Category: Campus Life

A professor of French, Valentine Obinna, has delivered the 10th Inaugural lecture of the Imo State University (IMSU).

Prof Obinna spoke on the topic Communication Matters: Language in literal and literary concatenation, beyond the French eye. The ceremony was held at the university auditorium.

The occasion started when the Vice-Chancellor, Prof B.E. Nwoke, led a procession of lecturers including the Registrar, Bursar, Chief Librarian, Deans of Faculties and professors to the hall.

Prof Obinna, during the lecture, differentiated communication matters as a noun and as a verb. He said as a noun, it could be re-arranged as matters of or in communication. But as a verb, he said the phrase could be used in action sense. He said it brings out the idea of “it matters to communicate”. He explained the literal language.

Prof Obinna said: “A professor is not really smarter than others; he just has his ignorance better organised.” Professor Obinna said the word concatenation in literal language suggested “the more you look, the less you see” but in the literary concept, it amounts to “the more you look, the more you see.”

Prof Obinna concluded the lecture with story of a man, who “talks like a professor, walks like a professor, dresses like a professor and behaves like a professor and everybody sees him as a professor”.

Prof Jasper Onuekwusi, the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, presented a portrait of the lecturer designed by the faculty staff. He said out of the 10 inaugural lectures delivered in the university, the faculty lecturers delivered four.

Mr. Augustine Emela, a lecturer of the English and Literary Studies department, described the lecture as an outstanding academic exercise.

The September 28 students’ riot that rocked the Ekiti State University (EKSU) will continue to linger in the minds of many students. Perhaps the story of the unrest would also be told to generations of students yet to be admitted.

On that day, students showed their capacity to destroy in extreme rage that greeted the death of their colleague, Ibrahim Adebola, who was hit by a car. In the resulting protest, cars belonging to the school were torched while others were destroyed. Some students looted the university farm, carting away rabbits, chickens, eggs and pigs, among others.

When the dust settled, the management counted its losses while students were sent home. But now, it is the turn of the students to count their losses. This is why I feel pained. From near and far, the behaviour of students during the crisis was condemned and I must also express here that I did not support the looting and destruction of property.

We should learn to fight and expect not to win all the time. We have always fought our battles expecting to always win. No! There is a saying that soldiers that retreat leave the battle to fight another day. Same is applicable here.

I console the bereaved family; I pray to God to give them the fortitude to bear the loss. However, the death of Ibrahim should serve as a lesson to us. After the incident, security agents arrested innocent students, arraigned them before a court in Ekiti State over a protest majority of them did not participate in.

Now, we have been asked to pay damages for the destroyed property.

The management may have felt it was high time it sounded a note of warning to students not to always express extreme anger when such unsavoury incident happens. However, the punishment is harsh, too.

They asked over 39,000 students to pay N10,500 for damages. We cried to let the management know that we could not afford the amount. It took our Students’ Union Transition Committee a great effort to persuade the management to slash the levy to N6,500. We heaved a sigh of relief.

But have we really achieved anything? Speculation was rife that if we had paid N10,500, we would have resumed on November 5. The rumour also had it that if we choose to pay N6,500, 70 per cent of the students must pay before a resumption date could be announced. What kind of condition is this?

The meeting of management on October 30 and 31 showed that the university did not care if we spend the rest of the year at home. The management met with the Students’ Union Transition Committee and came up with recommendation that no payment by 70 per cent of students, no resumption.

There was also a Senate meeting but a resumption date was not discussed. Later, Governor Kayode Fayemi went on air for 30 minutes without mentioning the protest and the solution. This tells us that our lives are in our hands. We have been left in the cold after the violent demonstration.

I implore my colleagues to pay the levy so that we can resume soon. It is not a thing of joy having the academic calendar disrupted in three sessions. This is a collective sin individuals must pay for. Next time, we will remind ourselves before we go gaga. I have paid my damages even though I did not throw a stone or stole a chicken or eggs from the poultry. Have you paid yours?

Olatunji, 200-Level Political Science, EKSU

Members of the Union of Campus Journalists (UCJ), University of Ibadan (UI) chapter, held their election last weekend.

Ninety-eight members voted out of about 150 registered voters expected to vote during the exercise.

The election process was strict as aspirants went through different stages of screening, including aptitude test and manifesto debate. Some of the candidates were disqualified during the debate.

At the end of the election, Titilodunayo Daniel was elected the president of the union with a 66 votes as opposed to his contender’s 30. Titilodunayo thanked his colleagues, saying he would not disappoint them.

