The Nation Newspaper

Category: Campus Life

  • Aturu for Council

    The alumni association of ACE has nominated Bamidele Aturu as its representative on the college’s Governing Council.

    The nomination contained in a letter to Aturu signed by the Registrar and Secretary to Council, Mr Felix Aderinboye, stated that the expanded national executive of the alumni association nominated the legal luminary to the old students on the Council.

    Mr Aturu, a principal counsel of Bamidele Aturu & Co passed through the college in the 80s.

    As a student, Aturu was the president of the Students Union in the 1985/1986 academic session.

    He was the vice-president, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) during the same period.

    His tenure is noted for its vibrant students’ unionism that was devoid of hooliganism and rascality.

  • Applicants lament screening test

    The first post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), under Prof Abdulganiyu Ambali as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), was held penultimate Monday. The results were released a few hours after the exercise.

    Thousands of applicants besieged the computer-based test (CBT) centre, the venue of the test, to participate in the process.

    For the first time, the university lowered its cut-off mark to 180, which gave many candidates the opportunity to write the entrance test after paying between N2,000 and N4,000 for the exercise.

    The Students’ Union Government (SUG) members were on hand to ensure the success of the process. The union officials were led by the President, Hameed Lawal.

    The candidates moved into the CBT centre in batches to write the test. Abdulazeez Popoola, an applicant from Abeokuta, said: “Majority of the questions I answered were basically on Biology, which I never did in UTME. I had expected the school to give us a test based on the subjects we did in UTME. This is not the best way to test candidates’ ability.”

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that a large number of candidates got less than 50 per cent pass mark, a failure which many of the applicants attributed to the format the university used in testing them. Many of the candidates, who wanted to study social science courses, complained that they were tested in science-based subjects than general questions.

    Meanwhile, the university is yet to set its cut-off mark for the post-UTME.

     

  • Justice for disengaged workers

    In Nigeria, employers have a way of engaging workers without paying commensurate wages. The underpaid employees are called “casual workers”.

    It may be trite to say that most casual workers in Nigeria are shortchanged by their employers in terms of right to certain benefits and allowances. Even with the meagre pay package, the “casual work” they do is not guaranteed. Any attempt by these so-called casual workers to demand for certain rights to enhance his or her welfare become issues that may result in dismissal.

    This is the reality of employment in Nigeria and some parts of Africa. As Nigerians continue to suffer in the name of casual work, some analysts have blamed the government for its failure to effectively address unemployment rate, which is put at 71 per cent.

    Every year, thousands of graduates are churned out by higher institutions, but the youths are not productively engaged. Ones that eventually get employed are left with option to work as a “casual staff” or its modified form known as “contract staff”.

    I read in National Impact magazine last month, where the disengaged downstream employees of defunct Chevron Oil Nigeria Plc accused Chevron Corporation of duplicity and greed in computation of their severance payment arising from Chevron’s sale of its downstream operation in 2009, notwithstanding the recorded windfall profit it realised from its downstream asset sales in Nigeria.

    According to the report, Chevron did everything possible to avoid decent severance payments for the employees that spent years of their lives working for the firm. This drama resulted to weeks of strike by the employees during which they carried placards with inscriptions, such as “Chevron is fuelling death in Nigeria’.

    The poser for the authority is: will this inhuman treatment of Nigerians stop? What is the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) doing? What has been the role of the Minister of Labour and Productivity to address the injustice? We may not be surprised to learn that nobody is doing anything because Nigerian laws are not being respected even by foreigners.

    The disengaged Chevron employees alleged that it was the firm’s duplicity that made it to lose reputable companies that indicated interest in the buying of its downstream interest and settled for a rather unknown company as its choice in a deal initially reported to be $1 billion but was later put at $800 million. The report also hinted that the company that bought Chevron downstream interest had been sanctioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which barred it from getting loans from the country’s financial institutions due to its bad debt.

    Also, the disengaged downstream employees of defunct Chevron Oil Nigeria Plc alleged that Chevron’s action to short-change them was in line with the firm’s notorious attitude to suffer vulnerable and weak stakeholders, especially in Nigeria, where bribery and corruption is the order of the day.

    In the United States, reports had it that a community near San Francisco where 70 per cent of the population are either black or Latino, Chevron caused almost 1,000 people to be hospitalised as its refinery exploded, spewing poisonous hydrocarbons across the city and forced thousands to remain indoors.

