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Tag: professor

  • UNIMAID blast: ASUU mourns slain professor, postpones press conference

    The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)  has cancelled a crucial press conference, scheduled to hold at Union  Secretariat, Old Campus Bayero University Kano (BUK) to mourn Professor Kabiru Umar Mani, who was killed in a bomb blast at a Mosque in University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) on Monday morning. 
     
    ASUU National president, Professor Abiodun Ogunyemi, who was already set to address the press, suspended the event  in sympathy of their colleague, Professor Mani, Head of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maiduguri.
     
    Prior to deferring the press conference, he disclosed that ASUU leadership had been in Kano for four days, deliberating on the Nigerian project and Nigerian Universities.
     
    He said  news of the death of the  Professor, who was  killed  in a bomb blast, alongside four others in a Mosque at UNIMAID, informed the decision of ASUU leadership to shelve the press briefing as a sign of respect for their deceased member.
     
    ”We got disenchanted over the sad development and we felt that it is going to be a sign of insensitivity to go ahead with the Press conference.”
     
    Thereafter, the National president  apologised to newsmen, who converged at ASUU Secretariat for the emergency press briefing, assuring that it would be held soon at another venue, which would be communicated to newsmen.
     
     

  • ‘Why everyone calls me professor’

    IF there is one mission Moyosoreoluwa Jogunosimi feels bound to accomplish in life, it is to make Mathematics, one of the subjects most hated or dreaded by students, attractive and enjoyable, particularly for children.

    The petite lady, popularly called Moyotician or Professor on account of her prowess in Mathematics, had graduated from the university at the tender age of 19, had her master’s degree at 20 and became a university lecturer at 23. Now 28, Moyo, who had already taught Mathematics for three years in her alma mater, Covenant University, is now doing what she loves best—teaching kids the secrets of a subject that most of them dread.

    “I realise there is more to mathematics. Mathematics can be enjoyable, but there are several children like me who do not like it. So I said let me go out there and help some children, even though it looks sweeter to be lecturing in a university than running a Math clinic,” she said in a chat with The Nation.

    Interestingly, like many school pupils, Moyo grew up with a deep-seated phobia for the subject. For her, the approach of a Mathematics class was always a nightmare.

    But all that was before a visit by her grandmother paid to the family, during which the old woman, who had retired as a teacher, gave her the code with which she unlocked the secrets of Mathematics, opening wide the door to hitherto unknown opportunities for Moyo.

    Recalling how her romance with Mathematics was sealed by her grandmother, she said: “As a child, I used to have challenges with Mathematics. I never liked the subject at all. But one day, my grandmother came to visit us. And because she went to a teachers’ training college and was also an old teacher, she was a specialised mathematician. She began to teach me Mathematics and I suddenly began to enjoy it. It was like she unlocked the Mathematics side of my brain. And I was very young then.

    “My grandmother had a special way of relating. She was not a regular Mathematics teacher, but she was also not one who would make things look difficult or make you have a headache. She related lively and I realised that Mathematics is a cheap subject if you do it every day. That was when my love for Mathematics began.”

    Having fallen in love with Mathematics, you would expect her to study the subject in the university. While her grandmother gave her the key to solve the mysteries of Mathematics in primary school, her Chemistry teacher in secondary school had so much influence on her that she decided to study Chemical Engineering in the university.

    But while she planned to study Chemical Engineering, it seemed that providence had a different plan for her. “Although I so much loved Mathematics,” she said, “I didn’t really want to study it in the university. I wanted to study Chemical Engineering or Industrial Chemistry. The reason for this was because I loved my Chemistry teacher in secondary school so much that I wanted to be like her. In the process, I wanted something like Chemistry.

    “But by the time the admission list came out, what I was offered was Industrial Mathematics at Covenant University. Since I didn’t want to stay at home, I simply took the offer. Although I was not really happy at the time, my parents advised me to go ahead, saying that I could change my course later.”

    Agreeing to accept the course as a stop-gap measure brought another twist into Moyo’s love story with Mathematics.

    She said: “When I got to the university, during the first lecture I had in General Mathematics, there was this particular lecturer who walked in and said he wanted to teach us Mathematics so that when we got home we would start a Mathematics clinic and teach our friends. When he said so, everybody laughed. But for me, that was the defining moment of my life.”

    So, rather than switch course as she had planned, Moyo went on to complete her course and graduated with a Second Class Upper in Industrial Mathematics at Covenant University. She then proceeded with her master’s degree programme at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State.

    Lecturing in a university at such young age surely has its challenges. But for the young ‘professor’, they were “very sweet challenges” despite the fact that there was little difference between her age and those of her students.

    She said: “I lectured for two years at Covenant University between 2011 and 2013. I was 23 years old at the time. Of course, none of my students was older than me, because it was a private university and there was a limit to age intake. But because of my stature, most of the students were bigger than me. And whenever I was taking the course, especially the first time I entered the class, they didn’t know I was a lecturer until they saw my ID card. It would only dawn on them that I was their lecturer when I brought out my laptop and took the microphone, asking them to settle down.”

    Moyo imbibed the culture of hard work early in life. According to her, “Nothing good comes easy. I think I developed that culture way back in secondary school. I sleep late and wake up very early, and that culture has been there for years. This is part of the things that helped me, because Covenant University was safe and I could leave the office at 2 am and be back in the office by 8am.

    “Yes, it was challenging. But it was a sweet challenge because it was like being paid for doing what you enjoy doing.”

    The daughter of an architect father and a businesswoman, Moyo said her mother, who she described as adept in several businesses, ensured that impacted on her young daughter and her siblings’ senses of responsibility early in life.

    She said: “My dad is an architect while my mum is a businesswoman. She enjoys business a lot and she owns a block-making industry. In those days, during the holidays, we would all go to the office and work,  and whenever we complained that it was a holiday and that we needed to rest, mum would say, ‘No, this is where your school fees come from.’ So, we would start to wet the blocks. In that process, I learnt a lot of things unconsciously.”

    Not one to forget an advice, Moyo confessed that she quit lecturing in the university to begin teaching children because of her former lecturer’s advice that she could organise Mathematics clinics.

    “That advice struck a chord in me that Mathematics can be better than this. I started to research, and I enjoy research so much, most especially the way developed countries teach Mathematics. I realised that they are handling their Mathematics in ways different from ours.

