as timely and a platform to help youths take advantage of opportunities and confront the problem of unemployment.

    ‘’The youth form a critical sector of any society. They are great assets to any nation, especially when they are properly utilised. But the current youth unemployment rate estimated at 23.9 per cent is an indication that we are not maximising their potentials for economic growth. That is what informed the various initiatives under the transformation agenda which seeks to unlock avenues for employment generation, innovation and enterprise among our youth,’’ he said.

    He said the CBN has been supporting employment generation through the establishment of Entrepreneurshp Development Centres in the six geopolitical zones of the country, adding that over 4,800 new businesses have been created through the scheme since inception. Lemo said that the Federal Government has been meeting the funding needs of young entrepreneurs through the YOU-WIN programme.

    Anosike said the programme was in line with the skills acquisition programme of NYSC. He advised participants to maximise the platform for self development.

    Olatidoye charged the youth to acquire additional skills aside their course of study.

    ‘’It’s high time the youth took their destiny in their hands through entrepreneurship. It is only the hard working and the determined that will eat the fruit of the land,’’ he stated.

    Otufodunrin urged the youth to make productive use of the skills acquired during the programme, observing that acquisition of vocational skills is the solution to the problem of unemployment.

    Dr Oni of the Incubation Centre, said that as the nation faces the challenges of a rising youth population, vocational skills were needed to stem the tide of unemployment.

    ‘’Technology incubation in Nigeria, if properly harnessed, will help in improving employment opportunities for the youth who roam the streets daily I search of non-existent jobs. White collar jobs are no longer enough. There is the need for a paradigm shift.’’

    Participants were divided into various skills sessions, such as video documentary and camera handling, computer graphics and design, energy, blogging, cream making and decoration. Certificates of participation were awarded to all the trainees.

    Tosin thanked everyone who supported the project, saying the training would make a difference in the lives of the youth.

  • Kegites Club elects chief

    Kegites Club elects chief

    Members of the Kegites Club of Nigeria, at the Federal Polytechnic in Ado Ekiti, elected a new chief. He is Fadosi Akinola, who emerged at the yearly handover (coronation). He was conferred with the Egungun title after his emergence.

    The event started with singing, drumming and dancing which members refer to as gyration. This lasted for hours before the selection process began.

    Members, who were qualified for the post were taken into the shrine. The decision on who to choose as the new chief lies in the hands of the Council of Elders. He was conferred with the Egungun title.

    The outgoing chief, Oluwaseun Oladoyin, told CAMPUSLIFE that the motivating said the club was formed to address the identity crisis that rocked Nigeria after Independence.

    “There was a problem of identity arising from colonialism. So, as Nigeria sheds her colonial past after her independence, many students wanted to show that they cherished their African root. Thus the Kegites Club became a platform to affirm our origins,” he said.

    Oladoyin said the club was faced with challenges of finance and poor compliance with rules by members.

    The handover ceremony, popularly referred to as coronation by members, has been scheduled to hold on October 11.

    Kegites Club was formed in the early 1960s and has since become a social club in Nigerian higher institutions. It seeks to promote the beauty of Africa culture.

     

  • Association holds legislative summit

    Members of the legislative arm of the National Association of Ondo State Students (NAOSS) have met to discuss the future of the union.

    The event was tagged: Repositioning Ondo State students for vibrant and productive unionism.

    In his address, the guest speaker, Mr Zadok Emmanuel, noted the role of legislators in a students’ association and how they could promote the affairs of their constituencies.

    “There is no government without the people. One major responsibility of any government is to make relevant laws to ensure order and the peaceful coexistence of those people. Anything short of this is unacceptable,” he added.

    He decried the leadership challenges facing the African continent, saying political leaders have neglected their primary roles.

    Emmanuel lamented the inability of the Nigerian youth to maximise the vast potential in the country, noting that the youth must be empowered to ensure a prosperous future for the country.

    He charged participants to promote their indigenous cultures, especially their language. He added that English should not be a requirement for admission in our tertiary institutions.

    “If Nigerian students can possess strong knowledge in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, the nation would experience massive development. The solution does not lie in English Language.”

    The Senate President, Aworetan Oluwajuwon, said the association would continue to serve the interest of students. He called on the government and individuals to support their projects, saying that his administration has embarked on campaigns for employment generation and improvement of scholarship schemes in the state.

    Awards were presented to deserving persons at the event. Prof Tolu Odugbemi was named the Vice-Chancellor of the Year and Prof Igbekele Ajibefun won the Rector of the Year.

    Others are Oluranto Jasper, Principal of the Year; Hon Jumoke Akindele, Most outstanding lawmaker of the year; Pastor Richard Adeboye, Motivational Leader of the year; Hon Tibetan Ayodeji, Youth Advocate of the year, Segun Odusanya, Civil Servant of the year, Prince Adeyinka, Union Chairman of the year and Olalade Omogbe, Most outstanding Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Commissioner.