    In a legal action brought against it in Ecuador, a community won $19.04 billion judgment against Chevron after a court found the oil company guilty of dumping toxic waste into Amazon waterways for a period of 26 years.

    From Ecuador to Nigeria, Chevron lacks respect for community development. The degradation being experienced in the Niger Delta is a case study. Chevron is one of the multinational oil companies listed among the 14 worst corporate evildoers in the United States.

    To the heart of the matter, I am of the opinion that the disengaged downstream employees of Chevron would have been employers of labour if they were properly paid before they were sacked; perhaps, some of the affected workers would have used their gratuities to open small and medium scale businesses that would boost the local economy.

    Since their case has been filed at the industrial court and waiting to be heard in October, let the workers keep on praying for justice to prevail.

    We must call on the NLC, Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Federal Government and well meaning Nigerians to rise in defence of these workers and to address inhumane treatment being meted out to Nigerians by foreign and indigenous firms in the name of labour. Nigerians can no longer be slaves in their country.

    Countrymen, let us all condemn this act and ensure the future of our youths, especially the graduates seeking employment in these companies is not jeopardised.

    Mark, 300-Level Business Education, School of Technical Education, YABATECH

  • Ex-unionist’s scorecard

    The outgone Chairman, Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union COEASU), ACE chapter, Mr Smart Olugbeko, has presented 53 achievements of his four-year tenure.

    Olugbeko, who is now the national-vice chairman of COEASU, presented the scorecard during the inauguration of the newly-elected executives of the union.

    In a compendium titled: ‘Landmarks,’ Olugbeko noted that the union during his tenure became virile and viable, renewing members’ confidence.

    He added that this confidence led to an array of achievements which includes building of COEASU secretariat, payment of productivity allowance, promotion of members, and scholarship scheme for students, among others.

    He expressed appreciation to the management under the leadership of Prof Adeyemi Idowu, which donated N2.3 million to the union to carry out some of its activities.

     

  • In my thinking…

    Just thinking that the demise of the Things Fall Apart genius, who could also be described as the author and finisher of Okonkwo’s fate, did not signal an end to the Nigerian literature. Instead, it has given the upcoming generation of writers a good opportunity to delve more into the intricacies of altitude and attitude in our literature.

    Just thinking that Prof Chinua Achebe could be described as an unusual eagle with African blood and Nigerian foresight, who soared to the summit of destiny but not in sudden flight, rather through a painstaking journey. Just thinking that it is a grave irony that today’s youths are in a hurry to achieve success, alas not through hard work but via shortcut.

    Just thinking about the immortal words of Henry Miller, who said: “In this age which believes that there is a shortcut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult ways is, in the long run, the easiest.”

    Just thinking that if Nelson Mandela was reading this, he wouldn’t hesitate to say that’s what keeps me going?

    Just thinking that if the offer of an American rap sensation, 50 Cent, to buy the copyright of the wordings of Prof Chinua Achebe’s pillar of success and Africa’s pride, Things Fall Apart, was not more than all the financial rewards the writer made from the sales of that world’s bestseller at a single time? If we were in Achebe’s shoes, would we not have banished our success story to the belly of history by readily signing the mouth-watering deal the rappers offered?

    Just thinking that in life, as students and youths, there we will always believe in false solutions to our problems and challenges, but if only we endure a little, we shall realise that what seems a challenge was a change that changes outlook and the solution was just a little patience to let the clouds lift up and clarity come down.

    Just thinking, again, about John Maxwell and one of his inspiring quotes that states: “A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose, a cause to pursue, a person to love and a goal to achieve.”

    Just thinking how our nation will have been better if our fellow citizens and leaders were thinking something better.

    Opeoluwa, 400-Level Law, OAU, Ile-Ife

  • College holds maiden convocation

    The maiden convocation of the pioneer private college of education in Osun State, Assanusiyyah College of Education (ASSCOED) comes up next Wednesday, in Odeomu, a statement from the institution has said.

    The convocation, a joint graduation for the 2008-2013 sets of graduates from the Schools of Sciences; Languages; Vocational and Technical Education as well as Arts and Social Sciences will be presided over by the Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola.

    Former Vice-Chancellor of University of Ilorin, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede will deliver the Convocation Lecture while the Executive Secretary, National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Prof. Muhammed Ibn Junaid will present certificates and prizes at the event.

    Frontline traditional rulers including the Alayegun of Odeomu, Alhaji Abdulhameed Oke; Alapetu of Ipetumodu, Oba James Adegoke; among others will be honoured for their selfless services to the institution at the event.

