The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Students

  • NANS cautions students against false information

    The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) yesterday cautioned students against using the social media to spread falsehood and information capable of causing disaffection.

    National Public Relations Officer Bestman Okereafor in a statement in Enugu to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said students should desist from spreading false information through the social media on incidents that did not exist, as the practice could endanger peace.

    He said: “The attention of the apex students’ governing body has been drawn to a purported voice note and old pictures of an attack, which occurred in Ogun State, in circulation.

    “It should be noted that the Ogun State Command, under the watch of Police Commissioner Mr. Ahmed Iliyasu, remains pro-active and second to none.

    “People, especially students spreading false rumours about the security status of the state, should desist.

    “Governor Ibikunle Amosun has over the years prioritised security, which has earned him awards and laurels.’’

    Okereafor said the association had confidence in the command.

    “The purported voice note and pictures about herdsmen attack on Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, currently in circulation, are not true. They should be disregarded by the public.

    “Students should endeavour not to be used as political instruments by desperate daredevil politicians,’’ he said.

  • Hostel fire: Ekiti community gives relief materials to students

    Efon Alaaye Community in Ekiti State, has donated relief materials to students of Federal Government Girls’ College whose hostel was gutted by fire last month.

    The relief materials included 110 mattresses and 110 cupboards which were made available by funds donated by Efon Alaaye indigenes within and outside the country.

    Speaking while presenting the materials to the school authorities and the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) in Efon Alaaye, the Obalufon Alayemore, Oba Emmanuel Adesanya Aladejare, described the college as ‘the pride of the community’

    The monarch, who recalled the event with sadness, thanked God that no student died in the blaze which consumed their personal effects.

    Oba Aladejare said immediately the incident happened, he got in touch with Efon Alaaye indigenes in Nigeria and in Diaspora to contribute money to aid the beleaguered students.

    The royal father explained that a dedicated account was opened in the bank in which the town’s indigenes made their donations which resulted in the purchase of the relief materials.

    Oba Aladejare added: “Immediately the incident happened, we got in touch with the principal on the immediate and urgent needs of the students and he told us that what they needed most were mattresses and cupboards.

    “This school is a property of the Federal Government and we are appealing to them to rehabilitate the burnt hostel because the students are being housed in a temporary structure.

    “We have also advised the principal to do the estimate of the cost of the burnt property to the Federal Government and the Efon Community would do the follow-up.”

    The acting principal Mr Samuel Adeyemi, appreciated the royal father and the community for standing by the college and its students during the crisis.

    He explained that the school management has carried out the proper electrification of the other hostel to prevent a reoccurrence of the blaze.

     

  • Sokoto varsity mourns two students

    Sokoto varsity mourns two students

    It was all tears at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) following the death of two students. Bilyaminu Adamu, a 200-Level Mathematics student, and Aliyu Muhammad, a 300-Level Agricultural Science student, in a road crash on their way back to school after three months break. MAHMUD ABDULSALAM and IBRAHIM ADEYEMI report.

    THE 2017/18 academic session began at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), on a tragic note. It was all tears at the Departments of Mathematics and Agriculture on Sunday when news of the death of two students broke.

    Bilyaminu Adamu, a 200-Level Mathematics student, and Aliyu Muhammad, a 300-Level Agricultural Science student, died in a road crash on their way back to school after three months break. The bus conveying them  to Sokoto was involved in an accident with two other vehicles. The accident occurred around 7:30 pm at Shagari Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that another UDUS student, whose name could not be ascertained, is in critical condition with his mother at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH). It was learnt that the student and his mother had multiple fractures. The bus driver is also said to be in critical condition.

    The bus was said to have collided with a firewood-laden pick-up which attempted to overtake another vehicle. Many were injured in the multipe accident.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that Aliyu died  on the spot; Bilyaminu passed on while being rushed to the hospital.

    Aliyu’s body was returned to Maru Village, his hometown in Zamfara State, on January 22 for burial.

    Members of the school management team and students gathered for the Janazah (burial prayer) for the late Bilyaminu at the UDUS’cemetery.

    Students and lecturers prayed for the repose of the victims’ souls. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academics, Prof A.G. Yahaya, and his counterpart in Administration, Prof M. I. Saheed, led top management members to the funeral.

    A senior lecturer simply identified as Dr. Gambo, who led the Janazah, prayed for the repose of the souls of the departed students, noting that death was an inevitable end.

