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‘I knew I would be CU’s best student’

Alma Jamachi Oputa is Covenant University’s best graduating student for the 2013/2014 session. Alma who graduated with a CGPA of 4.99 from the department of Computer Science, tells Olafisoye Demilade, how she achieved the enviable feat and plans for future.

Tell us about your background?

I was born in Kaduna and grew up in Kaduna, Jos, Lagos and Owerri. I went to three primary schools, Command Day children school, Jos, Alama private School, Jos and Air force primary school, Victoria Island, Lagos. For my Secondary school, I attended Faith Academy, Ota, Ogun state.

What informed your choice to study computer science?

I studied computer science but it wasn’t my first choice initially. I have always wanted to study medicine since I was a little child. But things didn’t happen as planned and I couldn’t enter in for medicine at Unilag. Covenant University was my second choice and one of my secondary school teachers just picked computer science randomly for me. That was it.

Have you always come out tops since your primary education?

Yes, I have been excelling from my primary school days.

What was your initial reaction when you found out you were the best graduating student?

I felt very honoured and excited. It’s something I have been working on from my 100 level so I expected it. I knew beforehand that I had the highest CGPA in my set and I worked towards it by God’s grace.

What motivated you throughout your University days?

For starters, every semester was less stressful for me and that had to be God at work. Even when work got so cumbersome, I had wonderful friends and we would always tell each other we had to read, excel and do our best because we had goals. My friends were indeed the best! My lecturers were always there to answer any questions I had. I called my parents like everyday on campus and they never stopped encouraging me and telling me I was the best. I had every reason to do my best and come out the best.

What plans do you have now that you have graduated?

I have children in mind. I want to help as many children as I can, I don’t want any child suffering at all. I plan to build NGOs, motherless homes and free schools for these children. I also have some fashion ideas in mind. I want to own my brand of shoes and set up boutiques all around the world.

I also would like to go further in my field of study, computer science, and specialize in a particular area.

Do you still have any plans to study medicine?

Not at all. I can still attain the doctorate title (PhD) but not in the medical field now.

Who would you consider your mentors?

My dad, Bishop David Oyedepo and Ben Carson. My dad has mentored my entire life. It was from my dad I got the mentality that no matter where I found myself, whether I wanted to be there or not, I had to be the best! He told me to prove to people that I was good enough for every aspect of life and I could only do that by being the best. As for Papa (Bishop Oyedepo), I love him so much and I have never had any other spiritual mentor than him. He is a true spiritual father, and as for Ben Carson, I love his calmness, the way he does his jotb and still excels in all of it

What were the challenges you faced in the University and how did you get past them?

I didn’t face any major challenge. I just learnt to put God as a major factor in my life no matter what was happening or how busy my life got. I learnt to give God much of my time.

Describe your typical day while in Covenant University?

My typical day in CU varies based on the activities and plans I have lined up for that day. I wake up, pray, prepare for lectures and look at my to do list so I can plan how I would go about them and how I would use my free periods. After lectures, I go for any meetings and programs I have to attend and eat thereafter. I, then, study in the evenings and at night and I write my to do list for the next day. Afterwards I pray and go to bed.

Did you have time for social activities?

Definitely! I’m a very social person and I love to participate in social events. I’m an extrovert, with a lot of friends. It just boils down to how well you are able to manage your time.

How has life after graduation been so far?

Well, I find myself thinking and planning a lot. I’m already in a position where I have to decide a lot for myself now. By the grace of God and by total dependence in God, I’m working towards fulfilling God’s agenda for my life.

July 9, 2014
11 ways to become an enviable professional
In a biography titled, Uwem Phenomenon, Sunday Obanubi, a human relations expert writes on Uwem Akai Martin’s life as a thorough-bred professional some of her core values worth emulating by those who wants to be professionals themselves.
1. Be excellent service-conscious:
In whatever industry you find yourself, you are responsible for your customers. Hence, aim and strive to provide the best service to them because excellent service does so much good for any brand. It is cheaper, as opposed to compensation for bad service, will always bring back your customers and create a snowball effect.

