The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Alumni

  • Varsity alumni not doing enough, says UI VC

    Varsity alumni not doing enough, says UI VC

    The University of Ibadan Vice Chancellor, Prof Abel Olayinka, has said that alumni associations of universities have not done enough to reduce the decline in the quality of education offered by Nigerian tertiary institutions.

    Using University of Lagos (UNILAG) as a case study, Olayinka highlighted ways alumni can do more for the current students.

    Last Thursday, in his lecture at the 4th annual Memorial Lecture in honour of Prof. Adetokunbo Sofoluwe, who died in office as vice chancellor of UNILAG, Olayinka said alumni can offer internship or work experience placement, give scholarship as well as provide opportunities for mentoring, and career counseling.

    Olayinka who was represented by Prof. Olugbenga Ajayi, urged the university to reach out to its successful alumni.

    “The University of Lagos probably has nearly 200,000 alumni who hold responsible positions in government and commanding heights of the economy, including the current Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo.  All these graduates of the university have something to offer to current students in terms of their time, treasures or talent,” he said.

    The Professor of Applied Geophysics lamented the deterioration of tertiary education in Nigeria as a result of economic crunch and political instability between 1967 and 1999.

    He said the golden age of tertiary education was in the 1960s when there was restricted enrolment, maximum intellectual exposure, international staff, institutional autonomy and academic freedom as well as solid foundation and culture of research, which is no longer the case today.

    Olayinka said: “There was a general decline in standard, as typified by inadequate funding, poor quality of students admitted for undergraduate courses, bleak employment opportunities for the graduates, a dearth of research output and the exodus of key academics, among others.

    Asked if there is any hope for tertiary education in the country, Olayinka said all hope is not lost as the revitalization of the university started since 2000.

    Underscoring the importance of good schools, he said: “World class universities are a boost in a country’s competitiveness in a global knowledge economy. It is imperative for countries to raise higher level employment skills to sustain a globally competitive research base.”

    The late Prof. Adetokunbo Sofoluwe slumped in his office on May 12, 2012, which led to his death.

  • UNILAG alumni elect new executives

    The University of Lagos (UNILAG) Alumni Association, Lagos State chapter, will begin a new administration of two years with Dr Lukumon Adeoti as its new chairman.

    He won a landslide victory during the association’s AGM/election last Sunday. He polled 210 votes to Dr Yusuf Fassy’s 58, and Oladimeji Dipo’s 57 votes.

    Adeoti, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geophysics, said his  plans include: provision of scholarship opportunities for indigent and outstanding students; securing an office space for the alumni in Ikeja; encourage exchange programmes with local and international institutions, among others.

    He also said he would initiate UNILAG sports week and partner with the national executives if need arises.

    Meanwhile, the immediate past chairman, Dr Ayodele Ogunleye noted areas of concern the new boss should address.

    He proposed that the number of alumni members on the university governing council be raised to 10 in order to enable them play significant roles and contribute financially and otherwise to their alma mater; that the university admission ratio should be renegotiated to include 30 per cent of Alumni children; and a survey to see how alumni associations could assist in combating increasing drop-out rates in universities.

    He said: “One of the best ways that our universities can witness continuous growth and development is through involvement of the various alumni associations. In order to achieve this major role, both JAMB and the Federal Government should redefine the admission ratio to include 30 per cent of alumni children. By so doing, many alumni will be ready to contribute financially towards the overall development of their alma mater… The attachment has to be exploited for the good of the university and the continued development of products of such institutions.”

    He noted that his administration, which should have been four years of two tenures, was extended to five due to challenges faced by the association last year.

    Others elected executives are: Vice Chairman, Mr Samuel Anyamele; Secretary, Mr Olusegun Alimson who won unopposed; to be assisted by Mr Olayinka Shonubi; Treasurer, Mr Oluranti Ebun (Unopposed); Social secretary, Mr Taiwo Ajasa; Publicity secretary, Mrs Florence Okere; Internal auditor, Mrs Oluwabukola Ajibade; and Financial secretary, Mr Adedeji Olashore.

  • Stop encroaching on CRUTECH’s land, alumni warn

    The alumni association of Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) has condemned encroachment on the institution’s land by its host community. This followed a recent protest by staff and students of the school against alleged invasion of the school land by residents of the host community.

    Speaking in Calabar, the national president of the alumni association, Mr. Eyam Abeng, described the development as “embarrassing”, as he called on Cross River Governor Ben Ayade to urgently intervene.

    Abeng said members of the host community took advantage of the inadequate attention given to the university by the government, noting that nobody would be bold to encroach on the school land if government had not abandoned it.

