The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Obafemi Awolowo University

  • OAU Sex Scandal: Monica Odige appears before investigative committee

    Miss Monica Odigie, who was involved in the sex-for-mark scandal with one of the lecturers of Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU) Ile-Ife, Professor Richard Akindele, is currently being quizzed by the investigation committee probing the matter.

    As at the time of filing this report, only Monica and her lawyer were allowed to enter the building where the committee was sitting while journalists were prevented from gaining access to the building.

    There was heavy Security presence at the gate of the building where the committee were sitting.

    The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede had said that the appearance of Monica before the committee will enable it to finalize its assignment and allow the University to take necessary step on the matter.

    Read Also: OAU sex scandal panel report expected this week

  • OAU Sexual harrassment: Probe panel submits interim report

    The probe panel set up by the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife to look into the allegation of sexual harassment against a female student by a senior lecturer of the institution, Prof. Richard Akindele, on Wednesday submitted its interim report to the school authorities.

    However, the content of the report is not yet known.

    The professor at the Department of Accounting in the Faculty of Administration was said to have demanded five rounds of sex from the female student before she could pass his exams.

    The university’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, in a telephone chat, maintained that the panel was given a free hand to do its assignment without interference from any quarter.

    According to the university’s spokesperson, the female student, who he identified as Eniola had refused to show up before the probe panel to defend her case.

    Further investigation by the Nation revealed that the lady had also refused to write a formal complaint or report to the institution  to defend  the leaked audio conversation between her and the lecturer despite the reactions and controversies among members of the public over the issue.

    It was also gathered that the lecturer had summoned courage and resumed lectures with his students.

    The senior lecturer and also a pastor was said to have been spotted in MBA 645 (Human Resource Management) class between 10-11am last Saturday.

    A student, who anonymously said that the lecturer was initially unease in the class  but later summoned courage as the lecture progressed.

    He said: “He appeared agitated when he came in but he later got settled and everyone was flowing with his lectures. He is actually a good lecturer.”

  • Sex for marks

    Is it true that a Professor of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) demanded to sleep with a female student as a condition for adding to her score in a course taught by the lecturer as revealed in an audio tape circulating online?

    Hopefully, the panel set up by the management of the institution will confirm the truth about the matter and recommend appropriate measures to curb such shameful incidents in higher institutions.

    However, if the content of the audio is anything to go by, the matter is a very clear one. The female student based on an outstanding discussion with the professor put a call through to him to confirm the condition for her request to be granted.

    The shameless, unguarded professor was too lost in his wayward ways that he didn’t realise that he was being recorded. The student repeatedly mentioned the name of the professor apparently to prove that the person she was speaking with is her randy lecturer who is old enough to be her father, but had no inhibition about negotiating for five rounds of sex.

    From the kind of things the professor said in the call, he must have engaged in this reprehensible act for long and nemesis has just now finally caught up with him. For a man of his status and the high moral standard expected of lecturers, there is no basis for him to have entertained any sexual discussion with any student over marks.

    It is not unusual for students who fail to get required pass mark to plead for additional marks, especially if they are a few marks away from the cutoff point, it is left for the lecturers concerned to dismiss such request and even further penalise such students for having the audacity to ask for such favour.

    However, because some lecturers are known to engage in all manners of deals over examination scores, some students who fail are usually bold to try their luck. While some ask for sex like the professor, others demand for payments.

    The issue of sexual escapades of lecturers is not new as some are very brazen about it and go to the extent of deliberately failing female students to force them to yield to their demands. There have been instances where some lecturers collude to fail some targeted female students to give the false impression that it is not a case of one lecturer failing a student, but that the student failed more than one course.

    The professor is just unlucky to have been caught in the act unlike many others who are notorious for sleeping with students they are supposed to be teaching academically and morally.

