Category: Education

The Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Lagos State Wing, Comrade Hassan Akintoye has called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to extend the length of service to 40 years and retirement age to 65 like has been done by some other states.

Speaking during the union’s World Teachers’ day programme held at the NUT Pavilion Agidingbi on Tuesday, Akintoye said: “The governments of Adamawa, Anambra and Kano have graciously approved and commenced the implementation of the extension of service years of teachers to 40 and 65, whichever comes first. These states, without waiting for the enactment of the law from the National Assembly gave unconditional endorsement and pronouncement to the new policy in their respective states.

“We therefore appeal to our teachers’ friendly Governor that Lagos, being a centre of excellence should follow suit by giving its pronouncement, even before the President’s assent.

“We want to assure our amiable Governor that a gesture like this will further motivate our teachers.”

The NUT chair also called on the government to address teacher shortages, overpopulation and inadequate school furniture among others in the state’s public schools.

Nevertheless, Akintoye praised the Lagos State government for its investment in the education sector in recent years, especially in the area of teacher welfare and training.

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“No doubt, within the last three years of this government, teaching profession has witnessed tremendous turn around in all facets of our education system,” he said.

In his address, the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, who was represented by the Education Commissioner, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, praised teachers in the state’s employ for their contribution to improved learning outcomes of public school pupils.

“On behalf of the Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, I commend your passion, cooperation, and dedication to your duties as well as your commitment to our vision of providing quality and functional education delivery in the State.

“We are indeed proud of you in Lagos State, and we will continue to hold you in high esteem because we have seen your impacts on the quality of teaching as reflected in the performances of our students across the State,” he said.

Five thousand African youths from Nigeria and other African countries can get to enjoy structured mentorship if they attend the global mentoring conference for African youths holding Saturday.

The conference is being organised by I-Train Africa (Nigeria) in partnership with UNLEASH (Denmark) to upskill over 50,000 African youths across 36 African countries with essential life and soft skills

Convener of the conference, which will hold on the virtual networking and conferencing platform Hopin, Aderinsola Adio-Adepoju, said the participants would be exposed to the skills they need to excel beyond what formal education provides.

Speaking during a virtual press briefing over the weekend, Adio-Adepoju, a university teacher, said young people need to understand why they do whatever they do so as to gain clarity about their future.

“There is a need for literate African youths to understand the ‘whys’ before the ‘hows’.  Despite a large number of youths in Africa being literate, they do not understand why they are on their current academic pursuit or life path. And this needs to be addressed if they are to arrive in the future, they envision for themselves,” she said.

Patron of the conference and CEO, AIDA Resources, Alhaji Abdullahi Barau Abubakar, said he supported the programme to help many more youths get to their desired destinations.

Programme lead for UNLEASH Denmark, Gregory Pepper, said the Conference aligned with its contribution the meeting UN Sustainable Development Goals which addresses global problems.

On his part, the African Outreach Manager at Project Access, Tom Kirkham, said post-event, the participants could be supported to get scholarships and opportunities that exist in Europe and the U.S. for less privileged African Youths.

Other experts like Andrew Akoto- Addo, Janet Obaemo of Odaja Mentorship Programme, and Mr. Rotimi Eyitayo of Team masters Limited are expected to mentor the youths during the conference.

Southeast Coordinator, National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners, Dr Marcel Ejiofor, has attributed poor growth of medical researches to citizens reliance on foreign drugs.

Ejiofor, who stated this at the launch of his book entitled: “A Possible Modern Cure For Every Disease” at Enugu Aguleri, Anambra State, regretted challenges researchers in medical field face in Nigeria due to leadership patronage to research products from western world.

He insisted it was high time researchers were encouraged to ensure their products got the deserved attention.

He said: “Nigeria and other African countries have comparative advantage in terms of availability of raw materials of medicinal values. Nigerian researchers have what it takes to produce healthy herbal drugs which cannot be found in the western world.

“When it comes to bioceutical herbal drugs, give it to Nigeria because we have herbal medicine which can cure almost all the diseases if given support by the government.