An 1991 while I was still in the University, I vividly recollected an incident where we matched to the office of the Dean of Student Affairs to register our displeasure over a slight increase in some of the charges we paid back then. The Dean subtly tried to lecture us that the amount he pays for his daughter in the kindergarten is more than one of us will pay in his four years stay in the university. The students almost stoned him for the analogy because they felt it’s their right to have qualitative education in a country bursting in the seams with petro-dollars, after all, what does the government do with the money anyway? Today however, the issue of fees hike is generating tensions in tertiary institutions across the country and may end up depriving a substantial student population the opportunity of a tertiary education.

From the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka to Lagos State University (LASU) Lagos; from University of Jos (UNIJOS) Jos to Anambra State University (ANSU), Uli, down to Osun State University, Osogbo and Abia State University (ABSU) and others, the story is the same, Nigerian undergraduates will have to pay more if they want to lay hold of that precious certificate that is likely to open doors of opportunities for them. While some Nigerians don’t see anything wrong in fees hike because of the rapidly changing times and current economic realities, others are of the opinion that the government has the responsibility of providing affordable education at all levels to its citizens. This issue has pitched students and university authorities in a game of chess.

Five weeks after UNN began a new session, some students are yet to resume as reported by one of our correspondents in UNN, Oladele Oge. Only a few students, who have paid their school fees, are attending lectures. Lecturers said the absence of students may affect academic activities. According to Oge, students at the Enugu campus demonstrated against the hike in Internet charges, which jumped from N3,000 to N12,000. This does not include other charges students have to pay during registration. The students argued that their parents could not afford the new fees. They also said there was no electricity to charge their laptops to ensure they logged on to the Internet when they want.

At the Nsukka campus, students complained that the management was unfriendly and insensitive to their plight. It was even reported that some students who were yet to return to campus said they needed to raise money before they could come back. Lecturers are lamenting that the development may affect their course outlines and period with some departments yet to commence lectures. Some lecturers even vowed not to go back to teach students who missed their courses while trying to source for funds to pay their fees.

As expected in such situation, the students staged a peaceful protest to register their grievances which prompted the registrar of the institution, Chief Anthony Okonta to deny any increase in tuition fees in the institution. He, however, said the institution had introduced a service charge for the university’s 24-hour internet service on both Nsukka and Enugu campuses of the institution.

The Registrar said in a statement that: “Following a restriction and near shutdown of the service in the last academic session, various stakeholders prevailed on the university management to reintroduce the service given the benefits to all users. The students union in particular led a delegation to the Vice Chancellor Prof Barth Okolo to make a case for the service and agreed to a minimal cost for it…University of Nigeria then introduced a service charge of N12 000 per session as Internet Service Charge, and this translates to N1000 per month for always-on internet service”.

While the authority of UNN was trying to address the issue, students of UNIJOS are spoiling for a fight following the over 130 percent increase in tuition and accommodation fees by the management of the institution. The Student Union Government (SUG), wrote to the Vice Chancellor urging him to use his good office to reverse the fees because they “were not duly consulted before such a decision was taken” and “there hasn’t been any visible development or project done to justify the development levy charged students in recent past and to demand for such levy now is outrageous.”.

They kicked against hostel accommodation of N 27,000 and N12,500 as against N12,000 and 4,500 respectively paid last session. They also frowned at the N59,000 fee for new students and 27,000 for returning students maintaining that if the institution goes ahead to implement the new fees, students catering for themselves and paying their fees will find it difficult to cope. The letter was copied to the various security agencies in the state and other stakeholders in the system.

At ANSU, students of the main campus went violent and reportedly burnt down the Bursar’s office and other university structures as a result of tuition fee hike. They were kicking against the University management increase of their tuition fees to N230,000 per session.

The reality that stares us now in the face can be traced to the mid-1980s when the economy started witnessing strains leading to fiscal cutbacks in education budgets. Various arms of governments were confronted with the dilemma of funding tertiary and university institutions in order to maintain quality and service delivery with respect to academic programmes and facilities such as accommodation, water supply, security, computer training, books, lectures, examinations, library, curriculum review, staff welfare, student admission, staff training, conference attendance and teaching facilities,.

During the oil boom years in the seventies, the sector was heavily subsidised as undergraduates literally paid peanuts. Conventional thinking amongst policy makers then was that education was for the public good. When the burden of funding education became too heavy for the governments to shoulder alone, various strategies like “deregulation” entered the lexicon and shifted the perception of education as a public good; to education for profit, or “qualitative education” against “quantitative education”.

Education was no more perceived as an investment, but a costly burden. This thinking coincided with the World Bank inspired Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) which in its wake urged the universities to adopt cost recovery, cost-sharing methods, and initiate income generating activities and profit-oriented commercial ventures to mobilize resources needed for “the smooth operation of the university activities”.