2. Excellent service is under-promising and over-delivering:

It does no good to make promises that you cannot deliver. Instead, be sincere and let your customer understand what it would take to achieve their request. Most times, the customer appreciates your sincerity and gets to agree with you.
1. Seek to understand before you are understood:
Excellent service entails understanding when your customer is wrong but allowing him to air his view before proposing a solution and clarification to the matter. Trying to help a customer before understanding him would be difficult and lead to arguments. To proffer a solution, ensure you understand your customer FIRST.
1. You owe your customers availability:
The world has gone beyond the 8am-5pm syndrome and the time differences have been eliminated. Thanks to technology, the world of business operates 24hours, 7 days a week. With the presence of social media and the likes, you must be able to meet the demands of customers wherever and whenever. Customers enjoy having you at their disposal whenever they need you.
1. Excellent service is empathy:
A lot of service providers cannot help their customers because they don’t care. Empathy is first understanding the customer, then putting yourself in their shoes and showing you care. You must show sincere empathy to your customers and make it a responsibility to solve all of their complaints professionally and amicably.
1. You owe your customers timely delivery:
If your customers know you would get their complaints resolved in the shortest possible time, it increases their loyalty to your brand.
1. Own your job:
To succeed at any job, you must see yourself as the business owner, not the worker. Put in all your effort and be diligent without particularly waiting to be praised or acknowledged. One day, you may be in a position to employ other people to run your business and what you do as an employee would be done to you as an employer.
1. Know a little of everything:
You must seek to learn new things at every opportunity you have. Trying out new things will make you achieve more. Even when the opportunity of job rotation does not come, associate with people in other departments to find out, learn and understand what they do.
1. Dignity of labour:
Understand that no one is superior or inferior to the other person. Without the tea girl, you would either serve yourself with tea every morning or do without it. Without the cleaner, you would clean the rest room, lobby or your work yourself every day. The dignity of your job is determined by the value you place on people.
1. Place people above infrastructure:
Some organizations would place technology, equipments, buildings and other things above their people. An organization’s success is in people. Without them, the infrastructure cannot bring the money needed. You must take care of your people to achieve results. Let them know that you (the organization) believe in them so that they would believe you.
1. Be a multiplier:
At whatever level you are in an organization, you must seek to add value to the people you work with. As a professional, it is your responsibility to help your team members get better.
July 6, 2014
Things entrepreneurs do

We all have great ideas inside of us, ideas that could change the world. It could be as simple as writing a book or as complex as a website system to rate Nigerian Lecturers so that the truly horrible ones are exposed.

But these ideas rarely come out, because of that nagging thing called time not being available. Conventional wisdom says that if you want to pursue your life changing ideas you should quit your job and focus on them, but the issue is never really the job but rather other things you should quit which is covered in this article titled; Things entrepreneurs do to find time for brilliant Ideas.

Please note that some of the ideas might be controversial.

1.      Quit going to so many weddings

Don’t get me wrong, I love weddings. I love the free Jollof rice and Goat meat. But weddings to me are extremely time consuming especially if you are involved in the wedding. From the planning stage to the sewing of the cloth to the rehearsal to the parties, everything about weddings are time consuming. When you hit 26-34 years of age you will realize that a wedding is happening almost every weekend in your life. If you commit to every wedding you are invited to, guess what, you will not have time to develop your ideas, unless you are working on a wedding planning app, in which case carry on.

But if you are like me working on books and other ideas, then listen to me … avoid getting engulfed in weddings. My Saturdays are very sacred, that is the first full day in the weekend I get off from work. I want to use that day to write articles, work on business ideas and add that additional chapter to that book I am always working on. So if I have a wedding I really need to go to, I schedule 3-4 hours for it. I attend the Church wedding and then go to the reception and leave early to get some work done.

Now note that not all weddings are created equal. Some weddings would require a great deal of your attention you can’t escape, but not all weddings should. For those weddings, get in get out and work on your ideas.

Sometimes when people ask me to be a part of a wedding I politely decline, because I know the work that goes into it. Not saying I won’t come to the wedding but I would be at the background. That helps me add about 10 extra hours to my week.

2.      Don’t get married

My point here is this, try and get as much things done before you get married. Play around with that brilliant idea of yours, try and start it up. Because the moment you get married and the children start popping up and pooping all around, your time reduces,unless you want to become a housewife or house husband in which case carry on.

I am able to get away with a lot of things I do, because I don’t have the pressures of managing a family yet.I understand this advantage I have and I utilize it greatly.

Now this does not mean that if you get married you cannot find time to get things done, all I am saying is that it will be much harder. So get your ideas going before the wedding planning begins.

3.      Ignore family and friends

You are not obligated to family. Lots of people especially in the Nigeria culture don’t believe this, so they get caught up in the small stuff and before you know it they are spending hours on end trying to settle petty issues.

My principle is this- You cannot please everybody. You will offend people whether you like it or not. And if you do offend people, apologize sincerely. If they reject your apology, then apologize again. If they still ignore your apology then stop apologizing and move on with your life.

People are so caught up in trying to solve problems for their entire family or trying to settle all sorts of beef or worried about what this Aunty or Uncle thinks about them. Unless you want to become a family counselor, in that case carry on.

As for me, while that is happening, I am caught up working on my business ideas. I don’t get roped into petty stuff because life is too short and there is really no time for that.