  • HIV test for students

    HIV test for students

    Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) causes AIDS. The presence of the virus in the blood means that one has been infected with HIV. But, unfortunately, this cannot be detected except by a blood test in which one’s blood sample is tested for the virus. People with the HIV do not have AIDS automatically.

    This summarises the brief speech by health officers, who visited the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti (ADO POLY) last Sunday for a free HIV test for students.

    The three-day health and enlightenment event, held at the Students’ Union building, witnessed a low turnout of students on the first day as many were afraid of going for the test.

    Some students, who did not go for the test, told CAMPUSLIFE that it was better not to know one’s status than to be informed that one has been infected with HIV.

    Things, however, took a different turn when students realised that the result of the test would be treated with confidentiality.

    Other students were later encouraged to go for the test by their colleagues, who had participated in the exercise.

     

  • Govt urged to invest in education, agric

    Govt urged to invest in education, agric

    THE government has been uged to invest in education and help graduates acquire practical skills.

    Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) members of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko chapter made this call at a conference

    The conference tagged Paradigms of Sustained Development in Africa: a multi-sect oral approach, was attended by the Rector of Kaduna Polytechnic, Dr Mohammed Bello Ibrahim and academics across the country.

    In his paper titled: Sustainable  development in Africa: The need for paradigm shift, Dr Ibrahim said sustainable development in Africa cannot be addressed without addressing population dynamics , poverty alleviation, technology transfer, science and education policy and practice of sustainable development.

    He urged African leaders to invest in education, observing that it would enable youths to acquire practical knowledge like motor repairs, building and construction, carpentry, plumbing and craft.

    The National President of the union, Mr Chibuzor Asomugha, described the event as timely, adding that it was an opportunity for the academics to network and discuss problems on sustainable development.

    Mr Asomugha said that Nigeria needs a paradigm shift that will seek a new direction in terms of policy, training and education.

    “I think it is timely and it will be meaningful to Nigeria’s transformation agenda at this time. I thank members of this chapter for their efforts so far.’’

    In a paper titled: Beyond theories, workshop, seminars   and conference: a call to practical action”, the Rector of Federal Polytechnic, Oko, who was represented by the Chief Librarian, Mr F. O. Obodoeze , said social justice and equality of opportunity for all citizens was a prerequisite for development in the country.

    He called for a paradigm shift among academics in Africa, saying it would lead to sustainable development in Africa.

    He noted that good people and vast lands are not the drivers of development, adding that good leadership, focus and ability to take difficult risks were necessary to achieve growth.

    A Lecturer in the Department of Statistics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Dr G.A Osuji, spoke on Africa and sustainable development in the 21st century. He identified poverty, corruption, environmental degradation, lack of sustainable human development, lack of real democracy and inadequate planning as major factors militating against sustainable development in the continent.

    He called on the government to invest in agriculture, saying it would help in solving extreme poverty in Africa.

    The Chairman, Dr Onyeka Uwakwe, thanked participants for a successful convention, adding that it was organised to bring scholars together to discuss issues in Nigeria and Africa.

     

  • Remembering the ‘Mubi 43’

    Remembering the ‘Mubi 43’

    ONE year after, parents, friends and colleagues of the slain 43 students of the Federal Polytechnic in Mubi, Adamawa State, are still mourning. The death of these promising youngsters, they said on Tuesday, is difficult to forget.

    Mr John Odewale whose son, James, a National Diploma (ND) II Electrical Electronic Engineering student, was among those killed by the gunmen who invaded the school in the night of October 1, last year, said: “We have tried hard to forget it but my brother, it has not been easy for me and my wife to cope with the reality that a child we reared for 19 years could be killed just like that by people we still don’t know. What is painful is that the identities of the killers cannot be confirmed and in the last one year, nobody has come to tell us the reason why our son should die for no just cause.

    “In the last one year, we have not been contacted by the government, whether state or federal, over the death of our son . This is the height of insensitivity. Innocent students were killed because of the inability of the government to manage the security of the country. The only people who visited us were members of the polytechnic management, who brought N30,000 to buy casket to bury our son. Is this a country?” Odeyemi, who has been living in Adamawa State for more than two decades, asked.

    The feeling was the same when hundreds of students of the polytechnic gathered in the school’s main auditorium last Tuesday to say prayers for their departed colleagues.

    Clad in black attires, the students quietly filed into the hall one after the other. They held an interdenominational session for the deceased students.

    They were led by the students’ Union President, Joseph Usiiju.

    Deto Etim, a student of Management, who escaped unhurt when his Wuro Patugi hostel was invaded by the gunmen, thanked God for sparing his life.

    Reliving the incident, he said: “It was a shocking moment for me because I had said my last prayer. The attackers were knocking on my door but I remained in prayer until they left my room to another. I heard the cry of my fellow students being killed. That scene was a hell.”

    At the remembrance service, their colleagues promised to ensure that they did not die in vain.

    They said the security around the campus and the community is nothing to write home about, urging the government to find the killers.

    They decried what they called insensitivity on part of the government to fish out the killers and bring them to the book.

