The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Students

  • Students stranded after UNILAG’s closure

    Students stranded after UNILAG’s closure

    Many University of Lagos (UNILAG) students have become stranded following the school’s closure last Friday.

    They do not have money to transport themselves home.

    They have been forced to squat with friends, hoping that the school will reopen soon.

    An executive member of Sodeinde Hall told The Nation that students never expected the school’s closure, but only wished to draw management’s attention to their plight.

    The student said: “The school sent us text messages to vacate school that Friday morning. My phone record showed that the message (to leave school) got to my phone around 6:30am but I woke up around 7:30am to see it, which meant I had less than three hours to vacate the school. But most of the people I know that stay on campus, including myself don’t live in Lagos State. I live in Adaamo, in Ogun State so it is not possible for me to suddenly pack up and go home within the stipulated time. I did not even have the money to go home so I am squatting with a friend at Sabo”.

    The students, he said, were forced to protest because of monopoly of Unilag ventures on ‘pure’ water, among others.

    “People believe Unilag boys and girls are big boys that pluck money on trees, but it is a lie. Most of us hustle for our school fees and feed ourselves in school. So when we could not find sachet water to drink, we had to be buying table water, which was much more expensive. Imagine, I bought garri (cassava) for N20 and sugar for N10. Normally, I would have bought N5 or N10 sachet water, but because there was no sachet water in the school, I had to buy N50 table water. What polynomial function would justify N30 garri and sugar with N50 table water? Unilag has this policy of monopoly of sachet water because we have Unilag ventures, but these people have been hoarding the sachet water intentionally because they want to be selling it at N10 to outsiders.”

    A 300 level mass communication student lamented what he called management’s injustice, especially the scaring of students with security operatives.

    The student, who is squatting with a friend at Bariga, said: “People were passing through the canal because of the ongoing panic to leave school. But we never wanted the school to be closed down. To show that we did not want the school shut, we started the protest on Wednesday, around 4:30pm, the normal time that all academic activities should have stopped for the day and the protest was very peaceful. But on Thursday, before we even started protesting, we could see so many police vans everywhere, as if we were fighting a war. We did not understand it, when all we wanted was for the VC to address us and show us that the university cared. On Friday, police vans were parading the school blaring sirens. That was what even woke me up, as if they were threatening us that if we do not leave, something would happen. The school gate had been locked by University of Lagos Student Union (ULSU) because as people were moving out that morning; hoodlums were already outside collecting people’s bags and properties. So it was not safe. So that is why we had to pass through the canal. Now, I am staying with a friend at Bariga, because I don’t have the money to go home.”

    However, a 400 level law student of Biobaku Hall, believed management did the right thing by sending students home.

    He said: “I feel management did the right thing ordering students to leave campus, because things were getting out of hand. Students were getting violent, fighting, forcing students that did not want to protest to come out of their hostels and join them. But it would have been the best for the VC to come out and address the students. That would have solved a lot of issues. I live at Akoka, so it was not difficult for me to go back home.”

    ULSU President, Muhammed Olaniyan has decried management’s “refusal” to listen to them until the union was able to address the issue.

    “What we were telling management was that they should look at issues concerning students and do something about it. We told the students not to leave school on Friday, but looking at the number of police and armoured tanks the school had deployed, we had to renege on our order, by telling the students to obey management’s directive. We are working hard to speak with management to ensure that students return to school as soon as possible,” he said.

    Dean, Students Affairs (DSA), Prof Tunde Babawale, said the Senate closed the school, adding that it will reopen it when it is time to do so.

    He said: “That is the consequence of their negative actions and there is nothing the university can do but to close, because the protest was degenerating into violence. Don’t forget, we did not shut down the university until the third day of their continuous protests. It started on Wednesday, continued on Thursday and even Friday. No responsible management will wait and see the degeneration of protests into a situation of violence and disruption of activities and allow it to continue, so the school had to take the necessary and rational step of bringing the situation under control by asking students to go home. It was not meant to harm them in anyway, it was meant to restore normalcy to the school. The school was closed down by the senate, so only the senate can say when it will be open. I am not in the position to know. Even the VC can’t know.”

  • UNILAG shut over students protest

    UNILAG shut over students protest

    University of Lagos (UNILAG) has been shut indefinitely by the management.
    The decision was contained in a circular issued Friday morning in response to Thursday’s protest by students. The authorities ordered students to vacate their hostels before 10am.

    Following the closure, there is tension on the campus at the time of this report as Students’ Union Government (SUG) leaders asked students to stay back on campus on the excuse that students could not afford pay for commercial buses due to current fuel scarcity.
    The Nation learnt that the SUG’s directive was followed by the arrest of the union President, Mohammed Olaniyan, and the Public Relations Officer, Jumai Fagbui. They were whisked away by riot policemen invited by the management to ensure students comply with the school directive.
    The Union’s Speaker, Adeyanju Olaonipekun, confirmed the arrest of the SUG leaders.

