The Nation Newspaper

Tag: dream

  • Long way to a dream

    Long way to a dream

    Eight years after it was founded, the Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH) in Okitipupa is still struggling to make its mark. There are no academic facilities, good hostels and other requirements for conducive learning. The institution has hiked its fee – an action, which drew the ire of students. TAIWO ADEBULU reports.

    •How varsity is coping with lack of facilities

    It was meant to boost the learning of science and technology  in the Sunshine State of Ondo. But, eight years after its opening, the Ondo State University of Science and Technolgy (OSUTECH) has failed to live up to its core mandate.

    For its serenity and Spartan nature, Igodan-Lisa, a rural settlement in Okitipupa in Ondo South Senatorial District, was chosen as the best location for the institution.

    Apart from the structures that welcome visitors to the campus, the institution appears to be at its foundation years.

    The stretch of the road that extends to the academic area from the main entrance is still under construction and has no gate, except the structure, which bears the name of the institution. The pathway from the entrance is covered in thick bushes; the untarred road leads to the heart of the campus, where uncompleted buildings stand. The buildings are classrooms and offices being constructed by the government but they seem to have been abandoned.

    For lacking necessary structures to aid its programmes’ accreditation, the university could not take off as its licence was revoked by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in 2010.

    The institution started academic programmes in January 2011 and matriculated its first set of students on March 3, 2011. The university, which initially occupied the facilities of the Government Technical College in Idepe, moved to its permanent site in 2012.

    Two years ago, the NUC approved the 10 programmes being run by the institution. But, the school’s facilities remain in a bad shape.

    To draw the attention of the public to the state of the infrastructure, OSUSTECH students, penultimate Monday, took to the highway to protest what they called “total neglect” of the institution by the state government. They disrupted traffic when they held a sit-out on the Igbokoda highway, singing anti-government songs.

    Although the protest was sparked by fee hike, but the students used it to express their displeasure over the state of the school’s facilities.

    The protesters condemned the management’s action to convert the Students’ Union Building to the Centre for Entrepreneurship Training (CELT) for lack of space to accommodate the Centre. CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the management took over the building because, in its view, the institution is not ripe for students’ unionism.

    Before the demonstration, the students had a peace meeting with the representatives of the management at the school auditorium. The Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Tolu Odugbemi, was absent at the meeting, but the school was represented by the Director of Academic Planning Prof Akintunde Akinwande, Dean of Faculty of Science, Prof. David Teniola, Registrar, Mr Wonuola Ekundayo and Head of Department of Mathematical Science, Dr Gabriel Ekundayo.

    The meeting, CAMPUSLIFE gathered, ended abruptly when a student, Henry Okunomo, was allegedly threatened with expulsion by Prof Akinwande. To forestall breakdown of order, the management ordered that the school be closed.

    This was said to have enraged the students as they moved towards the school entrance to barricade all exits. Afterwards, they marched on the mini campus, to galvanise their colleagues for  action. The protest was guarded by riot policemen.

    A student, Oyewole Oyetakin, 100-Level Geophysics, said: “How do you expect us not to protest? Where else should we go when we don’t have hostels and our tuition fee increased with nothing to show for it? This rain cannot stop us. We want improvement in OSUSTECH.”

    Our correspondent gathered that the tuition fee was increased from N100,000 to N125,000 for Ondo indigenes, while fee for non-indigenes was jerked from N150,000 to N175,000.

    To douse tension in Okitipupa, Governor Olusegun Mimiko invited the students to Akure, the state capital, for dialogue. Mimiko agreed to reduce the fees in two weeks and eliminate all the services for which students pay, CAMPUSLIFE gathered.

    The governor, it was gathered, also promised to construct a new main gate and sports complex for the school.

    A lecturer, who pleaded anonymity, said the protesters had genuine reasons to show their grievances. He said: “It is good the students met with the governor, because there is a strong indication that the governor may abandon the school to fund the proposed Ondo State University of Medical Sciences in Ondo. Where would he get money to fund OSUSTECH and the new one in his home town? What happened in Ogun State may also happen in Ondo. We will end up thinking of merging the three universities to sustain their funding.”

    Gbenga Akinsuyi, a Computer Science student, said the campus lacks basic facilities. He said there was no reason for fee hike when the university was faced with poor facilities.

    He said: “The governor promised that no students of higher institution in the state would pay more than N25,000 as tuition fee. But, we pay N125,000 and N175,000. Our internet fee is N20,000 and we don’t have access to it. The establishment of OSUSTECH has brought nothing in the last eight years. The campus is bushy and we kill snakes every day. The road from the university entrance is filled with granites and nothing has changed. There is no even a health centre.”