    If only adequate measures were taken to penalise known culprits, the moral decadence on campuses at the top would not have degenerated to the level it is now. There are even cases of willing female students who are awarded undeserved high marks above others in compensation for what they gave in kind.

    The OAU is yet another test case to demonstrate the seriousness of university authorities to curb sexual excesses of lecturers who have refused to live up to the high expectations of their positions.

  • OAU scandal: A collective damage to academic community – Don

    A university lecturer, Dr Olawale Lawal, has described the “Sex-for-mark’’ scandal, involving Prof. Richard Akindele of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, as a collective damage to the academic community.

    Lawal, a lecturer of Diplomacy and Foreign Policy at the Lagos State University (LASU), made this known in an interview with our reporter in Lagos on Saturday.

    According to him, the scandal is a collective damage to Nigerian academics, and stakeholders in the university system will do well to ensure that such a thing does not happen again.

    Lawal advised lecturers to help maintain the standards of university education by shunning undeserved gratification to students.

    “Bargaining for marks through money or sex calls for serious scrutiny and is highly condemnable, because it mortgages the standard and quality of our universities.

    “If we mortgage standards, then the certificates we issue will be devalued and the graduates we produce, whether doctors, lawyers or engineers, will be half-baked and pose dangers to our societies,’’ he said.

    He, then, advised students having similar issues with their lecturers to exploit the university disciplinary system rather than sensationalizing such issues through the social media.

    “Issues such as sexual harassment in the university are better handled through the university administrative system, and no university will tolerate such from its academic staff.

    “Now, the issue has been made public and the lecturer cannot escape unscathed; but even the student will bear a moral burden.

    “It will take some effort to rebuild the image and reputation of that university afterwards,’’ he said.

    He also advised students to always take their academics seriously to avoid some lecturers taking advantage of their weak academic performances to make unfavorable demands.

    It should be recalled that a controversial recording of a telephone conversation between Akindele and an unnamed female student, where Akindele appeared to be demanding sexual gratification, recently appeared on the social media.

     

  • OAU Undergraduate emerges finalist of Global Student Entrepreneur Awards

    A Student of microbiology department of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Olanrewaju Fadodu will compete at the 2017 Global Student Entrepreneurs Awards.

    The world’s brightest student entrepreneurs from over 50 different countries will converge in Toronto, Canada, for the event.

    Three students were said to have reached the final of the Nigerian version of the Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards.

    The second and third runner-ups are Aliyu Bello Aliyu, a pharmacy student at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and Emmanuel Tishion who studies business administration at the National Open University of Nigeria respectively.

    Falodun, Nigeria’s representative at the event, runs Temophadis International, a company which produces and packages food items such as bean flour for moin-moin, gbegiri soup and akara.

    Speaking at the national award ceremony held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun state, Falodun said he grew his business by leveraging on his knowledge in food science, food microbiology, quality control and graphics design.

    “I am skilled in food product formulation, food bio-preservation, food processing equipment design and cleanability and products branding,” he said.

    “I worked as a salesperson of a frozen foods merchandise and as a manager of a start-up business enterprise in the time past” he said

    Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO) will host the students for two and a half days of learning, mentorship, and pitching of innovative business ideas.

    The recipient of 2017 Global Student Entrepreneur is Julián Ríos Cantú of Higia Technologies, a teenage student from Monterrey Institute of Technology, Mexico.

    Cantú started his business after watching his mother battle two cases of breast cancer.

    Higia Technologies is a biosensor company dedicated to boosting women’s quality of life through professional self-exploratory methods that increase early detection of breast cancer.

  • Five OAU Students Docked over Alleged Assault

     

    Five students of Obafemi Awolowo University were on Thursday charged to court over an alleged assault on the school officials.

    The Nation gathered that the students were handed over to the police by the university management on Wednesday accusing them of assaulting a university official.

    Eye witnesses made it known that the students opposed the forced eviction of students from a female hostel, Moremi hall, on Wednesday.

