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Tag: academics

  • Academics must return to the academia, says Babalakin

    The Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), has said academics must return to the academia and universities must be driven by merit.

    Speaking yesterday at the 50th Convocation Ceremony of UNILAG, Babalakin said he believed strongly that the most important area in any nation’s development is the quality of its education because that is where training happens and leaders are produced.

    He explained that no effort must be spared in improving the educational system, noting that the time had come to create an environment that would attract the best scholars to universities and this can be done by enhancing the remuneration of teachers.

    Remembering with nostalgia the time when UNILAG was full of scholars like the late Prof. Teslim Elias; Prof. Clifford Olawoye; Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; the late Prof. Adeyemo Elebute; Prof. Alexander Eyimofe Boyo; the late Prof. Akin Adesola; Dr Sunny Kuku; the late Prof. Ayodele Awojobi; the late Prof. V.O.S.  Olunloyo; Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe and Prof. Ifedayo Oladapo, who made the university stand out, Babalakin said: “We must put an end to those who come here because they have no other option. This is a citadel of learning and we must achieve this goal. It will be tough and there will be resistance, but that is the only way out. Universities must be driven by merit. Only academics should find themselves in the academia. We must create an environment that would attract the best scholars.”

    Read Also: Babalakin eulogises ex-Total director Jegede

    The lawyer said while he believed that education should be substantially free to the extent that a nation can afford it, if we had to choose between quality education and free education, we must choose quality education.

    He said he supported the idea of universities being buoyant enough to afford the resources they require.

    Noting that we must take immediate steps to improve education, Babalakin said: “We cannot afford to wait until we have the resources to support quality education, so I support the government’s position that government alone cannot fund education. It has to be funded by all stakeholders in the country.  We must have universities that can attract the best academics and the universities should have the resources to keep those academics.”

    The lawyer said he was convinced that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government intends to reposition education appropriately, adding that the Minister for Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, had reiterated this position on many occasions.

    Citing the example of England, Babalakin said: “When education was facing a challenge in England, Prime Minister Tony Blair created a policy for refocusing education by enhancing remuneration in such a way that teaching became one of the most financially attractive propositions. We must find a way to get back to those days.”

    Urging the graduating students to join the campaign to reposition education and become leaders of thoughts; Babalakin said: “The greatest gift you can have from God are ideas and the greatest disservice you can do to God is not to spread the ideas. What is the value of knowledge that is not disseminated? “We want to see you disseminate knowledge with great conviction. Those who create breakthroughs in the society are thinkers and usually, they are never popular at the time they are making their propositions. You have a choice between seeking the popularity of the unthinking populace or making yourself available to driving the thought process in this country. I believe you’ll choose the latter.”

     

  • Academics urged to study Tinubu’s philosophy

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ayobo Ipaja Local Council Development Area, Otunba Ladi Oluwaloni Olo, has advised the academics to consider studying more about the political philosophy of the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    The financial expert said the political sagacity of the APC leader should not be subjected to discussion only during his birthday, but rather, students of political science and history must learn more from him.

    Read also: Obi hails Tinubu’s advice on VAT

    He said Tinubu’s financial expertise should also be subjected to learning by leaders and managers of men and resources, especially how he developed and brought many professionals into politics.

    “We must also learn about how he increased the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Lagos State to an enviable status. Today in Lagos, we can talk of our capacity to raise the finance to cater for the state financially. It’s the financial ingenuity of one man and his team members.”

  • Academia sans academics?

    •ASUU and the government must partner to banish this horror and save the university system

    The news coming from the Nigerian academic front is dire — that less than four out of 10 teachers, needed to power the university system, is available. That short-fall of six, going to seven, is a national emergency. How can it be rectified, so the Nigerian university system doesn’t entirely collapse?

    That is the save our soul (SOS) message from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    According to Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU president, a 2012 Federal Government-commissioned needs assessment, of the Nigerian university system, showed that all the public universities had 37, 504 lecturers. That was barely more than half of the manpower requirement, at that time.