     

  • War against corruption gets to schools

    War against corruption gets to schools

    That corruption has permeated the fabric of the Nigerian society is no longer news. Like other sectors, the education sector is not beyond its reach and effect.

    Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Dr Ekpo Nta said in an interview that the extent of corrupt practices in institutions has given the agency a cause for concern, particularly given the important socialization role formal educational institutions are meant to play.

    Explaining the agency has been besieged by petitions of corrupt practices in tertiary institutions, the ICPC boss said investigating and prosecuting corrupt practices is not enough. He said the war will be more effectively won if fraud is prevented in the first place.

    To this end he said the agency has produced two vital documents which are expected will greatly help curb corruption. The documents are: the University System Study and Review (USSR), a template that prescribes steps to prevent corruption in universities; and the National Values Curriculum (NVC), which has been infused into the school curricula at the basic and senior secondary education levels, as well as that of the Colleges of Education. The chairman added that the NVC will also be infused into the curricula of universities and polytechnics.

    Nta said the potential of ICPC’s prevention mandate to save cost and reduce losses of national and institutional resources to corruption is part of what inspired the agency to design templates to nip corruption in educational institutions.

    Wit the USSR template, which was developed with the help of Prof Olu Aina, a commissioner with ICPC following empirical investigations into administrative processes in three universities (University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye and Salem University, Lokoja), Nta said corrupt practices should be expected to reduce in schools.

    The template has eight sections that deal with Admission, Enrolment and Registration of Courses (section 1); Examination Administration, Award of Degrees and Graduation of Students (Section 2); Teaching and Learning Services and Facilities (Section 3); Appointments, Promotion and Discipline of Staff (Section 4); Departmental Administration and Faculty Governance (Section 5); Contract Award (Section 6); Financial Management (Section 7); and Research and Research Administration (Section 8).

    Each section lists the corrupt practices associated with the subjects they discuss, and roles the tertiary institutions, National Universities Commission (NUC), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the ICPC should play to prevent corruption from occurring, which Nta believes will be more profitable for all parties involved.

    Nta said in the forward of the template: “‘Prevention is better than cure,’ so goes the old adage. In our efforts to combat this unwholesome phenomenon in our tertiary institutions, we also subscribe to this adage. It is far cheaper to prevent an act of corruption than to clean up the consequences of the mess created. It is in this context that this template has been prepared to accompany the main report of the pilot phase and the Template for Conducting System Study and Review in Universities.”

    For instance, to prevent examination malpractice covered in Section 2 of the document, universities are expected to install CCTV cameras in examination halls; print question papers on the day of the examination to reduce leakages; use of CBT; carefully select people of integrity to handle examinations among others. The NUC is expected to dutifully carry out its oversight functions; while ICPC could help by re-orienting students about the merits and demerits of examination malpractices.

    Section three, which covers the teaching and learning facilities, lists delay in take-off of lectures and non-completion of syllabus by lecturers as a corrupt practice. Others are: Non-adherence to students/lecturer ratio results in over-crowding of classes; and lack of commitment to work by the lecturers, leading to absenteeism and non-preparation for lectures.

    Nta said once the template is in use in schools, the ICPC would prosecute academic and non-academic workers that perpetrate the infractions.

    The ICPC chair also noted that the agency is interested in follow up visits to the ones done by the NUC to cross-check claims made by universities to gain accreditation for their programmes.

    “We have started a procedure of beginning to collect visitation reports of the NUC used for accreditation. We will go round the institutions without prior notice and when we come around, we will like to see the equipment the NUC accreditation marked as seen. If the otherwise is discovered, we will treat it as a very serious infraction meant to deceive. We cannot leave the responsibility of making universities attractive to universities alone. We must address the issues ourselves,” he said.

    Throwing light on the NVC, Nta said the curricula deals with 12 value themes that have been infused into the select subjects taught in primary and secondary schools.

    The values are: honesty, discipline, justice, right attitude to work, citizens’ rights and duties, national consciousness, contentment, courage, regard and concern for the interest of others, role of the family, religious and spiritual values, and Nigerian traditional values.

    The values will be taught in subjects such as English, Business Studies, Christian Religious Studies, Islamic Studies, Social Studies, and Civic Education at the Basic Education level (Primary 1-JSS3), while at the senior secondary level, they will be taught the national values in Book Keeping, CRS, IS, History and Food and Nutrition.

    Nta said the NVC has been hailed internationally as Nigeria is one of the first countries to come up with a document to prevent corruption.

