The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Alumni

  • ‘Alumni is key to universities’ success’

    The Vice Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), Prof Olanrewaju Fagbohun, has said that for Nigerian universities to overcome their challenges, the re-envisioning must begin with the alumni.

    Fagbohun spoke in Lagos at a lecture, titled: Roles of Alumni in Repositioning of Nigerian Universities to Stardom, during the inauguration of a new branch of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) alumni called Great Ife Mainland Metro (GIMM).

    The vice chancellor said there is strength in numbers, adding that a community is only as strong as the people who support it.

    According to him, however far a stream flows, it never forgets its source.

    Fagbohun said: “Whatever most graduates of Nigerian universities would say they are today, part of the credit must go to their universities. So, becoming more involved in the affairs of these universities in these challenging times can be our way of saying ‘thank you’.”

    The vice chancellor noted that the involvement of the alumni remained critical to their alma mater.

    He said: “The opportunities and ways we can give back are endless. By becoming more involved, we are protecting our past in the way it will continue to signpost our future, at the same time helping today’s students become tomorrow’s leaders.”

    Fagbohun said putting Nigerian universities on the path of stardom is doable, he added that governments would always have a critical role to play because of the high costs involved in setting up advanced research facilities and capabilities.

  • 1992 Alumni renovates UNILAG’s College of Medicine

    As part of efforts to return the College of Medicine (CMUL), University of Lagos (UNILAG) to former glory, the 1992 Alumni set of the school has renovated one of the students’ hostels.

    This is  to mark their 25 years anniversary as professional doctors. They, in addition, renovated one of the hostels’ toilet, bathroom and the kitchen.

    Shedding light on the efforts o f the alumni, chairman of the group,   Dr. Ajibayo Adeyeye, praised the contribution of the 1992 set to embark on such laudable project.

    Dr. Adeyeye said; “It is applaudable to see people doing well. And one can say the 1992 set of this great institution, has done well for the school at large. Though, the government is not funding the school so well, yet there’s a need to keep the school at the same standard where we left it. Other Alumni set of the school should take a que from this and others that have done something similar, to improve the college infrastructure, and keep the standard where it used to be when we were students.”

    Collaborating Dr. Adeyeye’s statement, one of the 1992 set, Dr. Adebimpe Adebajo acknowledged the influence of the institution on her career and her peers, “As a group, we realised some years ago that we all left medical school nearly 25 years ago. At least, some of us are dead and the many of us that are much alive are doing well- in and outside the shores of this country. If not for this college, we won’t be where we are. And we just want to thank God and give back to the college which is why we renovated the school’s toilet, bathroom, and the kitchen in one of the hostels.”

  • OAU Alumni to launch Lagos new branch

    OAU Alumni to launch Lagos new branch

    The national body of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) alumni will, on November 22, inaugurate a new branch in Lagos.

    Called the Great Ife Mainland Metro (GIMM), the branch has elected Adekunbi Akin-Taylor as its president.

    Speaking with The Nation after his election,  Akin-Taylor said the event would hold at OAU Guest House/Hotel on Opebi Street in Ikeja at 4 pm.

    She called for donations or brochure felicitation advert to enable the association execute projects at OAU.

  • Your support has made AAUA better, VC tells alumni

    Your support has made AAUA better, VC tells alumni

    The Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State, Prof Igbekele Ajibefun, has hailed the school’s alumni for supporting the management to realise its goals.

    The VC’s commendation followed a donation of computers to the school by members of the alumni association during their 2017 convention, which held on the campus last weekend.

    Prof Ajibefun, represented by his deputy (Administration), Prof Olugbenga Ige, said he was delighted to see the association grow within a short period of its existence. He noted that the association had become a major contributor to the growth and development of the university.

    The VC said: “The management notes with pride, your consistent contributions, as well as the lofty dreams you nurture to develop your alma mater. We commend your efforts in setting up an endowment scheme for indigent students.”

