The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Federal University of Technology Akure

  • “We will prosecute police men who assaulted FUTA female student”

    Ondo State Police Command on Tuesday assured that it would do everything possible to ensure that its men who allegedly beat and injured a female student of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) are punished.

    Some students of the institution were said to have had an encounter with policemen attached to the ‘A’ Division Police Station, Akure, Ondo State capital, on Sunday night leading to one of them being injured by a policeman.

    The identities of the victim and that of the policeman had not been revealed as of the press time.

    Videos of the encounter had already gone viral on social media.

    In the viral video, a young woman (FUTA student) was seen with one of her eyes bleeding and she kept saying, “Look at my eyes.”

    When contacted on the development, the Police Public Relations Officer Mr Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident and said the erring police officer haa been arrested and would face trial.

    Read Also: FUTA seeks collaborations with U.S. varsity

    Joseph, who declined to reveal the identity of the cop, however, explained that the matter involved two students, who were on a motorcycle and were drunk on Sunday night.

    He said that the students refused to be checked by the policemen, who were on patrol.

    He said, “The students were stopped by the policemen on patrol on Sunday night, and when they were asked to open the bag they held, they refused, that was what caused an argument between them, leading to one of them to slightly push the lady. But because the lady was drunk, she fell down and got injured.

    “In spite of that, as I am speaking with you now, the policeman in question has been arrested and will face trial”.

     

  • ‘Hit and run’ driver kills FUTA student

    An ‘hit and run’ driver on Wednesday crushed a student of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) to death.

    The 100-level student identified as Israel Anuoluwapo, died after being rushed to the hospital.

    The development led to protest by FUTA students, who blocked the major Akure-Ilesa highway to prevent movement of vehicles.

    They also organised a long procession in honour of their departed colleague.

    The FUTA authorities, in a statement, raised the alarm over increasing rate of motor accidents on FUTA axis of the Akure-Ilesa road.

    The university also urged the Federal Road Safety Commission, (FRSC) Ondo State Command to intensify patrol on the route to prevent a recurrence of such incident

    The statement reads: “The Federal University of Technology Akure has received with shock the death of one of its students, Israel Anuoluwapo, a year one student of mathematics.

    “He was knocked down by a reckless hit and run driver some 1000 metres from the gate of the University on the Ilesha-Akure Road on Tuesday April 30.

    “The student was immediately rushed to the University health Centre from where he was transferred to the State Hospital Akure due to the severity of his injuries.

    “He was thereafter rushed to the Trauma centre Ondo where he died later that day.

    “The University has notified and commiserated with the family of the student over the unfortunate incident and pray that God will give them the fortitude to bear the painful loss”.

    READ ALSO: School moves against hit-and-run menace in Lagos

    The peaceful procession terminated at the University’s gate where the Vice Chancellor, Prof O. Fuwape and Dean of students Affairs addressed them.

    To address the systemic recklessness on that route, the Ondo State Government has promised to start the immediate construction of speed breakers.

     Commissioner for works, Taofik Abdulsalam, also visited the scene of the incident to assess the situation for the commencement of work.

    The University also appealed to the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in the State to intensify patrol on the route to prevent a recurrence of such incident.

    Head of Media and Protocols of FUTA, Adegbenti Adebanjo, said the school had met with the state government to erect speed limit.

    Police spokesman, Femi Joseph, a Superintendent of Police(SP) said the matter had been resolved.

  • Should FUTA be named after Shagari?

    Renowned lawyer Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) has suggested that the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Ondo State be named after ex-President Shehu Shagari. Babalola’s suggestion sparked reactions from the alumni who are averse to change in their alma mater’s name. DAMISI OJO reports.

    Reactions have continued to trail the suggestion by eminent lawyer and Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD),Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), that the Federal Government should rename the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) after President  Sheu Shagari.

    Shagari died December 28, at the National Hospital, Abuja. He was 92.

