The Nation Newspaper

Category: Campus Life

  • NANS marks International Students’ Day

    NANS marks International Students’ Day

    The Kwara State axis of the Joint Campus Committee of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has held a rally and public lecture to mark this year’s International Students’ Day. The lecture was the maiden edition in the state.

    The day was first marked in 1941 in London by the International Students Council. Since then, the tradition has been sustained by International Union of Students.

    The public lecture took place at the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) secretariat in Ilorin and had in attendance various speakers who spoke on diverse national issues. One of the guest lecturers and the Dean, Students’ Affairs, University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Prof Olubunmi Omotesho, spoke on The role of higher education in national development.

    Omotesho, who was represented by Mr Alex Akanmu, disagreed with the popular belief that the standard of education in Nigeria was falling. He said education had improved and expanded over the years.

    “The only difference between Nigeria’s education of yesteryears and that of today is the expansion we are experiencing in terms of students’ population, manpower and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Standard of Nigeria higher education is better, what we need to do is to increase and improve on our capacity to accommodate the expansion and challenges we are facing,” the DSA noted.

    While urging the public to stop condemning the education system in Nigeria, Omotesho advocated for the adoption of indigenous languages in teaching at various levels of education in the country. He said:

    “Our education system will be better off if our local languages are celebrated and adopted in teaching students at schools, we should not rely wholly on foreign language.”

    The don disclosed that Nigeria’s education system, which many condemned, had produced great personalities, who had contributed to national development.

    In his speech, General Manager of Kwara State Broadcasting Commission, Alhaji Abdullateef Adedeji, advised the students to shun social vices and behaviours that could tarnish the image of the country.

    He maintained that the youths had a crucial role to play in nation building, while challenging them to show commitment and always engage in positive and productive activities that could bring about national development.

    Adedeji, however, charged the government to formulate policies that would engage the youths in nation building, thereby securing a better future for the country.

    Other personalities, who spoke at the event, included the chairman of Kwara State chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Barrister Rafiu Balogun, Kwara State commander of National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr Segun Oke, founder of MAD Positive Initiative, Miss Naomi Ikhureigbe, and founder of Youth Rescue Foundation (YRF), Mrs. Bimpe Adeniyi.

    After the public lecture, the students walked to the family house of the Sarakis to commiserate with the former governor of the state, Senator Bukola Saraki, over the death of his father, Dr Olusola Saraki. They were addressed by the senator and Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed and other top government officials of the state.

  • Students benefit from Okorocha’s scholarship

    Students benefit from Okorocha’s scholarship

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has delivered his major campaign promise to the people of the state by issuing cheques of N100,000 each to undergraduates of Imo State University (IMSU), who are indigenes of the state.

    Those who also benefitted from the gesture were students of Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo who received N80,000 each and the students of College of Heath Science and Technology, Amaigbo, who received N60,000 as scholarship.

    In a speech at the ceremony tagged Investment for the future and held at the Hero’s Square, Owerri, Governor Okorocha said the event was a great moment of his life. He said there was no legacy that is greater than the provision of free education to the people, adding that with such legacy, the children of the poor could acquire formal education to develop the society.

    Okorocha said that of all the projects embarked upon by his administration, none endeared to him as the free education given to over 19,000 students of Imo State origin. He added that his administration achieved the feat through sacrifice and commitment to service, adding that he forfeited N4 billion security vote just to ensure that the free education programme succeeded.

    He charged the students to be of good behaviour and ensure that the “candle of free education for Imo indigenes, which has been rekindled is kept burning beyond this generation.”

    Earlier, the state Commissioner for Education, Prof Adaobi Obasi ,said the ongoing revolution in the education sector in the state included the building of 12 classroom blocks in each of the 305 wards in the state, building of the Young Scientists’ College, the Owerri City School, College of Advanced Professional Studies (ICAPS), increasing the subvention given to Imo State University from N57 million to N152 million among others.

    The high point of the occasion was the presentation of cheques to hundreds of retirees from the state’s civil service for their gratuities and the presentation of four buses and a hilux van to the government by Diamond Bank Plc.

     

  • Jonathan, Gana task Corps members on development

    Jonathan, Gana task Corps members on development

    For five days, Christian Corps members converged at the Redemption Camp in Keffi, Nassarawa State for the annual convention of Nigeria Christian Corpers’ Fellowship (NCCF).

    The programme tagged I come soon caused heavy vehicular movements iAn Keffi as the Corps members, who came from all the states of the federation, started trooping into the capital city.

