The Nation Newspaper

Tag: DON

  • Don urges in-coming legislators to revolutionise agric

    A former Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, Prof Abiodun Adeloye, has advised incoming members of the National Assembly to work with the Federal Government to ensure the agriculture sector is a leader in providing high quality food in the future.

    He said it is crucial that everyone works together in the quest for self-sufficiency in food production.

    He said the new government should come to power with a detailed and positive agenda for agriculture, to make the sector more dynamic, competitive and effective to address  areas such as improving foreign direct investment, enhancing farmers’ ability to tackle animal and plant health, building safe and secure food chains.

    Adeloye observed that there was a need  to  reverse long- term declines in farming productivity.

    He urged lawmakers to develop a blueprint for future agriculture policy as many farmers are feeling the squeeze of higher production costs.

    Suggestions include additional money for research and marketing for value-added products, innovation, development and extension, competitiveness and market access.

    Adeloye,who  is the Coordinator WAAPP Nigeria projects at the university, said the sector would need a large  funding,and  that issues affecting the competitiveness of the agricultural sector, within the country should be singled out for an overhaul.

    He called on the government to address issues around the cost of doing agro business, regulation, access to capital and critical infrastructure improvements.

    He urged the National Assembly to be proactive in engaging with Nigerians to find out what they think about agriculture, what their values are, regarding food production, and to proactively attempt to build better and more constructive relationships with community and activist groups, including those who are currently campaigning against the programmes  of the  sector.

    According to him, achieving food security  requires  a commitment by leaders in all sectors to ensure  a sustained and focused effort to end hunger.

  • Don, legislator, sue Benue govt over last minute actions

    A University Don  Professor  Aloysius Ihuah, and member of the State House of Assembly, Mr Benjamin Adanyi, have sued the state government under Governor Gabriel Suswam over last minute employments, appointments, and sale of government property.

    In separate writ of summons filed by Prof. Tony Ijohor, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Professor Ihuah, of the Benue State University and Minority Leader of the state assembly, Mr Adanyi are praying the Makurdi High Court to restrain the state government from employing 4,500 workers and making further last minute appointments.

    Professor Ihuah averred that as a public servant duly employed by the state government, he has not been paid his salary for the past three months while other workers have not been paid for over five months yet the government was seeking to employ over 4, 500 staff and further compound the situation.

    He stated that the first defendant has also concluded arrangements to lease some state owned companies including the Benue Fertilizer Blending and Chemical Company Limited, adding that the actions would put the state into more difficult financial state.

    According to the plaintiff, the current market value of the Benue Fertilizer Blending and Chemical Company with its machinery, warehouses and other facilities is above N200 billion while the current market rate of leased properties such as the plant is N250 million per annum, pointing out that it was being leased out to a crony at a give away N2. 5 million per annum.

    The Minority Leader of the state assembly said the appointment of some members of the Local Government Service Commission whose appointments Governor Suswam sought to replace or reappoint had not expired and sought the court to restrain the governor from carrying out the action.

    Also joined in the suits is the Attorney General of the state while AT & S, the firm that has been earmarked as a beneficiary of the lease has been joined in the suit challenging the lease.

    No date has yet been fixed for hearing of the motions in respect of the cases.

     

  • Don faults poor funding at book fair

    Don faults poor funding at book fair

    The poor state of Nigerian education sector dominated discussions at the 2015 Nigerian International Book Fair (NIBF) held last week.

    The week-long book fair had about 100 exhibitors displaying books, and other participants engaging in dialogues with major stakeholders in the book industry at the multipurpose hall of the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

    In conferences, children’s programmes and cultural displays, they uncovered what they referred to as how the education and book culture should be portrayed in Nigeria.

    In his speech at the international conference of the fair with the theme:  “African youth empowerment through book for sustainable national development”, the keynote speaker, Prof Godini Darah, urged Nigerians to clamour for a change in how education-related issues are handled.

    The professor of Oral Literature and Cultural Studies from the Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, condemned the way government and Nigerians manage matters relating  to education and decried the low budget attributed to the sector  every year, in comparison with other countries.