    “I realised that Mathematics can be enjoyed and that there are many children who do not like Mathematics. I imagine what would have happened if my grandmother had not intervened and taught me the secrets of Mathematics. It is for that reason that I said let me go out and help some children, even though it looks sweeter to be a lecturer in a university than running a Math clinic.”

    As would be expected, not everybody was happy with her decision to quit the university system, “but I had to quit because I wanted to create a creative niche around Mathematics. I wanted to coin out something for Mathematics, such that was beyond going to school and passing exams.

    “For me, Mathematics is more than mere writing down some things. These are some of the things that people don’t understand. When you are Mathematics inclined, it sharpens your mind, such that even if you are a furniture maker, it will help to give you a touch that the average furniture maker who is not Mathematics inclined would not have. It helps your creative thinking and improves your problem solving skills. These are some of the things that make Mathematics interesting.”

    Moyo is leading a revolution to make the teaching of Mathematics more enjoyable. She believes that there is an urgent need to move away from the ways the subject is being taught.

    She said: “People don’t understand that the world has changed from the 20th Century to the 21st Century. In those days, once you had a First Class degree, you were assured of a good job. But right now, no matter the level of your First Class, you also need to bring something special to the table apart from your university degree to get a good job. It is that special skill that you possess that will retain you on the job and even determine your progress.

    “These are some of the things we want to address. I want to bring fun into Mathematics for you to see and feel like you are doing Mathematics and you are excited about it. I must confess that I am really enjoying it.”

  • Professor, others get $4.5m to promote vegetables

    To promote indigenous vegetables, professor of Soil  Science at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife , Duro Oyedele, will receive $4,450,000 million for a project to promote indigenous vegetables.

    The project, which will be in partnership with the Osun State University, University of Parakou, Republic of Benin, University of Manitoba and University of Saskatchewan, Canada, is to advance the Under-Utilised Indigenous Vegetables (UIVs) in Southwestern Nigeria and Benin Republic.

    In Nigeria, according to findings,  more than 1,000 farmers increase their yield and income by using improved farming practices to grow UIVs. These improved farming practices were developed during the field research carried out in Southwestern Nigeria. In Benin, fertiliser micro-dosing and rain water harvesting techniques also helped more than 10 thousand farmers achieve equally beneficial results with other crops despite degraded soil.

    The team of Nigerian, Beninoise and Canadian researchers are now combining these two innovations to bring the farmers’ practices to 50,000 farmers. The recommended farming techniques will be spread through demonstration trials, outreach efforts, supports and trainings for seed producers and marketers, by establishing local committees to address issues such as productivity and marketing.

    Support to indigenous vegetables farming and processing business will increase demand and improve income of 1,000,000 West African farmers and the  University of Manitoba  in Canada.This project is among the four international projects that have been collectively awarded $17 million by the  International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada. They are part of an effort to scale up the most promising research supported under IDRC- Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF).

    The CIFSRF is a  programme of IDRC, Canada, undertaken with financial support of the government of Canadian provided through Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Canada. The fund support research to increase food security in developing countries while fostering collaboration between developing-countries researchers and Canadian experts.

  • Moghalu appointed professor in US school

    Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu has been appointed a professor at Tuft University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston, Massachusetts.

    Dr. Moghalu, who is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sogato Strategies LLC will be the Professor of Practice in International Business and Public Policy effective July 1, 2015. He will teach a course on Emerging Africa in the World Economy in The Fletcher School’s Master of International Business (MIB) graduate degree program and the Institute for Business in the Global Context, focusing on the interplay between globalization, business and government.

    “I am honored by this appointment by The Fletcher School, one of the world’s leading schools of international affairs, of which I also happen to be a proud alumnus” Moghalu said. “It demonstrates a recognition of the growing importance of Africa’s emerging markets in the global economy, and will perfectly compliment my work at Sogato Strategies, a global strategy and risk advisory firm with a focus on emerging markets”. Sogato Strategies has offices in the United States, Switzerland and Nigeria, and provides bespoke advisory services to business corporations and government entities on investment climate, risk and strategy, corporate governance, institutional strategy and transformation, global partnerships, and strategic communications.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Professor Tunji Dare at 70

    Professor Tunji Dare at 70

    I missed attending the lecture and the book presentation and the merriment surrounding Tunji Dare’s attainment of three score and ten years. Welcome to the group which I joined two years ago. Age sometimes creeps on one and one is sometimes amazed about how old one is. When I celebrated my 70th birthday, it was with mixed feelings. I was grateful to God for being with me all these years and I was also wondering how fast these years have moved. I did not feel old but now, I have to act my age, I am sure Tunji must be feeling the same way. Radicalism and old age do not seem to go very well together. A radical or a revolutionary old man would be a curious combination and perhaps a misuse of words. Those of us who felt we were radicals when we were young can no longer lay claim to radicalism of any sort at our age. But since we are not dead yet, we must continue to speak out like Tunji Dare. So my dear brother, do not relent in campaigning for a country that we can all be proud of. I recently bumped into Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, distinguished former Nigerian foreign minister and UN diplomat in Abuja. He jokingly said that he was nominated as a member of the on-going national conference under the category of elder statesmen. He said he told his wife that he is now an elder statesman in Nigeria and his wife asked him to behave as an elder from now on and no more fooling around! But this does not mean that if we see anything wrong in our country we should not point it out no matter whose ox is gored. I was particularly delighted when I read in the newspapers, the comment of Cardinal John Onaiyekan of the Roman Catholic Church asking those in government not to see criticism of their roles as amounting to lack of patriotism and that people in government and those in opposition do not have a monopoly of patriotism. In other words, all of us have a stake in this country and as long as we wobble on in spite of our age as a state, those of us who have opportunity to speak out must not shirk our responsibility. Our responsibility is to Nigeria and not to any particular regime. If people like Tunji Dare and the rest of us keep quiet in the face of tyranny and bad government, we would have died many times before our death. Sometimes the coarseness of our criticisms is directly proportionate to the bad governance prevailing in the land.

    Tunji Dare has paid his dues as a journalist, a teacher, and a tribune of the people and the voice of the voiceless. In the satirical style with which he writes, he manages to send serious messages to those in power in hilarious ways without offence. Whenever I get my newspapers on the day he writes, I am usually anxious to see what he has written on and to sit back and enjoy the wisdom of his prose. Tunji Dare is certainly the best journalist employing satire to deliver his message and his punches. Even before meeting him physically, I already thought I knew him because of his writing.