So time and time and again I will ignore phone calls from people that will just pile me with unnecessary issues and nagging.

4.      Learn how to eat lunch fast

If there is something I have done everyday since I was born, it is to eat. So when the company says you have a one hour lunch and you are spending one hour eating that lunch something is wrong with you. Leverage your lunch time, eat lunch within 5 minutes and if you don’t have 5 minutes, then skip lunch all together. Because lunch time is a great time to launch your ideas.

Don’t believe me? This entire article was written during my lunch break and took me only 40 minutes!

This brings me to the most important point of all, which is something I have talked about over and over again. Do what you do consistently regardless of what people say and soon you will wake up being able to write an article that ordinarily takes your 2 hours in 40 minutes or less and do activities in shorter times. And when you are able to do activities faster, and have the time to actually do them, then you get into the multiplier effect mode.

July 6, 2014
Nose contouring trick

Makeup tricks have flooded the beauty industry for years and they are forever evolving. More and more people are finding ways to alter their appearance without cosmetic surgery. One makeup trick that a lot of women use now is the nose contouring trick.

Nose contouring is a trick can help you create your perfect nose shape without going under the knife. This is achieved by using a lighter coloured foundation/concealer/highlighter down the nose bridge and a darker coloured concealer/foundation/powder by the sides of the nose in order to mimic the reflection of light on the nose and make it appear slimmer, shorter or longer.

In order to perfect this trick, Dolapo of Mccoy Beauty says, “In makeup less is more, if you can notice a bright nose in person, it’s probably going to be worse in photos. Blending is key” It’s important to tell the makeup artist or whoever is doing your makeup to blend in order to avoid falling a victim to this nose contouring blunder

July 6, 2014
Beware of fake conference invitation

No doubt swindlers are increasing their activities by the day.They evolve new strategies and tactics to defraud unsuspecting victims. They use different means just to lure anyone. One of such is a scenario where they invite innocent people to attend fake events with fake invitation letters.

On the surface the letter may seem harmless but deep down there is more to it than meets the eyes.

Find below a sample of the fake letter.

Dear Colleague,

The International Youth & Women Foundation (I.Y.W.F) is pleased to invite you to participate in our forth-coming International Conference on (Child Abuse, HIV/AIDS, Racism And Human Trafficking). These event will begins from (July 9^th-12^th, 2014) in California, United State of America and (July 16^th– 19^th 2014) in Dakar, Senegal. I am honored to invite you to attend this event as my guest.

For more details and requirement for your registration, kindly contact our secretariat office via Mrs. Karissa Desmond E-mail: (info.global.youth.i.y.w.f@usa.com) Also, feel free to contact me if you need any further details related to this event. Endeavor to inform the secretariat that you were invited to participate by (Ms. Sabrina Jackson) a staff member of the International Youth & Women Foundation.

Note that the Organizing Committee and Our donor sponsors will take the full responsibility of all registered participants Visa processing for the United States & Senegal respectively. That will include your Round trip air tickets to both events. While delegates will only be responsible for his/her own hotel
accommodation in Dakar, Senegal were the second phase of the event will take place. I do hope you can make time in your busy schedule to attend this conference and share your ideas on this topic on the panel!

Please let me know whether you can make it as soon as you can, through my personal e-mail: (sabrinajackson545@yahoo.com)

Thanks!

Ms. Sabrina Jackson
International Youth & Women Foundation
Los Angles, California
United State of America

July 6, 2014
‘How I emerged UNILAG’s best graduating student’