    The five students; Gbenga Olaniran, Oyedeji Samson, Olajide Adedamola, Jimoh Oladipupo and Adeniji John, were present at the Ife Magistrate Court during the trial.

    Students and journalists were denied access to the court room by the officials of theFederal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police.

    The team who was led by Askme Moses said it was an instruction by the Area Commander (AC) of the police.

    Moses said no student or journalist should enter the court room.

    The Nation learnt from Opeyemi Oprah, the acting Students’ Union security officer present in court, that the arraigned students were granted bail. The bail terms for each of the students includes N500,000 bond and provision of two sureties, who must be civil servants of level 11 and above as well as tax payers.

    A counsel to the students, Barrister Philip, told The Nation that the bail application was the first step before further court proceedings.

    After the court sitting, it was seen that students protested outside the court premises against the bail terms by raising placards and chanting songs.

    Samuel Dunnex, a student and a member of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), stated that the bail conditions were too stringent.

  • Corps members organise literary contest for Osun pupils

    National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) members serving in Ife South Local Government in Osun State have organised a literary contest for secondary school pupils in the council, as part of their Community Development Service (CDS).

    The contest, with the theme: Brand for the future, was held at the Civic Centre Auditorium in Ifetedo. Over 200 pupils participated in the event, which featured debate, spelling bee and essay writing.

    Guest speaker Dr Shuaib Oshunleke of the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife said only quality education could guarantee the future of the nation, urging the pupils to work hard to achieve their dreams.

    He told the pupils that there could be challenges on their way to attaining excellence. He reassured them that any challenge they might face was not insurmountable.

    The don described the participants as intelligent, saying he was surprised the pupils could write 650-word long essays in preparation for the grand finale.

    At the end of the contest, winners were announced for each of the categories.

    Mayoress High School, represented by Abdulquadr Afolabi and Felicia Adepoju, won the first prize in the debate. SIAM Secondary School, represented by Olamide Adedotun and Deborah Abiodun, came second, while Benchmark International School, represented by Omolola Okunola and Sulaiman Ayinla, was third.

    In the spelling contest, Olawale Akinremi of New Hope Model Secondary School won the first position; Tolani Akinduro of Mayoress High School came second, while Pelumi Olajide of Best Foundation High School came third.

    In the essay competition, Abdulquadr of Mayoress High School won the first prize; his colleague Titilayo Egunjobi was second, while Tolani of Mayoress High School and Khalid Taofeeq of Excel Crystal Innovative Model came third.

    The Corps member who convened the contest, Abdur-rasheed Adeoye, said the initiative was informed by the need to help the young ones develop writing and oratory skills.

    Speaking on behalf of other members of the CDS, Abdur-rasheed praised the NYSC for giving them the opportunity to impact on their host community.

  • 2018 Commonwealth Games: Adegoke not ready to make up numbers

    Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) undergraduate, Enoch Adegoke will be making his senior debut for Nigeria at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the sprint specialist is not ready to just be a participant at the Gold Coast games in Australia.

    Adegoke, 100m men champion at the final of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) Commonwealth Trials in Abuja, told NationSport yesterday that it was a dream comes true for him making the 37-man Team Nigeria list to the multi-sport championship.

    “It has always been my dream to compete for Nigeria at big stage like the Commonwealth Games and I cannot describe my feeling for making the final cut. I am just too excited that I will be competing at my first international tournament at senior level. It is not a smooth route to make the list; it was years, months and days of training under the watchful eyes of Coach Ayokunle Odelusi who has been an inspiration to me. I am not going to Australia to admire other athletes but to prove a point and also make my presence counts,” Adegoke said.

    The year two geography undergraduate however, admitted that representing Nigeria at such a big tournament would spur me on to aim high in the competition. “I want to thank God for ensuring that my dream becomes a reality. It has been a tough road to this stage and I am hoping that I can improve my personal best to 10.1secs at the games. I believe it is possible because other competitors are human being like me and everybody will only give his best,” he added.