    Abeng wondered why people would claim ownership of a government land, saying the Land Use Act gave all land to the government. Since the university belongs to the government, he said, there is no justification for invasion of its land by anyone.

    He said the alumni body would not fold its arm to watch “unscrupulous elements” encroaching on the school land.

    Abeng said: “We are disappointed by the development. The Alumni body is very upset, because the host community is supposed to be partner of the university and not invaders. We have visited the quarters to ascertain the level of damage these unscrupulous elements have done by illegally claiming ownership of CRUTECH land.

    “We blame them not, because if the state government in the last seven years had shown interest in the university as the only state-owned institution, this would have been avoided. Nobody would have had the effrontery to engage in such embarrassing act.

    “We want to assure the university management, staff and students that they are not in this fight alone. The alumni body will use every available means within the ambit of the law to reclaim the land already taken and we will ensure we stop further encroachment.”

    While expressing fear over security situation in the university as a result of the development, Abeng appealed to Ayade to beef up security around the institution.

  • Alumni plan N10m e-library for alma mater

    Old Students of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA), School, Yaba, Lagos State have proposed to build an electronic library worth N10 million for their alma mater.

    They began contributing to the fund during a gala to celebrate the school’s 60th anniversary at the Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja.

    The women said their fondness for the school’s values was the rationale behind their decision.

    One of them, Executive Director,  Project Alert, Mrs Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, said: “If you are a product of OLA, these qualities will always be found in you: morals, precedence, standing tall, professionalism, honesty, self-esteem. As an association, we plan to leave a legacy in the school. We want to create an e-library because we want to reduce pressure and budget on the conventional library. We want the pupils to have access to up to date information. We want to be modern and current. The library would include 10 computers, internet and printer, as well relevant software.”

    The response to the project was impressive as many of the alumni immediately wrote cheques or pledged amounts, some of which were up to N1 million.

    At the event, a former principal of the school between 1984 and 1994, Mrs fehintoluwa Olubobokun could not hide her joy at seeing her products doing so well in life.

    She said: “I feel very good and fulfilled as a teacher. The greatest joy of a teacher is to nurture a child and see the child grow up and be in very responsible positions, which is what I have witnessed today with my girls. They were tiny but very good and brilliant. They listened to all instructions in those days. It was such a joy being with them then just like I am very happy to be with them again.”

    Mrs Olubobokun, however, decried the falling standard of education all over the world.

    She said: “It is most unfortunate that things are really retrogressing all over the world, not just in Nigeria. In those days, in schools, in a class of about 30 you would find the pupils very ambitious, intelligent and disciplined, only two that may be lagging behind and once you counsel them, they will change. But these days, there is no discipline at home, parents are not available. Even in schools, they cannot discipline the children. The parents would protest. So practically, they just leave the children and that is the problem. What we need are guidance for the children from the home, the community and then the teachers.”

    She urged the government to improve funding to schools.

     

  • Alumni doctors give back to UNILAG

    The 2005 graduates of the College of Medicine University of Lagos (CMUL) have donated items, including training mannequins for medical students.

    They also organised career fair for the students worth N2.6 million.

    Speaking at their reunion dinner at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, Victoria Island, Dr Omolabake Okunubi, a Medical Scientist with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), said the alumni saw the need to give back to their alma mater having realised some of the gains of Medical practice after graduation.

    She said the idea of the reunion was to meet colleagues again after 10 years of graduation and exchange ideas on ways to move the nation’s health sector forward.

    Okunubi, who noted that about 400 students were trained at the fair, said: “One of the things we are doing is to organise a career fair for medical students in the College on prospects of medical practice which we were not privy to until we graduated from the College. Some of the students don’t know what next after graduation, so this informed the title of the career fair: ‘After Medical School, What Next?’”

    Dr Ini Usoro, an occupational physician with IBM, Lagos, said students must add value to their degrees while still in school.

    “Medical knowledge can be applied to any field. I want to advise those young ones coming behind us not to leave the College with the degree alone but with something extra such as the desire to make a difference wherever they find themselves.  They should strive to be solutions and create change in their environment,” he said.

  • Hot debate about funding at LASPOTECH alumni lecture

    Hot debate about funding at LASPOTECH alumni lecture

    The topic, “Creating New Funding Sources towards the Survival of Tertiary Institutions” was hotly debated at the Fourth Lecture Series of the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) Alumni Association last Wednesday with some of the speakers and discussants calling for a cost to be placed on education to ensure quality.

    The lecture, held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), had Prof Adele Jinadu and Mr Samuel Olatunji as lead speakers; while Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB), Mr Olawumi Gasper; and Mr Samuel Ayininuola were the discussants.