    His administration established FUTA in 1980

    In his tribute with the  theme:  Alhaji Aliyu Usman Shagari: Name FUTA after Shagari, Babalola described the former president as patriotic, humble, and a lover of education. The erudite lawyer recalled how through Shagari’s instrumentality, FUTA was established in 1980 in Ado-Ekiti, but was eventually relocated to Akure.

    Babalola said in a statement signed by ABUAD’s head of Corporate Affairs Mr Tunde Olofintula  Babalola: “His (Shagari) humanitarian services and the many lives he touched while on planet earth will surely stand him in good stead before the Almighty, the Maker of all things.

    “May I, therefore, humbly suggest that the Federal Government should consider naming the Federal University of Technology Akure after this illustrious son of Nigeria.”

    Less than 24 hours after Babalola’s statement, the university’s Alumni Association was the first to turn down his suggestion, saying the move would result into identity crisis for the 28-year-old institution. Corroborating the alumni’s standpoint was the Students’ Union; and then the Academic Staff Union of Universities, FUTA chapter. Representatives of the three groups – Ibrahim Oluwasegun (SU); Bola Oniya (ASUU-FUTA) and Adesomiloju Olaitan (FUTA Alumni President) vowed to resist any move to change FUTA’s name by massively mobilising stakeholders within and outside Akure community against the move.

    However, the university management has said it is losing no sleep over the matter since what the alumni, students, unions and others are reacting to was just an opinion of an individual and not official statement by government.

    While the students insist on retaining FUTA as a brand name, ASUU pleaded caution, warning that Babalola’s suggestion might stir the hornet’s nest rather than a show of appreciation that the pronouncement was meant to achieve.

    In a briefing in Akure last week, Adesomoju said after wide consultation and discussions with alumni members globally, the overwhelming majority vehemently opposed any name change for their alma mater.

    Said Adesomiloju:” It is of note that FUTA was not the only university established by the Act of Parliament during Shagari’s administration, at least six other federal universities of technology were established then”

    The old students urged the Federal Government to consider any of the federal institutions in the North if such move is to be made.

    The alumni recalled that the Federal Government named the then University of Ife located in the Southwest after the late governor of Western Region Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    The alumni maintained that for nearly three decades, the institution has carved a niche in technological innovations, adding that with a change of name, such brand would be jeopardised.

    The alumni continued: “FUTA is an established professional brand that is globally respected for technological innovations.FUTA has also developed several domestic and international collaborations with other leading institutions.

    “These advances and relationship would be mired in an identity crisis by changing its established brand name on the whim of an individual.

    “Evidence abounds that previous name changes for purposes of immortalisation have done damage to institutions of higher learning than good, and there is nowhere in the world that institutions of higher learning over five years old are abruptly renamed after the demise of a leader.

    “For example, Harvard and Oxford have kept the same name since their creation and establishment. These brands are globally respected and identifiable’’.

    Olaitan said the Federal Government, instead of renaming the Institution after late Sheu Shagari, should consider naming a world-class infrastructure like science laboratories, lecture theatres or any other infrastructure within FUTA, after Shagari.

    Oniya said his members were not at home with Babalola’s position.

    According to him, universities, once named, hold their nomenclature till eternity and are not known to change identity along the way.

    He said several universities abroad today are older than Nigeria and still have their names intact, since it is very synonymous with the certificate as well an identification toga for generations to come.

    Oniya added: ‘’It is becoming an ‘alien’ practice to rename universities in the country, I think this should stop. For me, once a university has been named by law, it should retain that identity ad infinitum.”

    Interestingly, the Students Union noted that while they saw the need to appreciate the former president for initiating FUTA during his term, immotalising Shagari with a name changed might be a step in the wrong direction.

    “FUTA is our brand, a worldwide brand with a vision of being a world class university. Renaming such university would demean the brand, disrupt the vision and discourage the students,” Oluwasegun said.