    Yemi Fafoluyi, president of Save Ikale Youth Vanguard, an Akure-based pressure group, said the group supported the students’ protest.

    Pastor Babatope Ayesanmi, an elder in the host community, decried what he called the slow pace of development in the institution. He said: “The institution is becoming a white elephant project. A faculty has been there for five years without facilities. The university is becoming a caricature of higher institution. The campus has been carefully abandoned.”

    The Chief Press Secretary to the Ondo State Governor, Mr Eni Akinsola, said there was nothing wrong in students expressing their grievances to the governor. He said the campus had been re-opened after the students met with Mimiko, adding that the governor is attending to the needs of the school.

    “OSUSTECH is still a young university and we must appreciate that all its courses have been approved. Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife was founded a long time ago and it is still undergoing infrastructural development. The Ondo State government will resolve everything and the students’ grievances.”

    Although activities have returned to the campus, students said they would not relent to call for improvement in facilities until the governor fulfil his promise.

  • A bad dream

    Tomorrow in Malabo, a new Africa Cup of Nations champion will be crowned. Will it be the Elephants of Cote d’ Ivoire or the Black Stars of Ghana? The winner won’t be Nigeria’s senior soccer team, Super Eagles. And no reference has been made about the Eagles since the Africa Cup of Nations began in January beyond being the defending champions. It has been a bad dream for soccer-crazy Nigerians.

    Many people don’t watch the AFCON matches because it would remind them of the Eagles’ shambolic showing in the qualifiers. Some have taken solace in celebrating the fall of Congo and South Africa to massage their egos since both countries ensured that the Eagles watched the competition on television.

    Despite the Eagles’s absence, the continental soccer tournament didn’t lose its excitement – the upsets, suspense and drama. Winners celebrated. Losers took their fate on the chin, except for the Tunisians, who have been the spoilsports of the competition with the way their players and officials have handled the controversial penalty kick awarded the hosts, Equatorial Guinea, to tie the game at 1-1 in one of the quarter-finals.

    The Tunisians took the law into their hands by beating the referees, their opponents and their fans. They destroyed properties within and outside the stadium premises. The organisers of the competition, the Confederation of Africa football (CAF), are toying with banning the Tunisians from the 2017 edition. CAF chiefs also want to ban the guilty players and officials.

    The Tunisians alleged that the Equatorial Guineans were favoured by the referee because they are the hosts. Very interesting, if you ask me, given what happened in favour of the Tunisians in 2004. Let me remind you, dear readers, that Tunisia hosted the 2004 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations. And what happened last week Saturday was the diabolical replay of the injustice which the Tunisians enjoyed in 2004, when they hosted the championship.

    So, it hurts, dear Tunisians? The Tunisians have forgotten how they refused to play Nigeria’s national anthem before the semi-final game between the Super Eagles and the Carthage Eagles at the Rades Stadium. The Tunisians played our old anthem “Nigeria we hail thee, our own dear native land…” We were all shocked because we had played matches before that semi-final game with the correct anthem “Arise o compatriots…” But this isn’t the story I want to tell, dear readers.

    In that semi-final game, Austin Okocha shot a depleted Nigerian side ahead in the 64th minute after Nwankwo Kanu had waltzed through the Tunisian defenders only to be brought down inside the 18-metre box. Okocha stepped forward to convert the kick into a goal. But Republic of Benin referee Coffi Codja had other ideas when he whistled for a dubious penalty kick in favour of the Tunisians, which resulted in the equaliser. The equaliser came in the 76th minute raising the poser why the referee was in a hurry to save the Tunisians.

    History has an uncanny way of repeating itself. The Tunisians have by the conduct shown that they are bad students of history; otherwise, they should have taken what happened against Equatorial Guinea with equanimity.

    Codjia was condemned by the international media, with tapes of that game going viral. Dear reader, you can still watch this game on You-tube to see what happened on that ill-fated night. The decision highlighted major discussions for a very long time because Codjia at that time was rated the best African referee. Nigerians didn’t take the laws into their hands. We left the stadium for our homes while our players still exchanged jerseys with their opponents. Nwankwo Kanu, Austin Okocha et al took the

    traditional photographs and signed autographs.

    The tape of Codjia’s show-of-shame in favour of the Tunisians must be in CAF’s archives. I wish CAF chiefs could show the Tunisians the tape to show them how their fans misbehaved during the game. The fans had whistles, which they blew to confuse our players. Aside, these fans had laser torchlight, which they flashed into the eyes of the Nigerian players during the better-to-be-forgotten game. Indeed, each time a corner kick was to be taken, the rays from several torch lights which the fans hit the eyes of the Eagles goalkeeper. It was part of their ploy to score a goal as the game went through its course.