    In his short sermon, Gambo said: “Allah has decreed that every soul must taste death and it will surely meet us, whether we prepare for it or not. Death comes without any prior notice. We must be preparing for it by performing noble deeds and shunning acts of transgressions.”

    Fighting back tears, the Students’ Union Government (SUG) President, Idrees Maibasira, described the students’ death as a great loss to the university community.

    He said: “As leaders of students’ body, we are deeply touched by this tragic incident. I  felt so bad when the news of the terrible accident reached me. The fact that these fallen colleagues were said to be among the brilliant students of their departments saddens us.”

    The clerk of the Students’ Representative Assembly, Ibrahim Ahmad, expressed shock, saying the session was taking off with a sorrowful story event. “May Almighty Allah console the families of the victims,” he prayed at the burial.

    The Police Divisional Headquarters in Shagari Local Government Area sent its report to the families of the deceased and other affected persons. In its preliminary report on the accident, the police revealed that the accident was caused by impatience and recklessness of the pick-up driver.

    Students’ Affairs Dean Prof Adamu Aliero sympathised with the parents and relatives of the late students. He said the institution regretted the death of the students, adding that death remained inevitable for mankind.

  • Students celebrate Gov Amosun at 60

    Students celebrate Gov Amosun at 60

    Forty students from the African Church Primary and Secondary schools, Abeokuta, on a three-day educational tour to commemorate the 60th birthday of Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State visited Shongai  Farms, Port Novo, Republic of Benin.

    The tour, which commenced on Monday through Wednesday, had students from the governor’s alma mater as part of measures to support the campaign of encouraging old students to give back to their alma mater.

    The tour, targeted at exposing the pupils to life outside classrooms, was organised by the Office of the State Head of Service in conjunction  with the Educational Initiative for Development in Western Nigeria (EIFDW) as part of their contributions to celebrate the governor at 60.

    In the course of the tour, the students were exposed to latest farming techniques in crop planting, farm management , the process of recycling waste products into other useful means like fertilizer, gas,  energy and household items.

    While taking the pupils round the farm, the tour guide ,Mr. Gerald Akaba,  noted that the farm system was established on the premise that nothing should be wasted, adding that both human and material wastes could be turned to useful products.

    Areas visited included the palm oil production unit, vegetation area, fishery site, bio- gas plant, amongst others.

    Speaking on behalf of the participants, the Head Boy of African Church Grammar School Senior, Igwe Aejeo said the tour was a worthwhile experience which afforded them the opportunity to have practical knowledge of what they had learnt in the classrooms and appreciated the organisers of the programme for such initiative.

    In the same vein, Tosa Taiwo, of the African Church Primary School, said the knowledge gained, especially in the areas of waste management, was an eye opener which would be used in the future.

    In their separate remarks, Mr.Wale Adebayo of African Church Grammar School Junior and Mrs.Seun Fasanya of Asero High School appreciated the state government and the organisers for the initiative of exposing the pupils to practical aspects of their studies, adding that this would not only  boost the morale of the pupils towards better academic performance, but an opportunity to further expose them to life outside the country.

    While urging the state government to make it an annual programme where many more pupils can benefit , they called on old students to support  the initiative of returning the culture of educational tour back to schools.

  • Protesting poly students arraigned

    Protesting poly students arraigned

    Fourteen students, comprising 13 males and one female students of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic at Owo in Ondo State, have been arraigned before a Chief Magistrates’ Court in the town.

    The police arrested them a few days ago during a violent demonstration in the town.

    The students were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Court II, sitting at Owo GRA on a three-count charge of conspiracy, felony to wit stealing and malicious damage.

    The suspects are: Lukman Arowolo, 21; Iyanuoluwa Gift, 21; Olayinka Oyewole, 21; Aladejebi Temitope, 35; Oluwadare Gbenga, 26; Japhet Samuel, 21; Ayeni Samuel, 24; Lawrence Monday, 24; Titus Felix, 22; Emmanuel Segun, 23; Ayeni Temitope, 21; Ayeni Trust, 23; Olayinka Olalekan, 17 and Ayomide Opeyemi, 21.

    Police prosecutor, Sergeant Edu Owolabi, told the court that the offences contradict and are punishable under sections 516, 390(9) and 451 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 37, Volume 1, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.

    All the accused pleaded not guilty and their lawyer applied for their bail.