    Donating the set of computers on behalf of the association, Its President, Mr Patrick Oluyide, said the gesture was part of the collaboration with the university to eradicate the challenges associated with the issuance of certificates and administration of academic transcripts.

    He said:“As part of our efforts, we are donating computers to the Registry Division, which has offices, such as Examinations and Records, Statistics Unit, and University Advancement Office. We are positive that these machines will increase efficiency and remove the air of unpredictability that currently clouds the activities of these vital units.”

    Oluyide urged members of the staff to continue to be friendly with students, noting that a university is nothing without students.

    He said: “Remove students from the university community and what you have left cannot be called a school. We, therefore, urge members of staff to create good and lasting memories of customer’s delight in the minds of students. If they are treated well, they will come back and give back. We must consider this important because a university that cannot depend on its alumni has failed.”

    He praised the Prof Ajibefun-led management for cooperating with the association in moving the school forward. He also praised the Acting Director of the University Advancement Office, Dr Kikelomo Olugbemi, for strengthening the relationship between the university and the alumni body.

    The VC, who took delivery of the computers on behalf of the school, thanked the alumni, saying their gesture was making their alma mater better.

    Prof Ajibefun said: “We are aware and appreciative of your various donations and programmes targeted at improving on our services. Your past donations, including office equipment, power generating set, and the computers you have given today are all laudable. We are grateful to you for the ongoing building of male and female hall of residence.”

    Keynote speaker at the convention lecture titled: Strategies for transforming from cost centre to profit centre: Personal and organisational perspectives, Mr Yinka Olugbodi, urged the university to give priority to entrepreneurship in its service delivery.

  • FUTO alumni begin N220m housing project

    The Alumni Association, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), at the weekend flagged off a N220 million housing project for members of staff of the institution.

    The project which would provide 20-unit houses will be completed within one year.

    Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony, President of the Association, Ndubuisi Chijioke, said the building project would gulp N220 million.

    He also said the staff quarters would have steady supply of electricity.

    ”The FUTO Alumni Association has decided to build 20 units apartments for the university staff quarters. It is going to be energy efficient for 24 hours, with batteries and inverters. This will cost the association about N220 million.”

    Chijioke, said the decision to build the apartments was driven by the feedback the Association got from the authorities of the institution on the immediate areas they could intervene, adding that the buildings would comprise of four-bedroom, three-bedroom semi -detached, among others.

    Also, two brilliant students with Cumulative Grade Point Averages (CGPA) of 4.0 in their 200-Level were offered scholarship by the Association.

    The President, presented the benefitting students with a cheque of N100,000.00 at a short ceremony held in the Senate Chambers.

    He disclosed that the students will continue to enjoy the gesture as long as they maintained 4.0 CGPA.  He added that the association also selected 20 graduates to undergo Graduate Training Internship Programme, to help both the unemployed and underemployed among them.

    Speaking, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Francis Eze, said the management, members of staff and students were delighted by the gestures of the Association.

    He commended the group for the initiative, adding that the new set of houses will go a long way to cushion the accommodation challenges faced by the staff of the university.

  • EKSU VC seeks alumni support

    Vice Chancellor (VC), Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, Prof Samuel Bandele, has called on the alumni of the institution to contribute towards the development of their alma mater.

    He gave the advice while receiving the 1985/1989 Sociology graduates, who donated a generator to their former department through its Head, Dr Toyin Adefolaju.

    The VC praised the set led by Mrs. Toyin Onisile for its gesture, urging others to emulate them.

    Mrs Onisile said it was important for the Set to give back the university which contributed to their success in life.

    In 2015, the 1985/1989 Set donated a giant photocopier to the university and gave financial assistance to an indigent medical student last year.

  • LASU alumni intervene in crisis

    The Lagos State University Alumni Association has inaugurated eight-member panel to find a lasting solution to the incessant crisis by some staff unions.