    To show a consistent manpower shortfall, over the years, the ASUU president also quoted an earlier survey, by the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), the regulatory agency for the university segment, of Nigeria’s tertiary education. That came up with a 60, 000 university lecturer needs. Yet, at that time, only a third, 20, 000, were on the universities’ pay roll — 40, 000 short.

    Now, with a slew of private universities, it only shows, on teaching manpower needs alone, the Nigerian university system is in dire straits. If you add the near barren operating environment, coupled with the poor record of research, the soul of universities worldwide, due to acute shortage of funding, the sorry state of Nigerian universities comes out in bold relief.

    Yet, it is no time for umpteenth lamentation and trading of blames, which suggest the Nigerian case is beyond redemption. It is not. No situation, no matter how critical, is ever beyond redemption for a thinking mind. So, it is time to wail less and think more.

    Such critical thinking should emanate from ASUU itself. For too long, it has been a bout of finger-pointing, for the other side to conjure magic. No magic would come from anywhere. Indeed, no solution would come without a correct analysis of the problem. So, it is time for effective ASUU-government partnership.

    ASUU, with its intimate knowledge, can come out with a comprehensive breakdown. Is it that universities lack the capacity to employ because their pay cannot compete with other sectors? If that were so, the problem might not be shortage per se. That means there could be qualified hands, but the universities are too poor to hire. That is lack of funding — and in what creative ways can this challenge be scaled?

    It could also be that, even with funds available, some expertise are just not available for hire. If so, why not poach overseas? But if overseas recruitment is expensive and not feasible for now, what can be done to chart the curriculum towards producing and filling such shortfalls? ASUU can at least produce a document in that direction; and partner with the government to implement its suggestions. If both sides work hard at it, the gaps could be filled, even in record time.

    But even if ASUU does its own part, successive Nigerian governments have been legitimately accused of deafness and blindness on the education question. This attitude is not good enough.  Nor the argument, that education and training should contend with other sectors, cogent enough.  Human infrastructure must be priority. That makes all the difference between progress and backwardness.

    So, the governments (federal and state) must collaborate with ASUU to put in a solid process to correct this dire teaching manpower problem. We could start by working policies that give the current crop of students and fresh graduates incentives to choose an academic career. But here, it is moot point that such a policy can’t fly without boosting the culture of research, radically improving the academic work environment and imbuing, in the Nigerian academic, renewed pride and sense of self-worth, through renewed scholarship and welfare.

    Employing 100, 000 university teachers, in a country of 180 million people, shouldn’t really be a Herculean task, if serious thinking is put into it. That is why ASUU and the governments must partner, to save the university system.

  • Oyedepo to academics: groom future leaders

    Oyedepo to academics: groom future leaders

    CHANCELLOR of Covenant University (CU) Ota, Ogun State Dr. David Oyedepo has urged leaders in the academia to “stop being merely bookish and start future thinkers”.

    Oyedepo said his experiences with those in the academia showed that many of them were so proud of  becoming authority in their chosen fields.

    The cleric urged them to go a step further by indoctrinating in young scholars the art of thinking out ideas, which would address some of the challenges plaguing the African continent.

    The Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide delivered the keynote address at the 54th meeting of the Committee of Deans of Post Graduate Schools (CDPGS) in Nigerian Universities at CU premises.

    The four-day event, which began on Monday, will end tomorrow.

    The cleric said global solution providers such as Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, the Wright Brothers and others once had a brainwave in their time, which led to great revolutions in their respective fields.

    He warned Nigerians that repeated complaints would not work but that they should battle their challenges headlong.

    He said: “Everywhere I go in Nigeria today, everybody continues to complain that things are not working; but who will start how things will work and when? That person is you and that time is now; and postgraduate education should serve as a platform for inciting our students into thinking solutions.  Today, it is thinkers that rule the world and we should be development-oriented in things we do.”

    To make that difference, Oyedepo challenged the deans to start thinking out of the box, saying that is what would propel them to imbibe same culture into their students.

