The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Library

  • Corps member donates library to INEC

    Corps member donates library to INEC

    One will think that such an important agency as the Independent National Electoral Commission will have a library where important books and other documents are kept for reference purposes and ease of access of information by staff of the commission as well as researchers and academic scholars.

    Well, that was not the case with the Ebonyi State office of the electoral body until a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member serving at its headquarters in Abakaliki set up one.

    A Batch ‘B’  member of the corps, Mr Omolekun Oluwole has handed over the mini-library equipped with research materials to the Commission in Abakaliki.

    In his speech during the inauguration and handover of the library, Oluwole said that the project was part of his Community Development Service (CDS), an integral part of the four cardinal programmes of the NYSC.

    He stated that after assessing the documentation and references challenges of the Commission’s workers, he was motivated to provide a solution after getting the go-ahead nod of the Commission’s leadership.

    •Corps member Omolekun Oluwole who donated a library to the Ebonyi State Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), explains a point when he handed over the facility to Commission in Abakiliki
    •Corps member Omolekun Oluwole who donated a library to the Ebonyi State Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), explains a point when he handed over the facility to Commission in Abakiliki

    Oluwole, who noted that the library would serve as a model of inquiry, learning, building knowledge and confidence in seeking and processing information among the workers, added that it would also help to promote staff’s outward thinking and positive mental reasoning and perception?

    He maintained that service year was not a merriment year but a time to make sacrifices for community development.

    He said: “Community development service is one of the integral part of the four cardinal programmes of the scheme of NYSC in which corps memebers work with the local community to promote self-reliance by systematically prospecting and executing development projects which will in turn impact positively on the social-economic development of the host communities through the period of national service. It is worthwhile mentioning that since its inception in1973, the NYSC has been making great contributions in the social, political and economic transformation of the nation”.

    “One of the major aims and objectives is to produce the forum for corps members to experiment with ideas and translate them into concrete achievements thereby relying less on foreign technology and harnessing the enormous talents and skills of corps members into an effective machinery of change in their various communities”.

    “However, I observed critically and logically the challenges faced by my immediate community on the lack of accessibility to relevant information in the commission among the staff and others. Thereafter, I discussed with the head of department, General Administration and procurement (INEC Abakaliki), Dr. S. Johnson and former administrative Secretary, Royson Obijuru on the need to equip the staff of the commission with relevant information within and outside the commission by establishing a mini-library. Immediately the idea was welcomed and approved.”

    “The creation of mini-library i.e. construction of two book selves, purchase of plastic chairs, reading table  and equally equipping it with relevant books, manuals, journals/magazines has served as my personal contribution to the development of the commission and entire community and with other CDS projects which includes the following”.

    “(1) Sensitisation talk/seminar on career choice for three different government secondary schools in Ebonyi LGA. The career talk was centered on the topic “making the Right Career Choice” with three subtopic delivered by three resource personnel form different works of life”.

    “(2) Donation of two hundred copies of forty leaves exercises books to each of the three government secondary schools respectively”.

    “(3) Organising an intensive extea-mural lesson on English language for two government senior secondary schools for the period of one month in order to prepare them toward their external examination (WAEC and NECO). At the end of the lesson there will be an assessment in order to evaluate their performance and the best students in both schools will be awarded with an English textbook. The relevance and benefits of these projects to the community cannot be overemphasised”.

    “The relevance and benefits of the library to the commission include the following: It will help in providing a model for inquiry, learning, building knowledge and confidence in seeking and processing information among the staff”.

    “It will help in providing access to abstracts and descriptions for approximately 100 journals, magazines, newspaper and include and include general interest materials on social research, environment, science, current affairs arts and humanities”

    “It will help to promote the staff outward thinking and positive mental reasoning and perceptions”

    “It will help to play a key role as a place for encouraging innovation, curiosity, creativity and problem solving for all the staff”

    “It will help to equip staff with lifelong learning skills, opportunities and develop the imagination, enabling them to live as more responsible citizens”

    The mini library, he said has been equipped with book shelves, plastic chairs, reading tables, relevant books, manuals, journals/magazines.