    President Goodluck Jonathan, during the opening ceremony, told the faithful not to be disturbed by the present security challenge in the nation, assuring them there would be turnaround.

    The president was represented by the chaplain of the Aso Rock Chapel, Reverend Albert. He said the government appreciated the services rendered by Corps members in ensuring developments in their places of primary assignments.

    He said the impact of the Corps members could be over emphasised in the nation and in leadership, saying the former President Olusegun Obasanjo gave his life to God on the platform created by the serving youth, who had paid regular ministerial visits to Yola prison during the former president’s incarceration in the prison.

    The former Information Minister, Prof Jerry Gana, who chaired the ceremony, counseled the youths to lay good examples for the coming generation by rendering selfless service devoid of hypocrisy, tribalism and hatred.

    He, however, prayed for divine protection and torch on all corps members in Nigeria and tasked them to remain patriotic in their duties to the nation and humanity.

    Other clergymen that also ministered during the four-day programme included Bro Gbile Akanni, Peace House Gboko, Pastor James Abiona and Pastor Sam Oye among others.

    The programme also featured entrepreneur development, health and marriage counseling. In his speech, the NCCF national president, Stephen Odekunle, told participants: “It is very important that a believer know that there is more to life than clothes, cars and houses. Our attention must be focused on the kingdom of God.”

    A Corps member from Ebonyi, Esiri Uwejeyan, described the event as life-transforming. Victory Jumbo, a Batch “A” Corps member, also expressed satisfaction about the programme of the convention.

     

  • Obama: Lessons for young Africans

    History was made in the United States on November 4, 2008 when 47-year-old Barrack Obama was elected president of the most powerful nation on earth. The election of Obama, a black American of African descent, from Kogelo in Kenya, as the first black president in the US will for a long time be a subject of discussion in all nooks and crannies of the world.

    No one ever expected that a black man could attain such position of prominence. It was the belief of everyone that it would be a herculean task, if not an impossible one, for a black man to be elected president in a country widely known for its racist inclination.

    However, Obama’s re-election on November 7 has no doubt swept the ancient prejudice against black people and inferiority complex into the junkyard of history. The Obama’s victory has, no doubt, broken all the myths that have surrounded white supremacy in America.

    Nelson Mandela recalled how the blacks had been marginalised, treated as second class citizens, denied of their rights and never given fair justice. He said: “A law was also formulated to teach African children that they are inferior to their white counterparts.” When on the night of November 4, 2008, the election of Obama was announced to the world, television camera caught Reverend Jesse Jackson and other people shedding tears of joy.

    Jesse Jackson cried because he remembered quite well the history of how black people had been treated in America which has made the entire black race in other countries of the world looked down on themselves and believed there was no inherent good in them to display to the world.

    The Obama re-election was no doubt a sweet assurance that the long fight for the freedom and dignity of the Black race has been effectively fought and won.

    However, it is not enough for us to learn just historical dates and events, it is imperative that we learn from history itself. History has proved that we can equally achieve outstanding feats as done by the Europeans. We do not have to continually depend on them for survival, instead we can maximise our potentials and surpass what they have done.

    We can unleash the treasures in us to design amazing inventions. We can now start taking responsibilities for our greatness because if a black man could be the number one citizen in the United States, and by inference of the world, then we can attain any height we set out to reach.

    We cannot continually place blame on what some people did or did not do. Rather we’ve got to take up the challenge like Obama did and create the future we desire. Obama could have dwelt in self pity and inferiority complex and concluded: “I am not good in anything because my brain is black and no black man has ever been allowed near the White House!” His feat would have been a self-fulfilling prophecy, but he took up his seeming disadvantage and wrote his name in the granite of history.

    Nelson Mandela gave this speech on September 21, 1953 before his imprisonment: “Teach the children that Africans are not an iota inferior to Europeans.”

    The Obama victory has clearly shown every African youth that the world will pave a path for a man who knows his identity and destination. To that young African youth, would you rather say ‘yes we can’?

     

    Taiwo, 200-Level Human Anatomy, UNIMAID

     

  • Keeping pace with changing times in varsity

    Every serious-minded student in any Nigerian university spends more money conducting researches for his or her assignments than what he or she spends on feeding daily. The costs even become higher when such researches are done under the billings of business cyber cafes, which range from N100 to N150 per hour. Interestingly, research and its attendant cost is a necessary burden which every student must bear in order to keep afloat academically.