    “Nigeria has been invited to make a presentation at the UN office in Vienna on the National Value Curriculum. It has been described as a good model of prevention,” he said.

     

  • Of Yarima’s bill and the girl-child

    Granted, no nation is perfect. The type of leadership a nation gets has an influence on the progress or otherwise of the nation. Also, it is one of the yardsticks for measuring decency or immorality of the nation. Shrewdness in decision making, foresight in progressive resolutions and respect for people’s views on laws and governance are attributes of a decent nation.

    A few days ago, there was public outcry over a proposed law the Senate entertained, which is not in tandem with the citizens’ wishes. The proponents of the bill were seeking to get constitutional authority to force the girl-child into marriage at the age of 13.

    I watched the debates and drama on the floor of the upper chamber of the National Assembly. Unable to decipher the reason behind the move, I was compelled to question the audacity of Senator Ahmad Sani Yarima and his co-travellers in promoting a bill which will compel my younger sister in JSS 3 to marry, perhaps, an illiterate man at the age when she should be struggling to stabilise her life, at least academically.

    By entertaining the debate, in the first instance, the Senate took the nation back to an era defined by barbarism and unconventional civilisation. How does it sound for a nation that prides itself as a giant to be contending and debating the removal or retention of a preposterous law, which runs afoul with the rights of a girl-child?

    Yarima and his co-travellers remind me of some characters in Hollywood movies I watched lately. Indeed, they bear direct resemblance with the characters that, for one reason or another, fell into a slumber only to wake up centuries later when the society had advanced into civilisation. Dazed by the reality of the present period, their decisions and thoughts are not in tandem with the aspiration of the present society and the people. Rather than adapt to the new ways, they tried to take the whole society back to medieval times of barbarity.

    Truly, the foregoing depicts Yerima and his supporters; they have lost touch of the need of the present Nigeria and indeed, the aspiration of the people are grossly incompatible with theirs. It was said that the said proposed law had been part of the Constitution, but concealed by tissues of sections and subsections. But must a sufferer of leprosy refuse medication because he has lived with his ailment for a long time?

    I wonder if the supporters of the bill ever considered the short and long term consequences of their views on the girl child, especially in the light of the present awareness it has created. Did they consider the health hazard constituted by girl child marriage? Do they know of rectovaginal fistula and vesico vaginal fistula (VVF), which are medical consequences of early marriage? Do they feel the agony the sufferers of the ailments? Did they put into consideration the psychological implication of a teenager marrying to an old man?

    Did they put in prospective the fact that the controversial bill can promote child sale, trafficking and abuse? Are they unaware that the bill can increase the depraved libido of sexual perverts and pedophiles?

    Did it ever cross their minds that the bill, if passed, could result to a decline in girl-child education?

    Since the controversy started, my mind raced back to the thoughts of a distant relative, a woman, who I call Aunty. She used to tell me the stories of her life, which were filled with tales of unaccomplished dream. Aunty married at a tender age, when she was still nurturing the desire to become a civil engineer. She objected, but of course, the will of her guardians prevailed.

    She recounted then that older relatives forced her to smile and dance, even when as the marriage cut her dream short. She had dropped out of school. She could not be an engineer again because she married in her teenage years. The husband died and as a widow, she haboured regrets over botched dreams and marital disappointment. She also died and took the regrets to the grave.

    As an adult and a lady, who has been influenced by education, I am wise and have deeper understanding of life unlike when I was a child. I can take a decision in life which outcome I am solely responsible. And it is my submission that all teenage girls deserve the care of childhood, and the natural privilege of savouring every stage of their lives. They deserve the simple memory of childhood. They deserve to be nurtured as children and grow to fully realise their being at an age of maturity – the age of wisdom. Let no one force them into early marriage.

    The advocates of this ridiculous bill predicate their reason on religious teachings. However, our leaders must at all times be reminded that religion is a private affair. The Senate must always remember that Nigeria is a mixture of several ethnic nationalities; hence, its resolutions and decision must, at all times, be devoid of wishes or religious teachings of a tribe or a religious group.

    This, once again, brings a thorny issue of Sovereign National Conference (SNC) to the fore. There have been agitations from various quarters that we need a roundtable discussion on Nigeria’s sustainability. No time could be more apt than now to discuss the union properly.

    In the light of our language difference and cultural heterogeneity, it is my submission that Nigeria must be federalised now rather than later if we must not allow issues such as girl-child marriage to divide us. But until we have SNC, someone should nudge Yerima and his co-travellers to wake up from the medieval time and live in a civilised society.