    He added:”The university embraces immortalisation and this is visible with several structures in the university named after people who had contributed to FUTA in several manners. Examples of such is the Albert Ilemobade Library which is the university library, the Akindeko hall of residence, which is a male hostel in the university, among others.

    “These structures were named for the sake of immortalisation; hence we embrace immortalising the deceased by renaming any of the existing structures or perhaps the new structures. However, we plead that FUTA brand should not be tampered with in the name of immortalisation, as it’s a world- wide brand.”

    However, FUTA management through the institution’s Public Relations Officer(PRO) Adebanjo Adegbenro, said the Alumni Association had sufficiently reacted to the suggestion, stressing that since it was just a mere suggestion, nothing has changed.

    He emphasised that it was not the duty of the management to speak on the issue, and as such there was no official reaction.

    “Management would only communicate again except official statement is being made by the Federal Government on the matter.

    “The alumni who are the owners of the institution and other stakeholders have spoken their mind. As far as we are concerned, we will only keep our fingers crossed and watch development.”

    A member of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), Mrs Felicia Iyanda, felt the suggestion to rename FUTA would hold no water. She alluded to a similar scenario by the immediate past administration on the University of Lagos, adding that FUTA might also experience similar backlash that followed Unilag rechristening to Moshood Abiola University.

    Similarly, Akeem Oriloye, one of the shuttle drivers within the university campus, as well as a security guard Alex Gaius, threw their weight behind Iyanda.

    “My brother, that suggestion cannot go beyond that level. FUTA has become a global entity, it will remain so till eternity, nothing can change that,” said Gaius.

    However, Ondo State born legal practitioner, Kayode Ajulo said Shagari deserves the name of any institution including FUTA because the university was birthed by his signature.

    Responding to fear of a name change by stakeholders, Ajulo said good branding efforts by FUTA management with support from government would help address any lacuna that may arise.

    “Shehu Shagari is a leader Nigerians loved. He is a national hero for whom nothing can be too big to give to immortalise,’’ he said.

  • Alumni vow to resist change of FUTA’s name

     

     

    Former students of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) on Wednesday said any move by the Federal Government to re-name the institution after ex-President Shehu Shagari would be vehemently resisted.

    At a news conference in Akure, they vowed not to entertain such moves.

    They promised to mobilise all students and Akure, the host community and other stakeholders against the Federal Government.

    Founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) has suggested to the Federal Government to rename FUTA after the late Shagari.

    His administration initiated the Act of Parliament that established the institution.

    President of FUTA Alumni Association, Adesomoju Olaitan, said the identity change would affect the fortune of the university if allowed.

    Olaitan said: “After extensive consultation and discussions with alumni members globally, we wish to state clearly that the overwhelming majority vehemently oppose any name change to our alma mater.

    “It is of note that FUTA was not the only university established by the Act of Parliament during Alhaji Sheu Shagari’s regime, at least six other Federal Universities of Technology were established.”

    The old students said the Federal Government should consider any of the other institutions in the North instead of an institution in the South.

    They pointed out the Federal Government named the University of Ife after Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a university in the South instead of a university in the North.

    According to them: “FUTA is an established professional brand that is globally respected for technological innovations.

    “FUTA has also developed several domestic and international collaborations with other leading institutions.

    “These advances and relationship would be marred in an identity crisis by changing its established brand name on the whim of an individual.

    “Evidence abounds that previous name changes for purposes of immortalisation have done damage to institutions of higher learning than good and there is nowhere in the world that institutions of higher learning over five years old are abruptly renamed after the demise of a leader.”

    They argued that Harvard and Oxford have kept the same name since their creation and establishment, stressing these brands are globally respected and identifiable.