    However, it becomes the challenge of university administrators who are sensitive to the plight of students and who understand the demands of 21st century teaching and learning, to make the burden lighter for their students.

    It is against this backdrop that the management of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), led by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Bartho Okolo, established a robust Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure through collaborations with ICT companies like MTN Nigeria, Cisco system, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft Corporation, Waivon Networks Ltd, HITACHI and Xirrus incorporated to boost internet facilities needed for research activities, teaching and learning, and administration in the university.

    With reliable internet services in place, the university management offered to students a subsidised average internet fee of N33 per day for 24 hours internet access as opposed to over N150 per hour charged by cyber cafes. The decision to introduce the fee was collective, involving all stakeholders of the university including students’ leaders.

    The stakeholders prevailed on the management to liberalise the internet services following its restriction and near shutdown in the last academic session. The Students’ Union, in particular, led a delegation to the Vice-Chancellor to make a case for the service and agreed to a minimal token for it.

    However, some disgruntled elements, who are averse to progress, have taken advantage of the token fee to incite some ignorant students who took laws into their hands and protested against the token charge in Enugu Campus of the UNN on the October 8, 2012.

    Expectedly, many people have wondered the rationale behind the misguided protest. Some parents have even called to condemn the action and questioned if it were cheaper for students to keep patronising business centres which charge up to N150 per hour than to pay the N33 (N12,000 for one year) for 24 hours internet services offered by the university.

    It is regrettable that in this digital age, where graduates who are ICT-compliant are preferred among their peers in the globally competitive labour market, some students of the UNN would rather choose to spend their money on frivolities than support the university’s effort to enhance their competence. Unarguably, the internet fee is nothing compared to the money students spend daily on to visit acquaintances.

    Unlike many universities in the country, which only provide internet services for management offices and establish a cyber café where students are fleeced by per hour billing, the UNN chooses to decentralise its internet services because it understands the place of the internet in research and knowledge creation. Driven by the need to produce well rounded graduates that will continue to find their feet in the globally competitive labour market, the university has started the installation of electronic smart boards in classrooms to interface with teaching and learning. When completed, the internet-ready boards will, among other things, offer students an online direct real time experience from industries across the world.

    In the face of this, one will be forced to ask: in whose interest are these projects embarked upon; the university management or the students?

    It is worthy to mention that for the past two years, students of the university have been enjoying free internet services within the university community. It is a common sight to behold students surfing the internet with their laptops in different corners of the university. Many of them use the free internet services to conduct their researches in a relaxed mood, while others spend their leisure time building and reinforcing their relationships with friends on social media. The gains of such useful engagements tell on the students who are now better informed than ever and more research oriented than before.

    The management is charging the token fee for the sustainability and maintenance of the internet infrastructure. This gesture will not only moderate the cost of research for the students but also boost the university’s aspiration to be at the forefront of research and knowledge creation in Africa and also keeps pace with changing times in the environment of learning.

    Students should not allow themselves to be deceived, those opposing the internet fee should think twice, let them calculate the amount they spend in business centres, they will surely understand that the management is trying to make their burden lighter. A word is enough for the wise.

     

    Inya is post-graduate student of Mass Comm., UNN

  • When runs become the norm on campuses

    For quite some time now, I have been focusing on infrastructural and academic challenges in tertiary institutions in the country; I only dwelled on social issues twice since June. I feel the need to dwell on this today after my encounter with three student union officials, two from the university and one from a polytechnic. By virtue of their assignments they are “itinerant” students who traverse campuses mobilizing students to support causes related to their welfare.

    While discussing with two of them, the issue of “runs” kept propping up. Even though I have a firm understanding of what the term means, I thought it wise to understand what it meant from their perspective. One of them told me “authoritatively” that about 80per cent of students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria engage in one form of “runs” or the other. “Runs,’ according to him “cuts across prostitution, peddling leaked examination question papers, drug trafficking, cultism, writing exams on behalf of other students, acting as middle men for Juju priests, acting as ‘leg men’ between dubious lecturers and student etc.” I told him that 80per cent is quite a high percentage to categorise students, but he stood his ground claiming he’s right with his assertion.

    “I visit campuses across Nigeria and I want to “authoritatively” (that word again) inform you that a large percentage of our female colleagues are involved in one form of prostitution or the other in their bid to make ends meet. I know those who are from dirt poor homes brandishing the latest iphones, Samsung galaxy notes and pad, ipad and all forms of gadgets, where do they get the money to buy these gadgets from”?