    I first met him at an intellectual level when the late Nelson Mandela came to Nigeria and the University of Lagos and the then Vice-Chancellor of Lagos, Professor Nurudeen Alao asked me to prepare a citation for the honorary degree the university was going to confer on Mandela. I did not know that he had also asked Tunji Dare to do the same thing. After both of us had submitted our drafts, he then asked Tunji Dare to come to me so that we could merge our two citations. Tunji Dare as self-abnegating as ever, said my draft was more than adequate and that there was no need to merge the two and that he would publish what he had written in The Guardian and this was precisely what we did. I did not train as a journalist and I make no pretence to literary ability. On a jocular note, I remember a professor of English reading my autobiography some years ago and telling me that he was surprised that I can write well. I laughed and told him that I thought as a professor of History, I ought to be able to write proper English. In fact most of the best writers of English language are people with my academic background.

    Tunji Dare comes from Kogi State. He is a Yoruba man from that state and he is not ashamed to call himself a Yoruba man unlike some of his compatriots from that part of Nigeria who say they are Okun which I always find very funny because okun is a greeting in some parts of Ekiti, Kwara and Kogi and what it means is “Hello” or “How are you?” But apparently for political advantage of belonging to the north especially when belonging to the north carries huge advantage of jobs, political positions and power. On the other hand, associating with the Yoruba in the south was regarded as a disadvantage. It is like a Hausa man from Niger State, instead of saying he is a Hausa man he says he is Sannu which sometimes the Ijesha people derisively use to refer to the Hausa people. I hope that no group of people in Nigeria should feel so powerless to the point of having identity crisis; there is no need for the Yoruba in Kogi to call themselves Okun people. More grease to your elbow, Tunji. You are not an old man as far as I am concerned; you should continue to write with all the emphasis at your command and to make your views on the future of Nigeria known as you have done in the past. Who knows what the future will bring. And in the whirligig of time, some of your views may become prescription for this sick and doddering country. May God continue to be with you Tunji, may He continue to enlarge your coast. Speak out, and speak out loud. God did not create us for fear, rather He created us to dominate our environment. Your people are known for their intrepidity and you are a typical representative of the upright, courageous and truthful Yoruba in the periphery who have had to hold their own against all odds in order to survive and have survived very well.

  • All hail UNIPORT’s ace professor

    All hail UNIPORT’s ace professor

    Academics, friends, associates, other eminent personalities, family members, relatives and students (past and present) gathered at the Ebitimi Banigo Auditorium of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) for a symposium in honour of a distinguished scholar, Prof. Ozo-mekuri Ndimele, the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, who recently clocked 50. Bisi Olaniyi in Port Harcourt writes on the memorable event, which confirms how the Professor has touched many lives.

    A doctoral student at the prestigious University of Port Harcourt’s (UNIPORT’s) Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies (LCS), Kasarachi Hayford Innocent, who also lectures in the same department, is physically challenged, but graduated with First Class in Mass Communication from the University +of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).

    Two years after graduating from UNN (in 1999) and in spite of the First Class, Innocent could not secure a job. Despite all the efforts he made, he kept roaming the streets, until he came in contact with the Dean of the UNIPORT’s Faculty of Humanities, Prof. Ozo-mekuri Ndimele, who recently clocked 50.

    Ndimele, of LCS department of the university, fondly referred to as “Unique UNIPORT,” saw the potential in the brilliant Innocent and recommended him for employment.

    In spite of his physical challenge, he (Innocent) has authored and co-authored many Mass Communication books, as well as having his academic papers published in local and international journals.

    The gifted scholar (Innocent) also presents a weekly radio programme (Standing Tall) on Love FM, Port Harcourt and he enjoys regularly saying: “Do not allow your background to keep your back on the ground.”

    One of the Masters of Ceremonies (MCs) at the symposium in honour of Ndimele at 50, Jones Ayuwo, also a lecturer in UNIPORT’s LCS department, while anchoring the programme, jokingly said in spite of Innocent’s physical challenge, he has a beautiful wife and lovely children, with everybody bursting into laughter.

    When given the opportunity to speak at UNIPORT’s Ebitimi Banigo Auditorium, during the symposium with the theme: “Language, Linguistics and Communications,” the highly-appreciative Innocent could not hide his joy, for not ending up as a beggar.

    Innocent said: “If not for God and Prof. Ndimele, I would have been on the road begging for alms. Prof. Ndimele is a man of excellence, an academic icon, very supportive, so wonderful and very caring.”

    While proposing the toast, one of the former students of the honouree, Dr. Ngozi Nwigwe, currently a lecturer at the Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri, Imo State, spoke brilliantly and glowingly about his (Ndimele’s) leadership ability.

    Nwigwe stated that: “Prof. Ndimele taught us that hard-work does not kill. He is a good mentor. He has climbed the ladder and he is showing others how to climb the ladder, without destroying the ladder. Prof. Ndimele is not a leader who will climb up and throw away the ladder.”

    Ndimele, who was born on August 13, 1963, an indigene of Umueleji, Akirika-Ogida in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State and the second son in a family of thirteen, was rather grateful to God for giving him the grace to assist people, record noteworthy educational achievements faster and at a younger age, as well as for enabling him to attain the golden age.

    The honouree, a two-time President of the Linguistic Association of Nigeria (LAN), is also an author of many Linguistics and Mass Communication books, which are vital reference materials globally, for academics, students and others.

    The prolific author, writer, publisher and editor (Ndimele) has published both locally and internationally, as well as having over fifty publications in learned journals, spanning comparative grammar, syntax, theoretical linguistics and communication theory.

    A beautifully-decorated birthday cake, prepared by an ex-student of UNIPORT’s LCS department, Miss Beauty Adeyanju, who is about leaving for the mandatory national youth service, but decided to go into entrepreneurship while still in the university and now the Chief Executive Officer of cake manufacturing/training company, was cut by Ndimele, supported by his wife, Joy, and some of the distinguished personalities in attendance.

    The President of the Faculty of Humanities Students’ Association, Joseph Inyama, also presented the honouree with an elegant plague/award of excellence.

    There was a poem on Ndimele, put together and rendered excellently by one of the brilliant students in the LCS department, Bridget Chinonyerem Agumagu, There was also cultural display, fashion show and arts exhibition by students from UNIPORT’s Faculty of Humanities.

    The Dean being celebrated did not pretend, by declaring that: “I am not sure I am a good husband and a good father. I thank my wife for her support and understanding. My wife of 14 years deserves an award for being able to manage me. When I am in my study, I do not like to be distracted. I warned my wife not to enter my study, which she has complied with. I sleep daily at 3 am, except when I have malaria, which will make me to sleep at 12 am.

