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Tag: ABUAD

  • ABUAD students shine in U.S. contest

    Four students of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) have excelled at a competition organised by the Microsoft Corporation in the United States.

    The quartet-Adeyemo Oluwaseun Kayode, Raymond Obinaju, Sobola Timilehin David and Ahwin Kevin-shone at Microsoft’s Imagine Cup where they showcased their invention named Asthma Visor, a device for a more effective and efficient way of managing asthma among children.

    Top executives of Microsoft showered encomiums on the four undergraduates  who were members of “ABUAD’sTeam LifeWatch” which participated in this year’s edition of the competition, which took place in Seattle, US, for its excellent performance at the yearly international event.

    For achieving the feat, Mrs. Jenny Lay-Flurie, a Senior Director with Corporation, described Team LifeWatch, as “the best team in Africa in five years.”

    Deputy Director of Bill and Melinda Gates, Jenine Firpo, in his own remarks, described the Team’s invention as “awesome”.

    Imagine Cup is a global student technology programme and competition that provides opportunities for students across all disciplines to team up and use their creativity, passion and knowledge of technology to create applications, games and integrate solutions that can change the way the world lives, works and plays.

    Team LifeWatch, the inventor of AsthmaVisor, eventually emerged fourth out of the five teams nominated for ‘Imagine Cup Ability’ award on account of the potential impact their projects could have on the lives of people with disabilities and design principles, usability and potential in the market place.

    Other criteria included how the project has been tested with people with disabilities and overall quality of the execution. Team Prognosis (with a solution for Parkinson’s disease detection and intervention) from Greece won the award as their solution has already been deployed on a large scale and in use by disabled people for about a year now in Greece.

    The race to the finals of this year’s edition of the Imagine Cup competition among higher institutions in Nigeria commenced with ABUAD winning in Nigeria to qualify for the African Zone (semi-finals) where it defeated higher institutions in other African countries, including Burkina Faso, South Africa, Uganda, Egypt, Angola, Algeria and Morocco as well as Tunisia to qualify for the World finals.

    The panel of seven judges, made up of seven reputable industry experts were so impressed about ABUAD presentation that they opted for a 10-minute hands-on demonstration with ABUAD team to test its solution. The team also had the privilege of a private session with Microsoft Brand Manager, Dennis Tom. This, according to the judges, was a proof of how much they loved the project and how they “cannot wait to see it in the market.”

    During the private session which lasted for 40 minutes, important issues relating to how the solution can be improved upon and how a partnership can be established with Microsoft for making the solution a reality were discussed.

     

  • ABUAD wins Microsoft Imagine Cup

    ABUAD wins Microsoft Imagine Cup

    With their Asthmavisor, a device for managing asthma effectively particularly in children, four students of the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) have won Africa’s ticket to the Imagine Cup competition organised by Microsoft Incorporation.

    The quartet that placed the five year-old institution on the global map, Adeyemo Oluwaseun, Raymond Obinaju, Sobola Timilehin, and Kevin Ahwin, are studying Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering.

    They defeated contingents from across other African countries including Burkina Faso, South Africa, Uganda, Egypt, Angola, Algeria and Morocco as well as Tunisia to qualify for the grand finale which comes up at the Microsoft Headquarters in Seattle, United States next month.

    The team christened, Team Lifewatch, identified a major health problem and proffered a novel solution using available technology.

    AsthmaVisor Solution consists of a mobile application operating with a wearable device, which monitors asthmatic patients’ health status, ensuring that they stay safe and well informed of their environment.

    The team designed the device to be a cost-effective and efficient way of supervising asthmatic patients, especially children.

    It helps patients to be more conscious of their environment while also serving as a reminder of their physicians’ recommendations. The software also provides an automatic alert, which is triggered by changes in environmental condition as detected by the sensors in the device. AsthmaVisor further helps the patient alert a selected list of emergency contacts in the event of crisis.

    This achievement is coming nine months after Mr Emmanuel Adegbite, a 300-Level student in the College of Medicine and Health Sciences of ABUAD, wrote a research paper on the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) that ravaged Nigeria and parts of West Africa last year. Adegbite’s paper titled: “Therapeutic measures against the current virulent endemicity of Ebola Virus”, was published in the October edition of the Journal of Medicine and Clinical Trials, a Nigerian-based International Science Journal.

