Category: Campus Life

As the new session begins at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Television College (TV COLLEGE), Jos, students have rededicated themselves to academic excellence. GOTODOK LENGSHAK (400-Level Television Journalism) writes.

After three weeks holiday, students of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Television College (TV COLLEGE) have resumed for another session. Many of them described the break as the “longest” against the two-week holiday always given by the authorities of the college.

There was excitement on the campus as students moved about doing one thing or the other. Some, who travelled to their homes during the holiday, returned with new materials, which they moved into their hostels with help from colleagues.

Registration of courses began immediately, signalling that the new semester would be demanding.

As at the time of filing this report, some students were yet to resume but those who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE expressed the hope that the session would be hitch-free.

For Nora Duksuk, 300-Level Television Journalism, increasing the tempo of her academic performance remained her hope, while expecting an improvement on the infrastructure in the college. She said: “I expect a better stay in school this semester. I expect that the road construction intended by the management should be done now because this is harmattan period, which is perfect for such work. Also, I expect a stiffer challenge academically knowing that being in 300-Level is not going to be a tea party. But I will do my best to achieve good grades.”

Jebarang Mupalngnyi, 300-Level Television Journalism, said: “I hope to improve on my academic work. This is the ultimate target for me. I also expect lectures’ time to be regular so that students will be able to cover the outline for each course.”

To repeat his classroom knowledge in television and movie production was all Augustine Ebuka, 200-Level Television Production looked forward to. He said the media was a business that needed undiluted commitment.

“I will also want to brace up academically because I feel my result so far is not okay and I am not coming here to spend money to gain less. I know that to whom much is given, much is also expected. Therefore, I am here to shoot up as the sky is not my limit but going above it is my paramount target,” Augustine added.

Some students believed that the school’s curricula are due for improvement to accommodate modern technologies that will enable them follow up the current trend in the media industry. One of them, Dan Ibrahim, 300-Level Television Production, said he hoped the content of lectures would encompass new technologies in digital media.

“I hope there will be an improvement on the side of our lecturers because we are tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. There are new concepts and methods of teaching in digital media and we must move with the trend to compete with our peers from other parts of the world,” Dan said.

The president of Television Production Students Association (TEPSA), Dakas Jwanji, has stated his plans to improve on students’ welfare. He told CAMPUSLIFE that the association planned to float programmes that impact positively on the academic wellbeing of the members.

He said: “We are working towards the possibility of embarking on an excursion, so that the students will see things from practical viewpoint. We would also want to get a studio established as well as broaden the knowledge of the students as to what is expected of them outside the school environment. These things might take a long time to be put in place, but this semester presents the opportunity for us to start the process.”

A Students’ group, Blood Drive initiative (BDI), University of Calabar (UNICAL) chapter, has honoured some members of staff of the institution to recognise their service to humanity and society at large. Among persons honoured at the event held at the UNICAL Hotel were Prof A. Udoh, Chemical Pathology Consultant, Prof Emmanuel Uko, Dr Essien Usanga, who are Haematology Consultants, Ekerette Ekere, Assistant Director, Haematology Unit, UNICAL Teaching Hospital (UCTH) and Dr Wilfred Ndifon, the state co-ordinator, National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS).

In his address, the BDI co-ordinator, Kareem Jubril, noted that the club within the year had recorded success in donating 68 units of blood to save lives outside and within Calabar environ. The final year student of Medical Laboratory Science expressed appreciation to the UCTH, NBTS, and Rotaract Club of UNICAL for their support and sponsorship in the area of blood donation.

Speaking on behalf of the NBTS co-ordinator, Blood Donor Recruiter, Okanga Ngim, described the honour as an indication of a worthwhile relationship between the NBTS and the students’ group. He used the medium to call for voluntary non-remunerated blood donors, stressing that blood donors are national heroes.

On his part, Dr Usanga said he was delighted with the honour, adding that it was high time students explored other avenues to save lives outside the campus.

Godwin Odey, 300-Level Medical Laboratory Science and winner of the highest donor award, noted that voluntary non-remunerated blood donation had become his lifestyle since the day he saved an anaemia patient.

A lawmaker, representing Ifako-Ijaiye Constituency I, at the Lagos State House of Assembly (LAHA), Dayo Saka Fafunmi, has tasked the Faculty of Law students of the Lagos State University (LASU) to be law abiding and good ambassadors of their school, wherever they go.

