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Tag: DON

  • Don tasks firm son CSR

    Don tasks firm son CSR

    A professor of Marketing and Public Relations, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Prof. Joseph Uduji, has tasked firms and corporate organizations to adopt the Nigerian concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) if they want peace and development in their host communities.

    Uduji, who gave the counsel while presenting the 199th inaugural lecture of the university on the topic: “Corporate Social Responsibility in a marketing context: A responsible business CRS pyramid for Nigeria”, called on corporate organisations and religious bodies to live up to expectations in performing their social responsibilities in their host communities.

    Noting that the Nigerian concept of corporate social responsibility is remarkably different from the Western version, Uduji lamented that many firms, especially the multinationals, had always adopted the Western concept of CSR in dealing with their host communities.

    This, he said, had made it impossible for most of the host communities to understand that the companies were helpful to their course.

    According to him, the Nigerian concept of CSR should be aimed towards addressing the realities of socio-economic challenges of the nation and the host community in particular. These, he noted should include poverty alleviation, healthcare provision, infrastructural development, among others.

    Prof Uduji further noted that in developed nations, poverty alleviation, healthcare provision, among others were not considered as CSR, but government’s responsibility and acts of charity.

    “But, these are truly what such host communities need. So, in Corporate Social Responsibility, the needs of the people must be looked into. The context or argument is that Corporate Social Responsibility initiative in Nigeria should be guided by the social cultural influences”, he said.

    Prof. Uduji therefore proposed a Corporate Social Responsibility pyramid for Nigeria that will challenge the Western version.

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    He listed the pyramid to include: Economic Responsibility, Philanthropic Responsibility, Legal Responsibility and Ethical Responsibility.

    He explained that after providing Economic Responsibility, which has to do with investment, job creation, and payment of taxes, companies should go to philanthropic responsibility, whereby they set aside funds for social responsibility, and then go to legal and ethical responsibilities.

    While stating that his argument was not findings but speculative, the scholar therefore, invited other scholars to challenge his

    The Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, and chairman of the event, Professor Charles Igwe, who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, UNEC, Prof Dan Nwachukwu, commended Professor Uduji for his elucidating lecture and described as a prolific writer, a great scholar, a great academic, a pastor, who supervised twenty PhD candidates within a short time.

    ”Today, through this lecture, Prof Uduji has been able to prove the need for every corporate body to be alive to their corporate social responsibilities and I want to thank him. He has justified the fact that he was promoted to the rank of a professor in this great university. You will agree with me that his lecture was worth it,” the Vice Chancellor said.

  • Don, Sani, NAS proffer roadmap for girl-child education

    Don, Sani, NAS proffer roadmap for girl-child education

    The Deputy Rector (Academics) of Kaduna Polytechnic, Dr Grace Jamila Bila-Jolaosho, the former Senator representing Kaduna Central in the 8th Senate, Senator Shehu Sani and the National Association of Seadogs, Pyrates Confraternity (NAS/PC) have proffered a roadmap to ensure education for the Girl- Child and children living with disability in Northern Nigeria.

    They all spoke at the 15th edition of the Ralph Opara Memorial Lecture with the theme: Quality Education for The Girl-Child and Children living with Disabilities in Northern Nigeria: Challenges and Way Forward organised by NAS/PC at Arew​a House.

    Dr Jolaosho while stressing the importance of education as a fundamental human right lamented that girls and children in Northern Nigeria face barriers such as education system, cultural practices, poverty, religious affiliations and negative social perceptions in accessing education.

    She pointed out that in some northern states, the gender inequality in education is greater against the girl-child with or without disability adding that children with disability are severely discriminated against.

    ‘’On the other hand, children and persons with disabilities suffer devaluation, discrimination and disconnection from family, community and society owing to misperception of their ability to study or perform any task meaningfully. As such most persons with disabilities are denied their human right to education so driven by circumstances to eke out being homeless as beggars, and vagrants. Similarly, the girl child suffers discrimination, early marriage, child labour, gender-based violence, gender stereotyping and teenage pregnancy,’’ Dr Jolaosho said.

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    According to her, while 12 states in Northern Nigeria have domesticated Persons with Disabilities Law and a general level of compliance, challenges in accessing education still persists.

    Dr Jolaosho identified poverty and insecurity as other factors preventing children in Northern Nigeria from accessing education.

