Category: Uncategorized

Toba Adedeji, Osogbo

The Osun State University is set to hold the 9th convocation ceremony for 1,946 graduates of the 2018/2019 academic session virtually.

The University hinted that 95% of the graduating students have registered to be part of the convocation ceremony that would be held virtually on September 21, 2020, as kits were dispatched through courier service.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Labode Popoola while addressing journalists at Olagunsoye Oyinlola Auditorium on the main campus of the University in Osogbo, on Monday, handed over the convocation kits to courier service to deliver to graduands in ensuring proper virtual convocation ceremony.

He noted that instead of the institution to be complaining about the new norm brought by the Coronavirus pandemic, they are ready to conduct the first-ever virtual convocation ceremony in the history of public Universities in Nigeria.

Prof Popoola said; “this virtual convocation will be our 9th convocation ceremony and the convocation lecture will be delivered by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, a professor of Economics, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, New York, and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We are indeed expectant and so look forward to a thought-provoking lecture on the topic: “The New Normal: Challenges and Opportunities for Tertiary Education”

READ ALSO: Undergraduate, 47 kids rescued from Osun baby factory

According to him, the total graduate output of the University for the 9th Convocation captures our graduands for the 2018/2019 academic session and it is 1,946. These graduands will be conferred with first degrees and fifty-two graduands with higher degrees and Diplomas. Out of this number, 35 bagged first-class degrees, representing 1.79% of the total number of graduands. Also, 603 made second class (upper), 972 made second class lower, 274 made the third class, while only 10 will be awarded the pass degree.

“I will be handing one thousand nine hundred and forty-six (1,946) convocation kits to the courier service to deliver them to the door-steps of our graduands to be able to participate in the first of its kind 9th convocation ceremony of the University virtually from their respective locations. Each graduating student has five (5) distinct items and they include the well-laundered convocation gown with cap, the convocation brochure, scroll, and a customized as souvenir and memorabilia from the Osun State University,” he added.

Our Reporter

Free from the COVID-19 case until July 2020, Cross Rivers is steadily recording more cases of the ravaging pandemic. Victor Emeruwa, in this report, examines the consequences and impact of delayed testing on the population.

Marian Market is busy as usual. The early morning rain did not stop the rush for the purchase of goods and food items. Rosemary Isong was in a hurry to restock her foodstuff that she forgot to pick up her nose mask from home. The nose mask has become an essential handy commodity.

Many public places such as churches and market places were mandated to strictly a no – mask- no-entry rule. It appears that the rule has been relaxed at the Marian market or not strictly enforced. Rosemary conducted her shopping at different sections of the market without wearing a nose mask. “I don’t normally go out without my nose mask but I forgot it today because I am in a hurry,” she said.

Just like the relaxed enforcement of COVID -19 rules at Marian Market, other public places within Calabar metropolis are no longer keen at complying with government directive of enforcement of compulsory use of nose masks in public places. The State Government had issued a directive to all public places- churches, market places, restaurants and bars, and public transportation operators to ensure the compulsory compliances to set guideline which includes hand washing points, and the use of nose mask at the point of entries to public buildings. The State government along the directive deployed a special task force to enforce the compulsory use of nose masks in public places.

So far the compliance is yet to be strictly obeyed by the public. Etim Bassey is a transport operator at Ikot-Ansa road. Like many cab drivers, Bassey is trying to make enough money to catch up with the burden of the bill he acquired during the lockdown period: “My brother, it is not easy; I cannot say I survived the lockdown period. It was only God that rescued me from hunger” he spoke as he awaits his turn to pick passengers to the University of Calabar campus gate.

Bassey wore a nose mask, dropped below his jaw when his taxi got filled with passengers; he pulled up the nose mask, adjusting it to his moth level, still leaving his nose free for air, he zoomed off. Onyekachi Okuji is also a cab driver, who appears to be paying more attention to the set guidelines by the State government. His response though, not for the fear of Covid-19, he is more worried about avoiding arrest by the government taskforce team who roam the streets to arrest people who are not ‘masked up’. “I was arrested last week, I suffered, I begged them but they threatened to take me the mobile court when I saw that they were serious I decided to yield to the demand of 15,000 naira,” Okuji revealed.