    Oluwole said it was his personal contribution to the development of the Commission and the entire community and charged the Commission to take further steps to expand the library.

    Unveiling the library, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner,(REC),Dr. Lawrence Azubuike who thanked Oluwole for coming to their rescue.

    He recalled how the Commission existed for years without a place where workers can access information.

    Represented by the Head of Department, General Administration and Procurement, Dr. S. Johnson, the Commissioner described the Corps member as humble and hard-working and urged his colleagues to emulate him.

    He noted that INEC and NYSC have maintained cordial synergy for years just as the Commissioner paid tribute to the Corps for the success of the just concluded general elections and described the Corps as an indispensable tool in Nigeria’s Electoral process.

    The NYSC state Coordinator, Mrs E.G. Mbachi in her speech noted that the purpose of establishing NYSC has been achieved through the likes of Oluwole and urged his colleagues to emulate him.

    The State Coordinator who was represented by the zonal Inspector, Abakaliki, Mr. E. J. Isau described NYCS as a wonderful initiative that has brought national integration to the country.

  • FUTA students okay library

    The ‘Nimbe Adedipe Library of FUNAAB, has been described as very conducive and one of the best in tertiary institutions in the Southwest because of its good ventilation and lighting.

    This was the conclusion reached by Miss Adefolalu Deborah, a 400-level student of Architecture at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) and her classmates, who studied: “Measurement of Artificial Light Levels in Library Buildings of Federal Universities”.

    She said FUNAAB’s Library was very spacious and encourages good reading even when there was no electricity because the natural lighting through the windows was adequate to illuminate the reading areas of the library.

    She also praised the clean environment in FUNAAB.

    “The arrangement of the buildings was unique compared to the ones we have seen before. They are remarkable. I am very impressed with what I have seen so far. The campus is very clean,” she said.

    On his part, a FUTA lecturer that accompanied the students, Afolami Adewale, an architect, appreciated the work of the architect and other professionals that designed the FUNAAB Library.

     

  • Help rebuild our library, Iguobazuwa residents beg govt

    Help rebuild our library, Iguobazuwa residents beg govt

    Presidents of Iguobazuwa in Ovia South West Local Government have appealed to the Edo State Government to help renovate and rehabilitate the only library building in the community.

    The library located at the community public field is a shadow of its former self. The roofs have been blown opened while the doors are destroyed and hanging loosely. A handful of books could still be found on some shelves. Rodents and termites have since taken abode in the library building whose surrounding is unkempt.

    It could not be ascertained when the library was built but Executive Director of the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice, Rev. David Ugolor, said he used to study in the library when he was in secondary school.

    The residents expressed their concern about the library at a stakeholders meeting organised by the League of Awareness in collaboration with Edo Study Groups (ESP).

    Rev. Ugolor in his speech recalled how he used to go to the library after school hours to read before joining his parents at the farm. He said it was the books he read at the library that helped to shape his present status.

    Ugolor who lamented the absence of a community bank at Iguobazuwa community despite it being a local government headquarters ascribed the situation to lack of unity among the people.

    He said the essence of the meeting was to educate the people on the wind of change blowing across the country to enable them key into it and warned against collecting money to vote during election.

    Rev. Ugolor said the meeting was for the people to cross check the development strides of Governor Oshiomhole with a view to knowing which political party meant well for the people.

    According to him, “Edo need a steady political system that would join forces with Iguobazuwa to ensure that the community is not forgotton by Oshiomhole’s administration”.

    “What is happening in Igoubazuwa cannot continue, we need change. I am not a member of any political party but I know Oshiomhole meant well for the people.”

    Former Commissioner for Investment, Public and Private Partnership, Dennis Idahosa, urged the people to work together for the purpose of developing the community.

    Idahosa said the community need industries, soft loans for farmers as well as a tertiary institution.

    Chairman of Iguobazuwa Development Association, Joseph Ohonbamu, said the money used to bribe voters during the general elections should have been used to create jobs for youths in the communities.

    In his speech, Chairman of Ovia South West local government council, Morris Ogunrobo-Ovia, described the meeting as the beginning for a better tomorrow for the community

    Lamenting the under-development of Iguobazuwa in spite of array of personalities from the community, the council boss revealed that his administration has taken deliberate steps to redress the situation by embarking on several developmental projects across the locality.