    ‘’Another challenge to quality education in contemporary Northern Nigeria is security, issues of banditry and kidnapping. Women and girls are the most affected in times of conflict and crisis being victims of horrendous acts of violence including rape, torture, human trafficking, and sex slavery. We are all familiar with the accounts of bandits and kidnappers capturing many girls from schools across the region with many still currently in their captivity.

    “This situation has discouraged parents in such vulnerable areas from sending their children to school. In some rural areas especially, the activities of bandits and kidnappers have crippled the educational system since the safety of the teachers and the students cannot be guaranteed. The situation is so bad that essential workers do not want to be posted to the rural areas to carry out their legitimate duties. The situation has further aggravated rural urban migration and the internal refugee situation because many parents and guardians have relocated to urban centers in a bid to escape the insecurity.’

    For the way forward, she recommended the hydra-headed monster of insecurity in Northern Nigeria and Nigeria as a whole must be tackled head-on, adding that the insecurity dimension of banditry and kidnapping are relatively recent developments in the region and if not arrested immediately, any investment in education, especially, as it affects the girl child and children with disabilities will remain a mirage.

    ‘’There is a need for continuous advocacy on the importance of availing the girl child and children with disabilities with quality education in Northern Nigeria. To this end, the media must take the lead in enlightenment of the public and creating more awareness against the militating challenges; beliefs and practices that encourage discrimination against inclusion of the girl-child and children with disabilities.’’

    Speaking, Senator Shehu Sani lamented that education had been neglected in Northern Nigeria and has triggered insecurity in the region.

    He bemoaned the fact that the failure to educate the nomads and the young children has been responsible for the series of insecurity in the region.

    Sani therefore recommended investment in education to ensure that Northern Nigeria comes out of its present crisis.

    The NAS Capoon, Mr Abiola Owoaje said NAS/PC was concerned about the state of education for the girl-child and children living with disabilities in Northern Nigeria which prompted it to feature it in the 15th education of the Ralph Opara Memorial Lecture.

    He described Opara as an outstanding Nigerian who joined Prof Wole Soyinka and five others to form the Pyrates Confraternity at the University College Ibadan which has sustained the social advocacy posture of speaking for the voiceless.

  • How to reduce mortality among expectant mothers, by don

    How to reduce mortality among expectant mothers, by don

    • NGO targets 5,000 women for outreach

    No fewer than 5,000 vulnerable pregnant women will be assisted by a group, Maternal and Reproductive Health Research Collective (MRHRC), on safe delivery, its founder, Prof. Bosede Afolabi, said yesterday.

    At the lunch of its campaign to reverse Nigeria’s profile as the country with the largest mortality rate, she said the service would be free. She hinted that 300 expectant mothers have been registered ‘even before the beginning of this campaign’.

    Afolabi, who is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, decried the poor state of hospitals in the country. She recalled that in 82,000 women died from pregnancy and child-birth complications in 2020.  

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    According to her, the number of deaths recorded in the country from pregnancy and childbirth was more than that of India with five times Nigeria’s population.

    She added: “The organisation has employed community health workers to help register them, follow them up, ensure they deliver and follow them up after delivery so they can be safe with their children.

    “If India could reduce their own, it is important for us to reduce ours. In the high income countries, the total number of women dying from pregnancy and child-birth complications is usually less than 10 sometimes, or less than 20 in one year, but for us, 82,000 is too much- 225 women died daily.

  • Don calls for issue-based campaigns

    Don calls for issue-based campaigns

    A lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication in Kogi State Polytechnic (KSP), Dr. Kabiru Tiamiyu, has called on Kogi State residents to endeavour to maintain peace, law and order, before, during and after the forthcoming governorship election.

    The teacher, who is the General Secretary of Bishop Delisle Old Students Association (BIDOSA) 95 Set, made the call in a media chat on the Kogi guber poll holding on November 11, 2023.

    Stressing the need for issued-based campaigns, Dr. Tiamiyu said political parties, their candidates and supporters should desist from politics of bitterness and acrimony.

    He maintained that only issue-based campaigns devoid of name-calling, attack on personalities and needless innuendoes can engender peace and lead to the election of the right candidate.

    “Kogi has always been a peaceful state. Therefore, there is every need for all in the state to maintain peace, law and order. There’s no need to create unnecessary tension in the state because of election.

    All parties and their candidates should promote unity and oneness. Campaigns should be based on issues and not attacks on personalities and imprecations,” Dr. Tiamiyu advised.

    The communication pundit further stated that “There is need for the government to provide a level-playing ground for all the candidates. At the end of the exercise, our prayer is for the best candidate to emerge – someone that will carry the entire Kogites along, giving a sense of belonging to everyone without any kind of discriminatory tendencies.”