Fafunmi made the call while presenting certificates of office/awards to deserving student-parliamentarians at the Dinner/Award Night organised by the Olayiwola Adeoye-led Law Students Society of Nigeria (LSSN) 2012/2013 exco. It was held at 10 Degrees Events Place, Ikeja.

Expressing joy on the conduct of the students during the all-night event, he said: “When students invite you to programmes, one thing that rushes to your mind is that they usually end up fighting. But with your conduct today, you have proven otherwise.”

Advising the students on the future, the lawmaker said: “I know fully well that some of you, who have served or are serving as student-parliamentarians, would become members of local, state and federal houses of parliament in the future. I, therefore, implore you to be confident and fulfilled in yourselves. Always be focused and good ambassadors of your alma mater; the future is bright for you.”

In his keynote address, the dean of the faculty, Prof. Mohammed Abdulrasaq, represented by Dr Olaoluwa, explained to the students the importance and purpose of law dinner to the law profession.

Abdulrasaq also charged the students, “never to over-rely on just the learning, citation of cases and statutes, but to be versatile in every aspect of life. You can’t put a medical doctor in a dock without knowing a lot about medical profession,” he said.

He, however, admonished the students not only to merry, but to network, interact and learn from one another.

Executive Chairman, Amuwo Odofin LGA, Comrade Ayo Adewale, while presenting awards/certificates of office to deserving executives of LSSN, recalled with nostalgia, activities that took place in his days as the President of the Lagos State University Students’ Union Government (LASUSUG).

Adewale, who was president in the 1998/1999 academic session, appraised the immediate past dean of the faculty, Prof. Olusegun Yerokun for his steadfastness and his stance always for justice. He said: “It’s my pleasure to meet Yerokun in the midst of students again. During my days in the university, he was one of the few professors, who always stood on our side during turbulent days. Then, when some students were unjustly expelled by the university management, it was Prof. Yerokun who salvaged their plights.”

The highpoint of the event were the presentation of awards of excellence by Yerokun to Fafunmi and Comrade Adewale, as best Honorable and Council Chairman of the year. The occasion also featured dance, comedy and musical performances by various student’ artistes.

Other dignitaries who graced the event were Mr Pedro Lawal (SAN), Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, represented by Mr Mikail Kadiri a lawyer; Mr. Ade Ipaye, Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, represented by his Personal Assistant, Ms. Iyabode Oshodi; amongst others.

I wanted to be numb, but my soul cried out loud for me to ignore the feeling. I am supposed to have been accustomed to pain, but I am a man who has a heart. By implication, pain has a space in my system and no matter how one tries to suppress it, it will definitely find a vent to erupt.

What informed this piece is the brutal killing of four promising students of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) by natives of Aluu community in Rivers State. Like voices from the grave, the young men cry out that there “ain’t no love in the heart of the city”. The boys would have pleaded for mercy but they were seen by the bloody men of Aluu as people that deserved to die.

Jungle justice, the common term for the punishment meted out to the students, whom Nigerians have come to identify as Aluu Four, is not new. It is not old either. In the days when our fathers walked proudly in their brutish existence, mob action was not obtainable.

Our ancestors killed when they had to, but the gods of the land frowned at reckless killing. And apart from when sacrifice demanded it, the people in primitive African society frowned at extra-judicial killing. Thieves, when caught, were usually paraded round the village and punishments were meted out according to the maxim that governed the land. Back then, the shame of being paraded at the village square as a thief was enough deterrent from crimes.

Then came the West with their tailor-made solutions to every foreseeable problem. They brought new laws and frowned on the ones that have worked here for time immemorial. We got a police force that replaced the communal checks and balances; we got courts to dispense the new justice and we adopted new ways and dropped the old values.

As the new ways failed to answer the yearning for justice, a yearning that in the past were mostly satisfied upon appeal to the gods of the land, we decided to take the laws back from the new ways that failed us. We are receding from courts where justice could be bought by the highest bidder; we are dropping the police formation that has become ineffective. But because we are helpless, we reverted to jungle justice, a travesty of the natural order of things.

Jungle justice is a product of deep pain from being expressed by citizens because those who are breaking the law are going scot-free. A thief that obtained materials from another fellow at gun point walked freely and even flaunted the wealth ill-acquired to oppress his victims. Anyone who has suffered tends to be unsympathetic to such oppressor. He would definitely guillotine the head of a thief rather than handing over to the police.

Jungle justice would have been okay if the society can match the crime with the punishment being meted out, and ensure that the crime is proven beyond reasonable doubt. However, this is the error committed by the people Aluu when they roasted the four students. The community did not investigate the crime enough or so it seemed.