    “Leadership is not being in the driver seat, but adding values. As a dean, you must start thinking what difference you are going to make in that position; what contributions in terms of innovations and feat. You have no business being in that position if you cannot make that difference that will be a reference point to your successors years after you have left.”

    The cleric urged the deans to combine research with critical thinking of solutions.

    Oyedepo argued that man’s biological configuration remains the same regardless of colour or height.

    He added that the greatest challenge of a black man was not intellectual bankruptcy, but laziness and inability to task his thinking faculty towards realising assets that will benefit his immediate environment.

    Chairman of the association Prof. Bamidele Sanni said the theme of the event: “Repositioning postgraduate education for sustainable national development: The leadership dimension” threw a challenge in their path as academic leaders, who must groom better successors.

     

  • Academics warn on brain damage

    Academics have said the increase in brain diseases is as a result of prevalent environmental challenges.

    This was the consensus at the sixth biennial International Conference of the Institute of Neuroscience and Biomedical Research(INBR),  at  Babcock University, Ogun State.

    They said the brain health is being endangered by unhealthy dietary, stress and dirty surroundings which have made both the youths victims of brain diseases.

    A Neurosurgeon, Prof Iheanyichukwu Okoro who is also the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Babcock University, said unfit lifestyle is dangerous to the brain.

    “We tend to eat all kinds of food that are unhealthy and it has become the lifestyle of our young people. These foods have high fat content which block the vessels of the brain, and this results to stroke. We have high incidence of young people stroking out.

    “The radiation from the phones we use and also the telecoms masks are parts of the causes. The brain has a lot of electricity in it. When you have your phones around it, it tends to affect the electrical activity of the brain. If you do not exercise caution in the use of this gadget, you can  develop brain problems. Some people are so addicted to phones that they cannot even put it off for even five minutes. It is affecting our health. Know how to use your phones. Do not get them to close to your heads even while you are making or receiving calls.

    He continued: “Let us not be deceived that too much intake of water cleanses the system. It does not help so much as it is widely spread, but the intake of good dieting and multivitamins to detoxify our system”.

    Former Councillor, of International Society for Neurologist(ISN), Prof Polycarp Nwoha explained that toxins emanating from dirty environments affect the health of the brain, adding that “A research we conducted some time ago showed that the rat we used for our experiment  to check the harmful effect of  the radiation from telecom mask was badly affected. It showed that it is dangerous to our body and our environment.  Even on the things we eat like the vegetables we consume, we do not see them but they are there and when they manifest, you wonder why you are having neurodegenerative disease.

    “I also want to emphasise on the birth rate. You see someone with up to eight children and when it is time to train them it becomes a source of worry to them. This affects the brain of the mother and the child because the child is being malnourished; also the mother is likely to suffer from stroke out of stress and worries. Likewise,    people are so worried about many things in our society and this is accentuated by the fact that we are in a depressed economy” He added.

  • Academics, others inspire youngsters in Anambra

    Academics, others inspire youngsters in Anambra

    Eminent academics and writers converged on Anambra State to help undergraduates and secondary school pupils write creatively.

    The two-day event held at the late Prof Ezenwa-Ohaeto Resource Centre, Akwa, the state capital, featuring renowned poet Odia Ofeimun and such scholars as Prof. Stella Okunna, Prof Ikechukwu Asika and Prof Akachi Adimora Ezeigbo, among others.

    They were drawn from Federal University of Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, Ebonyi State, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Igbariam, and Prof Obodimma Oha of University of Ibadan.

    The creative writing workshop was for undergraduates, senior secondary school students and other aspiring writers, which featured etiquettes of academia, educationists and scholars.

    The scholars discussed a lecture entitled “Nwokeness: a journey into a disturbed Igbo philosophy of masculinity”, which was delivered on the second day.

    Delivering a lecture entitled “Nwokeness: a journey into a disturbed Igbo philosophy of masculinity,” Prof Obodimma Oha of University of Ibadan enjoined African men and women to take up their responsibilities in the society.