    “I was the youngest Professor, when I became the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities in UNIPORT. My colleagues are saying if third term as Dean is allowed, I will be asked to continue. Four of us contested in my first tenure, with only one Etche lecturer then. The other votes put together did not come near mine. My second tenure too was by election, but nobody came out to contest against me.

    “After my two years tenure as the Head of Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies, the then Vice-chancellor directed that I should continue indefinitely and I was in office for another four years, totalling six years at the HOD.”

    The Vice-Chancellor of UNIPORT, Prof. Joseph Atubokiki Ajienka, a brilliant Petroleum Engineer, in his speech at the symposium, described Ndimele as a very fine scholar and also a very fine administrator.

    Ajienka, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Prof. Ethelbert Nduka, said: “We are gathered here in honour of a very young Professor. We are not gathered here because he is the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. We are gathered here because of his scholarship. Prof. Ndimele is a very fine scholar and also a very fine administrator. His ideas are very noble and brilliant.

    “We cannot leave this young and bright man (Ndimele) to end as the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, in a dynamic university as ours. I can assure you that he still has a lot of roles to play and a lot of time in the system. Fifty years is a turning point in someone’s life. You are joining the men of wisdom. We are very proud of you. Prof. Ndimele has been very wonderful.”

    The symposium was chaired by a former Vice-Chancellor of UNIPORT, Emeritus Professor Nimi Dimkpa Briggs, who recently turned 70.

    Briggs, an ex-Chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission and currently the Chairman of the Rivers State Economic Advisory Council, in his remarks, described Ndimele as a committed scholar.

    The former vice-chancellor (Briggs) stated: “We are here to celebrate 50 years of one of our great Professors. An important aspect of life in a university is the issue of tutelage. We have someone who ought to be here. Sadly, she is not here. I am referring to the late Prof. Kay Williamson (white woman), who brought up the gentleman we are celebrating.

    “I am here because I respected Kay Williamson deeply and because of that, I have extended that respect to also Ndimele, because he is a true mentee of Kay Williamson. Persons who seek after knowledge are very simple. Whatever they do, they do them seriously. They are committed. Kay was one of the most committed individuals on this campus. An academic takes his seriously.”

    One of the teachers of Ndimele at UNIPORT, Prof. Emmanuel Nolue Emenanjo, now retired, described him as a good academic and administrator.

    Emenanjo disclosed: “Ndimele was one of my students. He is very hardworking. Those of us who were trained by Prof. Kay Williamson, we had to learn hard-work. Ndimele is very cerebral and very creative. He has a very analytical mind.

    “Many things have been said about him (Ndimele), but they did not mention the fact that he is a very lively man. He is full of humour and he can be very noisy, but not without purpose. Lively people can be noisy, but with purpose. He is not noisy for the fun of it.

    “Ndimele is a good academic and administrator. He was handled by very good hands. I am not just his lecturer; I single-handedly supervised his Master’s thesis and I started with his PhD, until I left.”

    The obviously-elated wife of 14 years of the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Joy, in an interview, said she was grateful to God for keeping her husband alive.

    Joy said: “I feel so proud having him as my husband. He has been a good husband and a good father. The only problem is that he is always in his study. That does not make him a bad husband or a bad father. He is only concentrating on his job. He would come to attend to us, whenever we needed him, but not always.

    “When it is time to be in his study, you dare not see him or disturb him. There were times if I wanted to be funny, I would go to him in his study and tap his back. He would say: ‘You are disturbing me. You have made me to forget something. Can’t you see I am busy?’ I would respond by saying I tapped your back, not your brain and I would leave. He is very hardworking and always concentrates on his works. He is very caring. I wish him another 50 years, by God’s grace.”

    Ndimele’s wife also expressed gratitude to all the persons behind the grand symposium and for the eminent personalities who spared the time to honour the academic giant.

    The Chairperson of the symposium’s Local Organising Committee (LOC), Dr. Christie Omego, who is a former student of Ndimele and an ex-HOD of LCS department, noted that the scholar being celebrated had helped many persons and deserved to be so honoured.

    Omego stated that: “Prof. Ndimele has been our mentor. The symposium is put together by LCS Department and the former students of Prof. Ndimele. He has helped so many qualified people to be employed and admitted in UNIPORT. He has assisted many academic staff to publish and be promoted.

    “Prof. Ndimele is a very kind man. He is a very good person. If he teaches you and you do not understand, then something is wrong. Many of us have benefitted from him. Besides being a very dedicated lecturer, he is a good administrator. Today, our students graduate and are able to get jobs and have many things to offer, from what they have gained from the department.

    “Prof. Ndimele is very caring and has listening ears. If you have any problem, he is willing to help. He is always there for you. If you need advice, he will give you. He also helps us financially. There are people who are handicapped in one way or another, he will sponsor, even without knowing them and without knowing who their parents are. He has been helping people, both staff and students. We, his former students, are happy celebrating the academic icon.

    “Prof. Ndimele is a very sociable man. We call him the people’s Dean and godfather. He is a good man and very wonderful. He is resourceful, diligent and dedicated as ever. Since he took over as Dean, we have witnessed a lot of great things in the Faculty. There is now a new format for computing results of students.”

    The LOC chairperson also stressed that everybody was looking forward to when Ndimele would have higher position, which she said would make him to be appreciated the more, describing him as “an academic colossus of our generation.”

    The honouree (Ndimele), in an interview after the event, stated that his heart was filled with joy and quite happy that his colleagues and students felt he had done something good and were honouring him.

    He pointed out that God had kept him going and was especially grateful to the Almighty for being alive, stating that it is essential for people to know who they are, know themselves early enough and pursue their dreams.

    Ndimele said: “I am happy that people have said that I am doing well. I keep forging ahead. Determination is my driving force. I have no godfather. I am my own godfather. God is my helper.

    “Prof. Kay Williamson was a very hardworking scholar, a rare gift to humanity. She was not a Nigerian, but she lived in Nigeria for over fifty years. The last part of her stay in UNIPORT, I stayed with her in the same house. We lived together for 14 years. To live with a white woman for 14 years is not easy.

    “She (Williamson) called me and said I could not stay in the hostel anymore and asked me to stay with her and pursue my PhD programme and said she saw some goodness and hard-work in me. She offered me her books and her library free of charge. Imagine a white woman giving me her books and her library to use at will. That is why I rose very fast to become a Professor before my colleagues. I miss her dearly.”