    I still feel that the penalty kick which Osaze Odemwingie lost was because of the tense atmosphere inside the stadium and the unsportsmanlike conduct of the home fans using their whistles, cat calls etc to distract him. If Nigeria hadn’t sent home Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Victor Agali and Celestine Babayaro for indiscipline, Eagles would have won the game because these three lads would have ignored the fans’ antics to score their penalty kicks, like Okocha did.

    Nigeria lost the game on penalties. Most of us (Nigerians) in the stadium were ironically happy that the Eagles lost because that was the reason why we left the premises without injuries and even deaths. Yes, it would have been that serious, given what we faced entering the stadium and what we encountered in the course of the game, starting with the Tunisia FA chiefs’ refusal to play our correct national anthem. Many people argued that the act of playing the wrong anthem was a ploy to insult out sensibilities since we had played three group matches and a quarter-final game in the competition before the Tunisian tie. For the Tunisians, all was fair in warfare. Rightly so, Nigeria protested to CAF on two grounds; the organiser’s refusal to play our national anthem and the Tunisians’ conduct before, during and after the game.

    Nothing happened from CAF; nor was there any apology for not playing our national anthem. The referee (Codjia) continued handling matches until he retired, despite that ignoble penalty that helped the hosts tie the game against Nigeria. If you ask me, it serves the Tunisians right, what happened to them in the game against Equatorial Guinea. When referee Cudjia favoured them 11 years ago, the Tunisians called it human error and celebrated. I wonder why they are not seeing the referee’s decision now as a human mistake. Different strokes, you may say, dear reader.

    Recall again in 2006 AFCON semi-final in Egypt where the hosts locked horns with Senegal. No prize for guessing who the hosts were. The Egypt versus Senegal game had a Cameroonian referee Divine Evehe, who overruled himself after pointing to the penalty spot for a kick to be taken against the hosts Egypt.

    It was a blatant foul play on Senegal’s Diomansy Camara in the dying minutes of the game with scores at 1-1. Egypt eventually won the game 2-1. So, why are the Tunisians trying to make what happened to them in Equatorial Guinea look like a deliberate attack on them?

    Expectedly, CAF’s disciplinary board has fined Tunisia $50,000 for “insolent, aggressive and unacceptable behaviour of the players and officials of the Tunisian team” during the quarter-final match against host country Equatorial Guinea. They will also pay for the damaged property at the Estadio de Bata last Saturday.

    CAF ordered Tunisia to send a letter of apology, or provide evidence of the unfairness of CAF and their officials, before midnight Thursday. Failure to do so will lead to additional sanctions, including a possible ban from the 2017 Cup of Nations, according to the communiqué to the Tunisia FA. But the Tunisians refused to apologise. The world is watching to see what CAF chieftains will do to the Tunisians. CAF also condemned the conduct of Tunisian Football Federation President Wadie Jary, who entered the pitch to criticise the referee.

    Perhaps the difference between what happened in 2004 and 2006 is that the Referees’ Committee of CAF has suspended Seechum Rajindrapasard for six months, following his shambolic handling of the quarter-final game between hosts Equatorial Guinea and Tunisia.

    The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting held at the CAF headquarters in Bata, Equatorial Guinea on the 2nd February, 2015, where the CAF Referees Committee reviewed the performance of the referee.

    The Referees Committee noted with regret the poor performance of the referee, including an unacceptable failure to maintain calm and ensure proper control of the players during the match.

    The suspension is immediate, which means Rajindrapasard will no longer officiate at the Orange AFCON 2015. His name will also be removed from the CAF “A” Elite Referees panel. Good decisions, no doubt, but I hope this would be the last of a referee’s inefficiency at the Africa Cup of Nations.

     CAF chiefs must be praying for an end to the competition’s bad dream following the appalling conduct of the Equatorial Guinea players and officials over a purported bad call from the referee in the 82nd minute in the second semi-finals against Ghana’s Blacks Stars on Thursday night. The Ghanaians were leading comfortably. The conduct of the players and coaches instigate their fans to storm the pitch in search of the referee’s head. The game was held up for 20 minutes during which the fans rained all manner of objects unto the pitch.

    The referee commenced the game in line with the rules to allow for the remaining eight minutes and Ghana held their 3-0 lead till the end. Another big decision for CAF for a troubled competition which had to be shifted to Equatorial Guinea, when the previous hosts Morocco backed out of hosting the event because of the deadly disease Ebola.