I recalled the people in James Ibori’s community celebrating his genius for theft and known criminals walking away with chieftaincy titles in my native Igbo land. Even now, big thieves are in our political offices lording it over us. They steal public funds without any meaningful development in the land, yet they are not given the Aluu treatment. But the four boys suffered because they were not guarded by policemen as our corrupt politicians are protected. That is the kind of country we live in: the poor hurt the poor and the thieves smile to the banks mocking the rest of us.

The killers of the lynched students must be brought to book. This is important because Nigerians throw caution to the wind when it comes to meting out punishment illegally. The mob killings are becoming a trend in our country. The Aluu Four were not the first to be videoed while being brutalised and killed for unproven offences. We have had similar stories from places like Lagos, Abuja, Anambra, Calabar and so on.

I know very few may not be able to stomach the mob action, but in such barbarity, when one stands by and watch those that commit the crime without alerting the authority, one is also shares the guilty verdict. True that one man’s voice may not make a different, but one must not wait for someone else to speak up against evil, it requires courage to condemn it and one will find that he is not alone.

The spirit of the four victims, who have now back joined their ancestors, would surely be calling for justice. I feel I should write a poem to suppress my anger. But could poem have woken the dead from their grave? The best I expect is for government to ensure justice is done to atone for the killing of these youths.

Sam, 300-Level Curriculum and Teaching, UNICAL

The management of University of Calabar (UNICAL) has held a one-day seminar on Information Communication Technology (ICT) for the students of the university. The reason for the seminar was to educate and improve the students’ knowledge in ICT.

The seminar was held in the expansive International Conference Center of the institution. In attendance were the Vice-Chancellor, Prof James Epoke, Dean of Students’ Affairs (DSA), Prof Eyong Eyong, Dean of Faculty of Management Sciences, Prof Joseph Udoayang, Information Officer of the university, Mr Effiong Eyo, Director of ICT, Mr Roughus Okoro and Students’ Union officials.

In his remark, Prof Eyong said: “The programme is organised by the management to increase the knowledge of students in ICT because we believe that a student who is not ICT-illiterate does not deserve a place in the university.”

He added that with the internet provision on campus, students had no right to say they do not have materials for their studies because the internet facilities are abundant in the school.

In his speech, Prof Epoke said: “The management believes it is extremely important for students to acquire knowledge through the internet facilities we have provided on campus.”

Okoro said the internet was the new way through which students acquire knowledge. He added that the management provided 200 computers for the purpose. “The gesture is only meant for students who have duly registered with the management; each student is entitled with three hours free internet browsing per day and 90 hours per month,” he said.

The SUG officials praised the management for the gesture, saying students of the university would acquire requisite skills and knowledge through such facilities.

About four decades ago, an average primary school leaver popularly known then as a Standard Six graduate was taken to have acquired the minimum level of education that qualified him to be referred to as ‘literate.’

Then, having a senior secondary school certificate went a long way in upgrading him academically, thereby making him almost as intelligent as a university graduate of nowadays. Presently, and for the past two decades, even an average senior school certificate holder can hardly prove his mettle when challenged with those questions and situations a Standard Six leaver of the past four decades would be comfortable to do justice.

The presage is obvious: the standard of secondary education in Nigeria is dwindling and hurriedly going down. That basic education standard is falling in Nigeria is not implicitly the crux of my concern. No. My concern is on the lackadaisical attitude of the authority and the society in general towards salvaging the eroding values.

The public schools system seems to be suffering from this travesty of education system, with the mushrooming private schools adding salts to the already aggravated injury of the secondary education system. Though one can still find some good standard private schools, and some unity schools that are still living up to expectation, most schools nevertheless are outrageously below standard and are poorly equipped.

The nation has, for a long time, underrated and neglected the values of education sector and this has been done in so many ways. The first being the poor remuneration package for teachers, negligence on equipping the public schools by the government, lack of professional training for teachers for improved output, amongst others.

The begging question is: why is the government at different levels, practically playing ostrich when the value is eroding in education sector?

After successive records of mass failure in both internationally and nationally conducted senior secondary certificate examinations, in which the percentage of the candidates that passed English and Mathematics, including three other subjects, progressively dwindles, the federal government instead of declaring a state of emergency in the education sector, further causes deterioration with engagement of Corps members, who are not trained to be teachers.