    Imagine Cup is a global student technology programme and competition that provides opportunities for students across all disciplines to team up and use their creativity, passion and knowledge of technology to create applications, games and integrates solutions that can change the way people live, work and play.

     

  • ABUAD hosts conference

    ABUAD hosts conference

    The Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Ekiti State, will today host the 48th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers (NALT), making it the first private university in Nigeria to host the Conference.

    A statement by the university’s spokesman, Tunde Olofintila, said the  five-day conference has the theme: “Mainstreaming Interdisciplinary Approach to Legal Education: Imperative for Nigeria Development”.

    ABUAD founder Chief Afe Babalola, as the Chairman of the opening ceremony, will x-ray the evils be-devilling legal education and the judicial system in Nigeria.

    There will be a plenary session with three papers titled: “The Interdisciplinary Approach in Theory, Pedagogy and Practice” by Prof. Chukwuemeka Nnona of the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus;“Methodology, Theoretical Framework and Scholarly Significance: A Review of International Best Practices in Legal Research” and “Mainstreaming and Interdisciplinary Approach to Legal Education: Evaluating and Re-Engineering Postgraduate Law Education to meet the challenges of Nigeria” by the duo of Dr. Damilola Olawuyi and Dr. Rhuks Ako as International Contributors

    Another major highlight  is the public presentation of a book titled: “Food and Agricultural Law: Readings on Sustainable Agriculture and the Law in Nigeria” dedicated to Babalola.

    There will be the display of another book titled: “The Product Regulation and Liability- 2nd Edition” written by experts in 19 countries across five continents of America, Europe, Asia and Africa as well as Australia with Chief Babalola as the sole contributor for Nigeria.

    The conference will be signaled off with the Governor’s Banquet and NALT Award night.

  • No fee increase in ABUAD, says management

    No fee increase in ABUAD, says management

    Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), has debunked rumours making the rounds on some social media and dailies that the university has increased its tuition for the 2014/2015 academic session.

    The university described the rumour as coming from some mischief makers, who are bent on discrediting the university’s achievements within the five years of its existence.

    “For the record, we would like to say unambiguously that very much to the contrary, we have not increased our school fees regime for the university,” said the university’s image maker, Tunde Olofintila.

    In a statement, Olofintula said there was no increase in fees in all the school’s programmes as being rumoured.  He, however, said there was an increase strictly for Medicine students proceeding on clinical training.

    “All we have done in tandem with standard practice everywhere in the world was a marginal increase in the school fees of our medical students, who, after recording 94 per cent success in their first MBBS examination, would be proceeding on clinical studies at the ultra-modern Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, where we have committed over N2.5 billion to upgrade facilities,” the statement said.

    “The point must be made here that medical students, who are proceeding on clinical studies have not paid any fees since the beginning of the ongoing academic session because we have  to be sure of the number that will be proceeding on clinical training to determine the fee that will be applicable to each and everyone. It was the 94 per cent of the students that made it to the clinical class that were handed the new school fees in tandem with the new status and peculiarity of their training and no other student in any programme whatsoever,” he said.

    Olofintula noted that it is common knowledge that medical training, because of its peculiar nature, is expensive all over the world.

    “In order to stay in line with the established tradition of excellence for our clinical study, like every other part of academic programme, we required new laboratory equipment and additional consultants/ teachers as a result of which we have to increase faculty staff in the College of Medicine and Health Sciences from 35-112. To add more, our modern equipment were all ordered from overseas at the time that naira crashed so badly in the capital market as a result of which prices have almost doubled,” the statement added.

    However, when viewed comparatively with other private universities offering Medicine in Nigeria, Olofintula maintained that ABUAD fees still rank the least because of the N400.00 subsidy the Founder, Aare Afe Babalola, offers each student. When compared with overseas institutions, Olofintula put the difference at 60 per cent less.

    “The university wishes to assure all parents and other stakeholders that it will relentlessly seek ways of providing globally competitive education at the most minimal cost.

    “Like any good material, quality education is costly. All the same, ABUAD is prepared to consider hardship peculiar to any individual and work out payment schedule that will mitigate such peculiar hardship,” he said.

    According to him, the university has a culture of offering scholarships to children whose parents either lose their jobs, or die while studying in ABUAD. He admonished parents to take advantage of the annual scholarship scheme where students, who made a Cumulate Grade Point Average of 5.0,  go home with N500.00 while their counterparts with CGPA 4.8 get N200.000.