    Usiiji said: “Up till this moment, we don’t know the people that went to Wuro Patugi to kill our colleagues. Even the management does not know. How many students will die if the attackers come back? Government must find the killers and strengthen security around the campus and off-campus hostels.”

    After the prayer session, the students planned to embark on a procession in the community but they were stopped by the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Mr Leo Ekpene, and the polytechnic’s security personnel.

    Ekpene said the move was necessary because of the security situation in Mubi town.

    Joy Solomon, a Higher National Diploma (HND) II Business Administration and Management, said security in Mubi and the surrounding communities remained fragile. “Up till now, the killers of our colleagues have not been found. We don’t even know if they live around us. Government should ensure adequate security because we cannot afford to witness more bloodshed,” she said.

    Rose Nkwang, a ND II Computer Science, said: “Mubi is still not safe for us. The security situation in the community is yet to improve. We want government to deploy more troops to this area. That would be a better way to forestall repeat of the incident. It makes no sense that after the crisis, we cannot beat our chest on security in Mubi.”

    But Ahmed Isiaka, a student of Mathematics and Statistics, disagreed with his colleagues, saying security had relatively improved in Mubi town. “There has been an improvement in security after the unfortunate incident. Security personnel have been drafted to keep an eagle eye on the campus and residents of affected areas. I really appreciate the government for its efforts so far but the killers must be found. This will heal our wound and make us put the killing behind us,” Isiaka said.

     

     

  • Why we must manage our time

    Why we must manage our time

    Imagine this scenario: there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $90,000. It carries over no balance from one day to another. After the close of work each day, the bank clears your account of the remaining money; the next day, it credits your account with fresh cash. What would you do? You would withdraw every kobo, of course.

    Each of us has such a bank. Its name is called “time”. Every morning, it credits us with 86,400 seconds. Every night, it writes off as a loss whatever seconds we have failed to invest on good purpose. It carries over no balance to the next day. It allows no overdraft either.

    Each day opens a new account for us. Each night burns seconds we did not spend judiciously during the day. If one fails to use the day’s deposits properly, loss awaits him. There is no withdrawing of yesterday’s ‘cash’ for tomorrow’s use. One must live on the present deposit.

    We must endeavour to invest in future so that we can retire in good health, happiness and success. The clock is running. Time management is important because of the shortness of our lives. Our earthly sojourn is significantly shorter than we are wont to think. As it is stated in Psalm, 39 and verses 4-5: “You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath.”

    More than 300 years ago, François Fénelon, a clergy in the 17th century, understood how valuable time could be. He wrote: “Time is precious, but we do not know yet how precious it really is. We will only know when we are no longer able to take advantage of it. Liberal and generous in every way, God in the wise economy of his providence teaches us how we should be prudent about the proper use of time. He never gives us two moments at the same time. He never gives us a second moment without taking away the first. And he never grants us that second moment without holding the third one in his hand, leaving us completely uncertain as to whether we will have it.”

    The great saints of old learned the wisdom of having only two days on their calendars: today and that day – the day they would be with the Lord. If we want a heart of wisdom, we must learn to live each day in light of that day. When we daily remind ourselves of our purpose on earth, we will cultivate an eternal habit of managing our time; and it will influence our work and all our relationships with others.

    Apostle James echoe this in James 4:14 when he said: “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Indeed, our time on earth is registered on the radar screen of life. To live as God would have us to live, it is essential that we make the best use of our time.

    Prophet Moses prayed: “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” A good way to gain wisdom is to learn to live each day with an eternal perspective. Our Creator has set eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Knowing that we will have to give an account to the One who gave us time should motivate us to use it well. Clive Staples Lewis, a novelist, academic and Christian apologist from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who is best known both for his fictional work, especially The Screwtape Letters, said: “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.”

    Paul the Apostles’ letter to the Ephesians cautioned the saints: “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16). Living wisely involves using our time carefully. Knowing that the harvest is great and the workers are few, and that time is rapidly dwindling should help us make better use of our time.

    There is no doubt that the responsibilities and pressures of this world scream for our attention. The myriad of things pulling us in different directions makes it all too easy for our time to get swallowed up on mundane matters. Those endeavours, which have eternal value then, often get relegated to the back burner. To avoid losing focus, we need to prioritise and set goals. More so, to whatever extent possible, we need to delegate.

    Regarding our work ethics, we need to recall that God did all of His work in six days and rested on the seventh. This tells us that our Creator’s expectations relative to our own work ethics. Indeed, Proverbs 6:10-11 reveal the Lord’s disdain for slothful behavior: “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a bandit.”

    We need to place our focus on that which is eternal as opposed to the fleeting pleasures of this passing world. Accordingly, we should move forward with diligence and divine purpose as the courses of our lives progress toward God’s ultimate goal. We are to accomplish as much as we can with the time God has given us. We will be eternally rewarded for investing our time in good works (1 Corinthians 3:14). We should live as if each minute counts – because it really does.

     

    •Segun, 200-Level Public Administration, LASU