    The committee, inaugurated at Protea Hotel GRA Ikeja on Tuesday, is expected to meet all stakeholders in the institution, learn their grievances and proffer lasting solutions. At the end, the committee’s submissions and recommendations will be submitted to the Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode who is also the Visitor to the school.

    In recent times, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) LASU chapter, have alleged victimisation of some of its members by the current management, the latest being the ASUU-LASU chairman Dr Isaac Oyewunmi.

    National President of the alumni body, Major General Cecil Esekhaigbe (rtd), said it was shameful that LASU had fallen from its position of eminence among Nigerian universities  due to unending internal crisis.

    Esekhaigbe said:  “Everybody in the institution’s set up suffer from the issues – be it students, lecturers or management ; but the alumni will not fold our hands and watch the school submerged due to crisis that can be resolved.

    “Lack of trust, unnecessary tension and administrative set up are the causes of the crisis which we are confident that the committee will find a lasting solution to through their fact-finding mission as the huge investments of the Lagos State government will not be allowed to waste.”

    The Chairman of the LASU alumni Board of Trustees (BoT), Mr Fatai Shonoiki, expressed optimism that the committee would succeed considering the calibre of personalities on it.

    He said: “I am sure all LASU stakeholders- Governing Council, management, workers and students will benefit from the recommendations of the committee whose members were also students when the institution was in its glorious years and when crisis began to reduce the popularity of the school.”

    Chairman of the committee, Mr Norrison Quakers (SAN), said the committee had three weeks to submit its report.

    He added that old students of the institution decided to intervene because they were not satisfied with the state of things in their alma mater.

    “We are going to listen to all stakeholders in the university. We all know that this is the beginning; we will ask what the cause of the crisis is, why the grievances, why they are expressing their grievances in that way, and what can be done to stop it.

    “We must ensure the grievances are stopped and academic activities continue on campus which is the strength of Lagos as a state.  You cannot have an institution in the state which projects something else that is not the policy and vision of the founding fathers of the state,” he added.

     

  • Alumni to improve school’s security, infrastructure

    Alumni of Federal Government Girl’s College (FEGGICOLLA) at Akure, Ondo State capital, have pledged to provide security and infrastructure, among other things, to reinforce the school.

    They  spoke at a media briefing at the weekend as part of activities marking the association’s 40th anniversary.

    Its President Mong Vann said the projects became necessary, following the recent kidnapping in schools in Lagos, Ogun and Borno states.

    She said: “We are concerned about the threat of insecurity to the girl-child. This is why we have decided to embark on the projects, which include illumination of the school premises, such as the classrooms, dormitory, as well as street lights, using solar energy.”

    Vann said the alumni also planned to reinforce the school’s fence and provide solar energy to power the classrooms, dormitories, laboratories, street lights and bore hole.

    The alumni president pledged that the projects would be handled and managed by the association before handing it over to the school.

    She said: “A maintenance committee of the association, in conjunction with the school management, will also be set up to monitor the project.”

    Vann said the association would hold a fundraiser/reunion dinner to raise N100 million on July 15, while the 40th anniversary celebration will hold in Akure from October 27 to 29.

    She urged the association’s members and other well-meaning Nigerians to support the projects.

    Chairperson of the 40th anniversary committee, Oseyemi Fagbamigbe, noted that the school’s projects were in progress, adding that the association would continually maintain the facilities.

    She said the association would carry out more projects, besides those listed to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

    According to her, members will use upcoming events to reconnect and network.

    Fagbamigbe said: “Our aim as an association is to carry out philanthropic and other socio-cultural activities in service to mankind. We also aim to promote unity, love and encouragement among our members, while encouraging the overall development of the school.”

