The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Redeemers

  • Redeemers student faults expulsion

    Redeemers student faults expulsion

    A student of Redeemers University, Debo Macaroni Adebayo who was expelled for a post on social media has faulted the decision of the management.

    He stated in his post on facebook, that he has served redeemers university with all his life and does not deserve this kind of punishment.

    In the expulsion letter, the management accused Debo of portraying the university and its officials in bad light.

    ‘All I did was served Reedemer’s University with all my life.’ He also appreciates his parents for taking legal action.

    He said:

    ‘The University claim I put them in bad light. Most of you who have been following my posts on social media in the last two years would agree with me how I helped publicize Reedemer’s University like it was my Father’s school. This same me, would go to Ikeja city mall, different secondary schools advertising Reedemer’s University like I was being paid for it. Like I keep saying, the list is endless. I never expected it would result to this as I always wanted nothing but progress for my Alma Mata. However, the management of the school have a different point of view. I would like to thank my parents for deciding to take legal action and will hereby rest my case for now. I thank you all for calls, msgs and well wishes. Please help me let the world know what is happening to me because all I did was serve Reedemer’s University with all my life.’

  • Redeemers Varsity produces test kits

    A major breakthrough has been recorded at Redeemers Varsity, Ede, Osun State, in the diagnosis, prevention and cure of the Lassa fever virus.

    The research coordinator, who is a professor of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Prof. Christian Happi, at a briefing in Ede, said the breakthrough is in three phases.

    The first phase is the development of a rapid diagnosis test kit that will make use of blood sample and give results in 10 minutes.

    The second phase is the development of molecules to inhibit the virus; the third phase is the development of a vaccine against the virus.

    He said the test kit took four years to develop and it can  detect the virus in 10 minutes.

    Happi added: “We have found a human gene called “Large” in the Yoruba of Southwest Nigeria that may be associated with protection to the virus.

    “We have hypothesised the potential mechanisms of protection and believe that this could be key to the future Lassa fever vaccine.”

    Happi said the test kits would be available as soon as it goes through necessary regulatory bodies.

  • Samsung, Redeemer’s varsity partner on digital learning

    Samsung, Redeemer’s varsity partner on digital learning

    Samsung Electronics West Africa, in partnership with Redeemer’s University (RUN), Ede, Osun State, has inaugurated 30 electronic boards in the school. It is a joint initiative aimed at improving students’ learning experience.

    The e-boards come with easy-to-use immersive technology for the digital classroom. The new technology in the classroom, according to Samsung, is set to change dramatically how students learn and teachers pass on instructions.

    Samsung launched the ‘Classroom digitisation’ in collaboration with one of its key partners, Beecit Solutions, who also worked to deliver advanced solutions for the digital classroom.

    The widespread adoption of tablets, mobile applications, social networks and digital content is having a profound effect on students around the world, including Nigeria.

    Director, Samsung Enterprise Business, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr Charles Ojei, said the collaboration would meet students’ expectations for an interactive learning environment.

    “We are committed to partnering with this university to ensure that you achieve your goals in terms of digitization,” Ojei said.

    The Samsung e-boards are in-built with powerful software that provides simplified direct access to e-books, CDs, videos, animations, images, PowerPoint presentations, learning materials and internet content.

    “The e-boards will help to deliver rich content and interactivity to the classrooms. It will also provide the teachers with greater control over their classrooms and increase student engagement while ensuring a more efficient transfer of materials to students. It will aid more participation, more efficient communication and an improved classroom management and performance,” said Head, Enterprise Display Solutions, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Anu-Rotimi Agboola.

    Thirty e-boards have been launched at Redeemer’s University, making them the first institution in Nigeria with the largest e-board distribution.

    The RUN Vice-Chancellor, Prof Adebowale Adeyewa, said he expected the facilities to help the students learn better.

    “Redeemer’s University is committed to bringing new technology closer to our students, while shaping their destinies.

    Our partnership with Samsung is yet another step in this direction. We believe that this collaborative learning environment will improve students’ retention rates.”

    Speaking for the students, President, Redeemer’s University Students Association, Samuel Akinnuga, said: “We can proudly say that our future starts now. We are also proud of the management for its effort at providing qualitative education for us.”

  • ‘Teachers in mission schools need training’

    Teachers in mission schools must be trained and equipped well to raise godly children.

    This was the submission of the Principal of Christ the Redeemers College, Pastor Antoinette Omo-Osagie, at a breakfast meeting with parents.