    But Owolabi opposed their bail application.

    The Magistrate Mr Sunday Adedapo said he would deliver his ruling on the bail application on February 5.

     

     

  • RUGIPO students protest ‘No fees, no exam’ policy

    RUGIPO students protest ‘No fees, no exam’ policy

    Attempts by the management of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic Owo (RUGIPO) to bar school fees defaulters from the examination halls turned ugly.  Students are saying those responsible should be punished reports Eniola Olurankinse (RUGIPO).

    There was pandemonium at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO), in Ondo State on Monday, following the violent protest by students measures over the polytechnic authorities’ “no school fees, no examination” policy.

    Students yet to pay their fees were not allowed to sit for the second semester examination, which is the final examination in the 2016/2017 academic session.

    While students in the School of Business were to pay N48,000, those in other schools were to pay between N60,000 and N70,000 for the session.

    The school management announced the policy last Friday, January 19, ahead of its commencement on Monday.

    A circular to that effect warned the exam invigilators to ensure that defaulters were not allowed into the hall.

    The circular reads in part: “To ensure strict compliance of its policy and smooth conduct of the exterminations exercise, the school authority has set up a task force to guard against any form of agitation by the students.

    “Members of staff are equally advised not to cooperate secretly with any student to go against the order given by management either through bribery or in kind as such act would attract proper sanction.”

    After they were driven out of their various exam halls, the angry students went berserk and started throwing stones and sticks into the halls, while the examinations were ongoing, and at other facilities and property they could attack.

    Attempt by the Rector, Mr Idowu Ologunagba, to calm the students proved aborwas futile as his promise that they would write their examination the next day fell on deaf ears.

    His expression of displeasure and condemnation of the students’ action did nothing to deter them.

    By the time there was calm, after security agencies intervened, the students had destroyed school and private properties worth millions of naira.

    The institution’s ICT complex was the worst hit – computers were smashed, while chairs and tables were broken. The glass windows were not spared. Many vehicles belonging to lecturers and others did not escape damage as their windscreens were smashed.

    The examination was suspended and students directed to vacate the campus till further notice.

    Reacting to the protest, the chairman, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, (ASUP), RUGIPO chapter, Mr Rafiu Ijawoye, described the students’ action as “embarrassing, displeasing, and unacceptable”.

    Ijawoye further accused the school authorities of not providing enough security for members of the union as promised by the management, ordering ASUP members to stop academic activities till further notice.

    A lecturer who preferred anonymity said the management’s decision was ill-timed.  He said the first semester of 2017/2018 academic session would have been the right time to execute such law.

    Condemning the students’ action, the Students’ Union President, Emmanuel Temitayo, said  no member of his executive committee participated in the protest.

    Temitayo said the school management during the first semester granted the Students’ Union‘s request to allow students pay tuition fees instalmentally; it was also agreed that by second semester all students must have paid their school fees before the examination.

    “We must join hands with the management in order to get the tuition fees from students who are not ready to pay.  As we all know there is no free education anywhere in Nigeria, therefore the need for students to pay their tuition fee as at when due,” he said.

    However, some of the students who spoke with Campus Life faulted the Students’ Union for collaborating with the management on the policy without consulting with the students.  They attributed the non-payment of school fees to the economic meltdown in the country.

    Fidelix David, president of the National Association of Social Sciences and Communication Studies Students, said the “no fees, no exam” policy was strange to students.

    “How can the management start a war they can’t end? Actually, that policy is not the best option for the students considering the fact that they are not used to such policy from the beginning. That is what actually bred the protest leading to destruction of property.

    “The management should have adopted the policy of not marking their booklet after the exam rather than no school fees, no examination policy,” he said.

    Supporting management’s stand, the Public Relations Officer of the Students’ Union, Oluwatobi Samuel, said: “The System (school) is collapsing.  The only IGR the school has is the tuition fees from students. In a situation where we have less than 30 per cent of what is paid, that is bad. How do you want the school to survive? No how.

    “Students went too far. Had it been  it was a peaceful protest, it would still be okay and the management would reorganise.”

    He further said:’’When they were having the initial protest, before it turned to a riot and daylight robbery, the management was having a change of mind, to the extent that the Rector came out and addressed everyone and assured them that they would all write exam the next day. I don’t know what came over them (students). The level of property damage is too worrisome and bad.