    Darah said: “The government must take the initiative. How much do we spend in Nigeria on education? The amount we spend on education is too low. I have looked at figures from other countries and they spend a lot. South Africa spends about 21 per cent of their budget on education, in Egypt they spend about 18 per cent, Ghana spends about 25 per cent consistently. We spend only about eight per cent in our budget on education.”

    He lamented that  government and Nigerians have focused more on  such areas as dance, music, sports among others, rather than important sector like education.

    The professor urged all governments to practise free education policy, as he was a product of the Obafemi Awolowo free education scheme of 1965.

    “The first empowerment we should do is to give free education to everybody. We have done it before. How would I be here now, if not for that scheme? You would not know those who are intelligent in your country until you give everybody equal opportunity,” he said.

    Prof Darah encouraged government to invest in gathering, recycling and translation of knowledge through books, to boost the publishing industry and increase the nation’s per capita income.

    He also recommended that a Bank of Books be created to fund book publishing.

    “It is those you train that will invent. Government must put a certain amount aside for authors, publishers and researchers so that they do not have to scratch their heads for funds to publish knowledge. There should be a Bank of Books,” he said.

    Also speaking, chairman of the occasion and Acting Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), Prof Ismail Junaidu, decried Nigerians’ bad attitude to reading.

    “It is not only illiterates that do not care about books; even professors make the same mistake. You see a Nigerian asking the wrong questions, because he is too lazy to read the signs,” he said:

    Junaidu attributed this habit to most Nigerians not having been brought up to read books.

    To address this problem, he said the NERDC has infused: “conspicuous issues on various reading skills into the schools’ curriculum, so that we can catch our children young to develop the culture of reading, because if you do not have that culture, books would be irrelevant.”

    Condemning strikes by educational institutions, Junaidu said the effect on the society is usually felt by the future generation.

    “We should all be concerned when we see teachers, lecturers and academics on strike. The effect would reflect on the society as late as 20 or 30 years and it is our children that would be affected by our mistakes of today,” he said.

    Managing Director of Books and Prints Limited, Yaba, Lagos State, Mrs Oluronke Orimalade encouraged government to include bookshops and book sellers in the making of education and book-related policies to help the industry grow.

    She said: “When you kill bookshops, you are killing the reading culture. You must encourage bookshops to grow and include them in education policy-making processes.”

  • Don to workers: plan for retirement

    The 155th inaugural lecture of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) was held last Thursday at the institution’s Akin Deko Auditorium. A professor of Accounting, Famous Izedonmi delivered the lecture titled: If you want to be poor, be an employee only: An accountant’s perspective on wealth creation.

    Izedonmi argued that being employed does not lead to wealth, asking how many civil servants make it beyond their income. He decried what he called “overspending” by civil servants, urging them to invest part of their income on shares, fixed deposits and entrepreneurship.

    Izedonmi said lack of information on how to create wealth has made many civil servants to live from hand to mouth. According to the don, the present economic reality can make people living on their salaries only to regret.

    Stressing the need to divest their income to other productive venture, he said: “If you are in a paid employment, I want you to realise that you will retire one day. Learn from retirees around you. Plan for retirement and build your retirement home peacefully to avoid dying in penury. Keep debt profile low and never abandon the responsibility of wealth creation to your employer only.”

    He condemned what he called the government’s anti-worker policies, which he said had resulted in the suffering of workers and retirees. The don noted that tertiary institutions were breeding armies of job-seeking graduates, majority of whom, are unemployable.

    He called for the promotion of skills acquisition programmes for graduates, advising schools to ensure attitudinal re-orientation of students to avoid overdependence on government for job. He also advocated for mass education for workers on the dangers of a single source of income.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Faraday Orumwense, who chaired the event, hailed the lecturer for his “cerebral expedition”. He said the theme of the lecture was timely and called on members of the audience to spread the message.

     

  • Don greets Akwa Ibom governor-elect

    Don greets Akwa Ibom governor-elect

    The immediate past Vice Chancellor of the Akwa Ibom State University, Prof. Sunny Petters, has congratulated the governor-elect of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel.