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“Nigerian government must throw away colonial mentality that anything of European is superior to African origin. They should give room for local researchers so our products can be used here and beyond the shores of the country.”

The Anambra born Bioceutical practitioner also lamented that most research works in Nigeria tetiary institutions had low impact on the society, saying they were underused and only studied by those in academic field.

He further decried enormous gap between the industry and research in Nigeria, stressing that the two parties must align to lift the medical practice in the country.

“Research presentations at conferences are underutilized. More worrisome is neglect of indigenous research recommendations by pharmaceutical industries in saving lives.

“So often, the research work is limited to lecturers, conference participants and students, but I blame those in the industry, like pharmaceutical industries and hospitals who would apply the researches to solve human problems and fail to put their research into practice for solving others problems.

“To correct the anomaly, those in the industrial sector ought to have representative whenever a science conference relating to their field are being held such that they can tap from it and put into practice in their various industries or health centers.”

With the recent accreditation of courses at the PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Port Harcourt by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), the National Universities Commission (NUC) and others, students can now take the crucial fourth year exams and proceed with their medical studies.

This significant milestone was achieved in four years – a record time not easily achieved by many other institutions, public and private.

After the NUC accreditation, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria also accredited the university’s Department of Nursing Science. This was followed by the accreditation by the Medical Laboratory Council. With these approvals, all the programmes run by the university, namely – anatomy, biochemistry, human nutrition and dietetics, pharmacology and physiology in the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, as well as Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) and nursing in the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, are fully accredited.

Speaking on the latest accreditation by the MDCN, Special Adviser to the Pro Chancellor of the university, Dr Abdulrahman Sambo, noted that said the swift accreditation was an advantage for PAMO students.

“Crossing the second MDCN accreditation is really a great milestone for the university. Many institutions, both public and private, spend years to achieve this – making students to spend longer than the six years to graduate. With this development, our students can now take their fourth year exams in pathology and Pharmacology and those who pass can proceed to the fifth year,” Sambo said.

The aide said PAMO was the first institution to be granted licence within one year of planning; and the first to obtain full accreditation of all its courses and programmes at the first visit of NUC and MDCN, and first to have its admission quota for medicine increased or doubled even before graduating its first set.

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He said: “NUC has granted full accreditation to six of the seven programmes.  The seventh programme, MBBS, has not been visited because it is not due yet, since it is a six-year programme. So the visit will be towards the end of next year.

“Nursing and Midwifery Council has also granted full accreditation to the programme and increased admission quota of students, same with medical laboratory science which has been granted full accreditation.

“The one granted by MDCN is for pre-clinical because their accreditation takes three stages: first is pre-clinical, second is basic clinical sciences and the third and final is for the clinical sciences. A university has to scale one before it gets to the next stage.

“For us, it is a monumental achievement because some universities spend between five to six years to get it. PAMO University was able to get it at the very first visit and then the increase in the admission quota.”

PAMO is Nigeria’s first private medical university pursuing only courses and programmes in the medical and allied fields.

Its achievements at a rather young age was accelerated by its access to a teaching hospital, the PAMO Clinics and Hospitals Group, established by the institution’s founder, Peter Odili, a renowned medical doctor, in the 1980s.

In over 40 years, the hospital has provided high-class medical care in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Paediatrics to residents of Port Harcourt, making it an appropriate facility for medical training.

As a result, from the start, the hospital was available for use by students unlike other universities whose students are not exposed to hospital experience until they are in 400 level.

Nevertheless, the university has announced that the construction of a four-storey building that would house a teaching hospital was ongoing.

While the construction lasts, the school would continue to use its a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Rivers State government and State University Teaching Hospital to provide its students additional clinical training at the State University Teaching Hospital.

That Oshodi, where Education Commissioner, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo once had her eye glasses stolen when she was driving, could produce the best secondary school in Nigeria this year, Lagos State officials believe, it is a sign of better things to come.