    Teachers in mission schools, she said, must be retrained in the content of the Curriculum to enhance the performances of students.

    She attributed the recent dismal national performance in the WAEC examinations to lack of adequate training and motivation for teachers.

    According to Omo-Osagie:  “We should stop blaming students for poor performance rather the school authorities should look inward and organise workshop and training for teachers.

    “If teachers were properly trained, they would be able to teach the students with right materials.”

    She said that teachers must also be professionally qualified and competent in their subjects to make the right impacts.

    The school head explained that due to different assimilation levels among the students, the College has introduced e-learning (tablet) for the students.

    She said that book applications, past questions and national curriculum are in the tablet to enhance learning.

    She noted that there is no child that is not familiar with laptop or computer, we

    She advised parents to cooperate with the school management to bring out the best from the students while advising them against mounting pressure on their wards.

    The mandate of the school, she stated, is to raise godly children that will lead by examples.

  • Redeemer’s runs for excellence

    Redeemer’s runs for excellence

    Less than 10 years after it was licensed by the National Universities Commission (NUC), the Redeemer’s University (RUN) is accelerating its academic excellence to attain a world-class status.

    Last week, the institution won the coveted World Bank’s $1.54 million research grant to fund the establishment of African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) to combat lassa fever and other parasites causing terminal illness in Nigeria. The feat, according to the Vice-Chancellor, was as a result of culture of excellence the founding fathers of the university had entrenched in its system.

    The news was announced after the meeting of African Centre of Excellence Project Steering Committee held last week in Dakar, Senegal. The Secretary-General of Association of African Universities (AAU), Prof Etienne Ehouan Ehile, who broke the news, said the selection was based on recommendations of experts on the field after a transparent and rigorous evaluation exercise for 52 institutions in Africa.

    RUN was adjudged the best in community health programme and its proposal to implement the project in Nigeria scored 82 per cent Evaluation Score, the highest among all institutions rated, including University of Ghana in Legion, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, University of Jos (UNIJOS), University of Benin (UNIBEN), and Universite Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegal, which had 74.3, 74, 72.8, 72.2 and 62.9 respectively.

    Concluding the evaluation process, the experts said of the RUN: “As a young university, your proposal is visionary in scope as with most ‘leapfrog efforts’ in development and scientific endeavour.”

    Attesting to the commitment of the university to research, the experts noted that the recent award of $1.8 million Human, Hereditary and Health (H3) Grant by the United States National Institute of Health to RUN bore witness to the seriousness of the faith-based institution to development and eradication diseases.

    Christian Happi, a Professor of Medicine and Dean of Post-graduate College, is the head of the RUN team that wrote the proposal for the World Bank grant. He is a world-class researcher, who had carried out several studies in genomics and diseases eradication.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Debo Adeyewa, described the feat as a testimony to culture of academic discipline and erudition, which the institution practises, saying the grant would make the university to double its efforts in eradicating lassa fever and other life- threatening contagious diseases found in Nigeria and African soil.

    He said the university’s effective community engagement in its health programmes and campaigns were paying off, nothing that the institution had taken students as partners in carrying out researches and awareness programmes in the host communities.

    He praised the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Adejare Adeboye, for supporting the management with prayer and personal resources, saying without God, the institution would not have achieved the feat.

    He said: “In Redeemer’s University, we believe that one person cannot do everything all alone. This is the reason we always collaborate with other like-minds in our research activities and make progress together in areas of common interest. We believe students are partners in this regards and we need them to gather materials and analyse data.

    “While we thank God for this feat, we have a firm belief that our success in this short period of time we started is as a result of dynamism and erudition we have encouraged in this institution in line with the vision of the founding fathers and Visitor to the school, Pastor Adejare Adeboye.”

    The coordinator of the university’s Research Centre, Dr Onikepe Folarin, a Molecular Biologist and Biochemist, who was part of the team that won the grant, said the feat had ended the era of sending research samples abroad for analysis was over. She said the grant would be deployed to provide facilities that would proffer solution to challenges of infectious diseases affecting Africans.

    She explained that the research grant would enable the institution to collaborate with hospitals and primary healthcare centres across the nation to generate a method of using a single panel to test for all infectious diseases such as malaria, typhoid and lassa fevers, with an objective to accurately cure precise ailments.

    “We are going to gather information on all these common infectious diseases such as malaria, typhoid fever and other diseases, with a view to build a panel that will test for all diseases together and detect which particular one is causing illness in a patient. If this is done, we would have solved health challenges facing people in this part of the world.”