Category: Campus Life

The management of Dowen College,Lekki,Lagos has reiterated its commitment to academic excellence as it prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

In a statement, the school noted that with dual curricula in the Nigerian and British education system, the school had produced exceptional students who have showcased their professionalism and talents within and outside the country.

It also said  music, sports, creative and performing arts are highly promoted,while premium is also placed on  mainstream and vocational instruction.

The statement reads:”The  college has thrived on the constant patronage and referrals of parents who proudly send sibling after sibling, family and friends through the college. It is called the Dowen College Family for many reasons.

“It   also extends a second-to-none scholarship programme to teeming youths in the country as over the past 25 years hundreds of students have graduated on 100 per cent tuition and boarding scholarships, as well as full tuition scholarships. Annually, about 10 per cent of the school population enjoys scholarships from the school. This also extends to the Lagos Anglican Dioceses.

“From the humble beginnings of nine children in October 1997, the school has grown over the past 25 years as an institution focused on raising children with Godly virtues, strong academic background, a good appreciation of their national cultures and strong discipline.

“The school’s vision has been to ensure that every child develops to be the best.

“As the school marks its 25th anniversary waxing stronger, the staff and students are resolved to continue with its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects, promote green initiatives, keep students safe always and  allow them shine their light round the community.”

Students at Maple Canadian College have received scholarships worth over  $1 million in the 2021-22 academic year.

In a statement,the school noted that it offers a grade 12 Canadian curriculum programme that successfully combines the experience of on-site Canadian-trained course instructors and the  Learning Management System (LMS).

“We are proud of our 100 per cent admission success rate as well as the over 90 per cent of our students who got scholarships totaling more than $1 million in the just concluded academic session.

“Every caring parent’s ambition is to provide their wards with a world-class education.

“ We have put in place the state-of-the-art facilities required for learning, growth, and preparing students for the demanding life of international schooling.

“As we announce the over $1 million in scholarships awarded to our students by global institutions during the just-concluded 2021–2022 academic year, the  college celebrates beating the odds,” it added.

The  college is also  in partnership with Rosedale Academy Canada for a  10-month  diploma programme with  certificate awarded by the Ontario Ministry of Education Canada.

Constipation refers to the difficulty in passing stools. It is a symptom, rather than a disease and it is one of the most common digestive complaints.

Fecal content expulsion time varies significantly in people. While some have it thrice in a day, others defecate just few times weekly. However, having days passed by without defecating may lead to stool hardening and hence difficulty in getting it passed out.

It could be caused by dehydration or not taking enough water, poor diet especially that deficient in fibre or enough fluid, excessive intake of caffeine and caffeine-containing products,among others.

The signs range from strain in the anus to abdominal distention and bloating, to feeling of incomplete expulsion of faeces.

Whenever any of those signs  are experienced, licensed and qualified professionals should be contacted.

Nevertheless,managing constipation requires drug and non-drug approaches.

The drug therapy approach includes the use of  stool softeners, laxatives and lubricants well prescribed and dispensed by licensed health professionals.

The non-drug therapy approach involves eating fruits and foods rich in fibre, reducing the intake of caffeine as caffeine can serve the role of diuretic; drawing water away from the digestive system and hence making stooling difficult. It is also important to do exercise to improve  muscles of the digestive and excretory system.

For nursing mothers, active breastfeeding over formula feeding is important because formula-fed babies are at higher chance of experiencing constipation.

• Babalola is of University of Ibadan.

Professor of Software Engineering, Sunday Idowu, has said deploying   relevant software application can bring about meaningful  and sustainable development in the country.

He made  this known  while delivering  Babcock University’s 37th inaugural lecture on campus.

It was entitled: Emerging software capabilities lifeline for economic growth and sustainable development.

Idowu noted that deploying Artificial Intelligence-driven software in healthcare would improve the reach of service delivery just as the use of other software solutions in education and business would enhance learning and decision making.

“It is necessary to also deploy more software products and services through more investment in solutions-based researches,” he said.

Besides urging the Federal Government to provide intentional support to encourage and stimulate starts-up to evolve software capabilities, the don also  made some  recommendations for tertiary  institutions and the National Universities Commission(NUC) to guarantee development of software technologies.This,he said, entails the allocation of adequate budget by the three tiers of government and higher institutions to improve productivity and sustainable development.

He charged the NUC and other regulatory bodies to ensure that the curriculum run in universities and colleges nationwide were time and market-relevant and sufficiently trending to provide students with good foundation for innovative developments in software technologies.