    “The fee for our students going on clinical training is not peculiar to ABUAD as all other private universities, who are striving for excellence. But one thing is sure: you will get value for every naira you spend here,” he said.

  • Why ABUAD is a model, by UNESCO

    Why ABUAD is a model, by UNESCO

    The United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) has described the Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) as a ‘model’.

    Speaking at the UNESCO regional staff retreat, which ABUAD hosted, the organisation’s Regional Director Prof. Hassana Alidou in her opening remarks said ABUAD was chosen as host simply because of its serene atmosphere conducive for learning, and the extraordinary investment of the Founder Aare Afe Babalola (SAN).

    Her words: “We are here in ABUAD because of the extraordinary and significant achievements of a humanitarian cum philanthropist Aare Afe Babalola.

    “Aare Babalola is a global citizen who put his wisdom, knowledge, competence and wealth to the benefit of humankind by building a world-class institution whose reputation has gone beyond Nigeria’s borders with a pool of faculty staff across Europe and America. ABUAD also draws up its studentship all over the world because of its high quality programme recognised by national and international accreditation bodies”.

    Alidou continued: “A university like ABUAD is a natural home for us. My hope is that we will continue to collaborate and learn from each other.”

    “We are, in ABUAD not only to visit or hold our retreat and go back to Abuja. We see this (retreat) as a launch pad for increased partnerships in research and innovation into good practices that we can scale up in the region. We are here to see how the UNESCO chairs in Peace and Citizenship Education; and the other one on Entrepreneurship Education and Agriculture for Sustainable Development have progressed. We are here to explore options in sciences, culture, communication and education which we can use in our initiatives for the region.”

    Alidou added: “This campus is in the league of some of the big universities I have seen in the developed world in terms of facilities. I congratulate you for this investment in your country. You have set a good record which should be emulated by succeeding generations. Investment in quality education is an investment into our future. We wish you great success as you build destinies of present and future generations.”

    Alidou congratulated the university management for ensuring uninterrupted academic programmes, particularly in a country where her public institutions are ravaged by incessant strikes.

  • ABUAD introduces incentives for undergraduates, others

    THE Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) has released a package of incentives for its undergraduates, parents, academic and non-academic workers.

    This was contained in a statement announcing the university’s scholarships for the 2014/2015 academic session.

    The  Founder, ABUAD, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), was quoted as saying the incentives and scholarships were designed to “promote quality, equity and relevance in education.”

    The statement indicated that undergraduates, who attain a Cumulate Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.0 and above will enjoy scholarships valued at N500.000 each.

    Their counterparts with between 4.75 and 4.99 CGPA will  be accorded scholarship worth N200.000 each, while those with 4.74 will get N100,000 each.

    Beside those in the above categories, merit award plus N100.000 cash will be presented to the ‘Most disciplined student’; ‘Best dressed student’; ‘Outstanding student leader’; ‘Sports man of the year’; ‘Sports woman of the year’; as well as the ‘Cleanest hostel user’ (male and female).

    Prospective students, who choose to study Agriculture, would enjoy 50 per cent reduction in tuition.

    Also, work and study opportunity will be available for such students to earn extra cash for services rendered on ABUAD farm, cafeteria, library and hostel. Upon graduation, ABUAD also promises graduates financial assistance to facilitate self-employment.

    The largesse is also extended to parents and workers.

    Workers with biological children in the university would enjoy 25 per cent discount in tuition, ditto for parents with more than one child in the institution.

    Lecturers and prospective lecturers will enjoy full payment of their salary once   permission is obtained from ABUAD  management to attend postgraduate courses in any Nigerian university.

    The university is also giving monetary help to lecturers who wish to study abroad, attend conferences or undertake research, among others.

    Like students, lecturers, who in the outgoing year, have also distinguished themselves will be presented with merit awards in various categories:  ‘Best dressed lecturer’; ‘Most disciplined lecturer’; ‘Lecturer of the year’ ‘Most engaged lecturer’; ‘Most punctual lecturer’; ‘Most persevering lecturer’;  ‘Outstanding non-teaching staff’; as well as ’Most dutiful non-teaching staff.’

    Prospective indigent but brilliant students with proof of their poor financial background will be given free scholarships, comprising tuition and accommodation.

    Similarly, in line with ABUAD’s tradition since inception, undergraduates who lose parents or guardians while still studying in the university would automatically enjoy full scholarships.

    The indigent students must have six distinctions (A1) in WAEC or NECO, in addition to being offered admission into his selected course.