    He also “authoritatively” told me of colleagues he knows who are confirmed drug traffickers and couriers using the safe campus environment to ply their trade. My alarm bell was triggered when he “confirmed” that the trade has gone beyond sale to actually taking of drugs by a high percentage of students. His colleague also informed me that female undergraduates frequent a popular red light district with strip bars in Lagos making between N5,000 and N50,000 per night depending on the status of the bar and the clientele involved.

    Based on their analysis of the condition on our campuses, I cast my mind back to an incident I witnessed involving a female undergraduate with a colleague during an official assignment some years back. I was awakened early in the morning by scuffle outside my hotel door and I had to come out. There I found this “lady” of no more than 23 years holding my colleague by his trousers; I was a bit embarrassed because I never expected to see the guy in question in such a compromising situation. It turned out that he picked her off the street the previous night promising her N10,000 for the night only to renege after the deed had been done. The “lady” did not take it lying low hence the scuffle.

    She looked outwardly polished and groomed prompting me to ask why she decided to do what she is doing. She opened up that as a 400 level undergraduate then, the allowance she gets from her parents cannot take care of her “needs” which was why she “supplements” it with “having fun”. There was therefore no need to try to counsel a woman who has already made up her mind on what to do with her life. So what the student union officials shared readily came to mind, it was only the percentage that I had issues with.

    Percentage or not, why have we lost our moral compass that what used to be reprehensible is now taken for granted? Do we have to look for scapegoats in poverty, hard times, infrastructural decay, funding etc to massage our profligacy? It is instructive to note that in some homes, parents are aware that their children or wards have, or are imbibing lifestyles they know are being fuelled by questionable source of maintaining such lifestyles and no questions are asked, everyone simply looks the other way.

    The level of moral bankruptcy in Nigerian today, calls for sober reflection and urgent attention to nib the growing drift in the bud. It is often argued that moral uprightness is an important ingredient in building prosperous nations anywhere in the world. That is why nations take the issue of moral upbringing, especially among their youths, very serious. This is because the younger generations are often seen as the leaders of tomorrow. So, their mental and spiritual state of minds is of importance to our desire for development.

    The growing rate of campus profligacy in our campuses today should be a source of serious concern to well-meaning Nigerians. It is often said the ivory towers is the last stage in moulding the leaders of tomorrow preparatory for their engagement as thought leaders and policy makers of the future. So, if such towers are now saturated with the menaces of the worst form of moral degeneration, then the nation is in deep crisis. Campus prostitution is now a common “business” in campuses with the culprits no longer hiding their trades. There is no tertiary institution that is immune from this crisis. This is a bad omen for motherhood and academic excellence as we know it of old.

    Ironically, as the nation experience the growing rate of campus “runs”; it is not far from the visible decay in the leadership structures. That means there is direct correlation between moral uprightness of a society and the kind of leadership in that society. The Nigerian state and the leadership structures have been the major promoter of these illicit businesses in our campuses. Insights from the student union officials showed that these future mothers are often used to “accompany” a visiting guest whenever there is social event in town or whenever one is needed.

    Such events include political conventions, party meeting, and social jamborees. The major clients of these so called campus big girls are often top government or business officials. It is therefore little wonder that the business is receiving enough patronage because of its attendant material gratification as exhibited by the general show of material status by some students in campuses.

    Previously, such “businesses” were done covertly. This was due to the fact that the value system of the Nigerian state and the moral consciousness of the ivory tower were on a high alert against such menaces gradually destroying our society today. It has been argued in some quarters that the rise in campus social vices is a direct result of the growing rate of poverty and hopelessness in the country occasioned by failure of leadership over the years. This general hopelessness and despair, the argument goes, is what fuels such lifestyles.

    As far as I’m concerned such argument holds no water. Why would a young lady whose father earns less than N100,000 monthly be wearing a Brazilian, Peruvian, Malaysian or Indian “human hair” which cost between N80,000 and N300,000? Would her spotting such hair make her more intelligent or beautiful? This is not the case because they are being sold a lie, and as usual, they always fall for it. I know ladies who come from very poor backgrounds who held their heads high, maintain their moral rectitude and today they are influential members of the society, poverty of no poverty; it depends largely on the families and individuals involved.