     

  •  ’Recession forced me into hospitality business’

    Bamidele Faparusi a 2001 graduate of Electrical Electronics from the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) is the CEO of Hotel Express International (HEI) an online hotel booking portal. In this interview with Daniel Adeleye, the former member of House of Representatives speaks on his passion for the hospitality sub-sector vis-a-vis the challenges and prospects. Excerpts:

    Tell us about Hotel Express International (HEI)

    Hotel Express International is a hotel international discount programme based in Norway with extension in Nigeria. It’s a business of helping various travellers reduces their travel expenses. Hotel Express negotiate global discount with hotels and that discount can be transfer only to their members. So it’s a very good platform for business owners and travellers to save money on their travel cost. One good thing about HEI is it opens to all Nigerians; It’s not only for the VIPs, it accommodates both low and income earners. The benefits are for all Nigerians especially business people and pleasure travellers. Joining HEI is like any other social clubs, there are terms and provisions to become member and the benefits accrue on the platform is enormous.

    So what HEI got to offer Nigerians? 

    HEI just as its vision of reducing travel cost to travellers, HEI is set to make the platform available to individuals and corporate organisations to help them reduce their travel expenses. There are different categories of products with HEI that individuals and corporate organisations can benefit from. HEI online is a very good platform where as you search booking can be built for organisations where they can control their travel itineraries and do their bookings on their own platforms at a well discounted rate that can be negotiated globally. So Nigerians of all classes can actually benefit from HEI. HEI is what every business can actually key into to increase their revenue, increase their brand awareness, have international exposure. The HEI is good and not just for Nigeria, when you have the card from here you can go to anywhere in the world and use it. So that’s very beneficial.

    What personal experience inspired you to establish HEI in Nigeria?

    Yes of course over the years, I’ve been using an HEI tag sometimes in 2008 when I went to South Africa for a conference. I’ve used it in several countries that I travelled to like Dubai, UK amongst others and it saved me a lot of hotels expenses, almost half of what I should have paid. And after a while I spoke with them in Norway and they bought the idea of extending the business to Nigeria. And that’s what we have been doing and a lot of people had already keyed into it. It’s an opportunity for hoteliers to increase their revenue, not just hotels, it includes all travel service providers like restaurants, spa, car hirer services and airlines, HEI is like a melting point for all of them to come and offer discount to the members of travels providers which cut across the globe and members are increasingly growing.

    What’s your customer base?

    HEI customer base across the globe is over 15 million and we have over 150,000 hotels on the platform with a lot of corporate organisations in the programme. Although we started in Nigeria two years ago and currently we have about 500 hotels on our platform in Nigeria such as Transcorp, Protea brand, best western, Golden tulips, Reiz Continental, 3-5 Star hotels amongst others.

    HEI also create employment opportunity for many Nigerians. We have direct staff and agents. Being agents of HEI, they can work from their homes and offices and presently we have ten full time staff over fifty agents across Nigeria.

    What are some of the challenges facing this kind of business in Nigeria? 

    Yes of course, like every other businesses there are challenges, especially coming with a business concept that is new. One major challenge unlike our counterparts in other countries is that of businesses and customers. Here people still believe that there should be facial contact before they can deal. You know this is purely a service business and people are still sceptical about patronising service business online.

    To address this challenge we have people on the ground, we are opening up the business to resellers and agents who are interested in taking a bite from the cake. Presently we have 8 resellers and 50 agents nationwide and there are still sill enough rooms to accommodate more resellers and agents across the country.

    Can you shed more light on resellers and agents; what differentiate the two?

    Yes resellers are like distributors within a territory who has the capacity to sell all products of the company and also service customers within their agreed territory. More importantly, resellers have to be a business entity. On the other hand, an agent can be an individual interest to sell any of the company products but they are not allowed to provide any services, agents are like freelance salesperson. Being a reseller or agent of HEI is very rewarding.

    What’s your appraisal of the hospitality industry in Nigeria; do you think it has lived up to people’s expectation?