The right thing to do to salvage the education system is recruiting qualified teachers, to be absorbed into the schools, and re-training the existing teachers and not killing the fate of promising poor students of public schools with the deployment of non-professionals such as Corps members. Notwithstanding, Corps members that studied education courses may be posted to schools under the supervision of qualified teachers. While non-education graduates Corps members, should be purged out of the education system for a sustainable education system.

Some level of respect should be given to education in our national life and the professionalism of the education personnel should be emphasised just like we have in other profession such as medicine, engineering, accounting and law among others.

The teaching practice being undergone by students of education is not a mere formality, unless the nation wants to regard it like that. The disregard of students of education in scholarship awards is an enough evidence that tells why the nation could not engender development in its education. And in the real sense, it is not ideal.

The government should regulate the operations of the proliferating private secondary schools to see that they are standard enough to breed the futures of this nation. New and vibrant qualified teachers should be recruited to replace spent ones and also to supplement where there is inadequacy.

The yearly poor performance of students in West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO) and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) should be a presage that something has gone very wrong with the nation’s education system. And as such, there should be a cause of concern to the government. The public school is known in the olden days to be an academic help to children and wards of the common man in the society.

The academic performance in public schools is becoming dismal day by day. Government and the general public must do the right thing to salvage the education sector in Nigeria. Let non-education graduates be withdrawn from our secondary schools. And let a state of emergency be declared on the education ministry. For sound education is the bedrock of any developed nation. A stitch in time saves nine.

Kingsley, 400-Level Metallurgical and Material Engineering, UNN

Lagos State Polytechnic has inaugurated the recently-elected leaders of the Students’ Union Government (SUG). The ceremony was held at the Engineering Lecture Theatre, Ikorodu campus.

Present at the event were the Rector, Dr Abdul-Azeez Lawal, who represented by Deputy Rector, Barrister Olasunkanmi Longe, Barrister Tiamiyu Odusose, Registrar, Mrs Aderonke Ige, Dean of Students’ Affairs (DSA), Mr Tajudeen Senayon, Director Academic Planning Board, Mr Samuel Sogunro, Parents/guardians, students and other staff of the Polytechnic.

According to the management, the SUG leaders were screened based on their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) and moral character before the voting.

The Rector in his speech said that the polytechnic had raised the bar of excellence to build the leaders for tomorrow in the country. He however urged the new leaders to ensure reciprocate the trust bestowed in them by students with good leadership.

The new president, Muritala Balogun, said his administration won’t betray the trust of the students. Other inaugurated included Mayowa Oworu, Vice President 1; Rukayat Onasanya, Vice President II; Ramson Acheme, General Secretary; Zeenat Oluwo, Assistant General Secretary; Oluwasegun Iroko, Public Relations Officer; Waheed Adamson, Welfare Director I.

Others are Alfred Samson, Welfare Director II; Muritala Quadri, Financial Secretary; Sadiat Al-Hassan, Treasurer; Samuel Akerele, Sport Director; Oluwadamilare Okuneye, Social Director. The Speaker of the parliament is Kehinde Olofintunyi and his deputy, Sunday Oluwafemi.

The 54th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) was held last week. It was delivered by Prof Akon Esu of the Department of Curriculum and Teaching. The ceremony was held in the university International Conference Centre. The lecture was titled The Teacher and the Nation.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof James Epoke, led a procession of professors which included the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof Austin Obiekezie, his Administration counterpart, Prof Simeon Utsalo, Registrar, Dr Julia Omang, members of the university senate, Deans of faculties and Heads of departments.

Prof Akon, in her lecture, described a teacher as one who is responsible for the training and mentoring of past, present and future workers and leaders in the society. She said in education the teacher was responsible for guidance and direction of the learners.

Describing the history of teacher from 1960 to date, she told the audience that prospective teachers were trained at the Teacher Training College and Institute of Education at the University College of Ibadan for the award of teachers and two certificates (GD II) and Post Graduate Diploma in education respectively.

She stated that the diploma programme was criticised and discontinued in 1958, thus leaving Teacher Grade II certificate as the highest teaching qualification in Nigeria at the time.

Prof Okon said teachers were those professionally qualified to pass knowledge to learners at all levels of education, stressing that the teachers expected the nation to treat them well in terms of remuneration, incentives and enabling environment. She added that they deserved comfortable salary package in order to motivate them to demonstrate their skills and knowledge in teaching the youths.

She concluded the lecture with the saying that teachers were not born but made and that without professionally trained, qualified and dedicated teachers, the nation’s efforts to educate its youths would be in vain.

Prof Epoke described the lecture as interesting, adding that there was no education without a teacher, who played central role in education of generations.