The measures included the introduction of school charges in the following areas: sharing costs on academic-related matters such as library, computerization of results; departmental related issues such as books, chairs, tables, fans, and air conditioners; student-related issues such as admission and screening; staff-related issues such as training, welfare and promotion, and other school – related issues such as security, vehicle parking spaces, business operation and servicing of infrastructure.

Fast-forward to 2008 when Vice Chancellors in the South East said it will cost an average of N245,000 a year to train the average undergraduate and N129,000 for a post graduate student. This excludes the cost of development of infrastructure. Four years down the line, this projection would have been more than doubled given the current inflationary spiral thus necessitating the question where do we go from here?

The Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Centre for Open Distance Learning (ODL) will soon admit about 10,000 pioneer students for the programme, which will commence next year.

The Director of the programme, Prof Bode Asubiojo, made this known last Tuesday at the closing ceremony of a two-day workshop organised by the university in collaboration with the Venture Garden Group (VGG) and the Green Education Group at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.

The seminar, according to him, was to sensitise admission seekers, parents, teachers and stakeholders in the education sector on the importance of online programmes such as e-learning and open distance learning among others.

Asubiojo disclosed that lecturers of the institution, who will teach various courses in Education, Accounting, Nursing and Economics, were being trained for the programme.

The President of VGG, Mr. Bunmi Akinyemiju, said the aim of the programme was to leverage on technology to save time and energy and reduce cost of education in the country. He said about 45,000 students on yearly basis struggle for about 5,000 admission spaces at OAU. He added the program would provide opportunities for the remaining 40,000 students who could not be admitted.

The workshop was attended by educators, tutors, consultants, students and media practitioners.

The 59th inaugural lecture of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, has been held. Titled Diabetic Economy: A paradox and a dilemma, it was delivered by a professor of Economics, who is also the Dean of Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Prof Oladapo George.

Having declared the occasion opened, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof Saburi Adesanya, read out the profile and academic works of the lecturer.

In his lecture, Prof George noted the topic of the lecture could not have come at a better time given the prevailing economic condition in Nigeria. “I have chosen to address a contemporary issue which underlies the fabric of our progress, development and collective existence as a nation,” he observed.

He defined diabetes as fatal disease capable of affecting critical functional units of human body such as kidney, hearts, eyes and other vital organs.

The lecturer said Nigeria was suffering in the midst of plenty. “In many ways, Nigerian economy has been exhibiting the symptoms of diabetes in many areas, which make it to unable to harness its potential in natural, economic and human recourses to develop.”

The don said Nigeria’s problem was not lack of money but how to spend it. He highlighted some of the causes of the diabetes symptoms to include bad leadership, wastage of recourses, unproductive planning and corruption.

He said the consequences of these aforementioned diseases were volatility in income, rising inequality, distortion in government policies and probability of state failure.

Proffering solution to the problems, Prof George said effective and qualitative leadership, constitutional review, good governance, true federalism, adoption of appropriate trade and fiscal policies would make Nigeria to retrace its step to greatness.

Dignitaries that attended the lecture included Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Mr Segun Odubela, Alake of Egba land, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, Acting Registrar, Mrs Omolara Osisanya, Liberian, Mrs Paustina Oyesike. Others were Provost of the College of Health Sciences, Prof Samsudeen Abayomi, Dean of Faculty of Education, Prof Bilesanmi Awoderu and members of Abeokuta Club.

The National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS) has urged the Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, to approve the bursary payment and scholarship to students for the 2010/11 and 2011/12 academic sessions.

The president of the association, Azeez Ayodele, during a press conference at the NUJ House, Oke Ilewo, Abeokuta, last Thursday appreciated the governor for his achievements in primary and secondary schools, but pleaded with him to extend the same gesture to the students of tertiary institutions.

“We believe in the governor, but we plead with him not to rob Peter to pay Paul. The free education given to the primary and secondary school pupils should not divert government’s attention away from the students of tertiary institutions, who are indigenes of Ogun State,” he said.

He added that they were not out to attack the government, neither were they being used by any political party or politician, “but we are out to protect the interest of our members failure of which may result to protest.”

According to Azeez, delay in payment of bursary, lack of concern to the plight of the association by the government and insecurity in tertiary institutions within the state were among the reasons for the planned demonstration.

The management of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) has dissociated itself from a publication in the media linking it with African Thinkers Community of Inquiry College of Education (ATCOICOE).

The college allegedly invited applicants for admission into various programmes that were purportedly being undertaken in affiliation with ESUT. The university management denied it was running an affiliate programme with the college.

In a release by the Registrar of the university, Mr Chris Igbokwe, ESUT management said it wished to inform the public that ATCOICOE applied for affiliation with the university but the process was yet to be completed.

“The Management of the University (ESUT) dissociates the university from the said publication and further states that ESUT does not run any outreach centre in any part of Nigeria, either by itself or in affiliation with any Institution,” the statement reads in part.