    The management’s circular titled: Immediate Closure of University of Lagos, reads in part: “The Senate of the University of Lagos at an emergency meeting held on Thursday, April 7, 2016, considered the situation on campus occasioned by the ongoing agitation of the students’ body over poor electricity and water supply in the community, and the difficulty faced by large number of students living off campus to attend classes as a result of fuel crisis.

    “Senate noted that the problem of poor municipal services is a national issue that the governments at both state and federal level are addressing. In order to forestall breakdown of law and order on campus, all academic activities on campus are hereby suspended with immediate effect.”

    The statement added that no student should remain in the halls of residence after 10am today.”
    Already, students have started leaving the campus amid protest by adamant students in the hostels. Police vehicles are moving round the campus to put the situation under control.

  • Emulate excellence, VC urges students

    The Vice Chancellor of Augustine University Prof Steve Afolami, has urged students of the school to combine both academic excellence and good human traits in other to become worthy persons.

    Afolami made the appeal at the maiden matriculation of the newly admitted students of the university.

    He said:”The university expects you to be academically sound, humanly polished and uprightly moral. We expect that at the end of your programmes, you would be very good citizens of Nigeria who would not only see the wrongs of society but be determined to pursue what is right and at all times”.

    Afolami stated that 54 students were cleared for matriculation even though 58 students accepted the admission out of 320 students offered admission.

    “The breakdown is as follows: Accounting-five, Banking and Finance-two, Business Administration-seven, Computer Science-16, Economics-13, English-four, Microbiology-seven.

    The guest lecturer Prof Isaac Ukpokolo spoke on: “Identity capital for learning and leadership”.

    He said a good university imbibes and grows good personal traits in its students so that they can combine this with their academic prowess and excel in their different endeavours.

    “An ideal university education is directed at the formation of the human mind so as to transcend career, professional, religious and political affiliations as socio-economic and cultural contexts”, Ukpokolo said.

  • Truck hits students’ bus

    MANY broke out in prayers following the lucky escape of 18 students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, after their bus collided with a sand-laden truck.

    The truck, marked XC 515 KJA, hit the Toyota Hiace bus, marked AG 922 AKM, conveying the students to school, knocking it off the road.

    The accident occurred at 8:38am last Tuesday at Gbokoniyi axis of the Ojere-Panseke Road. None of the students was injured.

    Eyewitnesses said the trailer skidded off its lane, ramming into the campus-bound bus, which was coming from the opposite direction. The bus fell on its side and its passengers were trapped. Sympathisers broke the windows to enable the students come out.

    It was learnt that the truck developed a faulty shaft, which made it swerve. The bus driver, who declined to give his name, said some of the students would have been injured if the door was not shut.

    He said: “I was moving towards school when the truck swerved and rammed into my bus. I am just thankful to God that no one got injured and no one died. People joined to push up the bus when I got down for the fear that some of students were trapped under the bus when it fell.

    The accident caused a gridlock on the ever-busy road, leaving many motorists stranded for hours. After they came out of the bus, the students walked to the campus.

    The MAPOLY Public Relations Office confirmed the incident, saying none of the students were injured.

    The incident came a day after the body of an unidentified man was discovered at the Olokemeji axis of the Panseke-Ojere Road. It has not been confirmed if the victim was a student.

  •  When AUN hosted career fair for students

     When AUN hosted career fair for students

    The American University of Nigeria (AUN) last month organized the 9th career fair for students of the institution. The fair, which held at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, had 28 companies from different sectors in attendance. Frank Ikpefan who covered the event writes on the benefits of the fair to students of the university.

     

    No fewer than 28 blue chip companies were in attendance at the career fair organized by the American university of Nigeria. The fair took place at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

    For two days, students and alumni of the institution were exposed to the knitty – gritty of turning from job hunters to employers of labour. Many companies were also on ground to hire graduates from the institution.

    The fair, 9th in a series by the university was aimed at familiarizing its graduates with various companies, across the country. It featured multinational companies cutting across telecoms, oil & gas, power, transport, health, and other sectors.

    Some of the popular companies present included: Dangote Group of Companies, GTB, Transcorp Hilton, Philips Consulting, Arbico, KPMG, GLO, NBC, Deloitte, Intel Services, APTECH, NADABO Energy, SIGMA Pensions LTD, VON, Diamond Bank, Bain & Company, CPCS, and MCEE Business Solutions.

    Others are: NUC, FCTA, NIPCO, PWC, AUN Human Resources, BULWARK Investment & Trust LTD, and Audit Dept. impressed by the prospects on display at the fair, some of the companies returned the following day to offer interviews.