    The theme of the meeting was “ From Stomach Infrastructure to Sustainable Development,’’ in Edo State.

     

  • GOVERNOR UDUAGHAN Complete this library

    I AM not a happy man. And the source of my sorrow is the uncompleted library in my town.

    This library has been in this condition for the past 16 years. It is overgrown with weeds.

    As I am going about in grief, others in my town, Ogwashi-Ukwu, in the Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State are equally sad. They see good libraries in other towns and feel bad.

    This is why I am appealing to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to help us complete the library before he leaves office in May.

    We need a good library, and it is my hope that my good governor will give us one.

    Feyi Akeeb Kareem,

    Ogwashi-Ukwu,

    Delta State

  • AL-HIKIMAH launches online library

    Al-Hikimah University in Ilorin, Kwara State, has launched an interface to create easy access to academic materials for students. The software was produced in partnership with Phinnx.com, a software firm, contracted by the management to computerise academic materials in the school library.

    The firm has launched anti-plagiarism software, which students have already downloaded on their mobile devices. Courses’ materials are being converted to soft copies for easy access. The firm would equip the library with enterprise search system, browser-based video conferencing, illustrator and instant messaging tools to make reading easy for students.

    Students of the Department of Physical Sciences have already enjoying the new platform, describing it as exciting. Basit Suleiman, a 400-Level Geology student, said: “It is the most exciting learning system I have used.”

    The Phinnx.com software is free and can be downloaded on smart phones, tablets and laptops. The Phinnx community process allows user to request new features that will be beneficial to them without charges.

    Lecturers lauded the initiative, saying it would assist the institution to deliver quality education to its students.a

  • UNICAL unveils digital library

    The Pro-chancellor and chairman of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) Governing Council, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has commissioned a high capacity Digital Library built for students in graduate school.

    Chief Iwuanyanwu, who was joined by Vice-Chancellor, Prof James Epoke, and a member of the Council, Alhaji Muhammed Otumba, unveiled the facility in a colourful event last week.

    Prof Epoke, in a brief remark, noted that the event was made possible by the support of the Council. He praised Iwuanyanwu and members of the Council, noting that the project was one of the management’s efforts to ensure improved standard of academic lifestyle in the university.

    The digital library has a capacity of more than 200 users with a 75KVA stand-by generator to ensure a constant power supply to the facility. It has an adequate hosting bandwidth of more than one million users without interruption.

    According to the Dean of Graduate School, Prof Francis Bisong, the project was in line with the development master plan of the current administration in the university. He said: “The Library is now open to all staff and registered students of the institution. The library is also on subscription-based for non-members of the university community.”

    The Dean added that the digital library was built to link users to libraries of universities and educational organisations, such as National Universities Commission library, among others.

    The library is fitted with air conditioners to enhance comfort. Students and other users can access the library and its materials from their laptops, smart phones and other mobile devices, connected to the internet while outside the university.

  • ‘Writing made me who I am’

    ‘Writing made me who I am’

    In this encounter with Edozie Udeze, Dr Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, former Managing Director of the defunct Daily Times Nigeria Plc, author, playwright, novelist, artist and politician, talks about how early exposure to books, has made him who he is today

    what sort of books do you like reading most?

    I like reading biographies and the histories of important institutions and momentous events. I read and thoroughly enjoyed American writer Gay Talese’s 1969 book on The New York Times newspaper titled The Kingdom and the Power. I have also enjoyed reading Taylor Branch’s 1983 award-winning book on the Civil Rights movement in the USA titled Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954 – 1963”.  I have also read and enjoyed Wole Soyinka’s Ake, The Open Sore of a Continent and You Must Set Forth At Dawn as well as Chinua Achebe’s The Trouble With Nigeria, There was a Country, The Education of a British Protected Child, etc.

    When you read a book, what are the salient things you look out for most?