    He said, “In the past, the idea of nwoke bu nwoke (A man is a man) triggers men to take action in their immediate environment while that of nwaanyi bu nwaanyi (A woman is a woman) inspired the female to work as well.

    “It’s not about sex, ethnicity or race. It does not promote hatred, immorality, wife or husband battery, indolence, discrimination, etc. But it is a strong philosophy that helps people to live in peace and harmony, and redefine their society through industriousness, creativity, and innovation. It is a genuine philosophy that guide development at all spheres of life; economics, business, education, etc.”

    Discussing the paper, Oguejiofor, Okunna, Utoh-Ezeajugh, Asika, Adimora-Ezeigbo, Ofeimum, agreed that there was no need for any of the genders to trample upon their rights and responsibilities while co-existing in an ever growing society.

    Dr. Ngozi Ezenwa-Ohaeto said, “The two days programme fell into the vision of creating a forum for discussing current issues and for exposing aspiring writers to the world of creativity in order to live a better life.

    They also used the forum to immortalise her late husband, Prof Ezenwa-Ohaeto, who was a novelist and poet.

    According Dr. Ohaeto, “Our society does not regard the women. Some aspects of Igbo culture like proverbs and breaking of kola nuts insult the women. That is why I don’t buy or eat kola nut.

    “Our people need to understand that we are not fighting women to take over what belongs to them. All we want is a better society where we can function effectively and efficiently.

    “We can’t continue living in the euphoria of the proverbs, language, culture and religion of our forefathers who we know that the kind of education and society they lived in differs from ours.

    “Our men need to understand that once we are given our own right, they will also be comfortable because once a woman is given an opportunity to serve or exercise her rights, the society would be cleaned up.”

    Prof Akachi Adimora Ezigbo, who spoke on “How do I become a good writer”, and poet Odia Ofeimum, while exploring their respective writing experiences, contended that good writers were good thinkers, good observers, good students and good listeners, which they also believed to be motivating factors and sources of inspiration for creative ideas.

    “You can use narration, reflection, action, or dialogue to drive home your creative ideas. What you study online on social and new media can even inspire you to write.

    “Science and technology should not be a barrier to your creative thinking and writing ideas,” Adimora-Ezigbo stressed.

    “Study and understand your immediate environment. The knowledge would help you to get better ideas, language, experiences and medium of passing the message across to them,” Ofemum said.

    While another scholar, Ikechukwu Asika, entreated the children to study to discover where their talent lies and invest into it rather than attempting to become a good writer because according to him, you can’t force yourself to become a good writer, but you can draw inspiration from a mentor who is a writer to become a good writer if you are talented in writing.

     

  • 19 academics conduct research in Shell

    Nineteen academics from various universities in Nigeria have begun research attachments in several fields of study in the latest phase of the sabbatical and internship programme of Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited (SPDC) Joint Venture, which was introduced in 1980.

    The eight professors and 11 research interns began their programmes last month, seeking to build industry knowledge and understanding in such fields as biodiversity, petroleum engineering, geophysics, impact assessment, community health and oil and gas exploration.

    According to Shell spokesperson, Bamidele Olugbenga Odugbesan, the recipients are from the University of Benin, University of Ibadan, Niger Delta University, University of Ilorin, University of Lagos, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ahmadu Bello University, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, University of Calabar and University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

    “Our research and internship programmes are key aspects of our effort to contribute to the development of higher education in Nigeria,” said Igo Weli, General Manager External Relations.

    He continued: “It is a mutually beneficial relationship. SPDC obtains specialised and cost-effective services from the professors and senior lecturers, while they in turn acquire industry experience and exposure to new technologies that can be ploughed back to the university community.

    For a period of one year, the professors on sabbatical will conduct research in identified areas and share their findings with SPDC. Part of the internship programme involves Master’s degree students who are also offered one-year placements to acquire work experience in SPDC.