    On his part, Prof Jinadu argued that as a social obligation the government should continue to be major funder of education.  He called for increased funding that takes into cognizance the effects of inflation, and urged the government to block loopholes in public service that allowed public officers live big.

    “The federal and state governments must continue to provide funding for education.  We must not leave it to market forces alone.  Though funding has improved over the years, it remains a problem in state institutions.  But there is a problem because the funding does not adjust for inflation.

    “There must be provision to bridge the social class gap.  It is difficult to accept there are no funds when there are so many leakages and political officers enjoy perks,” he said.

    However, Olatunji differed in his view, arguing that the time was right to put a price on education. He said with a huge population of youths, the demand for education in Nigeria is high resulting in pressure on facilities, as revenue to government continues to decrease.

    He faulted the current trend where primary and secondary education have become more expensive than tertiary education – with some private schools charging as high as N5 million per session compared to N50,000 charged by some federal universities. He gave an example of how the British government re-adjusted fees from 3,000 to 9,000 pounds under Cameron to reflect reality and recommended the introduction of student loans like is done abroad.

    “What should be done is to ensure we price education more reasonably. The rundown state of education will continue until we address this bizarre pricing of education.

    “We need to price realistically otherwise the value of what we are getting will be degrees that are good for nothing,” he said.

    Arguing along the same line, Ayininuola, Managing Director, Energy Bank, Ghana, said Ghanaian Varsities were replete with Nigerians who pay huge sums of money as fees compared to what obtains in Nigeria.

    “Education is expensive. Users of education will have to pay more. For universities in Ghana, you have to pay in dollars. And everywhere is filled with Nigerians. The tertiary institutions here can benefit from that adjustment,” he said.

    To raise funds outside government for tertiary education, Ayininuola suggested institutions get community involvement through a concept known as crowd funding.

    “Tap into your community. You can’t use crowd funding for recurrent expenditure but for specific capital projects. Once people are convinced, they will give to support your projects,” he said.

    He also counseled Nigerian tertiary institutions to block leakages of funds through  corruption to be able to attract international grants like their Ghanaian counterparts.

    Giving his suggestion, Gasper said funding outside government could come from institutions setting up small business hubs to support the creative ideas of their graduates.

    “If you support young boys with bright ideas and get equity, they will generate money,” he said.

    Gasper also underscored the importance of alumni/institution relationship.

    Throwing more light on the relevance of alumni to funding, Olatunji said institutions that cultivate their alumni relationship reap bountiful investments.

    “The alumni are your most important products.  You need to love them; support and embrace them.  Universities in the UK got 774 million pounds from alumni alone,” he said.

    In his speech, President of the LASPOTECH Alumni Assocation, Mr Muyiwa Olugbile said the old students of the school were playing their role as development partners through the lecture series and hoped it would generate plausible solutions to the institution’s funding problems.

    “It is my belief that this topic being treated today by prominent and erudite scholars shall in no small measure proffer acceptable solutions to the dwindling resources available to our institution in particular,” he said.

    Chairman of the occasion, Prof Tajudeen Gbadamosi, who also chairs the institution’s governing council, said he was pleased by the quality of deliberations and promised to implement some of the ideas.

    “I am going away with two things: the need to eliminate leakages, and the need to establish a strong bond between the institution and its alumni.  You are preaching to the converted.  I believe in the alumni movement,” he said.

    Former president of the association, Mr Rotimi Edu, urged Gbadamosi to work closely with the alumni.

     

  • Don urges partnership between varsities, alumni

    Don urges partnership between varsities, alumni

    An international scholar and immediate past Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Wesley University of Science and Technology in Ondo, Prof Tola Badejo, has stressed the need for synergy between higher institutions and their alumni associations. This partnership, he said, will facilitate facility and education development.

    The former VC spoke at a public lecture organised by the alumni association of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State with the theme: The university and alumni: 21st Century expectations and realities.

    He said since private and public sectors are controlled by graduates of higher institutions, universities should partner with their ex-students to enable them get funding for infrastructure projects and research work.

    He said: “The most challenging role of alumni association is to work hand-in-hand with their alma mater to generate extra funds for development and academic cause. Development of any higher institution could not be achieved individually as it used to be in the 19th Century; it takes partnership with network of donors and group work to produce fruitful results.

    “Establishment of endowments, which is the major source of funding in many universities in the developed countries, should be intensified to complement funding provided by school proprietors that is not always adequate.”

    The guest lecturer stressed the need for the alumni to mentor fresh graduates and monitor their career growth up to retirement. This, he said, will encourage them to give back to their alma mater.

    Badejo advised university administrators to be more aggressive in seeking funds from channels other than their proprietors, citing that partnership with their alumni associations would help to achieve the aim.

