The Nation Newspaper

Tag: lecturer

  • Varsity sacks lecturer for sexual harassment

    A lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Ebonyi State University (EBSU), has been sacked by the management.

    The management also suspended Onwe Chinedu Ogah, of the Department of History and International Relations,  for alleged sexual harassment and extortion.

    The students yesterday decried the alleged high rate of sexual harassment and extortion by lecturers.

    Ogah is facing a disciplinary committee for alleged sexual harassment and extortion.

    The Nation investigation showed that students allegedly paid between N10,000 and N30,000 to pass a particular course, or had sex with lecturers if they could not pay.

    A victim, Chinenye Chike, alleged that she had carry-over because she failed to pay the N10,000 demanded by the lecturer or sleep with him.

    Another victim, Sylvia Ibiam, alleged that after paying the money, the lecturer insisted she must sleep with him, and she refused.

    “The lecturer punished me by hiding my project.”

    The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Francis Idike, confirmed that sexual harassment and extortion were rampant in the institution.

    He said: “A lecturer is on suspension. How can you sack somebody without going through stages? The disciplinary committee has completed its assignment and submitted it to the vice chancellor. I am studying the matter, after which I will send it to the management.

    “I don’t have the total figure of such cases, but I know there are many of them. In fact, there was one we decided last week, based on sex for grade. A female lecturer was sacked. It happened in the Faculty of Education. Just last week, the council took a final decision on the recommendation of the committee.”

  • OAU lecturer debunks indictment report

    Former Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Prof. Adesina Aderibigbe, has debunked  an online report, which said he was indicted for stealing by the school Governing Council. He said he was neither indicted for stealing from the university’s Agric Farm nor arrested by its security at the gate as being rumoured.

    Prof. Aderibigbe, an Animal Nutritionist, told reporters that the report by one Concerned Integrity Group on the thebriefng.com, an online news site, whose address cannot be verified, was false and sponsored by some elements within the OAU campus to tarnish his integrity.

    According to Aderibigbe, the report was done to stop him from winning the election into the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board (JCSSB) for the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor. He said he was, however, happy that he emerged victorious among the four contenders.

    He said: “I have never been indicted by the university’s Governing Council or any committee in the university or anywhere else. Rather, my efforts and those of other faculty deans were commended by the Council, which consequently approved a sum of N30 million for the farm. Even the former VC, Prof. Roger Makanjuola, on August 24, 2005, wrote me a letter, Ref. No. VC90/Vol.VI/6, to congratulate me on my various achievements as the dean during that period.

    “The false story on my person was targeted at stopping my election into the JCSSB for the just concluded VC’s appointment. However, my colleagues knew my track record, character and integrity and voted overwhelmingly for me despite the massive circulation of the false online story a day before the election in Senate. The evil perpetrators failed in their attempt to stop me from winning one of the two Senate spots. Subsequently, I discharged my responsibility creditably well during the VC selection process to the unprecedented satisfaction of all the 21 applicants, members of OAU community and Nigerians in general.

    ‘’I want to use this opportunity to clear my name and hard earned reputation and integrity, which the faceless and cowardly “Concerned Integrity Group “attempted to rubbish, but failed woefully. I am very happy that the sponsors of the false story did not achieve their goals.”

    Aderibigbe said his initial reaction was to ignore the story, but he had to rescind the decision following the advice of colleagues and family members. “The entire story is fake and unfounded. It was meant to achieve an evil purpose, but they have failed woefully,”he said.

    He said no amount of blackmail and sponsored stories by some disgruntled elements within and outside the university would stop him from being focused and doing what is right, fair and just.

    “In fact, winning the election despite the false and evil publication, was like a double vote of confidence in me by my distinguished colleagues in the Senate, for which I am very grateful. I thank God for making me not to disappoint them during the selection process. I will remain resolute to maintain my honour and integrity always.”

    He said he has instructed his lawyer to begin legal process against the operator of the online site, who he accused of not verifying the story before running it online.

    “I want to assure my colleagues, students and family members that no amount of falsehood through whatever means will deter me from standing on the side of truth, fairness and justice. It took me decades to build my career and hard earned honour and integrity. I will continue to uphold the truth in any circumstance and defend my integrity always. The false and malicious online story against my person failed woefully to achieve its aim,”  Aderibigbe concluded.