    He expressed confidence in the team, adding that the training at the Abuja camp would aid the athletes to put the country on the podium at the games. “The camp is going on well and I am confidence that we can make Nigeria proud at the games because we have been training very well under the watchful eyes of the technical crew. We also need to believe in ourselves if we hope to make impact in Australia,” Adegoke enthused.

  • NACETEM trains researchers to attain innovation driven economy

    NACETEM trains researchers to attain innovation driven economy

    The National Centre for Technology Management ( NACETEM ) says it is committed to the attainment of an innovation driven economy to enhance national development through capacity building of it researchers.

    Mr Isaac Oluyi, Public Relations Officer, NACETEM, who made the assertion in a statement, noted that the organisation had organised retreat for all its researchers to widen their horizon.

    According to him, a four-day retreat was recently held in Akure to enhance the capacity of the researchers to deploy science, technology and innovation in solving present day issues.

    Also, Director-General of NACETEM, Prof. Okechukwu Ukwuoma said in a remark at the retreat that the difference between developed and developing countries was knowledge-related gap, particularly for scientific and technological development.

    He said if the current knowledge gap was allowed to widen, the discontent of some parts of the world would eventually put the creative growth of all societies to a halt.

    Ukwuoma encouraged the participants at the retreat to maximise the opportunity to improve their performances and use the knowledge acquired to reposition the country among the comity of nations.

    “It is important for us to understand that even in the world of discovery and intellectual innovation, there are those who create value and those who merely extract value.

    “If we cannot create value let us at least try to extract value for development,’’ he said.

    Also, Prof. Ganiyu Aderonmu, the Director, Centre of Excellence in Software Management, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, one of the resource persons emphasised the need for collaborative relationships in Science and technology.

    Aderonmu, also the President, Nigerian Computer Society said Nigerian researchers could work collaboratively with the international community to access grants for transformation of the nation’s economy through quality research.

    Other issues discussed ranged from managing research process: from idealization to dissemination, strategies for engaging policy makers in evidence-based policy development and diversification of Nigerian economy through research and development.

    The retreat had in attendance notable researchers from other agencies across the country.

    NACETEM as an agency of government provides critical knowledge support in the area of science, technology and innovation management through capacity building in technology management.

    It offers short term courses, Postgraduate Diploma and Master’s degree in Technology Management, policy research and consultancy.

    NAN

  • Patient who died of Lassa fever not from Osun – Govt.

    Patient who died of Lassa fever not from Osun – Govt.

     

    The Osun Government on Saturday dispelled speculations of outbreak of lassa fever in the state.

    Mr Sola Fasure, media aide to Gov. Rauf Aregbesola, said in a statement issued in Osogbo that a patient who died at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife,as a result of the fever, was not from the state.

    “A patient from Ore, in Ondo State, with symptoms of lassa fever, went to Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Ile-Ife, for treatment, and was immediately transferred to OAUTH, where he regrettably died due to the advanced nature of the sickness.

    ” We must note however that the victim was not a native of Osun, and did not contact lassa fever in the state”, he said.

    Fasure said the clarification became necessary to put a stop to speculations in the social media that ‘Lassa Fever had claimed two lives in the state’.

    He urged people of the state, not to panic, assuring that the state government had put in place,
    surveillance teams in all the local government areas to monitor and check the outbreak of the disease.

    He also urged resident of the state to be watchful of visitors who might be exhibiting symptom of the vital disease, advising that such persons should be reported to the nearest health centre in the state.

    “Residents are required to be vigilant, maintain the highest hygiene standard possible, avoid contact with those infected and report illnesses and deaths emanating from the disease to hospitals and government health centres.

    Lassa fever is an acute viral infection which is transmitted from the faeces and urine of rats when in contact with food and the food is eaten.

    This disease is associated with bleeding and can affect any age group.

     

    NAN