    He promised to give undivided support to his administration.

    The don, in a  letter tagged: “A Love Note to the Governor-elect”, described Emmanuel as the harbinger of the Akwa Ibom industrial revolution.

    The statement reads: “On behalf of my family, I wish to join your faithful supporters, the Peoples Democratic Party and the entire people of Akwa Ibom State to congratulate you on your landslide victory at the April 11 governorship poll.

    “It was indeed the collective decision of Akwa Ibom people to entrust the leadership of the state on you with strong confidence that only you can manage the state amidst the swindling global economy and turn the state to an industrial hub where job creation and employment will be critically tackled. Having acquired a wealth of experienced in the banking world coupled with your leadership quality, you will definately take us to the next level

    “Sir, we herald you as the harbinger of the Akwa Ibom Industrial Revolution, coming at the heel of our infrastructural revolution and renaissance.”

    The former VC who spearheaded the Udom Emmanuel’s campaign pamphlet called ‘UDOMANTHOLOGY’, added: “Your novel industrialisation strategy should include creation of international industrial clusters such as China-Town, Korean-Town, and Indian-Town amongst others where foreign outsourced manufacturing company with guaranteed safety for foreign nationalities will be provided in Akwa Ibom State.”

  • Clean environment’ll prevent asthma, says don

    Clean environment’ll prevent asthma, says don

    Nigerians have been advised to clean their surroundings to reduce asthma risk.

    A consultant chest physician at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos (CMUL), Dr Cyril Chukwu,  gave the advice in Lagos.

    He told The Nation: “Many patients I attended to said they did not experience asthma attack while abroad. This is due to their clean environment.”

    Chukwu said most developed countries pay attention to environmental sanitation and tree planting, among other ecological beautification.

    Good life, he said, will help an asthmatic stay healthy, adding that the poor status of major cities is responsible for their unhealthy index.

    “Things are not working in Nigeria because some gaps need to be filled. When the asthmatics get back, they face the problem of power outage. Frustration alone can trigger an asthma attack before we now talk about unhealthy environment,” he said.

    The medic said industries should be regulated in Nigeria to prevent environmental pollution, saying the latter can also cause asthma.

    “The more advanced a country is, the more civilised it is, the more cases of asthma it has. But the management of asthma in those countries is a lot easier than in Nigeria, among other underdeveloped countries,” he said.

    He said despite the low rate of asthma in Nigeria compared to those of industralised countries, its management is poor. “We do not have as much asthma as the industrialised world but the majority of asthmatics overseas live a better life because of other things they enjoy. Our small number of asthmatic relative to developed countries is no cause for happiness because our small number suffers more, they die early and live a more miserable life. The fact that our number is small is no good news,” Chukwu said.

    He said if Nigeria has better infrastructure, such as industrialised countries, like United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK), among others, the impact of asthma would not be felt.

    Ignorance and poverty, Chukwu said, are two factors which worsen asthma in underdeveloped or third world countries. They contribute to poor environment, he added.

    He said life will be better for the asthmatic when they have better understanding of what a quality lifestyle should be, stressing that ignorance and poverty have been the root of many problems, including asthma.

    The don said there is expertise to treat the disease, adding: “But the main question is, are we moving in the right direction? We cannot get there overnight. It should be a gradual process.”

    He described asthma as a lung disorder that interferes with breathing.

    “The disease can cause serious, recurring episodes of wheezing and breathlessness, known as asthma attacks,” he said.

    Explaining what an asthmatic experiences, he said, they usually have chronic inflammation in the tubes that carry air to the lungs.

    The disease, he said, has no known cure, adding that there are effective strategies to manage or control it.

    The don identified coughing, wheezing, and chest tightness as symptoms of asthma.

     

     

  • How to improve indigenous products, by don

    With the United Kingdom barring up to 42 products manufactured in Nigeria from its markets for poor quality, a professor has advised Nigerian manufacturers to automate their manufacturing.