     The first backlash at Nigeria’s absence from the 2015 edition is likely victory for Yaya Toure as the next Africa Footballer of the Year. His first goal in the tournament came in the semi-final game and it was a thunderbolt that left the DR Congo dumfounded. If Cote d’ Ivoire lift the AFCON trophy and Yaya continues to steer Manchester City through its matches in the Barclays English Premier League, then he will be the obvious choice for the award, his fifth consecutive feat.

  • A pilgrim’s dream fulfilled

    Babatunde Ayo-Vaughan nursed a life-long dream to visit Jerusalem on pilgrimage.  The 63-year old finally won a return ticket for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  He shares his experience with JANE CHIJIOKE

    FOR Mr Babatunde Ayo-Vaughan, visiting Jerusalem was a dream he had long nursed in his heart. He had committed it prayer everyday with great hope that it would come to pass one day.

    This dream became a reality after he participated in a three-day seminar organised by the Seventh Day Adventist Church where he emerged the overall-best participant and won a return ticket to Jerusalem, Isreal.

    After the end of the seminar which had its theme as: “Biblical prophesies as it applies in our time”, participants were given series of biblical questions to answer and return two weeks after.

    The performance of Mr Ayo-Vaughan, being among the participants from other church denominations, gave him the opportunity to clinch the grand prize while 11 others went home with a telephone tablets.

    The journey to Israel began with an award dinner at a Chinese Restaurant on Victoria Island, where the psychologist and author was presented with his award.

    He said: “When I was announced winner of the grand prize, I was very happy. I have won many prizes in the past but this was quite a surprised. I knew I could win because I put in my best so it didn’t really come as a shock but a surprise.

    “After the dinner, I met Mrs. Mary Oyedekun of Unique Pilgrim’s Tour an organisation that works in conjunction with Tailor Made Tour of Israel to make arrangement for my nine-day trip.”

    On December 9, 2014,  Ayo-Vaughan in the company of 10 other pilgrims boarded an Ethiopian’s Airlines at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos. The flight had a stop-over at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It arrived at the Ben-Gurian Airport, Tel-Aviv, Isreal at 3am on December 10.

    “Eleven of us were from different chapels and among us, Pastor Abiodun Adebayo of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) was selected as the team leader because of his previous experiences in the Holy Land.”

    After breakfast on December 10, he narrated that they were handed over to their guide, Mr David Czvika, who has a 30-year experience in tour guide. They started the tour around the Crest of Mount Carmel and continued along the coastal road known as Caesarea Maritima, reputed to be the first seat of government of the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate.

    Their next stop was Haifa, which houses the Bahai Garden. The pilgrims were told that the Bahai represents a religion that originated from Iraq.

    “Today, however, Israel seems to be the world head quarters of the Bahia faith and the significance of the gardens is in the fact that adherents of the faith from around the world gather at the garden for their convention,” he said.

    He said the religion ought to be an offshoot of Islam but the main Islamic religion believes that Mohammed is the last or the seal of the prophets. The Bahai faith is opposed to this as it believes that Bahaullah, the founder of the religion is recognised as a prophet.

    They went further to visit the Druze village, then Mount Carmel where Prophet Elijah encountered the prophets of Baal in the Bible.

    He said: “We proceeded to Daliyah where they learnt it is a Kibitz which has a politico-cultural place in the life of the Jewish society. It also has a community structured after the idealogy of socialism relying on the principle of ‘from each according to his ability and to each according to his needs.

    “We stumbled on Mount Megiddo known as Armageddon, also Cana where Jesus performed his first miracle. The Church of Annunciation where Gabriel visited Mary to announce to her as the one to conceive Jesus Christ, they learnt still holds a controversy as to whether Angel Gabriel met Mary at a well or in her house deliver the message.”

    “We proceeded to Nazareth where they lodge for two days. They went on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee where they met other pilgrims from different countries.  They headed to Capernaum and saw an inscription welcome to the home of Jesus. There they visited the ancient synagogue, the Mount of the Beatitudes, the church where Jesus fed the 5,000people with loaves of bread and fish, the Mount Tharbor the Basilica of the transfiguration. They later proceeded to Bethlehem and Jerusalem where they stumbled on various landmark places written in the bible.”

    On December 15, 2014, the pilgrims were decorated with badges and given certificates formally acknowledging them as Jerusalem Pilgrims (JP).

    Mr Ayo-Vaughan said his experience gave him a better understanding of the concept of the brotherhood of man as according to him, during the boat ride, the pilgrims had the privilege to share experience with their counterparts from South Africa and Canada.

     

     

     

  • Lack of funds threatens Dream Team’s training tour

    Lack of funds threatens Dream Team’s training tour

    The proposed training tour of Turkey by the U- 23 national team may not take off at the end of the day as lack of funds’ complaints by the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) may stall the proposal.