Mrs. Adefisayo and senior officials in the education ministry received the team that represented the state in the President’s Teacher and School Excellence Award (PTSEA) on Tuesday  with joy that Bolade Junior Grammar School, Oshodi, won the best secondary school in Nigeria award category and brought home the prize – a Toyota Hiace bus – for the second consecutive year.  Last year, Oriwu Senior Model College, Ikorodu won the award.

Mrs. Adefisayo said Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was surprised the best school in Lagos and the whole of Nigeria came from Oshodi.

“I mentioned it here yesterday.  The Governor said “Bolade, ni Oshodi?” I said “Beeni Sir, ni Oshodi, Oshodi yen”

“I’ve had my glasses stolen at Oshodi, so you know what people think. Yes I was just driving; you know in those days that people use Passat.  Suddenly from nowhere a hand jumped out, slapped me and glasses were gone, my eyes were watery. So Oshodi I am always afraid there.

“Out of that place, something good and when such a thing happens, don’t underestimate it,” she said.

However, the Director, Policy, Planning, Research and Statistics, Dr. Olufunke Oyetola, explained how the school was deserving of the award.

She said apart from the facilities the school boasts of, assessors that came from Abuja could not believe that its 36 students’ toilets could be so clean.

Its Principal, Mrs. Adenike Ojo, added that the school recorded 100 per cent pass in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) – the terminal examination for JSS3 pupils.

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“The last exams we did, I am talking of BECE exams, our school had 100 per cent in all subjects. In Mathematics and English we have only ‘A’s and ‘B’s and only one C out of 315 pupils that sat for the BECE exams,” she said.

Two teachers from the state public schools were also recognised for shining at the national level.  Mrs. Temitope Obiwumi of Wahab Folawiyo Junior Secondary School, Osborne Ikoyi, emerged second Runner Up in the best teacher in Junior Secondary School in Nigeria category, while Mr. Rasheed Odenike of the Lagos Sate Civil Service Senior Model College, Igbogbo, Ikorodu came fourth in the best teacher in Senior Secondary Schools in Nigeria category. They were rewarded with laptops and refrigerators.

Mrs. Adefisayo thanked them for promoting Lagos at the national level.  She said the government was doing its best to provide quality education in its public schools despite not getting the support of developmental agencies that take programmes to other parts of the country.

“We know that what you have done is that you have transported Lagos state to a national spot and beyond national because people are sitting up and taking notice.

“All the development money that is coming into Nigeria, very little is coming here. Most of them are going up, here, there and everywhere. Have you seen UNESCO coming to say we’re giving you 100 laptops or UNICEF? No but are we not doing it? Are we not making it? We are now producing the best teachers in the country and the best school in the country so you don’t know what you have done.  You have made us so proud,” she said.

Also yesterday, the Commissioner and her counterpart in the Ministry of Housing, Mr. Mauf Akinderu-Fatai, presented keys to houses to two teachers that won the PTSEA in 2019 – Mrs. Agnes Elusakin and Mr. Pius Ikuseyidunmi, who died July this year.  The gift was in redemption of a promise by Governor Sanwo-Olu made in 2019.

Mrs. Elusakin, who won the PTSEA best teacher award in 2019 as a teacher at Oriwu Senior Model College, got a three-bedroom flat; while the late Ikuseyidunmi, who won the best junior secondary school administrator award as Principal of Government Junior College, Ketu-Epe, was given a two-bedroom flat, which was presented to his widow, Risikat Ikuseyidunmi and her sons.

Reacting to the gift, Mrs. Ikuseyidunmi said she was grateful but wished her husband was alive to enjoy it.

“I am happy but I would be very happy if only my husband was alive today to receive the gift of Mr Governor.  I pray, may his soul rest in peace in Jesus name. He died on July 6, 2021, he was the principal of Government Senior College Ketu, Epe,” she said.

Fellow, Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) Onyewuchi Okere has called for stronger collaboration and synergy between the public and the private sector for enhanced investment in the nation’s education sector.