    “The institution’s ICT is gone. Properties worth billions gone, a lot of lecturer‘ cars were damaged, to the extent that I’m crying personally. The damage is too much.

    “To me, I stand by it – ‘No Tuition Fees, No Examination’.”

    In an interview, a former Students’ Union leader, Adedayo Oluodo, said there was no reason for the violence.

    “First the students have no legitimate grounds to go on a riot or protest against the management. They could have had a peaceful demonstration to appeal to the conscience  of members of management.

    “The students’ action is an outright display of sabotage of government’s and management’s development effort and cannot and should never be condoned by management or the Students’ Union body,” he said.

    Another student who did not want to be named lamented the consequences of the protest – more days at home and payment of a penalty.

    “A peaceful protest should have been the best thing which could have been demonstrated in different ways.  We are students and we should know how to make our grievances known, every agitation should not lead to destruction of property.

    “Now they will be home for weeks before they are called back which will prolong the period which they ought to graduate. I mean for the finalists (ND 2 and HND 2). In this period where you are unable to pay school fees you will be running around for reparation fee which is very bad,” he said.

  • Students urge Wike to release funds for scholarship

    Students urge Wike to release funds for scholarship

    Twenty-three final-year students of University of Debrecen’s Medical School, Hungary, sponsored by the Rivers State government, have urged Governor Nyesom Wike to release funds, to enable them complete their studies.

    They made the plea yesterday in an online statement, saying they were awarded scholarship in 2012 to study medicine by the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA), when Rotimi Amaechi, now Transportation minister, was governor.

    The students said they had no political affiliation, but were young people trying to improve their lives.

    Their names and local governments are Amachree Ibaniyi (Asari-Toru), Azundah Chizalam Kinikanwo (Ikwerre), Chiogbonda Wisdom Chimenem (Obio/Akpor), Choko Sarah Uchechi (Etche), Chris-Banigo Dagogo (Bonny), Collins Clifford (Port Harcourt), Dede Onisoyonivosekume (Ahoada West), Eziam Emmanuel Chukwuka (Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni), Finebone Adawari Godswill (Opobo/Nkoro), Gogo Selemi Ereleoyekipe (Abua-Odual) and Inoma-Batubo Tamunomiete (Asari-Toru).

    Others are Jacks Ibiye (Akuku-Toru), Jim-Halliday Stephanie Tamunotumini (Bonny), Keohane Lugard (Ahoada West), Nwidaa Igwe Mecha (Eleme), Odum Noble Chidinma (Etche), Ogbonda Chikerueze Davies (Obio/Akpor), Ogum Albert (Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni), Samuel Kalenebari Anthony (Khana), Tanen Kate Bari-iye (Gokana), Wakama Boma Keren (Ogu/Bolo), Woke Chika Godfrey (Emohua) and Yiikoh Sukah Sunday (Khana).

    The students said: “The scholarship was awarded to us based on merit, after rigorous examinations and interviews, contrary to claims of our being children of the governor’s rich political enemies. A contract was signed by both parties, thereby binding the Rivers State government to provide our tuition fees, living expenses and book allowances for the full extension of our studies (2012 to 2018).

    “In 2015, Governor Wike asked for students under the scholarship to be sent back home due to insufficiency of funds to continue the sponsorship. We were offered to be placed in Nigerian universities, but the promise was never fulfilled, as plans were never made to book flights and obtain admissions in the schools. Most of us cannot travel out of the country, because our international passports and other documents are being held by our landlords and other creditors.

    “We have spent 38 months (three years and two months) fending for ourselves. We have undergone hardships, been sent out of our apartments and have run into huge debts, in our bid to survive. Our university has been gracious enough to allow us continue our studies, despite our debts, with the condition that our certificates will be withheld, until our debts are paid.

    “We are owing our university more than three academic years’ worth of tuition fees. This is a lot of money. It is practically impossible for any of us to raise such sums on our own. It is pertinent that this money be paid, since we are in final year and we cannot graduate without paying our debts.

    “Being in a foreign country, far away from home, and having no funds being sent to us for the past three years, we have a lot of challenges, including studying for difficult medical examinations, which we are not even sure we will be allowed to take, while being hungry, depressed and starved for days, with some of us sleeping outside in the cold in winter and others with the fear of being evicted by landlords.”

    They said efforts to communicate with the government had been futile.