     

     

     

  • When King received royal blessings

    When King received royal blessings

    Professor Richard King has visited some paramount rulers in the three senatorial districts of Akwa Ibom State in continuation of his consultation for his 2015 governorship ambition, writes Kazeem Ibrahym

    It is no longer news that the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Development Commissioner (NDDC), Prof. Richard King, is eyeing the 2105 governorship seat in Akwa Ibom State.

    Prof. King is hoping to succeed Governor Godswill Akpabio after the expiration of his tenure in May 29, 2015.

    The don is working assiduously to achieve this dream of governing Akwa Ibom State, the Land of Promise.

    During his visit to the Paramount Ruler of Udung Uko Local Government Area and the Ahta Oro V, HRM Ahta Etim Ati Okpo, Prof. King promised to bring the much needed development that has eluded the area.

    He said: “Oro is the seat of civilization in the present day Akwa Ibom state. The first secondary school in Akwa Ibom is Methodist boys High School, Oron. The first Maritime Academy in Nigeria is in Oron. But today the story of Oro is different. Why can’t the maritime academy in Oron become a University? Already, there is another one coming up in the west just to push out the one in Oron.

    “I have gone through Oron and I must say that Oron is in a state of dilapidation. If nobody will change Oron, I will change Oron. God will help us to join our hands together and I will transform Oro in a common way.

    “Our politicians must go beyond Akwa Ibom state because our resources are shared outside the state. I am the only politician that has been able to employ Akwa Ibom people from all the 31 local government areas in the Federal Civil Service.”

    The don was also received by Uyo Traditional Ruling Council in the Palace of Uyo Paramount Ruler HRH Edidem Edem Silas Akpan.

    Edidem Akpan extolled the achievements of Prof. King in Academics, public service and politics.

    The monarch said what Akwa Ibom needs now is a governor who will spread development in an even manner across the state adding that “Since Prof. King has the heart to influence the employment of hundreds of Akwa Ibom indigenes in the Federal Civil Service, he will certainly carry all of us along if he becomes the governor.”

    Speaking further on the starling qualities of Prof. King, Edidem Akpan said the way he has successfully worked in the Academia and the public office he has occupied show that he is a man of integrity who can run an accountable government in Akwa Ibom state if elected as governor.

    Urging him to go ahead and work hard to get the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Monarch called for greater respect for the traditional institution.

    His words: “A situation in which a traditional ruler of his standing does not have a good road to his palace, a befitting palace, and lacks government security personnel is unacceptable.

    “We know how well our colleague in the North and West are treated and for the maintaining peace which is necessary for development of the state, we should get similar honour.”

    The Paramount Ruler lamented that the way their land in Uyo were being acquired by government is alarming and capable of making them strangers in their own ancestral homes.

    The monarch therefore called for a land lease policy which will make ownership by other people temporarily.

    Also speaking at the occasion, the Clan Head of Offot Ukwa, Etebom Silvanus Okon, described Prof. King as a respectful son who deemed it necessary to visit his fathers first before embarking on his mission to become governor.

    Etebom Okon, who expressed happiness that Prof. King is an in-law of Uyo people, urged him to go about his campaigns depending on God, saying only God gives power.

    He said the Uyo Traditional Council support his aspiration while urging Prof. King not to engage in blackmail and violence.

    According to the traditional ruler, the people of Uyo will support a free and fair election warning that any attempt to impose a governorship candidate on the people of Uyo will fail.

    He said: “We will not sit here and allow anybody impose a governor on us. We will look at all our sons and daughters from Ibibio land and then when we find an aspirant with the right qualities for the office of governor, we will support him.”

    He explained that imposition of a governorship aspirant will lead to mortgaging the destinies of the people.

    His words: “What this imposition means is that if governor puts his successor on the seat, the successor will take all matters of the state to him before anything is done.

    “It means that before a commissioners’ list is approved, the beneficiary of the ex-governor’s so called kindness will take the list to him and only those who the ex-governor wants will be appointed. How will people’s rights be protected in this situation?”

     

  • I became a professor against my wish

    I became a professor against my wish

    The founder, Pan African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR) and former Vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Ayodele Falase, is 70. In this interview with GBENGA ADERANTI he speaks about life at 70, university politics, his abduction by armed robbers and war front experience.

    At 70 you are not showing any sign of fatigue. What is the secret?

    It is the grace of God. Well, I know that is the standard answer. But as a doctor, you know what goes on within the body. You would find that the body is so complex that it takes the grace of God for one to live up to any age. Can you use a car for 70 years without servicing it? That is how the power of God is.

    As a scientist, one is surprised to hear you talk about God…

    Science without God is nothing. Okay, don’t let us use the word God, let us use a being. We come to the earth, claimed the earth but we didn’t manufacture it. Somebody else did and made sure we had food to eat and air to breath. How many of us have been able to manufacture such a thing? What is science? How do you manufacture air? How do you manufacture water? It is just H2O. We cannot fuse it together. If we could fuse it together, we would have made so much water. How do you cause a plant to grow? We didn’t make it and if you don’t acknowledge that somebody must have made it, then there is a problem.

    But scientists now clone?

    You clone but you clone what is already there. Many times I said did God make a prototype? I don’t know where he put cells, because if you look at your skin under the microscope, it contains many cells all working independently but together. It is when one does not work in tandem with the others that it starts dividing, and that is what we call cancer. Who put all these things together? It is God. What I’m saying is that we know little about the world, the body, how things work. Anybody who says he is a scientist but does not acknowledge that there is a superior intellect is just being a fool.

    Can you relive your experience at the University of Ibadan?

    I attended the University of Ibadan in 1963 when things were working well. You would apply, they would screen and accept you, then the Federal Government would give you a scholarship. If you were not lucky to obtain a scholarship, there was the Western Region scholarship. If you did not obtain that, there was Community Scholarship. There were companies like the UAC who were giving scholarships. You get to campus; you pay your fees, which covered your meals, accommodation and tuition.

    Everything was done by post. We didn’t have e-mails and things like that, but you could see efficiency within the country at that time. There was no crime, there was electricity. Throughout my time in the university, there was power outage only once and it didn’t last more than a few seconds. That was Nigeria for you at that time. But, of course, things have changed now, and we’ve not got out of it. When people talk of world class universities, Nigeria had them before. In my class at that time, We had Americans, many Ghanaians and many other nationalities in addition to Nigerians.