    Umana Thompson Itaketo, an inventor and the first Professor of Electrical/Control Engineering at the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), gave the advice at the 43rd Inaugural Lecture of the varsity.

    He spoke on “Addressing the quagmire of poor quality products in Nigeria’s process industries through applied systems instrumentation, automation and control” .

    Itaketo said some Nigerians prefer foreign products to indigenous ones due to the poor quality of the later. He attributed the poor quality to the low quality of raw materials, components of the products or faulty manufacturing and processing methods.

    With a good percentage of the materials of products being natural, Itaketo said manufacturing or processing procedures are mostly responsible for poor quality products.

    To solve the problem, the Instrumentation and Automation expert advocated the adoption of ‘reversed engineering procedure’, adding that this is would enable the country bridge the inequality between her products and the foreign ones.

    He also said standards set for the manufacturing or processing of any product should be automated, warning that partial automation or manual implementation could affect quality.

    He said: “A good number of the manufacturing firms in the country are still running their operations manually or semi-manually while quite a few are running theirs at 100 percent automation. Whether operations are run manually or semi-manually, the result could still be poor quality products because of lack of effective implementation of government legislations for industries to produce top-grade products; financial position of the establishment involved; technical complexity of the equipment; fear of inability to obtain spare parts due to location of industries and fear of job losses if automation takes over all stages of the production process. All these fears are at the expense of good quality products.”

    The don cited low quality products as: iron rods, moulded blocks used in buildings construction, dry cells (batteries) for radios, locally-manufactured batteries for automobiles, among others.

    Itaketo said for manufactured goods to be standardised, systems instrumentation, automation and control must be applied as it is in  advanced societies.

    The lecturer blamed the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) for failing to implement set standards, saying it is the reason manufacturers get away without being sanctioned for inferior products.

    He said if SON could establish and sustain yearly awards for “Best Quality Products for the Year” and provide incentives for winners, it could spur others up to improve upon the quality of their products.

    Itaketo advised manufacturing organisations to budget for the procurement of high-tech auto equipment for effective and accurate control of their production operations and application of “cutting-edge” technology in their operations as their counterparts in other countries.

    The UNIUYO Vice Chancellor, Prof Comfort Ekpo, regretted the near absence of quality in indigenous products, blaming the authorities for the ugly situation.

    “If government agencies, such as SON enforces its regulations as it should, Nigeria will get better,” she said.

    Ekpo, who referred to Itaketo as “an uncommon mathematical wizard”, also encouraged students to emulate the don, adding that he rose to prominence from a humble beginning.

     

    “Be focused and determined; there is always a destiny helper waiting for the indigent ones who have done their own part,” she said.

     

     

     

  • Don hails Jonathan’s sportsmanship

    A political scientist, Prof Aloysius Okolie, has hailed President Goodluck Jonathan for his sportsmanship by conceding defeat in the last presidential elections.

    Okolie, a senior lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), said the president’s resolve to call All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, made him a true democrat, who should be emulated by African leaders.

    His words: “Jonathan has set a good example in African politics and his action showed that Nigeria’s fledgling democracy is edging towards maturity. It is unbelievable that this could happen in Africa, where leaders fight with last ounce of their blood to keep their political position.

    “That a powerful president conceded to defeat immediately indicated that democracy is gradually taking root in Nigeria. I commend Jonathan‘s spirit of sportsmanship and urged other African leader to emulate his good example.”

    Okolie stressed that the loss by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the presidential elections must be a lesson for politicians, saying no matter the position of anyone in leadership, people could remove him through the power of ballot.

    “This is a clear message for elected public officers, who have been denying their people dividends of democracy. They must avoid being disgraced out of office by electorate,” he said.

    The political scientist, however, attributed Jonathan’s failure to get majority votes in some Northern states during the elections to “high-level conspiracy” by those the president thought were working for him.

    “Some PDP big wigs and governors in the North conspired and betrayed President Jonathan in the election. The inability of Jonathan to win in states like Jigawa, Kaduna where his vice president comes from, and Bauchi, the home of PDP national chairman, is a testimony of conspiracy and sabotage by PDP members in those states,” he said.