     

     

  • OAU lecturer debunks indictment report

    Former Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Prof. Adesina Aderibigbe, has debunked a report in an online medium which alleged he was indicted by the Governing Council of the institution. He said he was neither indicted for stealing from the Agric. Farm nor arrested by the university security at the gate as was being rumoured.

    Prof. Aderibigbe, an Animal Nutritionist, told reporters that the report by one Concerned Integrity Group on the thebriefng.com, an online news site whose address cannot be verified, was false and sponsored by some elements within OAU to tarnish his integrity.

    According to Aderibigbe, the spurious publication was planted to stop him from winning election into the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board (JCSSB) for the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor. Nonetheless, Aderibigbe is happy that he emerged victorious among the four contenders.

    He said: “I have never been indicted by the university’s Governing Council or any committee in the university or anywhere else. Rather, my efforts and those of other faculty deans were commended by Council, which consequently approved a sum of N30 million for the farm. Even the former VC, Prof. Roger Makanjuola, on August 24, 2005, wrote me a letter, Ref. No. VC90/Vol.VI/6,to congratulate me on my various achievements as the dean during that period.

    “The false story on my person was targeted at stopping my election into the JCSSB for the just concluded VC appointment. However, my colleagues knew my track record, character and integrity and voted overwhelmingly for me despite the massive circulation of the false online story a day before the election in Senate. The evil perpetrators failed in their attempt to stop me from winning one of the two Senate spots. Subsequently, I discharged my responsibility creditably well during the VC selection process to the unprecedented satisfaction of all the 21 applicants, members of OAU community and Nigerians in general.

    ‘’I want to use this opportunity to clear my name and hard earned reputation and integrity which the faceless and cowardly “Concerned Integrity Group “attempted to rubbish, but failed woefully. I am very happy that the sponsors of the false story did not achieve their goals.”

    Aderibigbe said his initial reaction was to overlook the story, but had to rescind that decision following the advice of colleagues and family members. “The entire story is fake and unfounded. It was meant to achieve an evil purpose, but they have failed woefully.”

    He said no amount of blackmail and sponsored stories by some disgruntled elements within and outside the university would stop him from being focused and doing what is right, fair and just.

    “In fact, winning the election despite the false and evil publication, was like a double vote of confidence in me by my distinguished colleagues in the Senate, for which I am very gratefu. I thank God for making me not to disappoint them during the selection process. I will remain resolute to maintain my honour and integrity always.”

    He said he has already instructed his lawyer to begin legal process against the operator of the online site who he accused of not verifying the story before running it online.

    “I want to assure my colleagues, students and family members that no amount of falsehood through whatever means will deter me from standing on the side of truth, fairness and justice. It took me decades to build my career and hard earned honour and integrity. I will continue to uphold the truth in any circumstance and defend my integrity always. The false and malicious online story against my person failed woefully to achieve its aim,”  Aderibigbe concluded.

  • Frequent strike threat to education sector – Lecturer

    Mr Ibrahim Oseni, Senior Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering Department, Kwara State University (KWASU), has said that the frequent strike in schools is a serious threat to Nigerian educational system.

    Oseni told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin on Saturday, that the constant strike embarked upon in schools was gradually killing the education system.

    He said that due to the frequent strike, there was no more consistency in the academic calendar.

    According to him, strike has become a regular practice in Nigerian schools which has crippled the educational system.

    “Strike has disrupted many school programmes and has affected students negatively.

    “Some schools have turned strike to their holidays and semester breaks which is bad for the system.

    “These regular strike result in schools rushing their students beyond their capacity and as well leads to uncovered syllabus.

    “Strike has rendered our educational system useless and it baffles me when schools go on lengthy strike. The future of our education is at stake,”Oseni said.

    He, therefore, called on government at all levels and stakeholders in the educational sector to ensure that lecturers, teachers and students’ welfare were put into consideration in order to avoid strike.