    “The other set of internships are from the Shell Centre of Excellence at the University of Benin who will spend six months, enabling them to gain critical working experience and be exposed to Shell’s working culture and ethics. Recruitment for sabbatical and research internship scheme begins with advertisements in national and local newspapers in March with interviews in July each year,”

  • Clerics, academics seek reviews of African Pentecostal literatures

    Literatures on African Pentecostalism are overdue for reviews to reflect the right interpretations and applications for best practices among Christians.

    This was the submission of Pentecostal preachers and academics in a communiqué at the end of the International Conference on African Pentecostalism (ICAP).

    The conference was organised by the Redeemed Christian Bible College (RCBC) at Redemption Camp, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Ogun State.

    Dr Samson Fatokun of the University of Ibadan, who closed the three-day conference, said African Pentecostalism has positively impacted Christianity and other religions practiced across the globe.

    He said African Pentecostalism has also contributed to the right positioning of religion to the point of globalisation.

    Fatokun expressed strong beliefs that if review is carried out, it would go a long way in ensuring a truly bible- based, power- oriented and experiential African Pentecostalism.

    The effect, he said, will have far-reaching positive fallouts in the global Pentecostal world.

    Addressing participants at the closing dinner, RCBC Provost, Dr. BabatundeAdedibu, charged them to put into use all that they had gained from the three-day event and ensure its continuity.

    Over 270 participants took part in the conference where 61 papers were presented by 69 representatives of notable scholars.

    Some of them were Prof AfeAdogame from Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey, who presented the keynote address; Prof DejiAiyegbonyin, Head of Department (HOD) of Religious Studies, University of Ibadan; Prof FolorunshoDairo, HOD of Christian Religious Studies, Redeemers University for Nations and Prof OlufunkeAdeboye, HOD of History and Strategic Studies, University Of Lagos; among others.

  • Place of drug in sport and academics

    According to legends, experts said for years that the human body was simply not capable of a four-minute mile. They stated that it wasn’t just dangerous but impossible. Further legends hold that people had tried for a thousand years to break the barrier. In the 1940’s, the mile record was pushed to four minutes and one second. It stood there for nine years. Athletes struggled to break this feat but they couldn’t. But on May 6, 1954 Roger Bannister broke the history of running a mile in three minutes and 59 seconds. Barely a year after someone else ran a mile under four minutes. Then some more runners did. Now, it’s almost a routine. This they all did without the aid of drugs.

    Drugs are poisons. Little wonder, one of the founders of medical practice, Paracelsus, quipped, “all substances are poisons, and there is none which is not a poison.” Sports, on the other hand, is frequently used to occupy our pastime. But this does not rule out the fact that many now take it as a profession; creating an imperative for constant improvement. But should drugs be used for improving performance in sports? From the story in the first paragraph, we saw how humans overcame their limits. For years, they lived in the penitentiary of their own imagination. But the ‘impossible’ was done without the aid of any chemical stimulant. Hence it is not justifiable whatsoever to use drugs with the aim of improving performance in sports or academics. I align myself with this fact due to the following reasons.

    Firstly, the beauty of hard work will be lost if drugs are allowed. This beauty was observed in one of the illustrations above. It was evident that only extra effort separated the champions from the crowd. Hence Bannister earned his recognition. Through Bannister’s effort we now know that nothing is impossible. It is the lazy minds who usually want quick and cheap intervention that often resort to drugs. And because the lustre of fame and shine of glory are hard to resist, many professional athletes find themselves tempted to use drugs to enhance their performances in a bid to outdo others. The same goes for students who use drugs. And since academics and professional sports are all about celebrating human capability, this unfair advantage provided by performance enhancing drugs rigs the game and defeats the very purpose for which it was invented.

    Secondly, there would be an uncontrolled incidence of abuse. This is true because every athlete would be involved in self-medication. Hence, there would be indiscriminate increase in dose just to get higher performance. Many would take the drugs for nonchalant reasons. Just as sleep postponing substances are abused so they would abuse these enhancers if allowed in sports and academics.