    The Dream Team VI kick start their crucial phase of preparations and camping for the All African Games match against Gabon today at the Abuja National Stadium’s FIFA Goal Project Center and it is evident the team will have to make do with preparing at home in Nigeria.

    The disappointed Coach told NationSport that the training tour of Turkey may not materialize after all as a result of paucity of funds facing the NFF.

    “Yes we are commencing the crucial stage of our training for the Gabon match tomorrow (today) at the Abuja National Stadium’s Goal Project pitch and we will do everything within our powers to ensure we get the team ready for the task ahead.

    “I am not really sure of our going for the training tour in Turkey because the Nigeria Football Federation is facing cash crunch for now and they would have liked to sanction our going immediately if not for funds problems.

    “But the door is not finally closed on the issue because we are still looking the way of sponsors for the trip. This is the time the corporate bodies should come to the aid of the Nigeria Football Federation by helping sort out this problem. It will be very good for us to go for the training tour for concentration, tactical and technical reasons too”, Siasia told NationSport in Abuja yesterday.

  • The nation of our dream

    Nigeria is 54! Much has been said and little has been done. Much was expected but little has been achieved. So, that makes it easy for them to conclude in their little minds and broadcast with their wide mouths that “Nigeria is a failure”. And some crooned “Nigeria is a fool at 54. You might have heard or even said same. But there are many things they don’t know that they don’t know; you may call that tautology or repetition if you wish. But their ignorance is secondary.

    They said: “Nigeria is nothing to write home about,” yet, it’s still a home for you and I. Listen to what I’m about say. “This is Nigeria walking down the aisle to the altar.” “Here is Nigeria meandering her way to the peak.” We might have been very slow about this, but, thank the heavens that we aren’t soaring in a retrogressive manner.

    Let me start like this; they said Nigeria is not united. But they’ve soon forgotten that Nigeria is made up of over 200 ethnic groups with diversities in cultural, social and religious beliefs which, in some cases, are contradicting. Please, tell me, is there any country in Africa harbouring as much ethnic groups? I doubt if there is any with half of that. Yet, we’ve been together for good 54 years. But they still make international communities brand us as “disunited” through hyperbolic media stunts. Then what is Unity? For goodness sake can’t you see how Sudan divided just because of mere religious difference? If you don’t know let me tell you, that act has sentenced many Sudanese to death by hunger and their refugee base have sky-rocketed.

    Think about this: when the whole world watched us with folded arms to massacre ourselves in a bloody civil war just seven years after independence, we were yet tender and naïve. But we got peace restored even though a faction had to extend the olive branch. No wonder Chimamanda Adiche said in “Half of a Yellow Sun” that “the world was silent when we died”. Or didn’t we witness how some countries decimated almost half of their citizens in bloody wars that wouldn’t have ended save the intervention of international communities? Nigeria had to use her own forces and money to rescue Sierra-Leone and Liberia from an unending civil war and restore democracy to those nations.

    They said our democracy is a farce but we’ve sustained it for fifteen years and no election had led to the sort of skirmishes we’ve seen in Cote d’Ivoire some years back. Even Zimbabwe had to shamefully resort to power sharing formula which was unconstitutional to their system of government just to hold on to democracy. What gains has the so called North African revolution yielded? Nothing, except for its barrage of ousted governments. In fact some almost fell back into the cruel hands of khakistocracy. Here we are portraying good democracy in the midst of our African neighbors suffering to establish it. And we say Nigeria is a fool at 54?

    We might not have attained perfection as a country but the truth remains that we are doing better. I’d wondered why Nigerians always opt for the easy ride to condemn the country and point at our common loopholes but no one seems to have deemed it fit to praise our positives.

    They said we have a moribund educational sector and our tertiary institutions strike more frequently than thunderstorm. As a matter of fact, scores of our youths are trooping to neighboring countries to get the same degree that seems like rocket science to attain here. But what we don’t know is that most of those universities are nothing but a plot of land with two blocks of flat and ten lecturers. You might want to ask how I knew all these. But the facts are there for anyone who searches for them. The fact that our youths get admitted into these schools on a platter of gold unlike Nigeria raises serious concern about the credibility of their offerings. All we need is more institutions to contain this growing education-seeking populace.

    If some countries experience half the degree of corruption and looting of public funds Nigeria has to endure, they would have long ran into bankruptcy and a crumbled economy. So whether we like it or not, Nigeria has survived all these assaults for 54 years.