    “Education is the bedrock of a nation and therefore deserves special attention. Avoiding strike will go a long way in taking our education to the next level,” he said

  • Don wants Paris Club loans refund channelled to education, agriculture

    A lecturer at Federal  University  of Technology, Minna, Dr Thomas Arabi  has advised state governors to channel the  Paris Club loans refund to the development of education, agriculture and health care delivery.

    Arabi, Head, Educational Services, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Minna.

    NAN reports that President Muhammadu Buhari directed the release of the money to the governors.

    Buhari told the governors to use part of the money to pay the arrears of workers’ salaries and benefits of retirees.

    The don said that it was only through the diversification of such funds to the sectors that Nigerians would feel the impact of the loans.

    Arabi said that provision of basic drugs and improved atmosphere for learning would enable the public to feel the impact of the political change mantra of the present administration.

    According to him, part of the funds should be used to procure assorted farming inputs for sale to farmers at subsidised rates.

    He said the provision of farming implements would encourage more Nigerians to venture into farming.

    “Nigerians should thank God almighty for making the Paris Club loans refund available at this crucial stage of the economic recession.

    “Our governors should judiciously invest the refunds in the areas of agriculture, education and prompt payment of salaries,’’ Arabi said.

    He said that proper investment of the funds would also attract foreign investors and create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth.

  • Gunmen kidnap poly lecturer in Aba

    Unknown gunmen have abducted a lecturer, Mr. Nkwachi Brown in Aba, Abia State.

    It was gathered that Brown, popularly known as ‘Macky’, who lectures at the Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, was on Thursday, kidnapped along Opobo road, Aba, on his way to a meeting.

    It was further gathered that Brown and his friend were cruising in a vehicle when the gunmen struck, near the offices of local radio station in the city.

    Close associates of the lecturer stated that the gunmen are yet to contact his family four days after his abduction. This has heightened tension about his safety.

    Abia State Police Public Relations Officer,  DSP Geoffrey Ogbonna, said the incident is yet to be reported to the Police.

    Meanwhile, residents of Bourdex Avenue and Iroegbu street, Ogbor Hill, Aba have a sent a save our soul message to the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Leye Oyebade, over the spate of robbery attacks in the area.

    The residents lamented that the hoodlums have laid siege in the area, breaking into houses and dispossessing them of cash and other valuables and appealed to the Police boss to deploy security to the area.

    A cross section of residents of Bourdex Avenue, said they no longer sleep as the robbers who are armed with sophisticated weapons attack them as early as 8pm.

    “We are appealing to the Police to deploy security around Bourdex Avenue, robbers have laid siege to the area. If you visit this area any time from 7pm, you will not meet anybody on the road due to fear of the robbers. Most times, they will continue shooting guns while moving from one house to the other. No day passes without incidents of robbery attacks in one household or the other by these hoodlums who are well armed. They come with ladder, iron breaking equipment and torchlight. The security agencies should extend their patrol to the area.”

    Narrating his ordeal, a resident of Iroegbu Street who gave his name as Mr. Stanley, said he was almost killed while returning from a business trip at about 8.30pm as the robbers inflicted injuries on him and dispossessed him of a huge amount of cash and his telephones.

    He added that the two residents of the area are still suffering from machete injuries they suffered from the robbers, penultimate Thursday to Wednesday of every week and use Thursdays and Fridays to farm”.