    Some companies also administered aptitude and problem-solving tests to AUN students, alumni, and other prospects. The representative of the companies also guided the participants about their career and requirements in the labour market during the fair.

    “It is really important at AUN we give them the education that gives them the knowledge, skills and even the attitude that they need find jobs and then create employment,” the President of the institution, Dr. Margee Ensign, said during the fair.

    She said that the fair was organized to provide students and alumni exposure to career and internship opportunities.

    She also said that it was organized to prepare students of the University for Interviews, for writings CVs, and to prepare them for work. She advised universities to go beyond granting graduates degrees to also helping them to chart career paths, make choices, and prepare them for the task ahead.

    Dr. Ensign said: “It is really important at AUN we give our students the education that gives them the knowledge, the skills and even the attitude to go find jobs and then to create employment. I have had some great discussions with people out here and I asked them: what do you think of our students? One employer said: ‘I did not think a 21 year old could be so smart.’ That was lovely. But what was more important was a software engineering student been interviewed and the bank said: ‘your education is so well rounded, you can write, you can speak. He said I can hire you for marketing, I can hire you in our computer department.’ I think that defines AUN education, It is not narrow.

    “We have a career office that works all year round. This is their job: to prepare students for interviews, for writing CVs, for getting ready for work and they spend a whole year talking to companies about what we are doing today. So it is not just something that happens two weeks ago. Now the companies are coming to Yola to see what we are doing. It has taken a number of years to get to this point. One employer said to me today; ‘I will only hire AUN graduates’ and it took a long time to get to that point for them to understand what kind of education that we are doing in Yola because it is different from what is happening in other universities.

    “We teach students to write well, to think clearly and to solve problems. You have seen in action our students being interviewed, being hired and our former students being alumni are hiring AUN students. Our students live in a different world than we live in, many of the jobs that they are going to have we don’t even know the name yet. To me it is not just important to look for employment; it is starting your own.

    Ensign said that as a development university, the focus of AUN is to give students education that enables them to find and create jobs.

    “AUN is a development university and it is probably pretty abstract to you guys. Every students at AUN is in a class that exposes them to the hardest problem your country is facing, whether it is poor health, illiteracy, they have to go out to the community,” she added

    Also speaking, the Association Dean of School of Business and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Ferdinand Che, said the fair offers employers the opportunity to engage the students early.

    He called for the inclusion of junior students of the institution in the annual career program.

    Dr. Che said: “This does not happen anywhere else. This is unique to AUN experience. It is a fundamental right because we are talking about preparing people for the work place and we are very serious about this. What is beginning to happen, it seems to me, that employers recognize this from what we are hearing them saying.

    “What I see is an opportunity to even engage earlier. For example, not only should our senior (students) be attending this event but our juniors should be attending this event as well because the conversation is starting earlier is an incentive for proper conclusion to that. I think it is an opportunity and I don’t think those employers are disappointed.”

     

     

  • Students decry sack of 83 Ebonyi lecturers

    Students of Ebonyi State College of Education at Ikwo at the weekend expressed concern over Governor Dave Umahi’s sack of 83 of their lecturers.

    The lecturers were reportedly disengaged, following the governor’s directive when he received the report of a committee set up to investigate the institution’s administration, which was said to have uncovered irregularities in the school.

    Some of the students told our reporters in Abakaliki, the state capital, that with the sack of the lecturers, who were employed between 2011 and this year, over six departments in the school might be shut down by the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).

    Governor Umahi had said the sack should be done before the government reviewed the committee’s report or embark on visit to the institution.

    He said: “It is normal to recruit staff to achieve institutions’ accreditation objectives but the fact remains that they are not permanent staff.”

    A final year student in the Department of Primary Education, Miss Ifeoma Obinwa, regretted that the department was left with five lecturers while the minimum requirement for the department was eight lecturers.

    She said: “The governor’s directive, which led to the sack of the lecturers, does not just affect the lecturers. The students and parents, who have their wards in the affected departments, are the most hit because when the departments are shutdown, we have no other option than to either start looking for admission in other tertiary institution, as Year One students, or we would turn out as dropouts.

    “That’s not all. The money our parents have spent from our first year to our final year would now be fruitless. How many of them would survive the shock of getting to hear that their children, who were in their final year, have become dropouts for no fault of theirs?

    “Even if a department meets up with the required eight lecturers, the school’s prerequisite to establishing the Primary Education Department is now left with only one teacher. This would automatically mean a shutdown by NCCE.”