     

    Uche, 500-Level Law, UNZIK

  • OAU tops web rankings

    The Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, is on top of the latest rankings of the best universities in Nigeria and eighth in Africa.

    According to the rankings computed by the Cybermetrics Lab of Spain, the research council that manages the Webometric world rankings of universities, OAU leads the ranking of 125 institutions rated in Nigeria.

    Nine other institutions in the top 10 of the rankings released on Monday are: Auchi Polytechnic, University of Ibadan, University of Lagos, University of Nigeria, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Yaba College of Technology, University of Benin, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the University of Ilorin.

    A release by the Public Relations Officer of OAU, Mr Abiodun Olarewaju, noted that while the university has maintained its position as the first in Nigeria, it has moved up seven places in Africa in the latest rankings.

    Reacting, the OAU Vice-Chancellor, Prof Bamitale Omole, attributed the giant strides recorded by his administration to the unparalleled research output, administrative acumen, technical know-how of workers and focused leadership.

     

  • Hemmed in by flood

    Hemmed in by flood

    An early morning downpour last Sunday threw residents of Abraka, the host-community of Delta State University (DELSU), into panic over the state of Ekrejeta Road, which is close to the institution. Whenever it rains, the road is flooded, making it impassable. PHILIP OKORODUDU (500-Level Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering) and ESE OKODUWA (200-Level Home Economics) report.

    The rainy season is not the best of times for students of Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka. Whenever it rains, some parts of Abraka, their host-community, are flooded, paralysing movement and commercial activities.

    The Ekrejeta Road that leads to the campus is always bubbling with life in the dry season, but when it rains, it is a no-go area. Even a light shower gets the road flooded.

    Almost all banks have their branches on the road.

    Motorists are going through pains plying the road– no thanks to the rain. After a downpour last Sunday, it was flooded, slowing down vehicular movement.

    Last Monday, pedestrians were stranded while some businesses on the road closed because of flood.

    The flood is caused by lack of drainage. Some traders lamented the development, saying their agonies may be compounded if the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) calls off its srike.

    The federal road was constructed in the 1970s to link Sapele and Agbor. A new road has since been built, with the Ekrejeta road now serving Abraka.

    Over the years, the road has become the commercial nerve centre of Abraka but it has been neglected by successive governments.

    To protect their premises from the flood, banks built concrete structures at the edge of the road. Store owners also protected their businesses from the flood. They filled many cement sacks with red sand and placed them as barriers against the flood.

    This measure has compounded the woes of motorists and commercial tricycle riders.

    There are insinuations that the banks on the road gave money to the community to construct a drainage last year but the community leaders failed to pick a contractor for the job.

    A chief in the community, Edwin Emudainohwo, who is a retired teacher, dismissed the rumour, saying no money was given to the community by anyone to provide drainage on the road.

    He said: “We approached all the banks to help solve the problem but they told us that they are not the owners of the banks. They promised to consult with their top management team. They came later to tell us to calculate the cost of constructing a drainage in the area. After we did, nothing has come from them.”

    On what the community is doing to address the problem, Emudainohwo said the people had been meeting to find a lasting solution to it.

    He said it was neither the duty of the community nor the banks’ to construct drainage, adding: “Why should the local government not carry out its statutory responsibility of meeting the needs of tax payers?”

    A member of the staff of one of the banks, who pleaded for anonymity, said some managements did their best to pool resources to tackle the flood- prone road but added that others did not co-operate. The banker quoted one of the managers as saying: “Each bank should go and protect its premises because taxes are paid to the state.”

    The official debunked the insulation that the banks gave money to the community.

    A cyber café owner on the road, Mr Kevwe Ogbe, lamented the situation, urging the Federal Government to do something before the problem got out of hand.

    A trader, who simply identified herself as Mrs Esther, said: “The government should please come to our aid. We don’t want malaria to kill us because of the stagnant water. The flood is affecting our business because our customers cannot gain access.”

    Judith Uduh, 200-Level Technical Education, whose hostel is located on the road, said academic activities could be disrupted if the condition became worse. She urged the government to construct drainage that would channel the water directly to River Ethiope.

    An applicant, Victor Omonigho, who came to write the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation (UTME), said his mobile phone fell into the water as he tried to flag down a commercial vehicle. “I lost all my telephone contacts after my phone fell into the flood water,” he said.