Bakre Oluwafemi popularly called jakre, the University of Lagos (UNILAG) best graduating student for the 2012/2013 session, finished from the department of electrical and electronics engineering with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.86. In this interview with Tolu George he talks about his experience in UNILAG and his prospects for the future amongst other interesting issues.
As the best graduating student for the 2012/2013 session. How do you feel?
There are two ways in which I can express my feelings. I am quite happy and elated on one hand, because I think it is a reward for all my hard work over 5 years, and I feel it is truly deserved because I paid my dues. On the other hand I feel ashamed in a way, because in the league of best graduating students my CGPA seems to be the lowest since my 5 years stay in this school.
Have you always been topping the class from your primary school days?
No, I think the turning point in my life started when I was in primary 5, from my nursery school up until primary 5, I was always between 2nd and 4th position, but from primary 5, God took charge of my life really, and from primary 5, I started taking first even through my secondary school days, I even graduated as the best in my secondary and won many awards including the Awokoya chemistry competition in 2008. When I got to the UNILAG, in my first year I was top of the class, but then I dropped to being the 3rd best until my 4th year, when I again became the best in my class.
When did you know that you were likely to graduate as the best student in UNILAG?
I had no idea, because I had three friends whose grade points were very close, there was just like a 0.01, 0.02 difference between our grade point, they didn’t know themselves, and I was the mutual friend among all of them. So graduating as the best student all boiled down to who got a 5.0 grade point in 500 level 2nd semester, and you would not believe it, we all had a 5.0 grade point which made the whole thing interesting. I have known Bolutife Awonaike, the best female graduating student for the 2012/2013 session since my 2nd year in this school, she finished with a 4.85 CGPA, Abdulhameed Lasisi my very close friend, who finished from civil engineering with a 4.85 CGPA also and Onagbola Kofo who was the best in the College of Medicine, she finished with a 4.84 CGPA.
What do you think made you achieve this feat?
Sleepless nights, that’s on the side though. I think I am a product of good advice and prayers. I also have a lot of mentors, and anyone that is above me, I always try and meet them to find out what I can gain from them, I always stuck to the good advice I got from some of my mentors. God has also been really good and kind to me. Let me share this experience with you, as funny as it may sound, there was a time when God postponed an exam, because I wasn’t ready for it. My sleepless nights also went a long way. I can proudly say that I don’t think anybody worked as hard as I did in my class and everybody knows, so it’s not about that guy was lucky, and all my classmates know that it’s an award that I truly deserve.
Who are your mentors you talked about?
My mentors are my parents. Despite coming from humble beginnings, they worked really hard to achieve success in their ongoing careers. They really are my pillars of support.
Other notable mentors include Elijah Olawaye, the faculty president of engineering, two years ago. Babalola Adeniyi, the best student in electrical engineering, four years ago. Ogunsola Bolutife, Oluwatobi Adekanye, Damola Agboola who were really influential during my time in UNILAG; and many others. They were serious minded and always willing to help.
What motivates and inspires you?
For me the first thing really is to be able to make my parents proud, that’s what really pushes me, to be able to call my mum or dad and tell them I had 5 point this semester, the way they will all rejoice and shout and celebrate. The fear of failure is also something, that also pushed me, failure for me is anything lower than A. I can’t go to bed knowing that I would get a B grade in a course, that is why most times I always read through the night, because I didn’t want to get a B grade, it was always A grades and even the A grades were always 80s and 90s, that was always the aim.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
Honestly, I don’t know, I am still praying to God about that. I am not the kind of person that fixates his mind on something. I have my ideas, but I don’t know where I can end up, I may probably be a lecturer, but what I really wish for is to have my own company, my own business which will involve engineering. The whole essence of the business is to give back to the community, add value to people’s lives and give back to the world. That’s just the aim for me.
What was your worst experience in UNILAG?
That will be my EEG 201 exam, Professor Mowete took that course. That was one of the most simple courses in this school, but because I was told before I got into the UNILAG that professor Mowete is hard, I became very jittery in the exam hall and I had a B grade in that course, but I knew that I could have done better, if I had set my mind straight and I had not listened to those rumours. I later went on to have A grades in all the courses he later took because I had learned the hard way not to listen to rumours.
What was your best experience in the UNILAG?
My best experience was my first time I walked into the faculty of engineering; I was so overwhelmed by the structures and the environment in general. My first 5.0 grade point was also an experience that I would not forget in a hurry, when I walked to the board and I saw that I had a 5.0 grade point, I was so emotional and I called my parents. I had other 5.0 grade points in UNILAG, but that particular one was really special.
Did you live a balanced life; in the sense that was it all just reading for you or you had time for playing and partying too?
I lived an overbalanced life and I give thanks to God for that. I was the sports secretary of my department in my fourth and fifth year. I was the head of sports committee in the whole faculty in my final year too. During my free time I used to go for some barbecue events too. I also spent time with friends as I had a lot of friends, I am sure I made more friends in this school than most of my classmates. I am friendly, I love making friends especially, if you are serious minded. I don’t discriminate. I also participated in and won the gold medal for University of Lagos Engineering Society(ULES) FIFA video game competition. I even organised numerous inter-class football matches during my time in UNILAG.
As best graduating student of UNILAG, do you think you are on the same level academically when compared to brilliant students from top rated schools like Harvard University?
Definitely! The thing is most Nigerian students usually underestimate their lecturers. Our lecturers are world class. There a lot of things that I have learnt here that I can go outside and brag about. I got quality education in UNILAG and I got it at a very cheap rate, it was almost as if I was given free education. We pay as little as N15, 000, which is nothing compared to what those students in Harvard and other top schools pay and I am sure I got the same quality of education. I don’t believe in letting my environment limit me, if there is something that you are not being exposed to, you expose yourself to it. I don’t expect my lecturers to teach me everything in class; I go out and learn as much as I think I should learn.
What are your hobbies?
I love playing video games; I love playing and watching football. I love swimming too, though I can’t swim, I love dancing too, though I can’t dance very well. I love to listen to rhythm and blues and also rap type of music.
What challenges did you encounter in the process of achieving this feat?
The power situation was a major challenge. I remember a time in which I had a 4 unit course in my second year. The night before the exam, there was no electricity anywhere in school, so myself and my roommate had to use the street light close to the senate building to read, all because I didn’t want to get a B grade in the course, other students would have just decided to sleep, but for me I just told myself that I could not let the imperfect environment cost me my grade. The laboratory courses I did were also a major challenge. If not for the laboratory courses, I would have finished with a 5.0 grade point. In those laboratory courses, you can write as much as you can and at the end of the day, you will still be given a C grade or B grade. There was time I had A’s in all my courses except the two laboratory courses I took in which I had C grades.
How has life after school been so far?
It’s been fun. I am working in a place where I am learning so much. Learning is just the thing for me, anywhere I can learn also make money.
What was growing up like for you, were you always confined indoors to reading?
Not at all, I was a very normal kid. I was very playful; and damaged a lot of things. I really enjoyed playing in the rain and even fell into the gutter like other kids. I also feel blessed to have had my parents around growing up; they were really influential in making me the man I am today.
Now that you graduated as the best student in UNILAG, what next after school?
So many people have ideas for me, but I am still praying to God about it, but left to me it will be to going for my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exercise, then I would probably go for my masters’ degree and then my PhD degree and if I get a good job offer. I would work for a while before I do my postgraduate studies.