    He added: “For those that are planning to destabilize the already peaceful state, they should have a rethink and desist from such act bearing in mind that there is no place to run to. Kogi is our home. Let’s make it thrive by embracing ourselves. Our diversity in the state is indeed our strength. November 11 will surely come and go. A winner must be declared. The aggrieved ones should toe the right path in channeling their grievances. Go to court to prove your case and not in the streets by causing mayhem.

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    “There is no doubt in my mind that INEC as the electoral umpire is more than ever ready to conduct a transparent governorship election in the state. The citizenry on their own part should ensure that they come out en masse to vote for the candidate of their choice. Our vote must count. One man one vote mantra must stand.

    “The government is working tirelessly to ensure that everything is being put in place for a free and fair election. The people should reciprocate this gesture by coming out to vote for a credible and trustworthy leader that will continue from where the outgoing governor, His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, would stop.”

            Observing that the candidates have so far conducted themselves appropriately, he remarked that “There is need to commend all the candidates for conducting themselves in an orderly and respectful manner. This shows their level of maturity which they need to sustain. Let them strongly caution their supporters and followers to exhibit every sense of civility and decorum in the course of the campaigns. We really don’t need to fight each other. Let’s see ourselves as one regardless of the political party we belong to. Election shouldn’t be a do-or-die affair.’

  • “Critical decisions needed to save national agencies, sectors”, says UI Don

    “Critical decisions needed to save national agencies, sectors”, says UI Don

    A professor of Neuroscience and Comparative Anatomy at the University of Ibadan, James Olopade, said that critical decisions are needed to rescue the majority of Nigeria’s national agencies and sectors.

    In view of this, Professor Olopade advised that the heads of the agencies should not be hesitant or afraid to make bold or daring decisions.

    He gave this advice while delivering the 532nd inaugural lecture of the University of Ibadan on behalf of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

    Professor Olopade noted that while everyone complains of the problems, leaders are expected to brainstorm to proffer solutions to the problems.

    He said a leader must be conscious that while he is seeking solutions to problems, there is an army that specialises in finding challenges with solutions.

    According to him, a leader should possess a far-sighted vision, a receptive ear, the ability to differentiate between deceit and advice, empathy towards those under his guidance, the willingness to endure insults, and most importantly, the intellectual capacity to coordinate these actions effectively.

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    The inaugural lecturer said Nigeria cannot afford to have headless bodies, double-headed monsters, figureheads, and elephant-headed projects.

    He concluded that while leadership remains tough, people who desire to serve must accept or take responsibility since it is the head that wags the tail.

    He said that the truth about elected office is that even if he is the right man for the job, a leader needs the popular vote to get to the office and that leadership demands that while in office, a leader has to do what is right and not necessarily what is popular.

    Professor Olopade’s primary research area was the cranial anatomy of Nigerian goat breeds, camels, and the local pig.

    He discovered a specific depression on the goat’s skull, which is now known as the Caudofrontal Depression of Olopade.

    His Inaugural Lecture was entitled “Headlines, Head-Start Research and Headships at Ibadan: A Veterinarian’s Academic Journey.”

  • Don encourages campus journalism

    A senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, (RUGIPO), Ondo State Mr Sunday Afolayan, has urged members of the institution’s Press Council (a body of student journalists in RUGIPO) to practise journalism within the framework of law to minimise hazards in their duties.

    Afolayan spoke as the week-long Press Week held on the campus. The yearly event featured tour to Fresh, 105.9 FM in Ibadan, a campaign tagged: Walk against suicide, as well as a novelty match, among other activities.

    Afolayan defined campus journalism as the ‘practice or act of gathering, processing and disseminating timely information within the four walls of an institution in order to satisfy the curiosity of other students on a public discourse.

    Speaking on the theme: ‘Campus journalism; Hazards and benefits,’ Afolayan said campus journalists cannot succeed in an environment where students are poorly informed by the activities on campus.

    He encouraged young practitioners to deviate from writing stories that could damage the hard earned reputation of the institution. Equally, Afolayan admonished them to report objectively and accurately, adding that this would boost the credibility of the media in RUGIPO.

    “The major roles of campus journalist is to inform the  students, educating the practitioners and the  school community through  publications, entertaining the audience, correcting the ills and social vices on campus and promoting the school culture,” Afolayan added.

    Afolayan explained that many journalists are bedeviled with intimidation from different angles.