    Thirdly, the side effects of these performance enhancing drugs could be catastrophic. It may lead to loss of basic natural ability of the users. A drug taken to improve one’s ability could lead to a downside effect with a decrease below the initial threshold of efficiency. That is, the body of the recipient refuses to function properly except in the presence of such enhancer. This phenomenon is called dependence. Therefore, more and more drugs would be taken to overcome the progressive emasculation of the user’s natural abilities. This condition would lead to a further accumulation of toxic wastes; which then degenerates to a pathological state.

    I would not accept any performance enhancer, whether for sports or for academics. It betrays nature. It defeats the purpose of human existence. It immitates reality and creates room for momentous abuse. With drugs in sports and academics, there would be no winner or loser. There will be no commitment, no purpose, no aim, and no reward. This is because, an athlete could win by just swallowing a pill, and a student could do excellently by ingesting a drug.

    Imagine a world without commitment. Imagine a world without zeal and hard work, where everyone lives in the shallow caverns of complacency. Before we know it, idleness would replace training sessions and our libraries would be covered in dust. This is not the kind of world we hope for. Rather, we want a place where everyone is entitled to his title; where a student burns the midnight candle to pass examination, where he can beat his chest without second guessing his ability. A world, just like Bannister’s, where athletes would break and make new world records, through hard work, to excite generations yet unborn.

    Even if our performances were limited by nature yet we could get past those limitations by natural means by being committed, consistent and disciplined. No wonder the French scientist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck crooned in his law of Use and Disuse, that “the parts of an organism’s body that are frequently used become more developed.” Hence with frequent routine, man could be what he wants. Instead of taking pills, athletes and students could decide to raise their performance thresholds naturally by rigorous routines of training and study. This would not only avoid all the downsides of drug use but also result in legitimate pride in the resulting performance.

    In conclusion, one of the Holy books tells a story about the first human. According to the story, he was deceived to eat the forbidden fruit he had been pre-informed not to touch. But as soon as he ate the fruit everything turned awry for him. He was in pain. He was driven out of the beautiful garden he was placed in. These performance enhancing drugs could be viewed as a forbidden fruit. We may think those drugs could replace hard work but in the end, just like the forbidden fruit, we may not like the consequences that follow.

     

    • Ezekiel, 500-Level Pharmacy, UNIBEN
  • Iwuanyanwu decries low involvement of academics in policy making

    Iwuanyanwu decries low involvement of academics in policy making

    The Pro-Chancellor/Chairman, Governing Council of the University of Calabar, Dr Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has said the marginalisation of the academia in policy making is responsible for  the problems facing Nigeria.

    Speaking at the inauguration of the digital library at the Graduate School Complex of the institution, the business mogul said tertiary institutions have not been well equipped to engage in cutting-edge research that would deal with societal challenges.

    “America is a great country because when they have problems, they push it to the universities. Academics are very important in all areas of live,” he said.

    He said the e-library would not only benefit UNICAL alone but the entire country.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof James Epoke, lauded the Graduate School for the new facility.  He said his support for the project stemmed from its being in line with the strategic vision of the university anchored on attainment and maintenance of the highest form of excellence in teaching, research and community service.

    With the development, he said graduate students and the faculty can now have real time access to e-books and journals via the intranet and internet, at all times from any location.

    He urged that the project be sustained and improved even beyond the tenure of the Dean of the Graduate School.

    Dean of the Graduate School, Prof Francis Bisong, said besides the library, they were also inaugurating the Turnitin, an anti-plagiarism web-based software solution.

    Bisong said their mission was to prepare the nation, next generation of professional, scholarly and educated leaders imbued with capacity for highly rated policy relevant research, independent critical thinking, academic rigour and intellectual honesty.

    Resources of the digital library, he said, include 5,756 titles consisting 4,250 books; 1,397 journals; 10 magazines and 99 videos/audio resources covering 329 subject areas grouped into 40 major areas with the capacity of being expanded to millions of titles in variable disciplines.

    Others features are over 500 CDS of books and learning materials supplied by the university library to be digitised into the e-library and subscription to several world class digital libraries to be built through hyperlink into the Graduate School digital library, among others.