  • Gunmen kidnap Poly lecturer in Abia

    Unknown gunmen have abducted a lecturer, Mr. Nkwachi Brown in Aba, Abia State.
    It was gathered that Brown, popularly known as ‘Macky’, who lectures at the Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, was on Thursday, kidnapped along Opobo road, on his way to a meeting.
    It was gathered that Brown and his friend were driving in a vehicle when the gunmen struck, near the offices of local radio station in the city.
    Close associates of the lecturer stated that the gunmen are yet to contact his family four days after his abduction. This has heightened tension about his safety.
    Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Geoffrey Ogbonna, said the incident is yet to be reported to the Police.
    Meanwhile, residents of Bourdex Avenue and Iroegbu street, Ogbor Hill, Aba have a sent a save our soul message to the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Leye Oyebade, over the spate of robbery attacks in the area.
    The residents lamented that the hoodlums have laid siege to the area, breaking into houses and dispossessing them of cash and other valuables and appealed to the Police boss to deploy security to the area.
    A cross section of residents of Bourdex Avenue, said they no longer sleep as the robbers who are armed with sophisticated weapons attack them as early as 8pm.
    “We are appealing to the Police to deploy security around Bourdex Avenue, robbers have laid siege to the area. If you visit this area any time from 7pm, you will not meet anybody on the road due to fear of the robbers.
    ” Most times, they will continue shooting guns while moving from one house to the
    other. No day passes without incidents of robbery attacks in one household or the other by these hoodlums who are well armed.
    ” They come with ladder, iron breaking equipment and torchlight. The security agencies should extend their patrol to the area.”
    ” Narrating his ordeal, a resident of Iroegbu Street who gave his name as Mr. Stanley, said he was almost killed while returning from a business trip at about 8.30pm as the robbers inflicted injuries on him and dispossessed him of a huge amount of cash and his telephones.”
    He added that the two residents of the area are still suffering from machete injuries they suffered from the robbers, penultimate Thursday.

  • IBBUL sex scandal: Lecturer, student to face suspension

    THE management of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL), has recommended the suspension of the lecturer and student involved in a sex scandal that rocked the institution few  weeks ago.

    It will be recalled that a sexual scandal involving Malam Ishaq Yusuf, a teacher in the Department of English Language and Communication Studies, and a 400-Level undegraduate of the department, Chidimma Mercy Samuel, had gone viral on social media.

    The investigation panel set up by the management recommended the suspension of the duo.

    The panel headed by a Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof Samual Kolo Tswanya, which submitted its report to the Vice Chancellor, Prof Mohammed Nasir Maiturare, at the weekend, also recommended the referral of the principal suspects in the scandal to various disciplinary committees of the institution.

    The committee said 20 people, including the principal actors, were interrogated during its sitting.

    Maiturare thanked the committee for a job well done, adding that the recommendations would be studied and implemented.

    He said it had become imperative for the institution to remain focused and to produce high quality graduates who are worthy in both character and learning.

    He warned that the management team would not tolerate any misconduct by staff and students that could tarnish the image of the university.

  • LMU lecturer ‘s research wins ‘most cited’ award

    The Editors of Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics under the Elsevier platform, has awarded Dr Olufemi Adebesin of the Department of Physical Science Landamark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State the ‘Highly cited research’ award. Adebesin’s paper published in 2013 and themed: “Equatorial vertical plasma drift velocities and electron densities inferred from ground-based lonosonde measurements during low solar activity”, was described as one of the five most highly cited papers in 2014, 2015 and up till June 2016.

    The paper, according to Adebesin, was part of his Ph.D research he embarked upon under the tutelage of Prof. Adeniyi Olusegun and Adimula Isaac of the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. The paper reported the upper atmosphere dynamics and effects, and more importantly picking a study station in Nigeria, where such are scantily investigated. It is believed that such studies would launch Nigeria and the continent of Africa into the global scene of space weather physics.

    Adebesin last year, had his post-doctoral programme at NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, Greenbelt, United States of America. NASA is the agency of the United States responsible for the civilian space programme as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

    Adebesin’s remarkable performance at NASA opened up a platform for mutual relationship between US agency and Landmark University for collaborationS in research and development. During the period, he was appointed NASA Community Coordinated Modelling Centre (CCMC) ambassador to West Africa.

    The article which was published in Elsevier gained wide circulation on Scopus. According to the publisher, Scopus is an article metrics module that gives a comprehensive view of an article’s impact, and evaluates the influence and reach of such article, using a broad basket of both traditional (citation counts) and alternative metrics (e.g. social media activity, mass media mentions) for reporting and further research.

    Congratulating Adebesin, LMU vice chancellor Prof   Aize Obayan,   noted that the university is known for such exploits.

    ‘Our philosophy is to ensure the total liberation of the Black Man through cutting edge research. This is the path we have set and we shall not deviate from it,”she said.