    Again, it’s ridiculous how some Nigerians spend time making plans to travel overseas and enjoy life in developed countries simply because they think life is too difficult in Nigeria but they have no Idea how people in the o-called green pastures work from dawn to twilight, sunrise to sunset to earn their dollars and pounds. But somehow, they end up overseas, take up menial jobs they refused to do here in Nigeria. It is often said that people make places and places don’t make people. Where the hell are we running to? Let’s stand up, work hard and build the Nigeria we want to see.

    Foreigners are trooping into Nigeria to invest in our economy and here we are running away from our own Canaan. So the white man comes, exploits and under develops us to develop themselves.

    We can’t begin to compare Nigeria with her superiors. It’s non-sequito to compare Nigeria with United States or United Kingdom. They may be years ahead of us on the grounds of development but we are catching up faster than anyone would have us think.

    Didn’t they say crude oil exploration will drop below average if Niger Delta militancy continues? But as I pen this piece, amnesty had made militancy a story of the past. And crude oil exploration is still booming. They’ve even predicted that crude oil exploration may come to a halt in a matter of years but they don’t know that crude oil contribute only 14 per cent to our annual GDP- which is on a steady rise.

    Now they’ve predicted that Nigeria will disintegrate by 2015 if Boko Haram insurgency persists but who knows if these rebels might just sheathe their swords or probably get pinned by Nigerian armed forces before you know it. This is Nigeria and we have a glowing future.

    Recently, Nigeria curtailed the spread of the deadly Ebola virus while thousands are busy wasting away in Sierra-Leone and Liberia just because they lack the potential to contain it. We might not have attained the envious heights of our European counterparts, but we are setting a pace in Africa. We are the giant of Africa. We are Nigerians and we are good for something: drive, hope, and positive change.

     

    David, 300-Level Pharmacy, UNIBEN

  • NGO launches ‘The Nigerian Dream’ contest

    Leadership Seed, a non-profit organisation (NGO) is organising its second annual essay competition for secondary schools nationwide.

    The NGO is dedicated to the development of  the next generation of ethical public leaders, as well as generational leaders geared to take up leadership opportunities in Nigeria.

    “This year is challenging the intellects of youths  at  identifying and proffering credible suggestions to development challenges facing Nigeria as a country,” said the organisers.

    Leadership Seed is co-founded by Messrs. Austin Ufomba and Uzoma Nwagba. Accordin g to them, this year’s edition themed: “My Dream Nigeria”, would have as the topic: “What would you do differently?”

    According to the duo, the contest is open to young people between ages 10-19year. The essay is expected to be 2,500 and above and very insightful. Entries for the competition, which opened on October 10 this year would close on November 25, the organisers added..

    “We are charging our young Nigerians to develop an expository essay on what they would do differently if they were to be the President of Nigeria. Although it may be challenging for their young brains, but we can assure you that those brains are fresh and full of brilliant ideas that can plug into any society. So, we are eagerly looking forward to reading those fantastic inputs of these youths,” said Ufomba

    According to the organisers, interested schools are to assess and fill the form at http://www.leadershipseed.org/register. Participating students are to send their essayto mydreamnigeria@leadershipseed.org, providing their names, email addresses and phone numbers.

    Prizes to be won include a 32GB Ipod for the 1st position, a 16GB Ipod for the 2nd position and an 8GB Ipod for the 3rd position respectively.The top 20 participants will also receive leadership books. Winners will be announced on December 15, this year.

    “The best write up, which will be personally delivered to President Goodluck Jonathan, should inform the President about what the young people aspire Nigeria to become; what worries them about the country; and what they would like to preserve or change if given an opportunity to lead the country. We believe this competition will promote critical thinking around Nigeria’s leadership challenges and opportunities, giving a direction to an endearing public service in Nigerian” Ufomba said.

     

    As part of its leadership development programme, Leadership Seed in 2012 commenced the establishment of Leadership Seed Clubs across secondary schools in Nigeria beginning with the Kings College, Lagos.

     

  • Getting that dream job

    Getting that dream job

    Do graduates have prospect of getting jobs in the face of rising unemployment? Panellists at a Job Fair held at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) last Tuesday believe graduates can get their dream jobs if their curriculum vitae reflect their competence and character. WALE AJETUNMOBI reports.

    Students are unhappy with the admission process of universities and other higher institutions which they claimed has robbed them of studying their choice courses.

    The students said the problem could lead to a career crisis for many youths.

    Many students have been studying courses they did not pick because of the schools’ space constraints.

    Arutu Yinka, a 200-level student of the Department of English Languge at the  Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, said: “I opted for Law, but was given English. At first, I wanted to reject the admission but after spending three years at home, I had to take what was available and the available now seems to be my calling.”