    Hospitality industry in Nigeria is actually coming up. But I think government needs to do more to improve on the tourism potential of the country. They need to open up Nigeria to the rest of the world. We are not there yet compare to what’s happening in other African countries like Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Namibia. Those countries are doing far better than we do in Nigeria. If Nigerian government could come up with strategy that will bring in tourists to Nigeria, that will actually impact positively on hospitality industry in the country. Local brands are coming up, there are a lot of investments going on in the industry in Nigeria, but that investment can only be sustainable if there is enabling environment for tourism to thrive. And that’s the challenge that hospitality industry are facing in the country.

    It’s not the single approach that can actually address that issue, we have to be multi-dimensional. First and foremost, we have the population in Nigeria and how well are we going to galvanise the Nigerian population to develop our local tourism potential? And what do I mean; somebody from Lagos going to Bauchi for tourism, somebody from Bauchi comes to Ekiti on tourism and somebody from Port-Harcourt going to Enugu for tourism. We really don’t have that yet. There should be a strategy that will ensure that all that is happening in Nigeria should be like starting from the basis, and then open up a country. Every state in Nigeria has tourism potential that can be harnessed. It left to the federal government to work with the states government to develop those potentials by partnering the states government. And then collectively, see how they can market it to the rest of the world. By so doing I think a lot of tourists would come visiting Nigeria. Nigeria has all divers of tourism; we have spiritual tourism, adventurous tourism, pleasure tourism and all that, if all these are developed and market very well to the rest of the world, it can actually bring attention to Nigeria.

    And again, the issue of insecurity challenge remain a threat and actually hindering the growth of the business in Nigeria. Although that may not really be an issue in Lagos or Abuja, but in the areas like Plateau, Borno states, hospitality business has suffered a lot in those states. Also tourist location, how many world class tourist locations do we have in Nigeria? The Osun Osogbo mangrove is a UNESCO site and most of the UNESCO sites in Nigeria how do we promote them? Even if we focus on UNESCO accredited locations and showcase them to the world, with UNESCO brand behind those locations we should be able to draw people to Nigeria, but since the attention of government is not in that area. I think government needs to redirect their attention to tourism and see what could benefit the citizens from it.

    How has recession affected the hospitality sector and what’s the way forward?

    Like every other sector of the economy, hospitality is definitely being the first to suffer from recession because when the purchasing power of people reduces and business activity reduces, then people will travel less and when people travel less it will affect the hospitality industry. When the purchasing power of businesses reduces, instead of people staying in hotel, they’ll look for friends to hang out with to trim cost. That’s why HEI came in to fill in that gap, to help people save up to 50 percent on their hotels bills and their other travel packages. It was actually during the recession that I felt that there is a need for Hotel Express International in Nigeria at least to cushion the impact of the recession. And I think we have done fairly well in that regards.

    What’s your long-term vision for HEI

    Hotel Express International Nigeria is here to stay and stay for a very long time. We are building our network of travel partners daily, be it hotels, airlines, restaurants, health and wellness, salon and spa and all that. We are also investing heavily in training of our personnel’s while we hire more as our membership grows. Recently there is a local airline that I won’t like to mention that will be our local airline partner. We will make the deal open as soon as the details are worked out. We are open to this kind of partnership provided it will return money into the pocket of our members.

    You were once a lawmaker. Can you tell us what you did prior to been a lawmaker? 

    I was the Managing Director/CEO of my Engineering Company, GreenPower Overseas Limited, which I started in 2003. GreenPower is into provision of Solar Energy Power Systems and Electrical Building Services. As a registered engineer I also engage in engineering consultancy services with few global firms.

    I was a federal lawmaker in 2011under the political platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and later at the All Progressives Congress (APC),  where I represented the Ekiti South Federal Constituency 2.

  • Lead development, Buhari charges FUTA, others

    President Muhammadu Buhari has called on universities to lead the country’s drive for development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) through the production of critical manpower with demonstrable Information Communication Technology (ICT) skills.

    Buhari gave the charge on the final day of the 29th and 30th combined convocation of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) last Friday.