     

  • Sex scandal: My story, by lecturer

    Sex scandal: My story, by lecturer

    Ishaq G. Yusuf, a lecturer at the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Lapai, Niger State, accused by a student, Mercy Chidinma Samuel, of sexually harassing her, claims that he is a victim of an orchestrated plan to destroy him. He says he won’t rest until he gets justice.

    All my life, I have always wanted to be a teacher because the teaching profession represents an epitome of integrity. I have always believed that through education, we can contribute to the development of our society.

    So, consciously, I choose to be a teacher. I have struggled all my life to protect my integrity and this is why I have decided to speak out, because silence is tantamount to acceptance.

    My ordeal started when my PhD supervisor (Dr Abaya) who is currently a sabbatical staff in my department asked me to help him administer a 40-minute test of ENG 409, a course Mercy Samuel was writing.

    The class to be used for the test was too small, thereby necessitating the division of the class into two. The rule surrounding the conduct of the test was laid down by the examiner, that a student caught cheating would have his or her script torn.

    Mercy sat behind her classmate, Samuel by name. And when the test was about to round off, Samuel raised his scripts for Mercy to copy. I warned Samuel to desist but he just smiled and carried on. I therefore collected his paper and wrote on it, “cheated”.

    Then, I kept the script on the table waiting for other students to finish. As the test ended, Dr Abaya came in and asked me if there was any problem during the test. I replied “yes”. I showed him Samuel’s paper and explained what happened. The paper was torn.

    The following day, Mercy kept on calling me that she wanted to see me, because Samuel had been disturbing her and she needed me to help them talk to Dr Abaya on behalf of the Samuel. I clearly told her that there was nothing I could do about it. I stayed in my office preparing my handover notes to the next examination officer in my department as I was just recently appointed as the Faculty Examinations Officer. I was also busy preparing materials for the forth coming first semester examination.

    I left my office around 10pm on the fateful day for my house in Lapai town. On my way home, I slowed down near the Master Chef Restaurant, where the portion of road is sandy. I saw Mercy by the side of the road. Before I could fathom what was happening, four boys opened my car, jumped inside and closed the doors. One of them pressed a gun behind my head and ordered me to keep driving until we got to Mercy’s house.

    Then, they forced me into the house and ordered me to lick some oranges but I refused. Subsequently they boys forced me to take some water melon. One of the boys slapped me repeatedly. He said that he failed my GST course for three years and kept on slapping me   with both hands shouting : “Am I dull, am I dull?”

    He kept on beating me, shouting that he was so angry with me. Up till date, I still have problems with my ears as a result of the slapping and beating the boys subjected me to. They threatened to kill me if I did not comply with all their directives.

    Under duress, I was forced to write four undertakings to pass some four students in the exams. They beat and kicked me and I sustained injury in my hand. They asked me to sit and write an essay of 450 words the way I used to ask them to write essay in the class.

    All through these, they were smoking and drinking. Thereafter, I was asked to remove my clothes but I refused. They forcefully stripped me and took some shots of me and their leader identified as SKT. They took my handsets, ATM cards and some cash that I had in my pocket. They soaked my shirt in water. They asked me how much I had in the bank and I told them it was not up to N100,000.

    They kept me hostage throughout the night doing different chores for them, including mopping the floor for Mercy. They humiliated and abused me throughout the night, while Mercy recorded video of me. After several hours I was going through the ordeal, I started experiencing pains in my chest and started bringing out some mucus. I went to the toilet to spit out the mucus and came back to be engaged in another task until one of them observing my condition said they should allow me to go so that I would not die in their hands. Then they called somebody and gave me the phone to talk to him. As they released me, they gave me a phone number which I must call by 10am when I get home.

    After my release, I reported the incident to my Dean. Later that same day, they still came to my office to confront me, locked me inside and demanded to know why I was “following” Mercy. They further demanded that I bring the N2million they asked me for. Even when I went out of my office later, I still saw the people that came to my office in strategic places watching my office.

    I decided that the world must hear my side of the story, which is now being investigated by the law enforcement agents and the university authority. I was kidnapped, assaulted, humiliated, and psychologically traumatised. Yet, they still sent out my unclad pictures and videos doing chores on the Internet. I have been maligned and defamed and I will not rest until I get justice.