    When I read a book, I pay close attention to the use of language. The use of language is very important to me. Because everyone can tell a story but not everyone can tell a story in a creatively entertaining, beautiful and captivating way. Humour is also important to me. Look at the way Achebe describes traditional rulers in Iboland in The Trouble with Nigeria. I like to be entertained by a book. I want a book to make me laugh. I don’t want a book to depress me. There is so much sadness and gloom around us these days and I go into books for relief. w

    Who are your favourite authors in the world and why?

    My favourite authors are Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Graham Greene, Ngugi wa Thiongo, Oriana Fallaci, etc. I read Fallaci’s book titled “A Man” and I was fascinated. It is a fictional biography of Greek rebel Alexandros Panagoulis. As for drama, my favorite playwrights are William Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Femi Osofisan, Ola Rotimi, etc. I like plays that are deep, well plotted and funny. My favorite Nigerian poet is Niyi Osundare.

    When and when do you like to read and what time and why?

    I don’t have a fixed time. I read when I find the time for it. Very often I find the time to read when I travel out of Abuja or out of Nigeria.

    What is your preferred literary genre?

    I don’t have any preferred literary genre. But like I said I tend to go after biographies, histories, plays, novels and poems. I am attracted to a good book. Period! It does not matter what genre.

    What book or books have had the greatest impact on you and why?

    It is difficult for me to pick any particular book as having had a profound impact on me. Fallaci’s A Man, Taylor’s Parting the Waters, Galese’s The Kingdom and the Power, Soyinka and Achebe’s memoirs, Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine, etc have all had an impact on me, especially on my own writing. Osofisan’s play, Midnight Hotel and Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, Efua Sutherland’s The Marriage of Anansewa, Ama Taidoo’s The Dilemma of a Ghost and  Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle have had a big impact on my playwriting. I write plays that are funny and philosophical.

    As a child what books tickled you most?

    As a child, I read children’s stories that were assigned to us in schools. I also read books written by local writers in Ebiraland where I come from. One of the most important writers of that era is a man called Agidi Ovurevu. I read his books which were based on Ebira fairy tales often about tortoise, rabbit, hare and other animals. The books were written to teach some moral lessons and to socialise us to become responsible members of our society. Of course I also read the so called Onitsha Market literature. Ogali Ogali’s Veronica My Daughter was my template for writing bombastic love letters meant to impress teenage girls. As a young adult, I also read the Mills and Boons series as well as books by Hardley Chase, Barbara Cartland, Agatha Christie, etc.

    At what point in your life did you begin to nurse the idea of becoming a writer?

    Teachers started commenting positively about what was then known as “Composition” assignments since primary school. But it was not until the University of Ibadan that I began to take myself seriously as a writer. I contributed scripts to television and radio dramas and they were used. But when I graduated and joined The Guardian in 1983, journalism took hold of my imagination. I began writing plays again in 1990 when I got to the United States to study for a master in Journalism and for a doctorate in Performance Studies at New York University. Some of those plays were later performed by the BBC radio and by off Broadway theatre groups in New York.

    Has writing reshaped your life?

    Yes, it has heightened my sensibility. It has brought honour and attention to me. It has also brought me some recognition.

    If you meet your favourite author face to face what would you ask him/her?

    The secret of their success.

    Of the plays you’ve read, which character struck you most?

    I cannot single out one.

    What book do you plan to read next?

    I am reading Tony Blair’s memoirs right now.

    How do you arrange your private library?

    I have bookshelves but are not enough for all my books. So there are some of my books in the shelves while others are in cartons.

    Are you a committed reader?

    I read voraciously. I read everyday newspapers, magazines, books, etc.

  • Zimbabwe: Novelist Lessing leaves books to Harare library

    Celebrated author Doris Lessing has bequeathed her entire book collection to the city library in Harare, it’s been reported.

    The winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, who died in November 2013, apparently left instructions that her library of over 3,000 books should be sent to the Zimbabwe capital, Lessing’s executors say that Book Aid International, a charity that Lessing supported, has been asked to help transport the donation. Throughout her life, Lessing fostered several programmes in Zimbabwe to aid literacy through libraries and studying.

    Harare mayor Bernard Manyenyeni told the Zimbabwe Herald newspaper the gift was a “magnificent gesture” from someone who had taken “her love for this country beyond her death”. He says: “We have every reason to feel special to have earned this much in her wishes – we are delighted and grateful as any city would be.”