June 9, 2014
Lokoja: City of historical monuments

Tosin Makinde writes on the historical monuments in Lokoja, Kogi state and the need for the government to develop initiatives and programmes that would help to make these legacies attractive.

Federick Lugard was a man that likes comfort and luxury. He probably needed such luxury to write one of the most controversial colonial books.

In the book, ‘Dual mandate’ Lugard famously and probably naively stated that an average African “lacks the power of organisation, and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business.” And “…Perhaps, the two traits which have impressed me as those most characterise of the African native are his lack of apprehension and ability to visualise the future.”

Callous and untenable one might want to argue about Lugard’s view about Africa and Africans as many have argued since the book was written but present realities in Nigeria and more in a place like Lokoja where majority of Nigeria colonial legacies lies and where the importance and significance of these legacies are receiving little thought or care shows that Lugard views could house some iota of truth but the manner of presentation was probably offensive to the dignity of an African.

How would one explain a situation where students of History and International Studies in the state higher institutions could not name nor describe the location or even know the existence of those colonial monuments that have come to define Lokoja and for which Lokoja is known? A lecturer got a shock when he asked his student about what they know about these colonial monuments in Lokoja but none of them could tell him anything tangible about these monuments.

It is not only the students that are showing indifferent attitude to the colonial monuments that surround them in Lokoja, residence of different status portray the same attitude giving credence to what Lord Lugard more or less have in mind when he wrote in that book that Africans “…lack the power of organisation, and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business…”

The fact that a lot of Nigeria’s colonial history is woven around Kogi State, particularly Lokoja cannot be overemphasised but what can be emphasized is the fact that the people and residence of Lokoja care less about the existence or significance of these monuments which if well maintained could fetch the State fortunes in internally generated revenue.

For Abdul, a Motorcycle Operator in Lokoja the only thing he knows about the Cenotaph which was erected in honour of Nigerians and Africans that fought in the first and second world wars was that it is a place where soldiers used to converge in January of every year for match pass, nothing else. He does not even know where the colonial cemeteries are sited.

Not only him, according to Mr. Samson Oyetunde a staff in one of the Universities in Lokoja, it is not that the people don’t know of these places but know next to little about what they represent or their significance; “We know that these monuments are there but we don’t know what they stand for or what they symbolise. We don’t put them in mind” To him, it is the government that should take the initiative in creating the needed awareness about the significance of these monument to the development of Lokoja and Kogi State in general “if the government is proactive and comes up with initiative that aim at creating awareness about these monuments, the people will change” he said.

However, the General Manager, Kogi State Hotels and Tourism Board Mr. Olowolayemo Joseph has another perspective. To him, the people’s lackadaisical attitude towards the promotion and celebration of these legacies cannot be justified claiming that the government has put in place various programmes are aimed at creating awareness about these monuments and gearing up the interest of the people. “The attitude of the people is uncalled for, it is a bad situation that even foreigners cared and show more interest in our legacies than our people do,” he lamented.

He said that among the initiatives of the government in ensuring the promotion of the significance of the legacies among the people who in turn will take it upon themselves to take care for these monuments is a programme on Youth sensitisation, a programme on the Nigerian Television Authority among others. “NTA usually shows clips of these colonial monuments every day before reading the News. We are also planning to launch a book during this centenary period titled; ‘Nigeria in the eyes of Lokoja’ which will be available to the public and help increase the awareness,” he revealed stressing that one cannot talk about Nigeria history without mentioning the city of Lokoja.