    The Visitor to the university, who was represented by the Director of Accreditation, National Universities Commission, Abuja, Dr. Noel Biodun Saliu, said: “In this age of ICT, we believe that our universities of technology are pivotal to the actualisation of our national development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations in training and producing highly qualified manpower to solve the problems of unemployment, security and youth restiveness, thereby enabling them become self-reliant, entrepreneurs and job creators.”

    He called on universities and other higher institutions to align with the Education 2030 Agenda which  aadvocates for “education for self-reliance, basic skills and competencies needed in the 21st Century” so that “graduates can be employers of labour rather than searching endlessly for white collar jobs which are not readily available.”

    On funding, the President assured universities of government’s readiness to improve, but also appealed to all stakeholders in the education sector not to rely on government alone for funding.

    “I strongly believe that FUTA is endowed with high quality and innovative researchers who can take up this task. I encouraged the leadership of FUTA to be forthright and focused with a view to faithfully upholding the confidence reposed in you by government and all other stakeholders.”

    To the graduating students, Buhari urged them to  apply the knowledge and skills acquired in school to contributing to the socio-economic and political development of Nigeria.

    The Chancellor, Alhaji Rilwanu Adamu, and the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, Senator Joseph Waku , appealed for more government funding, especially for specialised universities.

    “As the needs of universities have been on the increase to meet the challenges of global competitiveness, I wish to crave the indulgence of the Federal Government for more financial support, especially on the release of the shortfalls in personnel grant to our University,”Senator Waku said.

    In his address, the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Joseph Fuwape called on the graduating students to hold firm the ideals and standards they acquired as students.

    He said FUTA had achieved a lot, particularly since he became VC.

    “Our academies have been positively engaged in high quality and impactful need driven research in globally relevant areas of technology, particularly renewable energy, food security and biotechnolog.The university has also embarked on various research activities and developed strategies to rebrand FUTA as a Centre of Excellence in research, innovation and product development.  The efforts of the research activities have yielded positive results, particularly in the area of renewable energy with the launch of solar powered generator,” he said.

    For 2016/2017 session, 2,767 graduated with 86 first class; and 2,033 graduated in 2017/2018 Session with 120 First Class in the undergraduate category.

    For Postgraduate, there were 1,401 Postgraduate Diplomas (PGDs), Master and Doctorate Degrees for the two sessions.

    Mr. Tope Adebodun of the Department of Applied Geophysics graduated as the best student with the highest Cumulative Grade Point Average of (CGPA) of 4.91 in the 20116/17 academic session; and Funke Olanrewaju of the Department of Food Science and Technology with the same CGPA emerged the best graduating student for the 2017/18 academic session.

    President, Impact Leadership Academy, Mr Akinwumi Odumakinde; former President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Dr Lawrence Olusegun Aina; and Oba Olufemi Olutoye, the Alani of Ido-Ani Kingdom, were conferred honorary doctorate degrees.

  • FUTA graduates 4,800 in two sessions

    No fewer than 206 students of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) in Ondo State have graduated with First Class.

    The graduating students were among the 4,800 churned out by the University for the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 academic sessions.

    They will be conferred with their degrees today and tomorrow during the 29th and 30th convocation of the university.

    The Deputy Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Phillip Oguntunde who spoke at a press conference to herald the 30th convocation, said a student in the department of Applied Geology, Adebodun Samuel was the overall best graduating student of the university with a CGPA of 4.91.

    Giving a rundown of the academic performances of the graduating students, Oguntunde, disclosed that 86 made first class, 931 made second class (upper), 1,258 made second class (lower) and 454 made third class during the 2016/2017 academic year; while for the 2017/2018 academic session, 120 made first class, 800 made second class (upper), 617 made second class (lower) and 271 graduated with third class.

    He also disclosed that three distinguished Nigerians – Dr Olusegun Aina, Mr Akinwumi Odumakinde and the Alani of Ido-Ani, Oba Olufemi Olutoye will be conferred with the honorary doctorate degree of the university tomorrow.