    He praised the AAUA Alumni Association for its progress in short period of its establishment.

    He said: “I discovered that AAUA is not as old as I thought. The university was established 16 years ago and had its first set of graduates in 2004. It is highly commendable that, despite administrative challenges the alumni association might have had, this relatively new university now has  highly formidable alumni association with branches already established in the catchment areas as well as in the Federal Capital Territory. You have performed a feat that took many older universities more than two decades to achieve.”

  • LBS Northern region alumni meet in Abuja

    Alumni of Lagos Business School (LBS) in the North gathered at the Northern Zonal Dinner organised by the LBS Alumni Association (LBSAA) for high-level networking and entertainment.

    The yearly event, which held last week  at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja was one of the most anticipated social events of LBS outside Lagos.

    President, Northern Zone of LBSAA, Nze Chidi Duru, said the Abuja Zonal Dinner was memorable as many institution’s alumni who have distinguished themselves in their chosen fields and other key business leaders in Abuja and its environs attended.

    “The event created a platform for high-level networking among icons of the Nigerian business community and highlight the School’s leading role in nurturing Nigeria’s business leaders,” he said.

    According to Ms Bunmi Afolabi, director, Alumni Relations, LBS, alumni who reside and work in the north, enjoyed the evening, which offered great learning and entertainment.

    She said: “We had two profound professionals – Mr Babatunde Fowler, Chairman Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Mustapha Bello, Chairman, Invest in Northern Nigeria Limited – speak on some critical business issues at the dinner. The event was spiced with rib-cracking comedy and pleasant music.”

    Many corporate organisations supported the event. They included Grand Towers Plc, Airtel Nigeria, Fidelity Bank plc, Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited and MessageWise Limited.

  • Alumni inaugurate projects

    Alumni inaugurate projects

    The old students of Ekiti State Government College, Ado Ekiti have inaugurated several projects to mark the 30th anniversary of the school.

    The institution was established as Unity Secondary School on September 6, 1985, before being re-christened Ekiti State Government College, sequel to the creation of Ekiti State on October 1, 1996.

    The alumni, who celebrated the founder’s day with a dinner and award night for deserving teachers and pupils, said the gesture was to give back to the school which contributed to their success in life.

    The projects inaugurated included a health centre, e-library, lecture theatre, female hostel, motorized borehole and a block of six classrooms.

    Principal of the college, Mrs. Roseline Animasaun, who was impressed, said the alumni must be conscious that government alone cannot fund education, adding that contributions from them would help save the school from collapse.

    She said: “With the current trend in Nigerian education sector and as applicable to our school, we have the mandate to reestablish the lost glory of education and make it a seat of academic excellence, and to provide education that will make our students very productive and useful members of the society.

    “You don’t need an analyst to ascertain whether the college is fulfilling these aims or not, all you need to do is to look into the body of the old students and see how accomplished the college is in relations to these aims.

    “These students spread across various professions are a testimony to our hard work, focus and commitment in discharging our hallowed duties”.

    The Chairman, Anniversary Planning Committee and Vice President of the association, Mr David Oluwatimilehin , urged stakeholders to help reverse the noticeable fall in the standard of education in the college.

    “As students then, we used to get favours because our school was honourable and respected. We have to sacrifice our time, money and knowledge to plan and re-launch all these values, so that this school can remain the best among its peers in the State,” he said.

     

  • FUTA seeks alumni support

    The Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Prof Adebiyi Daramola, has urged former students of the university to support its development.

    Daramola, who spoke at the official inauguration of the FUTA Alumni Association Building, said alumni represent a significant and vocal constituency in the university community.

    He said: “The alumni play a very important role in the transformation of any university of the 21st Century. The great universities like Harvard and Cambridge could not have been what they were today if their alumni had turned their backs after graduating without giving back to the university that helped them.

    “These two institutions generate billions of dollars annually from the contribution made by their Alumni Association and I believe we are capable of achieving this same feat at FUTA.

    “It is for this reason I charge you to hold firmly, the cord that binds the university and the alumni together.”

    The VC praised the present executives of FUTA Alumni led by Mr. Akin Aina, for completing the project which began 10 years ago.

    Speaking, Aina lauded members of the association for not relenting in their effort to complete the building.

    He particularly praised the former Chancellor of the university, the Emir of Lafia, Alhaji Isa Mustafa, whom the building was named after, for supporting the association.

    Aina, however, appealed to prominent Nigerians to support the group to raise the N30million needed to fit the building with 1,000 seats.

    The highlights of the occasion were the donation from the governments of Ondo, Plateau and Nasarawa States, as well as members of the Alumni Association from all over the country.