  • FUOYE students debunk report on registrar’s removal

    FUOYE students debunk report on registrar’s removal

    The Ekiti Student Union of the Federal University at Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) and the Coalition for the Advancement of Ekiti State (COAED) have denied a report that they kicked against the removal of the Registrar, Mr. Daniel Adeyemo.

    According to them, Adeyemo has not been removed from office, but is on accumulated annual leave, since he had not gone on vacation since 2011.

    “Consequently, Mr. Adeyemo continues to enjoy all the entitlements of the office of a Registrar till date,” they said in a statement by Ekiti Student Union President A. F. Akomolafe and COAED Executive Secretary Gbolade Oguntomole.

    They recalled that Adeyemo sued the university management and council at the National Court in Akure, the Ondo State capital, adding that it would be contemptuous for anyone to comment on the matter.

    “The Ekiti Student Union in FUOYE and the COAED dissociate themselves from the publication,” they said, adding that it was based on “false, unreasonable and scandalous” information.

    The statement reads: “To put the records straight, we have it on authority that the Vice Chancellor is from Ogun State. The Librarian, Dr. Oboyega Adio, is from Oyo State. The Acting Bursar and the husband are from Oyo/Osun states and the Director of Administration, Mr. O. Odusanya, is from Lagos State and not Ogun State, as alleged.

    “The Deputy Vice Chancellor is from Ogun State but married to an Ekiti woman. The Acting Registrar, Mrs Koyejo-Fasakin, is from Oyo State with her husband.

    “It is also good to know that we have seven faculties: Agriculture, Arts, Education, Engineering, Social Science, Science, Management Sciences and the Postgraduate School. Six of these faculties are headed by Ekiti indigenes.

    “Meanwhile, 58 per cent of the workforce (senior workers alone) hail from Ekiti State. Therefore, the issue of marginalisation of Ekiti indigenes, as stated by these shadowy groups, does not arise.

    “The inaccurate information is the handiwork of a fifth columnist and enemies of the advancement of the young institution. The information supplied by Mr. Asefon and his group shows that he was not well briefed by his principal.

    “Indeed, we see the hand of a perfidious mind in this publication and it is working against the collective interest of Ekiti people and the nation. Ekiti indigenes are more enlightened to appreciate the process of appointment and the rule of law.”

     

  • Police arrest 20 MAPOLY students as protest turns violent

    Police arrest 20 MAPOLY students as protest turns violent

    The mass protest by students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State, entered day two with the students occupying the busy Panseke  area and made born fire.
    Dozens of them were arrested by policemen.
    The students were protesting non – commencement of the semester examinations following the crisis between the lecturers of the polytechnic and the state government over its conversion to Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology and establishment of Ogun State Polytechnic, Ipokia.
    The grouse of the lecturers is that the development left them in a state of quandary whether they are still lecturers of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic which technically is in abeyance or the new one in Ipokia but yet to take off.
    The students, 20 of them and whose names are yet to be confirmed, were arrested by  men of the Ogun State Police Command for alleged arson and public disturbance.
    The protest which began on Monday and  christened “Black Week in Ogun,” turned violent as
     a police officer identified as Samuel Daniel,  was injured in the head on the first day of the protest.
    The Police Spokesman, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi told reporters on Tuesday that the hitherto peaceful protest had turned violence, saying some government properties were torched.
    Oyeyemi said the police used “minimum force” to disperse the protesting and subsequently arrested 20, who he said, would soon be arraigned in court.
    “The so-called peaceful protest has turned violent and they became riotors. They were disturbing public peace, attacking innocent citizens and passers-by.
    “We used minimum force to disperse them. We arrested 20 students and they will soon be arraigned before the court of competent jurisdiction,” Oyeyemi said.
  • Lecturer, students raise N260,000 to restore blind man’s sight

    Lecturer, students raise N260,000 to restore blind man’s sight

    FIVE years ago, 22 year old Holy Ogene, an indigene of Ndokwa East of Delta State went blind when he developed cataract in both eyes. Five years on, inability to raise N340, 000, the cost of an operation, has kept him in the dark literarily. But if all goes to plan, within a month, Ogene, will have his sight restored, courtesy of the benevolence of a lecturer and 100 level Law students of the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) who raised N260, 000 to complete the funds needed for the operation.