Vice Chancellor, Osun State University, (UNIOSUN), Prof. Clement Adebooye has urged newly inducted nurses of the school to be part of national development.

Speaking at the Third induction/Oath taking of 40 new  nurses of the institution, he urged them not to move out of the country, but stay back and contribute to the development of the  health sector.

He stressed  the need for government at various levels to create an enabling environment for health workers to thrive in the country.

“With your performances in this profession, you can go anywhere in the world but I will prefer if you stay in Nigeria. I know you want to leave this country. Nigeria will be better.

“We have to build the spirit of patriotism in the nation. All we have to do is to replicate the conditions that exist over there in our own society otherwise, we will be losing them because the constitution does not prevent anybody from seeking opportunities anywhere the person wants all over the world.

“So the best we can do is to create that enabling environment within our nation such that people will remain here to work here. The problem we have is that we train these people year in, year out and immediately after their training, other countries grab them to service their healthcare industry. We are at the losing end so we have to create that condition here,” he said.

LEAP Africa has reiterated its commitment to actualising the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) by engaging youths, corporate organisations, public and private sector, among others.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos to announce the third Pan-African ‘Youth Day of Service (YDoS) campaign,  Executive Director, LEAP Africa, Femi Taiwo, noted that it was imperative to support and nurture   young people and students across the continent with skills and tools to enable them to become transformative leaders.

Hence, its partnership with Dow, a plastic-producing firm, to aid the actualisation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

He said the Youth Day of Service, with the theme:”Youthful and useful”, is a week-long event that seeks to foster the spirit of service  among youths with a focus on the  SDGs and inspire them to be active social change agents in society.

The YDoS is  intended to empower young people, strengthen communities and trigger collective actions that would move the continent closer to achieving the SDGs with 2030 in view.

Taiwo noted that the campaign will feature different projects championed by young people in various African communities.

He said: “To get involved, participants can either register their own project, volunteer for any existing project or sponsor  the execution of a project as listed on the campaign portal. The registered projects can be physical projects or active virtual advocacy in different locations across Africa.”

Adebisi  Adeoti, Country manager of DOW, who stressed the need for recycling for a cleaner environment, urged youths to make a living for themselves by setting up different projects in line with the SDGs.

Students at  Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, have been selected as fellows for the Millennium Campus Network (MCN) leadership fellowship.

The MCN fellowship in partnership with the United Nations Academic Impact(UNAI) will bring together students across 200 campuses worldwide to build leadership skills, network, and make social impact, among others.

According to MCN, the application process for the class of 2022 was very competitive with over 30,000 applicants from 2,400 campuses across 140 nations, among which over 3,000 students were selected from 200 campuses worldwide.

The selected AAUA students are, Peter Emmanuel, Agbelusi Samuel, Adedapo Faith, Olajumoke Mafo and others.

The students explained how they felt being selected and their expectations from the fellowship.

MCN launched the fellowship in 2013 to convene, challenge and celebrate student leaders for social impact. More than 5,500 young leaders from 300 universities have already participated in MCN programme to date.

MCN is a global student movement to address humanity’s greatest challenges.

According to MCN Executive Director and co-founder, Sam Vaghar, there were many  worthy applicants, but .those with the required qualities were picked.

“We looked for 200 campus cohorts that reflect commitment to empathetic, humble, inclusive leadership and where they thought the programme could thrive based on strong applications and demonstrated leadership,” he said.

Director, Centre for Community Development of Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe, has enjoined members of its host community  to co-operate and cohabit peacefully with students of the institution living within their domain to bring about rapid socio economic development.

Olohungbebe, who made the appeal at a meeting with various stakeholders in  Malete, said no community could  develop or achieve growth without peaceful co-existence.

He   urged  the community to  learn to live peacefully with  students and   checkmate excesses  of some members of the community.

The director said  peaceful co-existence could only be achieved if all stakeholders come together to find a lasting solution to  conflicts between members of the community and  students.

He advised community leaders to  guard against miscreants from neighbouring communities who disrupt peace  in the community.

Chairman, Malete Development Association,Mallam Muhammed Abdulrazaq promised to ensure peaceful relationship  between the community and  students.

Others at the meeting include the Divisional Police Officer Malete Police Station, Abraham Olufemi, the Magaji of Malete ,Alhaji Babatunde Abdulrahman ; President KWASU students union, Yusuf Danshitta, among others.

Since the nation’s return to democratic government in 1999, the education sector has gone on strike  more than 16 times.