Writing Nigeria colonial history without the mention of Lokoja will only amount to half measure not with the array of late first Governor-General of Nigeria Sir Fredrick Lugard. It was in Lokoja that the name of this country Nigeria was coined by Miss Flora Shaw later Mrs. Lugard, she did that while looking at the majestic River Niger.

Not wanting to do away with some of the colonial legacies of the city, the seat of the state government is the same place that served as Lord Lugard’s office and residence retaining its original structure with minor renovation, the ambience on entry the Kogi state Government House will tell you that much.

The European and African Cemeteries in Lokoja are another set of colonial monument worthy of visiting and reliving anytime one visit this naturally and colonially endowed city. Here Europeans and Africans missionaries and soldiers were buried in three different places within Lokoja township, they all harbour between eighty to six hundred graves with their inscriptions.

Lokoja was also a very important town during the slave trade era especially after the abolition of the trade by the British government. It was in Lokoja that slaves that were rescued from Slave Merchants ship were set free. The spot where such slaves were freed from slave merchants is marked with two pieces of iron poles referred to as ‘Iron of Liberty”, a crusade championed by the Late Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, this iron of Liberty is located inside the compound of Crowther Holy Trinity School.

In the area of Colonial education, Lokoja can boost of being in possession of acclaimed oldest school in Northern Nigeria – The Holy Trinity (Bishop Crowther) Primary School was constructed in 1865 by the Church Missionaries Society (CMS) and still in use till now as the Holy Trinity (Bishop Crowther) Primary School.

Other colonial monuments that would make one wonder why the people and residence of Lokoja hardly take note of them or take interest in them are the Graveyards of deposed Northern Emirs who were deposed to Lokoja for refusing to be used as agents of Colonial masters, the Lord Lugard’s senior Staff Quarters which are a set of prefabricated buildings whose materials were brought from England and being used today as the office of Kogi State Hotels and Tourism Board.

Probably the most celebrated tourism treasure and rightly promoted and made use of by Lord Lugard during his time but not be used as maximally required by the government and the people in today’s tourism world is Mount Panti.

Overlooking the River Niger and hedging the town west ward is the towering Mount Panti standing 458.3 metres or 1,500 feet above sea level with a stretch of 15 kilometre square plateaus. This wonderful gift, nature bestows on Lokoja deservedly or not over looks Lokoja like a monolith making it possible to view the scenic plain that surround the city.

Lugard so much fell in love with this natural beauty that he builds his resting house on it from where he savoured the beauty of nature outlay in Lokoja.

Other colonial endowment in Lokoja include the oldest Hospital in Northern Nigeria, the oldest Prison yard in Northern Nigeria, the Safe of the oldest Treasury in Northern Nigeria and the Cenotaph erected in honour of the Nigerian and African soldiers who fought in World war one and two.

All these monuments no doubt turned Kogi state into one with the highest concentration of colonial historical relics and monuments than any other sates in Nigeria but the lack of interest and patronage it is receiving form the residence, students and even the academia living in Lokoja and to some extent the government is threatening to throw the glory they have brought to Lokoja into the dark alley of historical obscurity.

There is need for the government to develop initiatives and programmes that would help to make these legacies not just for sightseeing or a passers-by viewing object but a source of internally generating revenue for the state especially in this time where states in Nigeria are complaining of cash crunch.

If these monuments are well maintained, it could provide jobs for hundreds of the city’s unemployed youths roaming the streets. It could improve the tourism potential of Lokoja, bring in more people thus, more investments and it will of course open up Lokoja to the outside world as truly a tourist haven.

June 8, 2014
Cancer signs women ignore
Cancer, the word, many young women will rather not think about; dismissing it as a problem of older women. The religious ones will out rightly say “God Forbid” or “It’s not my portion” if the word was ever mentioned to them.

Despite the denial, the rate of breast cancer in younger patients is on the increase. Prof. Clement Adebamowo, the Director, Society of Oncology and Cancer Research of Nigeria, SOCRON, once said “women of ages 25-64 are mostly at risk of cancer of the breast and cervical cancers. In a chat with Dr. Deji Adeyemi of All Souls Infirmary, Agege, he pointed out some of the warning signs women often overlook.