    On Sunday, September 3, 2017, the Managing Editor, Online and Special Publications, Mr Lekan Otufodunrin, had published Ogene’s predicament titled ‘Help me recover my sight’ in his column. The column talked about his travails with his vision which started deteriorating at age 14 and solicited for funds to help with an operation which has been postponed for five years.

    Ogene was in luck as a lecturer in the department of English at ABUAD, Mr Olumide Olugbemi-Gabriel, a regular reader of The Nation newspapers said he could not take his mind off his predicament after he read the story. Mr Olubemi-Gabriel then called the phone number displayed on the column by the end of October. He enquired about whether he had done the operation to which Ogene disclosed he had not. He also told the lecturer that the cost of the operation is N340, 000 but he had only raised N120, 000 as at that time.

    Olumide-Gabriel knowing he didn’t have enough money and he intended to helped widows during the yuletide, approached 100 level Law students with the story to seek their assistance.

    “I told them that there is something I want them to do if you could just help do this thing,” Mr Olumide-Gabriel said.

    “They said, ‘what was it?’ I told them.  They said they were willing to do it. So the next class, I took the story to the class and I called one of them to read the story to the class and I asked for voluntary donation from everyone. I started by donating N20, 000. We started getting donations. A parent gave us N50, 000, another parent sent N10, 000. At the end of last week, we had N258, 500.”

    The lecturer then added N1, 500 to make it a round figure of N260, 000 to cover the operation.

    And penultimate Thursday, Mr Olumide-Gabriel accompanied by his wife and two children were at The Nation office in Lagos to present the cash of N260, 000 to Ogene and his mother.

    “I’m hoping that the next time I see him, he’ll be able to see me,” said Mr Olumide-Gabriel who celebrated his 40th birthday on August 14, 2017 by donating to charities – hospital, children’s home, widows and the handicapped.

    “And that would be the success story for all of us including The Nation who broke the story and Mr Lekan (Otufodunrin) that has been very helpful. He has told me every help that Mr Otufodunrin has rendered. I’m not surprised.

    “What we are doing at ABUAD is because of the philosophy of our founder. Our founder, Afe Babalola is a very generous man that likes to help and that’s the spirit behind ABUAD. All of us have keyed into that and that is what I’m expressing.”

    Ogene, who is set to begin treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, Delta State, thanked The Nation newspapers and Mr. Otufodunrin and said he can now proceed with the operation.

    “With this now, in less than a month, I should get my vision back,” Ogene, the first child in a family of four that resides in Alausa, Lagos said. While his mother, Mrs Mercy Ogene, is a petty trader, his father is ill in their village in Delta State.

    “I want to thank the Afe Babalola students and Mr Olumide and his wife and my mummy standing by me. I want to say thank you all.”

    Ogene’s mother could also not hide her gratitude as she knelt and thanked God.

    For him, this development is significant in his road to recovering his vision.

    “It started five years ago,” said Ogene about the origin of his cataract. Then, he was a student at Babs Fafunwa Millennium Secondary School, Ojodu, Lagos.

    “My vision started getting fainter and fainter. Gradually, I noticed that I have cataract on my left eye and I was asked to operate it. Due to no financial assistance, we were pressing it down with drugs. But it finally got to the other eye.”

    Seeking financial assistance for his operation was also arduous. He came across Mr Otufodunrin when a cousin of his went to appeal for funds on his behalf.

    “Actually, I told my cousin and we were on air on a radio station. So through the radio station, someone from Wazobia FM said he knows a journalist that is very kind. He sent the number to me. And then I called Mr Lekan (Otufodunrin) and I told him everything. He said, ‘okay, doctor’s report and everything.”

    But the first time Mr Otufodunrin published Ogene’s case about two years ago, there was no favourable response.

    “This is the second time the issue is coming on air,” said Ogene who is an upcoming musician and politician.

    “So, I’m lucky to have this help. As this (help) came, I now called him that this is what I’ve come up with. He said ‘Okay.’

    The Nation Deputy Editor (News), Adeniyi Adesina, who was present at the handing over of the cash to Ogene and his mother expressed his happiness and prayed for the restoration of her son’s sight.

    “This newspaper (The Nation) is for the service of the people,” Adeniyi said.

    “We believe that whatever we can do to advance the cause of humanity is a great thing to do for a newspaper. I thank God that Mr. Olumide got touched by a story that we published. Our journey would be fuller when by the time we see you, you have regained your vision.”