  • ABUAD’s dons for Oxford varsity symposium

    Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) will join other world-class universities in a three-day symposium at Balliol College, University of Oxford.

    The event, which began yesterday and ends tomorrow, will see two distinguished professors from ABUAD, Israel Olatunji Orubuloye, a professor of Sociology and member, Board of Trustees of ABUAD and  Gabriel M. Obi, a professor of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, delivering separate papers on: “The potential impact of technology on higher education: An imperative for a paradigm shift” as well as: “Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti: Model of reformative and transformative higher education in Africa, ABUAD as a case study.”

    The invitation is courtesy of the United Kingdom-based University of Cambridge, Institute of Education (UCIE) Professors’ Network.

    ABUAD Public Relations Officer, Tunde Olofintila, said the invitation was contained in a letter dated April 10, this year.

    According to  him, ABUAD’s participation in the forum has become an additional feather to the cap of the four-year-old university, which he said is blazing the trail at every front.

    One of the critical issues to be explored, he siad, is: “How in the era of technology- driven education, world top university can help in raising the excellence of standard of universities”.

    According to Olofintila, the letter, which was signed by Anant Nepalia, said: “In the era of technology-driven education, how top world universities can help in raising the excellence standards of the universities in countries like Nigeria is key. It is of tremendous opportunity to meet and reach out to top emeritus professors of other universities, who are in the forefront to improve the quality of higher education, thus they are appointed as visiting faculty or advisors/mentors to your institution”.

    “The conference offers attendees a variety of learning experiences and networking opportunities. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Please note that participation is limited and is by invitation only.”

    ABUAD’s Founder and President, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), said the university is thrilled by the invitation, adding that it is ready to be partners in this drive.

    His words: “We are also looking forward to the opportunity of interacting and brainstorming with emeritus professors, who are in the fore front of improving the quality of higher education and exploring the possibility of partnering with them.”

  • Man arraigned for ‘stealing’ diesel at ABUAD

    Man arraigned for ‘stealing’ diesel at ABUAD

    A man, Adebayo Sunday (37) was arraigned yesterday at the Magistrate’s Court in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, for allegedly stealing 300 litres of diesel, valued at N55,500.

    According to the charge sheet, the offence was committed on July 19 at the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD).

    Sunday’s counsel Duro Adonis urged the court to grant his client bail. The Chief Magistrate, P.I. Ayenimo, granted Sunday N200,000 bail with two sureties and moved the case from Court 2 to Court 4.

    The case was adjourned to August 20.

    Sunday confessed to the crime and pleaded for mercy.

    He said he had been working for ABUAD since the institution’s inception, adding: “This is the first time such a mistake would happen and I would not repeat it if forgiven. I appeal to them (the institution) to forgive me. There is nothing I can say or do except apologise. I am not a person like that. I have been working there (ABUAD) for long. I started the school with them. I operated the pay loader when they were constructing the buildings in the school. I’ve been there for about five years.

    “It was Baba himself (Chief Afe Babalola) who called me on phone one day and invited me to come and work for the institution when he saw how I had been working. I work all the time within the campus. I even work on weekends. No Saturday or Sunday. I work all the time. Baba should forgive me.”

  • Afe Babalola: Awo’s ideals have enhanced education

    Afe Babalola: Awo’s ideals have enhanced education

    The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s vision has enhanced Nigeria’s political and educational growth, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) founder Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) has said.

    Babalola spoke in his office at the institution while receiving a delegation from the Awolowo Centre for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance in Osogbo, Osun State, led by the Director-General, Prof. Moses Makinde.

    He said the late sage continues to illuminate Nigeria’s paths to higher attainments in politics and education.

    Babalola said: “The late Awolowo was a man of uncommon vision and had uncommon ways of achieving the vision. He first trained teachers before introducing the free education that is second to none on the continent.”

    He hailed Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola for establishing the Awo Centre, which seeks to inculcate the ideals of the late sage and preaches hard work and academic excellence.

    Makinde described Babalola as “a colossus who made education a priority and followed it up with the establishment of one of the best private universities in Africa, which is noted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)”.

    He said the centre’s curriculum included training in “basic philosophy and character traits for ethics that would promote ideology and good governance based on the philosophy of the late Awolowo and statesmen of like minds”.

    Recalling Babalola’s good work during his tenure as the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Makinde said the lawyer’s vision and “vast experience will help the young but vibrant ABUAD”.