    So what we are grappling with now is purely the product of new lifestyles of unbridled ostentation and materialism which will lead us nowhere as it is becoming glaring everyday with the hue and cry from Nigerians. Is there a way out of this mess that we’ve found ourselves? There is a way, as far as I’m concerned and that way is for us to revisit the family institution; that is where everything falls and rises on. The Bible that I believe in made it poignantly clear that if you train a child in the way he should go when he is young, he’ll not depart from such route when he is old. It has been tested for centuries and it has never failed and it will never fail. This is our starting point.

     

     

     

     

  • Management Institute honours VC

    Management Institute honours VC

    The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jos (UNIJOS), Prof Hayward Mafuyai has been honoured for his demonstration of “strong leadership qualities” towards the development of education in Nigeria. The Institute of Public Management (IPM) Nigeria gave him its Honorary Fellowship, which is the highest honour that the Institute can bestow on individual.

    According to the IPM, Prof Mafuyai deserved the honour because he had transformed the attitude of the university’s staff to work within one year in office, which, it said, was necessary to reposition the institution.

    After the conferment, an induction and investiture ceremony for new members of the Institute was held at the Institute of Medical Research Center Yaba, Lagos State.

    The VC identified public management as a crucial aspect of development of any organisation. He noted that there must be efficient management for any country to develop, especially one confronted with challenges such as security, economic and financial problems.

    Mafuyai, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Prof Musa Ibrahim, identified the mismanagement of the country’s resources both human and natural as one cankerworm that has aggravated the difficulties faced by Nigerians.

    He emphasised that if resources were properly managed, the country would be better and called on public officers to reconsider their duty and responsibility to manage the country’s resources properly so that all Nigerians would benefit. The VC commended the Institute, which within four years of its existence, achieved membership level of about 10,000.

    In his address, the chairman of council of the Institute, Pastor Matthias Awoyiokinor, who was represented by his vice, Reverend Michael Nwokolo, said the Institute was as a unique and well-articulated organisation.

    The Registrar of the Institute, Gabriel Opene, said public management was a concept that had taken over public administration in developed countries, which people in Malaysia had imbibed. “That is why they are faring better than Nigeria and other African countries,” he said.

    He expressed optimism that the concept would bring the needed change in Nigeria to enable the country move forward.

     

  • OSUSTECH moves to permanent site

    OSUSTECH moves to permanent site

    Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH), Okitipupa, has relocated to its permanent site – the first public university in Nigeria to do so within two years of take-off from a temporary site.

    OSUSTECH, which began academic activities at its temporary site in Idepe, Okitipupa with less than 100 students two years ago, moved to its main campus on Igbokoda Road, Okitipupa.

    The management organised a special orientation programme/seminar for newly admitted students to acquiant them with innovations in the institution.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Tolu Odugbemi, said the orientation was to give students a sense of belonging and direction while undergoing their studies.

    Odugbemi described the freshers as special students admitted totally on merit as none came in on the governor’s list, VC’s list or any other that negates the principle of merit.

    “The admission committee did its work according to the requirement obtainable universally. There was no interference from any person to influence the admission procedure .So, with this, you could see you are special students to have been admitted into the university on merit ,“he added.

    He, however, warned them against engaging in any act capable of tarnishing the university’s image and truncating their dream of accessing the kind of quality education provided by the institution.

    As part of the institution’s mission to train the students to be total graduates, the Vice-Chancellor told the students the university has designed an entrepreneurship programme to make them truly independent after graduation.

    Under the programme, he said they must choose one of 21 skills to learn once in a week.

    “Every Wednesday afternoon has been dedicated as lecture-free day to enable students participate in the programmes. I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity in getting yourselves trained in any of the skill training programmes available,” he added.

    Odugbemi also spoke about compliance to the university rules and regulations, care for the environment, and support for other students.

    He urged them to suggest to the management about how to improve the university to be one of the best in the world.

     

  • The vanishing potential

    The vanishing potential

    Five years ago when this writer was graduating from secondary school, a lecture entitled Ignite your potential was delivered to the pupils. The eloquent speaker, whose name I could not remember now, spoke glowingly to the outgoing pupils of a future filled with gold and abundance.

    Five years after that speech, Nigeria marked her 52nd independence anniversary. The ceremony was marked amidst excitement by the political class and hope by the common man. Rather than joining the bandwagon, I reflected on where the country started and where it is and the level of development its peers have achieved.