    Was it the lure of quality or convention?

    Quality and the fact that education was cheaper in Nigeria. Some of them could not cope with the rigour of academic work here, so they had to leave.

    Was it more rigorous here?

    Oh yes, it was very rigorous. When you had in an anatomy class a professor who believed you could no go out and play games, you have to work hard on your anatomy.

    But they also trained abroad?

    They made it harder for us here.

    At what point did you start dreaming of becoming a doctor?

    My father was a priest. He was posted to Ikenne and at that time he was also the school manager. So I attended school early. There was a dispensary in Ikenne not far from our house, but they just treated malaria and minor things. One day, I had an infection. You know at that time, most of us moved around barefooted. So, my mother then took me to the Sagamu General Hospital. It has now become a teaching hospital.

    When we got there, we sat down. Suddenly, there was a commotion. Everybody lined up saying, ‘the doctor has arrived’. There was this young man who came and they started calling us one by one. And when he saw me, he looked at my foot and gave me an injection. I believe it must have been penicillin. I looked at the man and I said this man must be very important; I must be like him too. I think that was the motivating factor.

    You became a professor at 35, but things appear to be more difficult now. Why is this so?

    You see, when you finish and you did your postgraduate, the university system was a magnet attracting you back .It was natural, we must come into the university system to teach, do research and all those things. And the milieu at that time made it possible for academics to survive. In those days, if you had a first class or second class, your natural abode was the university. But things have changed. Even people who had third class now find themselves as lecturers. So they may not have the same orientation and you needed to understand what I’m trying to say.

    The academic community was a closed community at that time. We were not participating in politics or anything, but we were devoted to our area. People would judge you from your research. People would judge you from what you did, your research output and you are promoted according to this. So, everybody concentrated on that. Many times we came home by 9 pm. or 10 pm. We were either holding academic meetings or we were doing our research, computing the results and all those things. That was what we concentrated on. So we were able to produce a lot.

    Now we have three groups of people within the university community. There are those who still have the inclination, but there are those who are on the other side of the coin, who are doing the work because there is no other job to do. They’ve not imbibed the spirit of academia.

    That is part of our problem in Nigeria. That is part of the problem of academia that is part of the problems within the university system in Nigeria besides the fact that we do not run our university system properly. We need a paradigm shift to run our university properly and to recreate academia.

    For example, I see no reason why Nigeria should not be at the forefront in the research into solar engineering. Here we are, we have a problem, we have no power, yet I’ve not seen any university in Nigeria that has taken up a research. I heard yesterday that some Germans are going to assist us. We should be the ones to assist them. That is what the university ought to have been doing, even if they are going to receive a grant from the Federal Government. We don’t have to use generator all the time and things like that. Those are the functions of the universities.

    I’ve not seen a university in Nigeria that is a leader in malaria or sickle cell disease. We were before. Many of the publications on sickle cell disease came from Africa. That is what academia is meant for and there must be support from government not to recreate the way but to look at our critical problem in the country and see how we can solve them. It is a pity we’re not doing them.

    What people think about now is money. Were you not conscious of that at the time you took up an appointment with the university?

    The condition of service was so good at that time that, in fact, universities were earning more than civil servants.

    What about industries or manufacturing companies?

    They were at par with industries. But during the military, they set up a committee which came, I think it was the Udoji Commission, and levelled everybody under the perm sec, and that created what we have today. That was the origin of people calling themselves engineer, architect, pharmacist to show that we too are professionals, because they lumped everybody under the perm sec. That is part of the problem we are still dealing with.

    Let me take you back to your early days in academia. In joining the teaching staff in 1974, you got your doctorate in 1976 and you became a full professor at 79. These are incredible feats…

    It was all about hard work. By the time I became a professor, I had 50 papers. At that time, not many people had 50 papers. Those who were going for professor had 30, 40 papers. But as I told you, we were working hard. In fact, when I was being promoted professor, I was telling them no. I didn’t want to put in my paper.

    What happened at that time was that the head of the department, Prof. Shofowora, wrote to all members of the department to submit their papers for promotion. Everybody submitted but I didn’t submit. He called me and said, ‘Dr. Falase, I’ve not seen your papers’ and I said ‘yes sir.’ He said, ‘why didn’t you submit?’ I said, ‘I didn’t want any promotion.’ He then said, ‘what is wrong with you?’ I then said, ‘I’m a young person; you know my senior are in the department, I don’t want a situation where if something happens and I get promoted over and above my seniors and there will be problems for me within the department.’ He said, ‘no we don’t do it that way, we do it according to your research output,’ and I said, ‘yes sir’ and left.

    When it was about a week to the deadline he called me again and said, ‘I’ve not seen your papers; you’re being insubordinate.’ I ran to a friend of mine, Prof. Kolawole, and I told him. He was my senior friend, very close to me. I said, ‘Professor Kolawole, please help me tell him to leave me alone.’ Professor Kolawole now said go and bring your papers. He looked at the papers and said this is good. I said Oga help me tell him, I don’t want to be promoted, but he said go and submit it.

    I submitted and after preliminary meeting, they said there were problems and I said fine. I asked, ‘is it over?’ he said it is not over. I said let it be over.’ Like I said, I didn’t want to be promoted over and above my seniors. I was a young person, I could wait. But Professor Kolawole insisted, Professor Shofowora too insisted. That was how I became a professor. Because I was enjoying what I was doing, I didn’t want to create problems for myself because of promotion.

    Did it eventually create problems for you?

    It did. But again, this is the grace of God, because what I was fearing most was for you to be promoted over people who were much more senior to you and you want to be the head of department as a professor. But fortunately, I was shunted to sub-deanship, that is faculty administration by Professor Akande Kolawole, and from there to dean and then to provost. So, I never became a head of department at that time. By the time I emerged dean and provost, my seniors had become heads of departments, so it was better.

    You became the provost of the College of Medicine at what age?

    That was 42, I was very young.

    And you didn’t encounter problems?

    You see, the politics of deanship or provost in the university is such that if a younger person is contesting against an older person, the younger person is likely to win because all academic staff vote. The younger members of the university will tend to relate more with younger person who is contesting than with an older person, and that has always being. I won at the contest because I was the youngest.

    And the older ones did not get angry?

    There was nothing they could do about it. But to be fair to them, I brought in one of them I contested with and we ran the College together, and he didn’t object as deputy provost. I thought that was magnanimous of him. He was far older than me.