     

  • UNIZIK unveils alumni for Confucius Institute

    UNIZIK unveils alumni for Confucius Institute

    The cultural partnership between the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Awka, Anambra State, and the Chinese government through Confucius Institute has been elevated with the inauguration of an alumni body of the institute.
    Deputy Consul-General of the Chinese Embassy in Lagos, Guan Zhongqi, was joined by the UNIZIK Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Joseph Ahaneku, to inaugurate the body.
    Zhongqi said the embassy was satisfied with the growing of cultural exchanges between China and Nigeria, saying: “Nigeria and China are brothers and partners; we share many similarities and common interests. The friendship between both countries has been deeply rooted and grown steadily since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1971”.
    The envoy said China remained committed to solidifying its cooperation with Nigeria by establishing lasting, stable and mutually-beneficial partnerships in different sectors of common interest.
    He hailed the institute’s teachers and the university for supporting China-Nigeria cultural exchanges. While unveiling the Chinese Studies Alumni Association of Nigeria, Zhongqi expressed optimism that the institute would continue to play key role in bridging the cultural differences between China and Nigeria and cultivate more ways to promote Chinese culture in Nigeria.
    Prof Ahaneku recalled that partnership between the Chinese Confuscius Institute and UNIZIK started in 2008 to promote learning of Chinese language, culture, tradition and history. The VC said the HSK programme introduced by UNIZIK had created opportunities for students study Chinese language, adding that the school hoped to churn out graduates who would teach Chinese language effectively.
    He praised the Chinese embassy, language teachers and volunteers who, he said, showed commitment to the success of the partnership. He said the partnership had since gone beyond cultural exchange to science, medicine, agriculture and architecture.
    Ahaneku said: “Our students and scholars who are in various universities in China under scholarship are doing well. For three years running, they have done so well. Last year, the UNIZIK Confucius Institute was declared the best and the only institution in Africa that received that award.”
    The Director of Confucius Institute, Wang Bo, said the association is membered by Nigerians who completed their Chinese language studies on scholarships. He revealed that 80 per cent of Nigerian students studying in China are UNIZIK students, which was why the Chinese government established the institute in the university.
    Wang listed the objectives of the association to include harmonising and creating platform for students to relate with colleagues from different universities in China and further enhance the strong bilateral relationship between Nigeria and China in diverse sectors of the economy.
    Highpoint of the occasion was the conferment of Research Fellow on Zhongqi by the Chinese Cultural Research Institute in UNIZIK. The envoy and the VC pledged more support for the institute.

  • Unilag alumni’s N3m scholarships in honour of Sofoluwe

    Twenty brilliant but indigent undergraduates of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) will receive N150,000 each worth of scholarships tomorrow.

    The scholarships, which are courtesy of UNILAG Alumni Association, Lagos State branch, are in commemoration of the yearly Adetokunbo Babatunde Sofoluwe Memorial Lecture.

    Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the alumni, Dr Lukeman Adeoti, said the association would also visit two orphanage homes- Module Cole, Yaba and Red Cross.

    The late Sofoluwe was the first vice chancellor of UNILAG to die in office. He was 62.

    Speaking at a briefing on the school campus, Adeoti described the late Sofoluwe as an “embodiment of simplicity, erudite scholar, and a man who demystified the position of a vice chancellor’’.

    According to him, it has become a culture of UNILAG to honour the late Sofoluwe whose contributions to the school and society could not be over emphasised.

    “This goes to show us that when we are alive, we have to be good to people. This man died five years ago and he is still being celebrated,” he said.

    He added that the association was looking forward to establishing the Sofoluwe Foundation to immortalise the deceased’s good deeds.

    The Chairman of the committee for the lecture Prof Oluwayemisi Obashoro-John, said an exhibition of the deceased’s lifetime, such as  the love letters he exchanged with his wife, a compendium of his works, especially his first academic and last academic papers, among others, would be on display.

    The lecture entitled: “Administration/management of a university in a recessed economy” would be delivered by the Vice Chancellor of Sokoto State University, Prof Nuhu Yaqub.