Onyewuchi, an Electrical Engineer and Chairman of the 81-86 set of the Government Secondary School Owerri (a.k.a. OGSSIAN86ERS), noted that education as the engine of growth of nations, not only opens one’s mind to endless possibilities , but also stimulates productive thought processes.

Onyewuchi stated this at the inauguration of the OGSSIAN 86ER’s Specific, Time-bound, Achievable and Result-oriented (STAR) scholarship award organised by the school in collaboration with the class of 86 Alumni (a.k.a OGSSIAN86ERS) during which 20 students of the school who performed excellently in their examinations during the 2020/2021 academic session were recognised and rewarded with the S.T.A.R Scholarship Awards and Certificates.

“Education thrives on set principles and theories that are proven and steady progress in the field of Education through research and application of theories lead to inventions and innovation.”

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Onyewuchi said Nigeria should prioritise education just as the rest of the world, stressing that education remains the best legacy any nation could pass to its future generation.

According to him, OGSSIAN 86ERS, an alumni network of progressives and firm believers in the power of collaboration to advance humanity, boasts of over 50 members spread across the globe, all blazing a trail in their careers.

He explained that the S.T.A.R Scholarship award scheme “is designed to sustain the tradition of academic excellence for which their Alma mater is reputed,” adding that it would go a long way to motivate the young generation of students to begin to prepare for the challenges ahead in life.

In a post event remark, the S.T.A.R Committee publicity secretary, Emeka Mba explained that the initiative is the flagship project by the class of 86 alumni designed to entrench the culture of academic excellence in the institution.

He said: “The fundamental objective of the initiative is to create a pool of budding talents equipped with industry-relevant skills sets through its post-secondary education mentorship program tagged ‘ adopt a mentee” program by the class of 86 alumni.”

The Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) – the brainchild of Abdul Samad Rabiu, founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group – has provided a grant of N1 billion tertiary education infrastructure grant to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Anambra State for the construction of a students’ complex.

This is the last of six tertiary institutions to benefit from the ASR Africa Tertiary Education Grant Scheme drawn from the ASR Africa’s annual $100 million Africa Fund for Social Development and Renewal.

Other beneficiaries are Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; University of Maiduguri; University of Ilorin; University of Ibadan and University of Benin.

Director of Government Relations, BUA Group, Dr. Aliyu Idi Hong, said the initiative was to make a lasting impact in education, health and social development as a means of uplifting and restoring the dignity and lives of Africans.

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“The annual ASR Africa Fund for Social Development and Renewal is an intervention initiative of the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative for Africa targeted at impactful and sustainable interventions in social development, Health and Education in Africa. All interventions fall within these three key areas. The grant is part of efforts of the Chairman of the BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu to give back to the African Continent,” he said.

Managing Director, ASR Africa, Udoh Ubon, said the initiative was  in talks with the UNIZIK authorities to ensure that the project would be of benefit to the university community.

“We look for projects with the highest number of beneficiaries, accessible to all genders, to the university community as a whole, what will also stimulate a solid learning environment and attract more development,’’ he said.

Also,  the Vice Chancellor, UNIZIK, Charles Esimone, thanked the ASR Africa initiative for the grant and noted that the institution, “has proposed to build a multipurpose student centre which house the SUG complex, indoor facilities for students, acting theatre for students and other facilities”.

ASR Africa was established this year to provide sustainable, impact-based homegrown solutions to developmental issues affecting health, education and social development in Africa.

Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, on Tuesday disowned a website advertising its admission list for 2021/2022 academic session.

The Director, University Relations, Abdulrazaq Sanni, said in a statement that the university has no connection or association with the website: www.recruitmentbeam.com.ng

“Prospective students and members of the public are strongly advised to disregard the said website and messages disseminated therein about KWASU.

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“Prospective candidates are advised to only contact the official website of the university: www.kwasu.edu.ng for enquiry on admission process.

“Anyone who relates with the fake site and other fictitious sites outside the aforementioned official website of the university does so at his or her own risk,’’’ Sanni warned. (NAN)