    The position of vice chancellor nowadays is political…

    Highly political. It has always been political because it is an interface between the university and government and the populace. In those days, it was not as political as it is now. But in those days, those who were running the universities, who were council members, majority of them were external members. They were really people of good standing within the community.

    The university was run professionally and some of the landmark achievement of the university which we’re still using, like the creation of U.I Ventures Limited which now owns the hotel, the petrol station and many things were created by this group of persons.

    But what do you have nowadays? You have politicians. How can you appoint an 85-year-old man or 90-year-old man as the chairman of the council? He cannot make too much progress. Not only that the number of people who are now in council who are external members are less than internal members. What I’m saying in essence is that staff are running their own affairs and the crop of people you put there are politicians and their interest is to recoup what they spent on election.

    There was a university where chairman came and said, ‘this contract is mine, that contract is mine. All the rest you can go and award because we’ve been sent here, we fought for this election and we won and we’ve been sent here to recoup our losses.’

    But weren’t the appointments made according to the law?

    The military changes the law and that is that. It doesn’t go like the present system where the law goes through a system. So, this is where we got it wrong. After the last strike, I told a friend of mine that another strike would come, you had better start preparing. He said ‘no it won’t!’ You see, you have a situation at the moment council is made up of politicians. External council members are less than internal members, but above all, they cannot determine remunerations.

    The irony is that all staff of the university are appointed on behalf of the council, but that council cannot determine remuneration. So, if they want an increase in salary it is no use talking to council. The best thing is to paralyse the university and talk to those who should do something about it. And that is what is happening in Nigeria. And it is about the only country that runs its universities like that. Elsewhere, universities are independent entities where the government will sponsor students to come and learn in excellent universities. We must get this concept right. If we don’t, what is going to happen is there will be more and more incursion into universities.

    But subvention and grants are given from the centre.

    Subvention is just a one-line subvention, meaning it may not be enough. Again this is another problem of the university which nobody is looking into. Universities now have to generate their electricity, their water and other infrastructure. Now when we try to solicit help from overseas, we met a number of vice chancellors and it was obvious when we were discussing. The vice chancellors in Europe and America, there problem is not water, electricity, telephone; these are assumed. Their problem was finding more funds for research and all those things whereas in Nigeria, our problem is how to find money to supply water to hostels, how to generate electricity to universities and that consumes a lot of money.

    The University of Ibadan for example has a contraption where they take water from Eleyele and purify it and then pump it into the university. But as the university grows, that thing cannot cover the entire university and there is water problem. And every year, they have to ask people to come and supply chemicals. Do you think that is the problem of the VC in the University of London?

    If you look at the pattern of strike, the majority of strikes are government-induced but majority of internal strikes are as a result of poor condition of hostels, lack of infrastructure and many of them have told government that if you have a structure like this and you can support the university by providing water and you give a grant for universities to pay the salaries of staff, the amount that a student will pay to enter that university will be minimal because you’ve taken a large chunk of what the university spends its money on.

    Do you think we can get sufficient scholarship?

    Oh yes, why not if we are serious?

    Do you think Nigeria can still make top 200 universities in the world?

    Oh yes. They did it before. University of Ibadan and Ife were excellent universities before. Didn’t you see the number of white people coming to lecture there? You only need to advertise and they would come. But how many of them would come now? Even with the last strike the system has completely gone haywire. By the time they start in January, nobody will know when the session will end. We are waiting for the next strike when the money is not enough again.

    Don’t you think ASUU is getting it wrong?

    It is not the fault of ASUU. That is the only way of getting money. You tell me of another way of getting money. You go to government and you say we need money; government will say ‘I have no money, go away.’ But if you want the government to listen to you, paralyse the university and it would say ‘give them what they want.’

    I want you to tell me the politics that was involved in making you the VC of the University of Ibadan.

    I contested for the VC three times. The first time, I was not in. At that time, it required a council member to nominate you. A friend of mine, Prof. Falusi, was the one that submitted my name. I was not selected. I said fine, no problems. Four or five years later, another contest came. By that time, I was back in my department, but this time I applied, because I didn’t want anybody to say I was the one who made you VC. Funny enough, one of my patients was the Minister of State for Education, but I did not tell her that I applied for the VC’s position. It was to go through the Ministry of Education. I fought for it and I was shortlisted. Among the three, I was not number one but I did not tell her for two reasons. I felt I would be taking advantage of patient/doctor relationship and secondly, I believe that if God wanted me to be there, He would make it possible.

    I was not chosen. My conclusion was that was the end of it. I was not interested anymore.

    I would just concentrate on academics, research and so forth. But the third time was interesting in the sense that just as you’re sitting down here, a group of academics from the university came and appealed to me to contest, and I said I didn’t want anymore. They said the university was in problem and they needed somebody who could put things right. I said I would think about it. Then the rain started. They said they had to go and they ran through the rain. The rain thoroughly beat them and I ran after them to accompany them to their car.

    Then something just came to me: two important people came to beg you and you’re saying you will think about it. They want you, you didn’t ask for it. Why don’t you put in your papers? The next day, I just put in my paper and it came out that I was number two, and I said thank God, that was God’s decision. But later on, I got a phone call from Saudi Arabia around 2 am. Myself and my wife were startled because we didn’t expect any phone call at that hour of the day. It was a friend of mine, Prof. Bamigboye, he said, ‘you’ve been appointed the VC of Ibadan. He said call so and so, and they will give you the detail.

    Of course, nobody could sleep that night. I then phoned the man. He said I should not tell anybody and that we should prepare when it would be announced. That was what we did. It was interesting and I had the fun of my life. People would come to me and say we’re still working on that thing when I already knew. I would say thank you. There were also speculations in the papers, I’m sure they were being sponsored by those who were interested. ‘Falase is an unknown quantity, he is this, he is that.’ I just kept quiet. But they warned me that it would be announced on so and so date on FRCN and the government newspapers. But I don’t think I can do it now because it is more political.

    You must have taken some painful decisions as Vice Chancellor…

    Oh yes, because you must situate it with what we had. There were demonstrations every day. Even the day after I resumed, there was a demonstration in the school. They closed the department. There were students demonstration virtually every week.

    If the students were not on strike, the staff would be on strike. There was no water. The hostels were horrible. Everything was just upside down and somebody asked me, ‘why did you take this job?’ Again we prayed to the Lord and we thank Almighty God that He really helped us. We really went through a lot. There were lots of things we had to do to bring sanity back to the university and re-orientate it.