They are as follows:
- Coughing:
One of the signs of lung cancer Dr. Adeyemi says is persistent coughing lasting well over three or four weeks. This type of cough should not be ignored.
- Shortness of Breath/Difficulty breathing:
If you ever find yourself struggling to catch your breath, this may be an indication of lung cancer, although not all cases of breathing difficulties are lung cancer.
- Changes in nails
  Whoever knew that different types of cancer can be detected from the fingernails but as studies have shown, a brown or black streak or dot under the nail can indicate skin cancer, while enlargement of the ends of the fingers with nails that curve down over the tips can be a sign of lung cancer. Pale or white nails are also sometimes a sign of liver cancer.
- Heavy/painful periods or bleeding between periods
  This could be a sign of endometrial or uterine cancer. If you ever experience this, it is important that you quickly ask for a transvaginal ultrasound.
- Chest pain:
- Continuous Bleeding:
- Orange Breasts: Many women know their breast and do regular self examinations, but many are still not informed
- Weight Loss:
- Bloating:
- Difficulty Swallowing:
June 8, 2014
The problem with entrance exams

The problem with school entrance exams is that they are focused on one thing – the students that are good in Mathematics and English- the end.

So you can draw? We don’t care, just solve that equation.

So you are a great actor? Who cares, just read that Shakespeare story and answer the comprehension questions at the end.

So you can run and jump very high? Who cares, just calculate the trajectory range of this projectile.

That’s how Education sees students, as little dots of English and Mathematics.

But what if we diversified the way our entrance exams are carried out?

We start off the day with the traditional Mathematics and English exams. After which the candidates are ushered into a theater where they have to do a 1-2 minute solo performance showcasing their musical or acting talents.

And for lunch? You get to make your own lunch from a packet of noodles where it gets tasted by a set of judges who leave just enough for you to feed yourself.

And then right after lunch everyone gets ushered into the art studio to draw, it could be a ball, an animal, an abstract painting from their head…anything.

After all the studio/classroom activity is done, they go outside and then the athletics begins. We want to know how fast they can run, how high they can jump and how much stamina they have and particular sports they are good at.

At the end of the day their scores are accumulated and the best students in each category as well as best across the categories are selected. Won’t that be cool? It would ensure educational diversity, give chance to others that are not particularly good academically but are good in other things.

But it won’t happen, not even a slight variation, because there is no SSCE grade for being a great actor or for running fast. And that’s what most schools are interested in, the grades; the students who can make them look good … so that more parents can bring their children to their school.

So they focus only on the Mathematics and the English.

June 8, 2014
‘How we built a race car in Unilag’

Abraham Imohiosen, a 500 level Computer Engineering student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and team manager of a group of students who recently built a race car speaks to Tolu George on the motivation for participating in the Shell Ecomaraton competition, challenges of building the race car and benefits of embarking on the project.

Can you explain what the competition is all about?

The Shell ecomarathon competition is an event that is organized around the world in 3 different continents. The aim of the competition is to encourage students to build fuel efficient vehicles that are worthy of futuristic innovation. That’s what we are trying to do here; we were invited by Shell Nigeria last year to participate and represent Nigeria in the competition.

We were not the only ones, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) and University of Benin (UNIBEN), were invited as well. This year, it’s UNILAG and UNIBEN that will be participating and representing Nigeria in the competition. So that is that about the competition, now about our project, we actually entered into one of the few categories of the competition that’s the battery electric category, in these category students are going to build vehicles that will be powered by batteries.

Now there are other categories like the petrol categories, the diesel category, and the hydrogen cells category. In this category you power your vehicle with your petrol, diesel. So for the project we would be using an ICE engine (international combustion engine). A hydrogen cell is the one that you use for your battery. Our project is divided into four different parts the electrical system, the mechanical system, the materials system.

What is the benefit of competitions?

The competition encourages teams to use eco friendly materials in every way possible. Apart from racing on the track for fuel efficiency, because that is the ultimate goal of the competition, there is actually an off track session of the competition and in that part there is a price category, an award category called the communication award. So the communication award is actually given to the team that can put up, the most decent entry as per communication and publicity, so publicizing your team, communicating to people around in your locality about the competition and what you are trying to do. So that is that about everything

Is Shell funding the whole project?

Yes Shell is funding the whole project.

So what is next after this competition?

After this edition of the competition, we don’t just plan to sit back and say oh we’ve gone for one we are okay now we are good, we plan to go for subsequent competitions, in Europe, Asia and the Americas. So, for now we are participating in the European competition, the next time we would be going out we would be participating in the Asian competition, so as soon as they start the middle eastern/Africa edition we would be going for that as well.

Most students will not want to associate themselves with projects like this; they rather go to parties or engage in things that are ephemeral. So what basically inspired your entering into the project?

First of all, I don’t totally agree with you. I think if students are actually given the opportunity they will, if they give them the option of going to parties than actually participating in something like this they would actually choose participating in something like this. For me, at least may be I don’t go to a lot of parties, truly the project was like an only option for me, because you have a project and you don’t have any choice you have to do it

Only option in what sense?