But religious organizations are complying with the guidelines. A visit to Calabar City Church by Mary Slessor roundabout revealed the cooperation of the church leadership to recommended guidelines for worship. At the entrance of the Church, several hand washing points were constructed, the worship is mandated to wash hands or use hand sanitisers at the entry points, a temperature check is also administered before the Church doors are opened. “You can see that the sitting arrangement is well-spaced, we maintain the space distance required. We have been mandated as workers in this church to make sure that we wear a mask, it is compulsory for all workers, we only observe that new members sometimes do not wear a mask but the church has provided for them, we give them masks to wear” said Ayim Okon, a Church worker.

Madam Esit, a fruit seller opposite the front gate of the mammy market, Ikot Ansa raised doubts about COVID-19, she insists that Cross Rivers has no case of COVID -19, a position once advanced by the state the government. “I have not seen anybody that is sick of that disease, they should leave us to go and find what we and our children will eat, we are hungry,” said Esit. At Atimbo, a populous part of the city, shops are open; people are seen observing normal activities with less worry about wearing. Those who wear the nose mask, wrongly place it below the chin, some hold it in their hands while some put the mask in a purse or packet. “It is difficult to wear the nose mask, I cannot wear it for even 30minutes without removing it, I can’t breathe but when I am inside a public transport or in a group of people, I manage to wear it for that time,” said Bassey Ikoh, a business centre operator at Atimbo.

READ ALSO: COVID-19 last week’s review: Fewer tests, lower cases of new infections

The COVID-19 situation in Cross Rivers State took a slight spike despite the strict measures to lockdown the State. Cross Rivers was one of the States where inter-state travel was suspended; the borders linking Cameroun and Ebonyin were completely shut. Governor Ben Ayade quickly engaged the State’s garment factory in the production of nose masks to be distributed free of charge. The governor said the factory has been issued to mandate to produce 1million nose masks, face shields, and other protective garments.

The government had initially prevented the team from the National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC who were in the state to support the local response with testing. The State’s branch of Medical Association of Nigeria condemned Governor Ayade’s stance on COVID -19 and warned the governor of unscientific utterances.

Agam Ayuk, chairman of the State branch, NMA alleged that there was a deliberate attempt by the government to suppress testing and confirmation of Covid-19 in the State. But Bette Edu, the State Commissioner for Health denied the allegation of suppression of testing. “The State government has already activated testing and contact tracing,” she told reporters in Calabar. Edu is already facing sanctions with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria for allegedly playing politics with the issues of Covid-19. Innocent Ujah NMA National President issued the sanction.

But the rising confirmed cases of the pandemic in the State which has already recorded 84 cases from an index case since July is disturbing. “We need to do more, the response was slow at the beginning but at least we started something which needs to be up-scaled,” NMA State chairman said, insisting that it was unnecessary to play politics with matters of health and wellbeing.

Our Reporter 

A leading organisation which focuses on capacity building and human capital development of principal officers of higher education, Executive Trainers Limited, has highlighted strategies for coping with the challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bringing this to the fore, the organisation, in a discourse held virtually, Tuesday, with 31 delegates in the attendance, said such forum is pivotal to the development of tertiary education.

Themed COVID-19: Risks, Opportunities, and Coping Strategies for Higher Education in Nigeria, the free training was declared open by the Chief Executive Officer of Executive Trainers Limited, Mrs Ajoke Ogunsan, who emphasised the crux of the event, while pledging that the organisation will continue to do its best to ensure the growth of higher education in the country and beyond.

The guest speaker, Oko Obona, a professor of Sociology, University of Ibadan, draws from his experience on his current portfolio as a member of the African Union Scientific and Research Innovation Council working group on COVID-19 and the scientific committee of the NCDC’s research consortium.