    The long and short of it was to curb things like cultism and do all sorts and try and improve the living conditions of students and try to improve the teaching conditions in faculties. How you do that in the milieu where you’re not getting money. You’re not getting anything. The money you’re being given is less than what you needed to pay salaries. That was the challenge. What we did was to re-orientate the university to postgraduate university and we were given a grant by McArthur Foundation which we used to improve critical areas of the university.

    One of the things we did was to improve the teaching capacity of the school. When we looked at the staff over the years they were all BA Ibadan, MSc Ibadan, PhD Ibadan and many of the staff never went to anywhere. We had to commit a large part of that grant into capacity building.

    McArthur was very frightened because they were worried that they would be fined by immigration. But all the people we gave grants came back and they were better for it and they now saw how university functions. We used part of the money for distance learning and used part of it to support research and to do things like that.

    The money we were given initially was one million dollars, which if you look at it was not near what we were spending. But it made a difference when it was applied correctly. At the same time, we curbed cultism. If you do a study, you will discover that there were two major things that were fuelling cultism. One of them was that many people who are not supposed to be in the university are there. Secondly, the JAMB assessment was bad, We took a decision to eject those who cheated their way in, and that brought stability to the university of Ibadan.

    You were in the army during the civil war. Tell me your experience.

    We were conscripted into the army by General Obasanjo. We were really qualified doctors. The country was at war and they said it was compulsory for us to go and help at the war front. I didn’t enjoy it. They tried to entice us but I said no. You see a regimented life incompatible with academics. You present your data and I say this is all rubbish. But if a Major tells a General that all what you’re doing is rubbish, the Major will end up in the guardroom.

    At a point, you were abducted. What was the experience like?

    I was abducted by armed robbers. It was tough. I thought that was the end. You know I was just going to work. I had this new Peugeot 406 and they said they wanted the car, and before I knew it, they had surrounded the car. A lot of things went through my mind. Eventually, the young man who was leading them was sitting with their own driver. He warned me, ‘don’t try to run because we’re passing through Sango Police Station. I would shoot you.

    At Eleyele, they dropped me off. Later on, they dropped the driver off again. The driver was lucky because the police confronted them. You see, sometimes we condemn the police. They have problems. In my own case, they knew those robbers were coming and they radioed ahead that they were coming. The policeman who took the message had no way of communicating this to those who were on the road, so he just grabbed a bicycle and tried to run down. By the time he reached those who were on the road, they saw the car coming and they started a shootout.

    Some of those policemen did their work. Some of the boys ran into the bush. They tried to tear-gas them. The police kept quiet. But after the boys felt everything was quiet, they thought the police had gone and they came out of the bush. Some of them were caught. It was a scary moment.

  • ‘How robbers scared off a professor who visited Nigeria recently’

    ‘How robbers scared off a professor who visited Nigeria recently’

    HOW did your sojourn to Botswana begin?

    I was in Nigeria. When I finished my Ph.D in 1981, at that time we were very patriotic; even when you had opportunity to work outside after you finish your Ph.D, the urge was to go back to Nigeria. So, I studied in one of the top universities in the UK and God so good, just before I finished, the then Rector of the Ibadan Polytechnic came on a recruitment drive to the UK and he expressed the desire that I should join the polytechnic and I agreed and I was there for five years and then became the Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering. I later joined the University of Ibadan’s Department of Chemical Engineering. I left Nigeria when a friend of ours informed me that Botswana needed engineers and academics. That was how my wife, the children and I moved to Botswana over 21 years ago and we have been here since then. I was at the University of Botswana. I just left the University of Botswana.

    What encouraged you to leave Nigeria?

    At the time I left Nigeria, the naira was sliding down seriously. Before I left Nigeria for the UK for studies, it was almost one naira to one dollar. You could spend naira in London. To see the naira slide down was shocking. I think another thing that added to it was the insecurity at that time and also the provision of utility. When I was at the polytechnic, we were living on the third floor and of course, there was no water. We used to go close to Asejire to wash clothes and to Oba Dam in UI to fetch water and carry it up the stairs. It didn’t need to continue and having come out, one has seen that life can be better. In Botswana, the system works. The country has zero tolerance for corruption. Everything works for good. I have always returned home, even though sometimes distressful because of water, road and electricity. Each time I come to Ibadan, not only Ibadan, Nigeria generally, I almost cry. But at the end of the day, home is still home.

    Have you ever at any point considered returning home?

    I was on the way to Nigeria before I took the job at the BIUST. I got a job as the Vice-Chancellor of a state university. I was going there to assist. Sometimes I taught students from here using skype. I went like three to four times. I was there in March. I was hoping I would take up the appointment, but at a point I told them: ‘It is not that your system doesn’t work, you don’t have a system.’ There is a big difference between Nigeria and Botswana. God has blessed Nigeria with a large human resource but many of them are outside. In my college at the University of Botswana, there were many Nigerians there.

    What do you think Nigeria should do to discourage brain drain?

    I was talking to Prof. Victor Ibearusi from Florida and he was telling me his experience in his hotel in Abuja and I am sure that must have devastated him. Six armed robbers stormed his hotel room at 3am and they were knocking asking him to open. He didn’t open and they forced their way in, with AK 47 and they were asking him why he had no woman. He said he was just praying and after some minutes, one of their leaders said: ‘I can hear some voices’ and that was how they got out. He said by the time they got to the corridor, he started hearing gunshots. Two of the men were shot dead. The other four were arrested. Security is a major issue. But apart from security, there should be the provision of simple amenities that will make life comfortable. The number one issue is electricity.

  • Four professors appointed

    The Vice-Chancellor, Federal University Wukari (FUWUKARI), Taraba State, Prof Geoffrey Okogbaa has confirmed the promotion of four lecturers to the rank of professors.

    The confirmation was made known at a Senate meeting of the university held at the senate chambers, Central Administration Building.

    The newly promoted dons are: Dr. Mathew Aremu, Head, Chemical Science Department; Dr. Halima Buhari Sekula, Dean, Faculty of Humanities, Management and Social Sciences; Dr. Francisca Ogwueleka, Head, Computer Science Department and Dr. Victor Okaogo, Head of Department, History and Diplomatic studies.

    The Vice-Chancellor said they were promoted after careful assessment. He congratulated the newly promoted professors and charged them to justify the new status conferred on them.

    Meanwhile, the VC has approved the appointment of Prof Ngozi Odiaka as the dean, faculty of agriculture and life sciences.