    He Afolayan continued: “Intimidation can come from the school management which may deprive them from writing against ills on campus.

    “Also campus journalist may be subjected to censorship as the freedom of the press will be tampered with.

    “Any publishable stories will have to pass through the desk of the school management, to determine which one is good for publication and which one not publishable.

    “The management of any institution will always want publications that will boost the image of the institution. Other injurious information might not be allowed to go. This is because management knows what can build or destroy the image of the institution is in the hands of journalist which is your pen.

    “You are grooming yourself for the future. The reward may not be in monetary form but could sharpen your skill and intelligence which will fetch you more fame and wealth in the future.

    Afolayan said the practice of campus journalism could be hindered by factors ranging from dearth of funds, poor writing skills, management hostility, phobia for writing, poor reading culture among students, hatred, and negligence.

  • Don seeks greater attention for literacy

    By Our Reporter

    Former Dean Faculty of Education University of Lagos (UNILAG) Prof Olasupo Jegede has urged the government to pay more attention to literacy.

    He made the call at a lecture titled: ‘’Values and strategies of adult literacy campaign’’ organised by Rotary Club, Onigbongbo in Ikeja, Lagos.

    He said though past administrations paid attention to literacy, more still needed to be done.

    Quoting National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the don said overall literacy percentage in English language is 57.9 while that of other languages is 71.6. He said: ‘’Apart from this, there are 10.2million Nigerian children that are out of school.

    He listed the problems of mass literacy as including lack of commitment, adequate planning, corruption, and putting square peg in round holes.

    Noting that literacy can be a major tool for eradicating poverty, boosting employment, gender equality, family health, protecting the environment, and promoting democratic participation, among others, he said it also aids memory, assist documentation, helps verification, stimulates thinking, aids invention, helps in transmitting ideas, values, assists communication at a distance, eradicates ignorance and allows privacy/confidentiality.

    Jegede said literacy campaigns are planned, adding the factor of ideology and adequate statistics could not be ruled out in the planning.

    He also said a successful literacy campaign requires government political will. ‘’The first step towards a successful literacy campaign is the presence of political will. The leaders or oganisers must be committed to true emancipation of the people. For example, the primary aim of literacy is not simply to provide people with the skills to cope with the written word of everyday life, but to enable them to gain greater freedom to make choices, to have a better grasp of real life, to enhance personal dignity and to have other sources of knowledge, then, we need more than rhetoric from our leaders to record success,’’ he added.

  • Don: manpower training key to energy development

    Director of Energy and Power at Cranfied University, UK, Prof Phil Hart, has underscored the importance of building local capacity of Nigerians to deliver value in its energy sector.

    In an interview with journalists in Lagos, Hart said Nigeria despite its energy-rich natural resources, has huge energy needs and requires manpower that can harness its crude and biofuel resources to provide energy needed to power cars, and electrify homes and companies.

    Hart, who said Cranfield University had trained 200 Nigerians to solve problems in the power and energy sector, said the University, which prides itself in producing research to solve real-life industry problems , was open to collaborations with Nigerian universities and colleges to boost technical manpower development.

    Hart said: “We have a long standing relationship with Nigeria and we have taught more than 200 people within the energy of power sector but we would like to grow that relationship as much as we can.

    “Part of our mission is to build links with local universities but I think that should extend to local colleges as well as universities so you have got both ends – the guys who are going  to fix, install, maintain; and the guys who are going to take the existing technology and move it up to the next step and most of our work is around the development of technology putting  innovation to make it better.”

    Hart said the training Cranfield offers and seeks to share with Nigerian institutions and students was one that would make impact and yield results for governments and companies who employ the services of such people.  To this end, he said the institution pays serious attention to research – not just for research sake but trains students to conduct research to solve problems.

    He said: “The thing about Cranfield is that when you come and study with us the day you join your employer you should be a useful contributor from day one.  Some places are incredibly academically biased and you may come out knowing a lot – because you may be able to fill out white boards with fancy numbers and something like that and get to an answer.  We are more about making an impact – being able getting to a company and immediately showing your worth.  I went to Cranfield 20 something years ago and I have been in the industry for most of my career I just move back into academics.  My career progression went from leaving Cranfield with PhD to being a leader of a company in about 11 years.  That is the type of progress we expect a good quality student to make when they leave Cranfield. We will equip them with all of the tools and how to apply them; then it is up to them to use the tools we give them and go out and make a difference.”