    The lecture of my graduation came to mind. It was a sober moment for me, for I was faced with a naked truth of our march to nationhood- the Nigeria of our dream has been a possibility, a huge potential that has never been ignited.

    The streets and resort places were busier with revelries, people dressed in attires displaying the national flag colour and I received a deluge of messages, whose main contents were that I should celebrate our nationhood and independence. But I ask: does the country truly independent?

    In pre-independence era, our founding fathers dreamt of an independent nation where resources would be deployed to benefit of all. Today, these resources have been literally converted to the personal use of the few in the political class. While majority of the citizens still live below $2 per day, the people in the nation’s leadership live in abundance and affluence to the surprise of many that believe Nigeria is potentially endowed with greatness.

    It has been said that the best road to progress is freedom’s road, but it appears Nigeria’s condition has, so far, been an exemption to this oft-said maxim. After the independence, the country has enmeshed in a situation so pathetic that people now reason that, had we not gained freedom from the Britain, our story of misery would be have been different.

    Thanks to decades of bad leadership, we have made a mockery of our independence by showing to the outside world how helpless we are at managing our own affairs.

    Truth be told, Nigeria deserves to be wept for. The state of affairs in the country has bewildered even a discerning mind. Nothing is going well. We dream of a good future but in over five decades of independence, a promising period has not surfaced. All the dreams turned mirage when corruption was introduce into the system.

    It is a sheer illusion in our psyche that we adopt an unmerited appellation – giant of Africa. If we have succeeded in anything, then it must be our success in placing the name of this nation on records which not only denigrate us, but also mocks our nationhood. To that end, when the world speaks of corruption of the ruling class, massive unemployment, tribalism, terrorism, insecurity and lack of basic infrastructure, Nigeria is a name that would immediately call to mind.

    Truly, if spirits could bite, then the spirits of our founding fathers would have surely bitten the present ruling elite for constituting a stumbling block preventing the country from achieving its dreamed greatness among the comity of nation in the black continent.

    It amounts to restating the obvious that if one says the present political class has destroyed the foundation and legacies of our founding fathers.

    It is not unknown that Nigeria was beset by internal setbacks. We cannot forget the long years of military incursion in governance, the gory Biafran war and other national tragedies, but let it be also known that other prospering nations of the world have had their own fair share of setbacks and tragedies in their journey to excellence.

    Let it be known that once upon a time, China was listed among the third world nations; that at a point in time, Nigeria was better than Ghana; that South Africa was once beset with apartheid iniquities and America, which is now a reference point of functional democracy, has also witnessed periods of internal upheavals.

    Yet, these countries have moved on and have all developed from its rubble of contradictions. So, what is wrong with the so-called giant of Africa? If I could say rightly, Nigeria’s major problems are the leadership and our refusal to learn from our past errors.

    Achebe posited: “The only thing that we have learnt from experience is that we learn nothing from experience.” Thus, our potential has, for 52 years, remained in a state of inertia. It is unarguably a common denominator for patriotic leaders and visionaries, to perceive independence, or better put, freedom as a means to an end, which is happiness.

    During his year as the America’s president, John F Kennedy, maintained that “the best road to progress is freedom’s road”. Also, Swan Anthony stated that “independence is happiness”. But our independence has precipitated more hardship never imagine in pre-independence. When will this voyage to nowhere end? When will Nigeria’s potential be ignited?

     

    Uche, 500-Level Law, UNIZIK

  • FUTA plans medical college

    FUTA plans medical college

    The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Prof. Emmanuel Fasakin, has said the institution would soon have a College of Medicine and a Teaching Hospital.

    Fasakin added that the management was still awaiting the approval and funding from the Federal Government before it could take off.

    He spoke at a press conference ahead of the 24th convocation and 30th anniversary of the university.

    He said many studies had been done on the proposed College of Medicine and teaching hospital and that the authorities would establish themonce they get the nod.

    Fasakin said: “We are desirous to have our own college of medicine and teaching hospital like Ogbomoso and Uyo, but the impediment is the approval which has not come from the Federal Government.

    “We have done the necessary paper works but we need the pronouncement. We could take-off the moment we receive the approval because it is highly capital intensive, he added.

    Besides, the Deputy VC academic said 3, 489 students will graduate from the university during the convocation slated for Saturday.

    Fasakin said 15 out of the 1,960 students who will receive first degree certificates, on the occasion were in the First Class category while the university will award PhDs to 41 people.

    He said 182 students of the institution are currently enjoying scholarship award from government, private firms and individuals.