The back and forth between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the umbrella body of the teaching staff of public universities and the Federal Government continues to affect the future of students. Paying lip service to education defines the nation as one with no vision.

Could we say that the same political actors that enjoyed free education, are now the ones deliberately punishing  students?

Is it safe to admit that it is because most of these politicians’ children do not  attend our own public institutions, hence  they are not keen on addressing the challenges of the education sector?

Every government since 1999 comes in and blames the previous government. Our educational system is ranked one of the poorest in Africa and it is also worthy to note that most of our certificates are not accepted abroad, not to talk about us compounding our problem with the dichotomy between Higher National Diploma(HND) and   Bachelor of Science (B.sc).

The first ASUU strike held during the regime of military president Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida in 1988. Ever since, ASUU goes on strike regularly.

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, ASUU embarked on strike for many months. Most higher institutions in Nigeria were unable to adopt E-learning and for 10 months students were at home, but immediately schools resumed early February, last year, most schools had to compress their academic calendar to enable them meet  up.

Since February 14, this year,  students have been at home. ASUU continually accuses  the Feeral Government of not implementing the 2009 agreement on conditions of service,  funding  the universities and revitalisation through massive funding.

The union continues to stress the importance of “genuine university autonomy and academic freedom.” For decades now, the 2021 budget for education is  the lowest , it is a sign that this government places  no value on our education.

As time goes by, youths will gradually lose faith   in this system.

The face-off between both parties  has lasted for over five months. The Presidency accused the Minister of Labour of being unable to solve the problem while the Minister of Labour also  accused ASUU of sabotaging the system.

Recently, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, appealed to parents to plead with ASUU because the government could no longer solve this problem.

Failure of this government has made so many students to explore other areas. Many have resorted to learning skills and trade.

According to UNESCO, there are  more than 70,000 Nigerian students studying outside the country, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada being the leading destinations.

While 2023 election is round the corner, the government that could not solve this problem for seven years are now promising to solve it in less than six months to the end of their tenure.

• Ohore is a postgraduate student at National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)

Prof. Toyin Falola, a renowned professor of History, has urged students not to place premium on certificates but utilise  their  brains and capacity to create an expansive economy.

He stressed the need for them to be dynamic and explore other fields to be well-rounded.

Falola was the guest speaker at the Lagos State University (LASU) Second Distinguished Lecture Series organised by the Department of History and International Studies.

In his lecture entitled:”History and the nation,” the don said it was imperative to be knowledgeable about the history of the nation.

“Task your brain and don’t  limit yourselves to  certificate because  human capacity can create an expansive economy. He also advised them that with their knowledge, they can place value anywhere in the world.

“The human capacity can create  an expansive economy, depending on your own imagination and your ability to improve on all skills and your creativity in creating a dynamic network,” he said.

The Distinguished Professor of History at University of Texas, United States, hailed Africans for their resilient spirit in the face of challenges. He noted that Africans were not powerless,adding that the strong American economy would not have emerged if not for the slave trade.

“We survived colonial trade, colonial conquest, wars, different diseases like tuberculosis, COVID-19 which they said will kill us. That capacity for survival is one of our contributions to civilisation. It will make us one of the greatest continents because we have the human capacity of coping. We are not powerless. What you call the strong American economy would not have emerged if not for  the slave trade,” he said.

He advised students to be confident, stressing that can work anywhere outside the country. He urged them not to be discouraged by claims by whites that they were irrelevant.

His words: “If you finish in LASU, it  does not mean you must work in Nigeria. You can work anywhere in  the world. It depends on transferring that knowledge into use. They criticise our academic system, but still end up recruiting our doctors. If our academic system is not good,they won’t recruit our personnel to work in their country.”

Also, in tackling some of the challenges facing the nation, Falola said it was important  to empower women  through entrepreneurship because ‘they play a very delicate role in the development of any nation’.

Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, who was represented by Prof. Toyin Akeusola,  Dean of Management Science, said the nation’s problems can be attributed to poor knowledge of history.

“The bulk of problem we have in Nigeria today is that we do not seem to be good students of history. Our ability to look at our past will help  us overcome such problems. There is hardly any problem we are going through that has not happened in the past. If  we understand history, we will be able to understand our culture and identity,” he said.

Head of Department, History and International Studies, Dr Adewunmi Falode, hailed the guest speaker for his contributions to academics and for presenting a well-thought out lecture.

Chairman of the occasion, Oba Adeyemi Abdulkabir of Awori Kingdom, urged students  to learn  the nation’s history.He advised them to be serious with it while engaging  in other things.