    Lessing lived in Zimbabwe from 1924-1949, when it was known as Southern Rhodesia. She returned there in 1956, but was declared a “prohibited migrant” by the government for her anti-settler sentiments and left-wing political views, New Zimbabwe says

  • GOVERNOR AHMED: Equip Kwara State Library

    GOVERNOR AHMED: Equip Kwara State Library

    This is to appeal to Governor Ahmed Abdulfatai of Kwara State to equip the state library in Ilorin.

    The library lacks many important books and other facilities which are supposed to be in a modern library.

    I believe the governor will swing into action on this matter because he is a hard-working governor who does not toy with issues concerning education. I am expecting to see a well-equipped library soon in the state capital.

     

    Sulyman Abdul-Akeem,

  • Why UNN students shun library

    Why UNN students shun library

    There is a growing lack of interest in the use of library among students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). Some students blame it all on strict library rules and unsafe condition. But library officials say the students are lazy. INNOCENT EMMANUEL (200-Level Mass Communication) writes.

    Library is said to be a store of knowledge, guiding knowledge seekers in their quest for facts on any subject.

    Library is an integral part of any knowledge-oriented entity.

    Before the advent of the Internet, knowledge seekers used the library for extensive research. Given its serenity, the library is believed to be the best place for assimilation. For most part of the pre-computer age, library remained the impeccable source of information and education.

    Today, values attached to the library seem to have been eroded. The level of patronage of library by students has reduced in this Internet age. This development is worrisome.

    For instance, there is a growing lack of interest in the use of the library among students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). The Nnamdi Azikiwe Library in UNN is reputed to be one of the biggest in the academic world in Africa, with the capacity to accommodate over 7,500 users at once.

    The facility is fitted with Internet service to relieve users of the stress of flipping through voluminous books and materials. To ensure students regularly consult the library for more knowledge after lectures, the university introduced GSP 111 – Use of Library.

    Despite these measures, some students still do not use the library for their research work. While they complain of stringent library rules and cumbersomeness of the library materials, officials accuse them of laziness.

    “Students are lazy,” Mr Vincent Ekwelem, UNN Deputy Librarian (Africana Section) said, adding: “Their unwillingness to keep to rules also account for why most students do not want to use the library.”

    Students also complain that the library is not safe to keep their personal effects while reading. in the past, student-users were allowed to go into the library with their bags and other personal effects. But that has been stopped because of the rising wave of insurgency.

    The measures have forced students to leave their personal effects at the base of two trees opposite the library complex. The items are kept there at the owners’ risk.

    But the security measures, students said, affect their using of the library. Items such as laptops, money, bags and phones have reportedly been stolen from the base of the trees.

    Augustina Eze, a 300-Level Mass Communication student, who has stopped going to library, said: “My bag was stolen last session on the day I wrote GSP 106 examination. I had decided to do a revision in the library before going to write the examination. When I came out, I could not find my bag, which contained my school fees’ receipts, flash drive and text books. I needed to show those receipts so I could be allowed to take the paper. That was the day I lost interest in going to the library.”

    Hyacinth Ijomanta, 500-Level Electrical and Electronics Engineering student, said his bag was stolen last February when he went to source a material for his assignment in the library.

    Hyacinth said: “Before the incident, I have always avoided using the library because of the fear that my bag could be stolen.”

    Officials believe something should be done fast to check the trend.

    Ekwelem said depending on Internet materials may reduce education quality, since internet is flooded with unreliable materials. He said materials got from the library can be confirmed through references.

    Winifred Okafor, a post-graduate student of Pharmacy, noted that students’ inability to use the library for their research has led to rise in plagiarism.  According to her, students end up doing shoddy project research without being able to defend the theses.

    Wilfred Aziegbe a 200-Level Mass Communication student, who does not use the library, urged the management to relax the rules and provide item lockers for users to keep their personal effects. If this can be done, Wilfred said, many students would begin to show interest in going to the library.

    Augustina agreed, emphasising that the management must provide rooms where students can safely keep their belongings while reading.