    The don said the three personalities are being honoured for distinguishing themselves in their chosen professions and contributed greatly to the development of the country.

    Oguntunde said a number of projects which include the new undergraduate female and male hostels, 25km Campus Wide Fibre Optics Cable equipment, Students Archival Project (e- Senate Project) and Energy Kiosk would be inaugurated in the course of the ceremonies.

    On the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Oguntunde said ASUU was fighting a good course for the development and betterment of Nigerian university system.

    He however identified poor funding as the major challenge confronting the university, urging the Federal Government to give priority to university education for the good of the country.

  • FUTA students to finish studies in U.S varsity

    Seven students of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) have departed Nigeria to complete their studies at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) Tallahassee, United States.

    They are the sixth set of beneficiaries of a pact between the two institutions in 2013.

    The seven students are Bello Emmanuel Kolawole (Industrial Design), Farukanmi Iyanu (Food Science Technology), Olabiran Boluwatife (Mechanical Engineering), Babatunde Samuel (Building Department),Okunmadewa Adedamola (Architecture), Akinrinde Oluwaseyi (Architecture) and Kola-Adelakin Oluwanbo (Architecture).

    The Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Joseph Fuwape, said at a send-off organised for the students that FUTA had recorded a landmark success in its collaboration with FAMU.

    “I am happy with the success recorded so far with this programme.  Already 42 students have participated in the FUTA/ FAMU collaboration, and one of them is through with his PhD, and already working with Intel in USA. Others are also making steady progress in different areas of endeavours,” said Fuwape, who was at the graduation of the batch five FUTA-FAMU students.

    The VC urged members of the Class of 2018 to consolidate on the achievements of their predecessors and be good ambassadors.

    “You are not just the representatives of FUTA but also of Nigeria. Ensure that you combine good character with excellent learning as this is the hall mark of success,” he said.

    Earlier, the Director, International Strategy Office, Prof Tom Ofuya said the FUTA/FAMU programme termed 4-1-1 is designed for qualified final year students to complete their first degree at FAMU and later go for their postgraduate in same school. After completing their final year undergraduate programme in FAMU, they will earn a FUTA Bachelor’s Degree and go on to complete a one year Postgraduate  Programme to earn a FAMU Master’s.

    Advising the students to be focused, Ofuya said the programme would strengthen the students technically and academically.

    “FUTA is doing this to make you useful to FUTA, yourself, Nigeria and the whole world. Therefore, you cannot afford to waste this opportunity,” Ofuya said.

    Responding on behalf of the students, Farukanmi Iyanu thanked the FUTA Management for the opportunity and pledged that they would make everyone proud.

  • Hit and Run driver kills FUTA student

    A 200 level first class student of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Deborah Olajide has been reportedly  killed by a hit and run driver.

    The development sparked protest by her colleague as the university community was thrown into mourning.

    Police spokesman in the state, Femi Joseph said the main cause of the student’s death was unknown.

    However, he assured that the state police command would investigate the incident, urging the students to remain calm.

    Joseph said “the lifeless body of the deceased student was found by the road side which gave the impression that she might have been knocked down by a hit and run driver. But, we are not certain about the real cause of her death.”

    Late Olajide was said to be a 200 level student in the department of Food Science and Technology of the university.

    The deceased was described as very brilliant and lived off campus of the institution.

    A procession had been held in his honour by he colleague,which caused traffic gridlock for several hours on the major Akure-Ilesa road.

  • Varsities in ground-breaking research

    A team of researchers and experts from the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), University of Osun and Afe Babalola University has successfully devised a system of cleaning underground water contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbon caused by seepage from oil pipeline, reports WALE AJETUNMOBI

    It was a good day for the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), University of Osun and Afe Babalola University. That day researchers and experts from these Southwest-based institutions unveiled a method, which successfully cleaned underground water contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbon. The method whose pilot project was undertaken to clean water wells contaminated by oil spillage from pipelines of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Baruwa, Lagos was unveiled at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel during a one-day work shop on Tuesday March 27.