    He said it was advisable for institutions to give students options rather than denying them admission. “It is now left to the student to determine whether he or she will develop interest in it or wait for another year to write JAMB,” he added.

    Another student, Bello Mustapha of the Department of Local Government and Developmental Studies at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Oyo State, said: “ I did well in my UTME and the test conducted by the school. I scored 29, and the cut-off mark for Marketing was 25, which ordinarily qualified me for the merit list. But I was given Local Government and Departmental Studies, all the same.”

    Bello said he was disappointed when the admission list came out as he could not find his name on his choice department’s lists. “I didn’t know what to do at first because I love and wanted to study Marketing as a profession,” he said.

    Olowookere Damilare, a 300-level student of the Department of Zoology, OAU, said: “My score couldn’t meet up with the admission requirements of Pharmacy, my first choice. I had to grab Zoology with both hands because thousands of people are outside seeking admission to universities.”

    Olowookere urged students to desist from forcing themselves to study certain courses that could jeopardise their future career plans.ow can graduates get their dream jobs in the face of rising unemployment?  It is simple, say employers and job experts.

    According to them, all they need to do is to ensure that their curriculum vitae (CV) reflect their competence and character.

    They proferred these tips at the Graduate Employment and Job Fair organised by Smiles Consulting in collaboration with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), National Directorate of Employment and National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria. For four hours, job seekers, corps members and students listened as they learned how they can get their dream jobs.

    The event with the theme: You’re hired, was held in the Multipurpose Hall A of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) last Tuesday.

    It featured a panel of discussiants, comprising the chairman of Brilla FM, Larry Izamoje, General Manager (Africa/Middle East), Lucozade Ribena Suntory, Mr Chidi Okoro and Managing Director of L’OREAL Africa Central, Mr Idorenyen Enang. The discussions were moderated by Smiles Consulting director Harry Nnoli.

    Nnoli, who is also an author, said the objective of the event was to enhance graduates employability, noting that the programme would boost the morale of the unemployed and underemployed to develop and position themselves for opportunities in the job market.

    He said: “All we are out to do is to challenge and inspire you to take necessary actions. Until you take actions, you will remain in the state of inertia.”

    During the panel session, Okoro, former Managing Director of GlaxoSmithKline, noted that the nation was in deficit in terms of job provision, but said the job seekers themselves made the situation worse with their incoherence in application writing and arrangement of their Curriculum Vitae (CV).

    He said good certificates could bring graduates to the door, stressing that the key that would open it was their attributes and character.

    “A job seeker has to have a combination of humility, competence, resilience and integrity,” he said.

    Whenever there is vacancy in any firm, Izamoje said, the company is looking for an employee that will add values to its vision and not someone that will drain the company’s fortunes without adding values.

    He inspired the youth with how he established Brilla FM from his meagre salary at the defunct Concord, urging the participants not to be a millipede in a country that has great potential.

    He said: “Hire yourself if they don’t hire you. Make your passion your ?????. Locate your passion and be persistent in it. You must plan your goal, practicalise and prioritise it. After the whole effort, relax and play to refresh your enthusiasm towards achieving your goal.”

    To Enang, a good CV is not an assurance for employment. He believes the integrity and character content of graduates should be their CV. “Discipline and focus are the values that can help employed youths to keep their job,” he added.

    UNILAG Acting Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof Rebecca Soremekun, who stood in for the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Rahaman Bello, said graduates must take up the gauntlet and leave their state of inertia. Rather than perfecting their CVs to get undeserved jobs, she urged the participants to show good character and add values to the vision of the companies they may find themselves.

    She also urged them to utilise social media for business and employment networking, rather than using the medium to socialise.

    Representative of the Director-General of the NYSC, Mrs Rachael Idaewo, said the event was a golden opportunity for students and graduates to change their lives for the good. While noting that the labour was rough highly competitive, she said NYSC would continue to expose the serving youths to programmes that would make them entrepreneur and gainfully employed.

    The event also featured question and answer session, where the participants bore their minds on issues that set limitation for employment in the country.

  • Our dream constitution, by UNILAG students

    Our dream constitution, by UNILAG students

    Controversies have been trailing the drafting of a new constitution for the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Students’ Union Government (SUG), which the management is planning to restore. To students, the document must reflect their wishes. Occupants of Saburi Biobaku Hall have held a meeting to debate some of its likely provisions. MODIU OLAGURO (400-Level Education and Mathematics) reports.

    The management of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has unveiled plans for restoring students’ unionism. It has inaugurated a committee to draft a new constitution and midwife election into the offices of the Students’ Union Government (SUG).

    This means it will be the first time in about 10 years that students will be electing their SUG leaders. For many, it is cheery news because a constituted students’ union would give them a platform to channel their views about their welfare.