Two critical issues were outlined which were the measures required to prevent the spread of the pandemic with specific reference to the higher educational context and the pandemic management preparedness which includes the systemic challenges posed with reference to infrastructure and the hybridised models for transmitting information to students.

READ ALSO: Healthcare in the season of Covid-19 pandemic

Obono, however, recommended “looping” as a method of taking a survey to capture statistics of people, undergraduates and graduates. He stressed on regulatory checks to sustain physical distancing and downplayed the case definition syntax approach as it only applies to the Western world. He advised on flexibility of lecture schedules and delivering of classwork and assignments.

The university don added that “to reduce physical distancing of students, free WiFi should be provided and students encouraged to acquire devices to access the internet easily.”

On a contributory note, one of the participants, Professor Babatola Ayodele, stressed that all universities be re-packaged to accommodate for e-learning. He mentioned a plethora of challenges posed to resumption of higher institutions of learning, arguing that there are no signs of readiness to resume during the post-COVID era.

Questions and more contributions were passed via chat from some attendees, including Dr (Mrs) Bukola Aluko, Professor Matthew Aluko, Professor Joseph Afolayan, Mrs Ike Moody and Mrs Wunmi Owaseye.

The next Edition is bid to hold in a month’s’ time, as organisers say the event has now turned a monthly affair.

By Edeh Onyema

The coronavirus pandemic has become one of the biggest storms that have disrupted the world education systems for centuries. There is a widespread closure of schools due to COVID-19 and millions of students have been negatively affected.

Educators and students now rely heavily on remote education for continued teaching and learning during the pandemic. Remote education is an education strategy that allows teaching and learning to be conducted remotely online.

Remote learning is fast becoming the new reality in education as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which has halted face-face academic activities. Just recently, a university in Japan held a graduation ceremony for students using Robots remotely controlled by the graduating students from their homes.

The robots were dressed in graduation gowns and caps with tablets projecting the graduates’ faces. Remote education is dependent on the internet technology and use of various computing devices, including mobile devices to teach and learn remotely.

The reliance on internet and use of computing devices for remote education makes it difficult for disadvantaged people to engage in remote learning. Even teachers and students also struggle during the transitioning process to remote education.

The transition to remote education may likely affect the quality of Science education considering the nature of some core social and Science courses which are mostly practical-based and requires experiments, and use of laboratories.

Some practical and problem-based courses cannot totally be taught online because it requires a lot of guidance and experiments. Also, other non-science courses may not be able to run smoothly in remote environment because of the need for practice.

For instance, English teachers and students may need to use the language lab; Engineering faculty may need to visit work sites, and Law students would need to do court and Chamber attachments during their studies, and Music students have to do rehearsals.

Also, many students require extra physical guidance and mentorship for their learning. Hence, it might be very difficult for these categories of students to cope without the physical face-face interactions with their teachers.

There are problems of digital divide of which many educators and learners particularly those in the rural areas and persons with special needs do not possess the digital skills and equal access to the relevant resources, facilities and technologies needed to engage in remote teaching and learning. Remote learning is new to most third world countries and it is still being experimented, but it does seem that if the necessary infrastructures that support online education are not put in place, it may be difficult to implement remote education in developing countries like Nigeria due to lack of supportive infrastructures.

However, some private educational institutions like Coal City University Enugu, Nigeria have proven that indeed remote education is possible and implementable in Nigeria, if the right environment and digital infrastructures are put in place.

Matters arising from remote education – The Nation NewsThe coronavirus pandemic is a reminder of the need for change and transformation in our education sector, and the need for more investment in technology across all spheres of life, particularly in the education sector.

Remote education is good, but it cannot totally be compared with the experiences of being in a face-face classroom. Unless the various barriers that inhibit the transition to remote education are addressed, it may be very difficult to implement it in developing countries like Nigeria.