    Hart said two Nigerians are currently studying for their Ph.D on his team.  He said they are seeking out answers to Nigeria’s poor electricity generation and supply problems.

    On his part, Hart said Nigeria would benefit more from developing its electricity grid locally in clusters, using renewable energy sources, than seeking to connect the whole country to the national grid from the centre.

    “Firstly, your energy grid distributing energy around the country is very weak but you have got many cities but you have also got a huge rural expanse. Trying to grow that grid to everybody is probably the way you would have done it 50 years ago but it is not the way you should do it now so the adoption of local renewable energy and local grids are all potentially connected that do not need to be it is a key way the developing country should look at their infrastructure and we are researching how you should do that in the best way you should do that and the way the government policy and strategy  can support that. At the moment I have two PhD from Nigeria in my team looking at this problem,” he said.

  • Ban imported tomato paste, don tells govt

    A Professor of Horticulture and Landscape Management, Goke Bodunde, has called on the government to ban imported tomato paste and other agricultural produce that do not meet set standards.

    Delivering the 59th Inaugural Lecture of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB)  titled: “Unveiling the beauty of an unforbidden fruit”, Bodunde said some imported paste contain up to 50 per cent starch before dilution in Nigeria where an additional 15  per cent starch is often added.

    With yearly demand for tomato standing at 2.45 million metric tons (MT) per year compared to the 1.8 million MT produced, Bodunde said a scramble to satisfy the market had led to unethical abuses detrimental to human health.

    “This is the story of some of the tomato paste and puree imported into Nigeria, 91.1 per cent of which according to NAFDAC (2015), failed to meet the required standard,” he said.

    “It is noteworthy that most of the pastes are imported as concentrates in drums and big cans from Italy, India and China. They are usually diluted, packaged and finally canned by various canning industries in Nigeria”.

    The don attributed the country’s poor yield of the fruit to the importation of substandard tomato paste and consumption of rotten tomato fruits called esha in tomato markets of Southwest.

    He said Nigeria had the poorest yield performance of tomato in the world with about four to five tonnes per hectare (t/ha), compared to Egypt’s 39.7t/ha and South Africa with 78.7t/ha.

    Bodunde also said environmental and management factor was responsible for the country’s low yield which is two per cent of the total world’s total despite being widely cultivated.

    On the way forward, the don recommended that the university, which is endowed with huge human and material potential, could promote interest in research along the tomato value chain.

    He suggested that universities and research institutes should encourage researchers’ adoption of crop commodities for crop-based research to reap the benefit of comparative advantage of in-depth knowledge of individual crops.

    Bodunde strongly advocated for investment in tomato canning industry by the public and private sector, as well as the promotion of research-industry linkage and funding for research by the three tiers of government.

  • Scientists working hard to find HIV cure – Don

    Prof. Ravindra Gupta, Professor of Clinical Microbiology, University College, London, yesterday said there was hope for HIV cure in the near future.

    Gupta, who said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, noted that scientists all over the world were working hard to find a cure for HIV.

    The professor, who boldly spoke on the remission discovery of HIV through stem cell transplant, stressed that though it was a very challenging procedure, it was successful.

    “We were able to demonstrate remission on the second case till date through a similar approach to the Berlin patient, but there were some important differences.

    “We had a HIV positive individual who also had cancer and would require a transplant because the chemotherapy for this cancer was not successful, so the last option for this patient was to have a stem cell transplant.

    “Fortunately in Europe we were able to find a donor who matched this patient, we were also able to find the patient a donor who had a deletion in the CCR5 protein. Cysteine-Cysteine Chemokine Receptor 5, a protein on the surface of certain immune system cells.

    “This was again similar to what had been achieved on the Berlin patient and of course the CCR5 protein is critical for virus entry so that the virus cannot survive without it,” he said.

    Gupta further explained that there was another case of kidney transplant between HIV to HIV positive persons which was also successful.

    “They were both HIV infected, the problem has been HIV positive people cannot donate organs; but this is an example where somebody with HIV could donate an organ because they have a tissue match and are compatible.

    “It was a nice success story, that HIV was not a barrier to donating organs.

    “The procedure was very technical and it was very aggressive. It was complicated but it looks to be successful so far.

    “This case has given a lot of encouragement to researchers in different areas, in different countries to really go for it now.

    “Because they have seen that it has been done twice, there is a lot of momentum. We can see public support behind it. The science is going to be pushed quite forward,” he added.

    Gupta, however, noted that when a person was in remission for HIV, the person was free and did not require HIV drugs.