    To ensure the proposed constitution truly reflects the yearnings of students, residents of Saburi Oladeni Biobaku Hall last Thursday’s evening held a meeting to make their input and suggestions to the proposed constitution.

    The meeting was anchored by the hall chairman, Moyosore Adebanjo, and attended by class representatives and hall executives. Each room in the hall was represented.

    Moyosore said the meeting was necessary to make students have inputs in the union constitution.

    “The draft is very fundamental as it goes a long way in defining our stay on campus. It is a reference point to address a way forward in the university,” he said.

    Briefing the students on the controversy and suspicion that greeted the proposed name of the union, a member of the drafting committee, Tobi Adeyoyin, a student, informed the gathering that it would be an aberration to have two legitimate students’ union governments on a campus, noting that the proposed union name, University of Lagos Students’ Union (ULSU) was acceptable to the management.

    Students want their union to be UNILAG Students’ Union Government (ULSUG).

    Tobi said previous students’ union leaders adopted “government” to be part of the union’s name because they wanted to differentiate it from military government.

    Several issues were argued during the meeting. One was consensus or voting method of selecting their leaders. The students also deliberated on whether Halls of Residence should be considered as constituencies, high Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) as eligibility requirement for elections, candidates’ year of study, justification for the non-inclusion of the judicial council in the drafting of the constitution and non-involvement of campus journalists to cover the electoral process.

    A room representative, Adesola Oyetomi, faulted the draft constitution, noting it would not reflect students’ wishes because it did not provide for Students’ Judicial Council (SJC). “A government without a judiciary lacks basis. I urge the people drafting the constitution to incorporate a judicial system that should be headed by a student in the Faculty of Law,” he said.

    Tobi gave reasons for the exclusion of a judicial council in the drafted document, saying: “ULSU Judicial Council was scrapped because of the lack of substantial responsibility; we strongly feel the congress can wade in into any legal case and if it remains unsolved, the Faculty of Law can be brought in.”

    For Michael Adeyemi, the press club should be engaged in the drafting of the constitution. Besides, the draft must restrict students with carry overs from aspiring for offices, he said.

    Temitope Nelson, a student, made a case for students’ congress to be held in hostels. He said: “The faculty is the students’ workplace while their hostels are home. The students’ congress should be brought to the hall for everyone to participate.”

    At the end of the session, Moyosore submitted a summary of the occupants’ contributions to the constitution, saying the union should comprise four arms, namely the executive, legislature, congress and judiciary.

    The students also wanted the membership of the judicial council to be open to all students irrespective of course of study. In a unanimous decision, the meeting agreed that Halls of Residence be made constituencies and have representatives in the congress. They wanted press club to be part of the constitution drafting committee.

    On the basic academic requirement for eligibility to contest for offices, the students recommended a CGPA of 2.5 as against the 3.0 proposed in the draft document.

  • Anyanwu denied dream move to Sunshine

    Anyanwu denied dream move to Sunshine

    Abia Warriors have reportedly blocked Nnaemeka Anyanwu’s dream move to Sunshine Stars of Akure in a mafia like style, FCNaija.com reports.

    The Centre defender who went AWOL ( absent without leave) from Umuahia in a bid to force a move to join the Akure Gunners was left disappointed as he was not cleared by the League management Company (LMC) to make the ‘illegal’ switch.

    Anyanwu who has previously stared for top Nigeria clubs, Enyimba International and Enugu Rangers is said to have been promised better pay at Akure and has already been training with Sunshine with the hope of playing in the second stanza of the league for them.

    “The situation is quite messy” a source close to Anyanwu confided in FCNaija.com

    The report revealed that Abia Warriors were supposed to pay the agent of Anyanwu as much of N.5m for bringing his client to play for them; unfortunately the team are yet to pay the said sum; a development that contributed to the forced attempt to secure a deal with Sunshine.

    Though silent on whether they reneged on a N500, 000 promise to Anyanwu’s agent, Abia Warriors have empathically stated that they are not ready to discuss with Sunshine stars while Ayanwu has gone back to join the Coach Ladan Bosso tutored side with the hope of completing his switch to Akure by the end of the seaosn.

     

  • Apochi kills London Olympian dream

    Nigeria’s Efetobor Apochi has dashed Jai Opetaia’s hopes of winning a gold in heavyweight boxing   at Commonwealth Games

    The London Olympian was heavily fancied to bring home a medal but his quarter-final bout at the Glasgow SECC ended in a unanimous decision in favour of the African

    The NSW Central Coast southpaw edged a scrappy first round but Apochi found his range in the second with a quickfire combination that rocked Opetaia.