    Okolie urged the president-elect to see his election as an act of God and people’s desire to stop the ills in the country. He advised Gen. Buhari to carry everybody along irrespective of political affiliation, religion and tribe to meet the expectations of Nigerians.

    “I will advise Gen. Buhari to select team of technocrats and people with good track records rather than mediocre to work with him. He must avoid using ministerial appointments as political compensation to those who supported his campaigns,” Okolie said.

     

  • Don seeks viable agric policies

    Don seeks viable agric policies

    The  Federal Government has been urged to introduce policies that will make the agricultural sector more viable and productive to tackle increasing unemployment.

    The Country  Representative, Harvest  Plus, Dr  Paul Ilona made the call, at the meeting  of  the  Capacity Building in Agricultural Education in Nigeria (CBAEN) Project  at  the  Federal College of Agriculture(FCA)Akure, Ondo State.

    According to him, unemployment rate which  stood  at  5.3 per cent in 2006  increased  to   29.5 per cent  in 2013.

    Delivering a paper,”Training and capacity building in value chains: Creating and strengthening linkages for job creation, profitability and agricultural transformation, Ilona said  good  policies would    make agricultural sector more viable and productive , ensuring  income for farmers to encourage others to join the agricultural sector.

    He   emphasised the need for agricultural financing and investment to enhance production in the country.

    He called for measures to mitigate the challenges of climate change, emphasising  the need for harvest security to prevent post-harvest losses to ensure increased revenue for farmers.

    Ilona  emphasised the need for a chain of market with competitive businesses ready to buy farm produce to prevent post-harvest losses.

    According  to him,  agriculture is the nation’s  greatest strength and critical for the country’s industrial growth.

    To increasing incomes in the sector, he  stressed the need to ensure diversification into cash crops, livestock and value addition on commodities.

    He said farmers would also be further encouraged,in addition to their food crop farming diversify into the cultivation of cash crops and livestock.

    According to him, there is the urgent need to reflect on agricultural policies to ascertain business ideals and attractiveness to the youths.

    He believed the youth should be better off if  their concerns with agricultural mechanisation, transportation, water and other basic amenities were provided. He   said young people would be more interested in value addition than actual production.

    CBAEN is an initiative of the Switzerland Government and sponsored by Bern University of Applied Science, Switzerland.

    The focus of the programme is to increase the capacity of agricultural trainers, extension workers and agricultural students in value chain approach,  to open more opportunities  in the production of various agricultural commodities, such as, cassava, cocoa, aquaculture and livestock among others. This will, ultimately reduce youth unemployment , alleviate poverty and reduce social vices, particularly illegal immigration of youths to foreign countries.

    The  beneficiary institutions  include FCA, Akure, FCA, Ishiagu, FCA, Umudike, Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute(ARMTI), Ilorin; Nigeria University Commission, National Board for Technical Education, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, Abuja and Ondo State Agricultural Development Project (ADP).

    The CBAEN team on the  Planning Mission included: Prof. Robert Lehmann (Bern University of Applied Science, Switzerland) and Dr. Ingrid Fromm (Bern University of Applied Science, Switzerland), Mr Andreas Brogers (Representative of the Switzerland Ambassador) and Prof. Placid Njoku (CBAEN consultant).

    Stakeholders, such  as  Cassava Adding Value for Africa (CAVA), HarvestPlus, Syngenta, Nestle, Plantation Industries Limited, WAAPP, among others, made pledges and commitments to partner with Federal College of Agriculture, Akure in various case studies that will form part of the CBAEN project.

  • Don to present two books

    Two books, written by Prof Samuel Babatunde Agaja of the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, will be presented on Saturday, March 21, 2015 to commemorate the 65th birthday of his wife, Dr A. M. Agaja.

    The books, “More than Conquerors” – an autobiography – and “Twenty Years of Service to Humanity”, will be presented at the Spot Rendezvous Events Centre, Tanke, Ilorin.