    The leader of the team of experts,  Samuel Ola , a professor of  Geotechnical and Geo Environmental Engineering  at FUTA, said the four-year research was undertaken with the support of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND)  to remediate ground water polluted by oil spillage using 21st century technology .

    At the occasion chaired by former University of Ibadan Vice Chancellor Prof. Olufemi Bamiro and witnessed by representatives of the Baruwa community, officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), NNPC, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) and other stakeholders, Ola said his team determined that groundwater contamination by petroleum hydrocarbon would continue to assail the country until the sources of the contamination were tackled.

    Ola added that at the commencement of the study, hydrocarbon product was found on top of the groundwater in wells in the community isolated for the research. He said through a combination of modern technology and oil grabber skimmer model, the remediation Process by the team of experts was largely successful as it led to the extraction of petroleum hydrocarbon from the groundwater of wells used for the study. According to him, “In-site chemical oxidation was also used and after  about 30 weeks of monitoring there were dramatic reduction in the hydrocarbon content  of the groundwater with some of the pilot wells recording  zero contamination”.

    He said the decontamination could not be sustained because the source of the contamination of the ground water in the community which is the oil spills from ruptured NNPC pipelines remained unfixed. According to the experts, ”Groundwater pollution from leaking NNPC/PPMC underground pipelines in Baruwa community has been continuous and the leakage source persistent as evidenced by fresh petroleum product detection in the groundwater at some of the observation wells after the successful clean-up of the pilot scheme area by experts using modern remediation methods”. They also alerted the authorities that groundwater pollution problem discovered in Baruwa was already extending to other areas of Lagos such as Diamond Estate, Isheri Road and Gowon Estate.

    A member of the Baruwa community, Prof. Joseph Ogungbamigbe, said the contamination, which is still ongoing, has brought untold hardship in spite of several promises by NNPC to remedy the situation. He said the Corporation  has done little to tackle the problem and  fuel continue to leak into the groundwater  from 1996 till date making life unbearable for the people and killing  businesses in some instances.  He lauded the Professor Ola’s TETFUND National Research Group for its dogged pursuit of its mandate over four years describing its research and outcome as transparent for everyone to see.  He counselled that the work of remediation of polluted ground water in the community should be done under the supervision of the FUTA Professor led team. “The entire Baruwa Community is grateful to this research team that laboured tirelessly on the community without any cost from our part” he said. Dr Musa Zagi, Director Environment of DPR called for  the sustenance of such a platform  saying   sincere engagement between government, national oil corporations, IOC’s and host communities to tackle oil spill and environmental exploration remains the best way out.  He said the DPR would continue to bring about a total commitment by all stakeholders to set agenda which will guarantee clean, safe and suitable environment for all.

    Prof. Bamiro lauded the approach of the research team.  He said they demonstrated the application of knowledge to solve real life situation and adapted inter -disciplinary approach.  He appealed to the Federal Government and other relevant agencies to leverage on the result of the study to solve the problem of Baruwa and other areas whose environments continue to bear the brunt of oil exploration and exploitation. He said the consensus of opinion at the workshop was the urgent need to replace the apparently old and corroded PPMC pipelines to ensure pipeline integrity and stop further leakage; thereafter, the clean-up of the contaminated areas can then be undertaken. As an interim measure, specialised cased water supply boreholes can be drilled in contaminated areas to provide potable water.

    TETFUND, which funded the research project said through Mrs. Mary Israel–Cookey who represented Dr Abdulahi Baffa, the Executive Secretary that it would continue to fund research that solve real life problems and advance the course of academic development in the country. He said the Ola TETFUND National Research Group had done creditably well and delivered excellently on its mandate.