Hence, there is need for authorities to invest more on educational technologies, and also put the right measures in place to ensure safe reopening of schools as soon as possible. This is because protracted school closures could be more devastating to all stakeholders in the education sector and the society at large.

Onyema, Head, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Coal City University Enugu, wrote via michael.edeh@ccu.edu.ng

By Okodili Ndidi, Abuja

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has dismissed the allegation by one Mrs Joy Aondover that her husband, Mr. Awarga Aondover was abducted and murdered in cold blood by soldiers in Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State.

The widow had alleged in an interview with one of the National Newspapers that gunmen suspected to be soldiers barged into their home on the night of July 18, 2020, dehumanized her husband and forcefully abducted him.

She further claimed that they took her husband to their base at Kofa Amadu, near Takum, where he and his cousin were killed and their bodies dumped in a well in the bush around Tor-Iorshaer, in Wukari Local Government of the State.

The woman also claimed that her husband’s younger sister was taken to the site by a Fulani who witnessed the killing.

But the DHQ in a statement signed by the Coordinator Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, noted that, “the attention of the Defence Headquarters has been drawn to an interview with the above caption, published by the Punch Newspaper of Saturday, September 5, 2020 where a certain “Mrs Joy Aondover” the supposed wife to one  “Awarga Aondover”, alleged that her husband was allegedly murdered and dumped in a well by gunmen suspected to be soldiers in Wukari Local Government of Taraba State.”

It added that, “while the Defence Headquarters does not wish to join issues with either the Newspaper or Mrs Aondover, it is pertinent to address the allegation squarely.

“For the records, on 18 July 2020, following credible intelligence on the possible hideout of wanted  Benue militia leader Terwase Akwaza Aka “Gana” around the General area of Tse-Audu village in Akate council ward of Donga Local Government Area of Taraba State, troops of Operation WHIRL STROKE deployed in Kofa Ahmadu, Kasuwan Haske, Kashimbala and Akate all in Takum and Donga Local Government Areas of Taraba State in conjunction with troops deployed at Gbise and Zaki-Biam areas of  Benue State, conducted a dawn joint raid  operation to the identified hideout in Tse- Audu  village.”

According to the statement, “the hideout was  deserted as the bandits fled before the arrival of troops. Troops combed the general areas  and recovered one locally made rifle, two camouflage uniforms, one dog tag, some substances suspected to be indian hemp and some charms. The hideout was then destroyed following which troops proceeded to Chachanji village where a school , shop and building belonging to Gana were identified. A diligent search of the premises was conducted and troops recovered one locally made mortar tube, one locally made rifle and 13 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition. The structures were then destroyed.

“From these, it is clear that troops indeed conducted a raid operation at Tse Audu community in Donga LGA of Taraba State around the time mentioned by Mrs Aondover, during which weapons and ammunition were recovered. However, it is important to emphatically state that the operation which was against the militia leader “Gana” who was alleged to be hiding in the community at the time yielded no arrests as no contact was made  at the locations.

“Again, one wonders why Mrs Joy made no effort to either bring up with the matter with the Military authorities or the Nigeria Police back in July when the said incident happened but could willingly grant an interview months later in September.”

It added further that, “Mrs Aondover’s tale also cleverly did not mention the name of the community or location where the said assault on the Aondovers took place. Again, Tor Iorshaer mentioned in her story is a notorious flash point in the communal clashes between the Tivs and Jukuns which prompted the recent deployment of troops in the community.

“Mr Aondover could, as such, have been involved in said clashes, leading to his death in the assertion is true. Mrs Joy also lied about visiting the troops location at Kofa Amadu as no such visit was recorded either by troops at the location, or by locals in the vicinity.

“From all indications, this story is the work of propagandists and mischief-makers who are not happy with the way troops are decisively tackling the security challenge in the general area of Operation Whirl Stroke, and have decided to fabricate this story to smear the good image of the Nigerian Military.”

Meanwhile the Defence Headquarters has commenced investigation into the matter”.