Yes, I am not really the party type I spend most of my time studying.

So it was like a big break for you?

Yes, a very big break

How did you get members of the team?

We got the team members through the UNILAG mobile and some newspapers. We had a very huge turnout, there were some interviews and our supervising lecturers, picked some of the few that had what it took to actually deliver these project.

So how are you balancing school life and this project?

It was not been easy when we started initially, but we had to find a way to balance things out, and I believe almost everybody in the team did.

Who are the other team members?

Our leader is professor Mowete. We also have other supervising lecturers like Dr. Amuda of the department of Metallurgical and Materials Science, Engineer Tunji of Electrical Engineering, Engr. Mohammed of Electrical Engineering Dept, Dr. Gbeniyi of Mechanical Engineering and Dr. Balogun of Electrical Engineering. For the students, we have other Segun Adebayo, 400 level Mechanical Engineering, Shade Agbaje, 400 level Mechanical Engineering, Rueben, 200 level Materials Engineering, Obinna Agba 500 level Electrical Engineering, Paula Aliyu, 500 level Computer Engineering and David Emukpere, 500 Computer Engineering. Others apart from myself include, Boye Abayomi, 500 level Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Ciramo Ojetunde, Creative Arts Dept., he was in 400 level as at the time we started this project but now a graduate, Tunji Salami of the Department of Mass Communication, Eze Owualah of the department of Chemical Engineering and Emeka Author also of the department of Chemical Engineering. We had a lot of people that contributed to the project one of them was Ibrahim Akanbi, we have sola, I have forgotten her surname, so those are the people we have working on the project and together we were able to put up what we have now, and it’s quite impressive, because when we look at it, we just smiled that even though this stuff is not 100%, this actually impressive for the time we had to work on it.

What were the challenges you faced in building the car?

First of all experience, I really appreciate what our lecturers did, initially they gave us the opportunity of exploring ourselves and seeing what we would come up with, so we had the issue of inexperience, for instance, I planned to buy some electrical components, because I didn’t really know that or I thought they were not available in Nigeria, instead of me resorting to local market first I bought the items from the UK and it took considerable time before the items arrived and so that took some time before I could actually get on with actual work on the project and also we had inadequate tools around unlike in some other parts of the world where you can easily get access to these tools or equipment, over here if you don’t have it you have to improvise in some very manual way. Also we had the challenge of logistics – when we had to get things, the hold up around was very serious, and it slowed us done. Also the local vendors of these materials around they don’t really know, they don’t have technical details about it, you understand you might want to buy an electrical component, you know am using these because am in electrical engineering, when you want to communicate with your colleague about it. You will call may be a number like x25570, you understand but when you go to the market and mention something like that the vendor will be confused he does not know, so he will probably have one local name that will probably be funny when you hear it. And two of you cannot really communicate, so you find yourself spending a lot of time there, you find yourself going there and not getting what you want even though it might be right under your nose. We had some other challenges but those are the two I can wrap my mind around now.

What are the benefits this project has brought to you?

Like I always tell my friends who is working with on this project, the project is a very big project and I have actually been able to aspire more than I was aspiring before. I would have envisioned a better last 6 months of my life because it has been very engaging, I can remember what I was doing 6 months ago, and that’s how 6 months seems so short. So in all this project has been very engaging, it has been a very big period of learning for me and also getting to know some other new people there, the members of my team

What future projects would you be working on?

What I want to do is not very conventional, actually am not going to be working on anything like this again, I plan to continue my career and study in the field of physics. Actually I don’t want to digress too much from electrical engineering

Do you think you stand a better chance to win the competition?

Frankly, I don’t think so.

Why do you hold this view?

The competition is actually very innovative, so we are first timers even though we might want to make ourselves believe that we can actually win, the truth is that for most teams that will be participating for the first time like ourselves, our focus is to actually meet minimum standard of the competition, because there are actually rules, every year the competition organizers give out rules so if you don’t meet the minimum technical requirement for the competition you would not be allowed to race, so it’s like you didn’t come for the competition at all. So what we are aiming at is to actually meet these minimum requirement and get on the track, get our vehicle to race from the beginning of the track to the end of the track, then subsequent competitions our plan is to optimize our vehicle, and actually put in an entry that is going to say ok I want to compete with the best teams in this competition.

Do you think projects like this will bring about development in Nigeria?

I believe that Nigeria cannot move forward if we keep telling ourselves that we have the resources, we have the manpower, we have the brains to do it, we have to actually do it before we can move forward and its projects like this that can actually make us do something, you can imagine the next time I would be trying to do something, instead of building a prototype of a car, I might be thinking of building a real car, from there I will be thinking of building an airplane.

June 1, 2014