     

  • Afe Babalola urges govt to take over substandard varsities

    Afe Babalola urges govt to take over substandard varsities

    Afe Bablola University of Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) Founder Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) has urged the National Assembly to pay more teeth to the ongoing amendment of the National Universities Commissions (NUC) Act than it currently has.

    He said the four decade-old Act, which just passed through its Second Reading, should be empowered to close down substandard universities, forfeit such university’s facilities to the government and jail its founders and teachers.

    In his keynote address yesterday at the opening of the 29th conference of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU), hosted by ABUAD, Babalola said: “Recently, the NUC released a list of 36 illegal universities operating in the country. From the list published on NUC’s website, the universities were located in every part of the country. Many indeed had very curious sounding names which should have alerted reasonable and discerning minds to the fraud represented by the institutions.

    “The question then is: How do we get out of this embarrassing quagmire? The answer is that government should urgently and immediately amend the NUC law and give the commission sufficient powers of immediate and outright closure of illegal universities with further powers of severe sanctions including forfeiture of the university’s properties to government while promoters, founder, councils, and teachers of such illegality should face life imprisonment.”

    Babalola said though NUC is empowered to regulate universities nationwide, Section 4 of the NUC Act merely gives the commission advisory role to the Federal Government and states on the creation of universities, adding that  only private universities feel the full weight of NUC ‘s power.

    He said this situation has made many states to  establish universities based on purely political rather than educational or logistical considerations, with little or no funding to back them up.

    Babalola said: “In order to make them more popular in their constituencies, some established universities and multiple campuses in their hamlets or villages, which often lack infrastructure. The laboratories and other teaching facilities in some universities are below standard expected in secondary school. There was the case of a graduate of engineering who never saw an engineering laboratory throughout his university days.”

     

    “Recently the authorities of a university disengaged over 700 acacdemic and non-academic staff who were found among other reasons, to have gained employment into university with questionable credentials. yet these same persons, prior to the discovery of the anomaly had probably spend years in the university teaching students, some of whom are today probably also teachers in one institution of learning or another.

    He continued: “As far as some states are concerned, there is no room for recommendation of UNESCO that states should allocate 26 per cent of their revenue to education. Some states allocate less than one per cent of the budgetary allocation. In a particular case, a state government allocated only N50 million to its university for capital project over a period of several years.

    The frontline lawyer further tasked vice chancellors to assist NUC via innovativeness and resourcefulness to meet universities minimum standard as recommended by the commission or even surpass them.  Aare Babalola also urged vice-chancellors to be good leaders, credible, accountable operate open door policy and seek ways of attracting funds for their institutions rather than rely on government funding alone.

    Corroborating Babalola NUC Executive Secretary Prof Julius Okojie said applying sanctions to erring universities would go a long way

    “I exactly support what Afe Babalola has prescribed,” Okojie said. “Now let me say those universities may just be graduating anybody, but if we don’t continue to publish them on our website, they may think that they still exist. They can’t work or obtain any certificate in this country. We pursue them every day and we also use the police to close their facilities. We are on top of the situation.

    The NUC boss also lamented that as against impression in certain quarters, many Nigerian students are studying in ramshackle universities in Ghana against better facilities at the home front.

    “They (students) are in thousands (in Ghana) but they are coming back home now.  I sent some education correspondents to Ghana and they saw what was happening there. The reason people gave for going to Ghana is because we didn’t have adequate resources here; whereas the universities they attend in Ghana are not even recognised by Ghanaian government. They (Ghanaian government) look the other way, their children don’t even go to there. One university can have just one building and they will call it a university.”

    Speaking earlier, AVCNU chairman Prof Joseph Ajienka said the association conceived the theme in view of the plague that usually confronts a nation like Nigeria which is endowed with so much natural and intellectual resources; yet channel a sprinkle of it to education.

    “Our university system has one major challenge-inadequate funding. It is crusade by the failed policy of free tuition. If governments have the courage and political will to solve this problem, our university system will come alive and competed with its counterparts in the global innovation ecosystem. Our governments have been advocating transformational agenda. True transformation is not about buying technologies and importing everything. True transformation is first of all about people accepting new values and facing the challenge of change courageously.”

    The event was graced by the Ekiti State Governor Dr Kayode Fayemi and his Ondo State counterpart Dr Segun  Mimiko the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, His Royal Majesty Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe (Aladesanmi III), and former NUC Executive Secretary Prof peter Okebukola, among others.