  • College matriculates new students

    The provost College of Education, Ikere Ekiti, Dr Mojisola Oyarekua has charged students of the College to exhibit high level of discipline and shun acts that could derail their future.
    The Provost while speaking at the 2015/26 matriculation into the NCE program urged the students to be prompt in their registration exercise saying it confers on them certain rights and privileges on the campus.
    She advised the students to steer clear of cultism,indecent dressing and examination malpractice which she described as the three major vices that attract strict punishment.
    She disclosed that the college management is working assiduously to come up with a number of programmes that will equip students with various entrepreneurship
    skills that will enable them to become employers of labour rather than job seekers upon graduation.
    Earlier the College Registrar, Mr Gbenga Ojo had administered the matriculation oath on about One thousand students admitted for the 2015/16 NCE programme.
    They promised to adhere to the rules guiding their stay on the campus.

  • Shun cultism, UNIUYO VC Warns matriculating students

    Shun cultism, UNIUYO VC Warns matriculating students

    The Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), Akwa Ibom State, Prof. Enefiok Essien, has advised the 8,120 matriculating students to live within the dictates of the school’s rules and regulations, warning that management would not hesitate to wield the big stick against non conformists.

    “…You are to submit to duly constituted authorities of the University, to shun cultism and to obey the rules and regulations governing the University,” he warned.

    It was at the 23rd matriculation ceremony of the Institution for the 2015\16 academic year held at the town campus of the University along Ikpa Road, Uyo, the State capital.

    Essien, a Professor of Commercial Law, while declaring the ceremony open, assured the new students that the university as the centre for teaching, research and manpower development was committed to the social contract of training them to become experts in various fields.
    He asked the students to reciprocate by adhering to the norms, values and ethical standards put in place in the University community, as part of the regulatory regime -to check the excesses of students and other members of the institution.

    Besides, Essien, who presided over the first matriculation ceremony since he took seat as the 5th Vice Chancellor of the institution on December 1, 2015, indulged the new students against unruly behaviours under the cover of unionism, saying dialogue remains the best option in dispute resolution.

    “Our target is quality service delivery at all times irrespective of who is involved. We treat you as very important persons and we hope you will never give us cause to treat you otherwise. The management of University of Uyo is prepared to listen and dialogue on all issues affecting you; it maintains an open door policy for such purposes,” he stressed.

     

  • Pretoria Varsity’s best inspire LASU students

    Pretoria Varsity’s best inspire LASU students

    Romola Adeola an alumnus of Lagos State University and the University of Pretoria Centre for Human Right’s youngest undergraduate was the cynosure of all eyes at LASU 2015/2016 matriculation Tuesday.

    The 26 year old was the motivational speaker at the event where her inspiring rendition vibrated the expansive school auditorium as new students clapped endlessly in acknowledgement of Romola’s inspiring words.

    Romola emerged the youngest doctoral graduate of the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Right in February this year. University of Pretoria is 107 years old.

    Spotting an ankara blouse with in orange and shades of blue colours with a black skirt to match, Romola told the new students, that students that come to study could be split into three categories-‘those who are indifferent about university degree’;  ‘those who want a university degree’; and ‘those who need a university degree’.

    According to her, those in the first category are students who come to the university to merely catch their fun and show little concern about their grades since they spend a substantial part of their times on frivolities. To Romola, those students often end up regretting eventually because their degree do not make them marketable for employment opportunities.

    The second categories are students who are though serious about acquiring a degree; yet are not ready to pay the price to acquire a quality degree.

    “The degree these one carry are the ones that are saturating the labour market now; and because their degrees are almost the same in status, they become victims of competition. So it is the survival of the fittest,” she said

    However those who need a degree are the ones who put extra efforts and get to where they and their parents want them to be, Romola added.

    “Those in this category posses certain attributes;” she continued.

    “They are hardworking, sensitive to distractions; and use their time wisely. They are very imaginative, committed to succeed, identify with friends with similar goals and above all yield to God.”

    “The first category is easy because what those students need to do is simply play; the second one is to either succeed or not but the third are those that remained focused all through.”

    Romola admonished students to imagine themselves in her (Romola) shoes, noting that her feat at the University of Pretoria was not as a result of being extra intelligent but rather inculcating those virtues those in the third category possess.

    The university vice chancellor Prof Lanre Faghohun said the population of the 32 year-old institution now stands at 8,239 as against 573 undergraduate and pre degree students the university first recorded in 1984.

    Fagbohun who said he was proud of Romola as an alumnus, added that LASU has weathered the storm despite the bad publicity it has suffered due to incessant crisis between workers, students and management.

    “While it is true that the university has had some challenges in time past, particularly in the area of academic disruptions, it has without doubt achieved enormous success. We have had the honour of producing great and exceptional minds who have made their mark, and who today occupy the commanding height of economic, politics and social landscape in and outside Nigeria,” Fagbohun boasted.

    He urged all to be committed to the current rebranding of the university, imbibing the new motto: “We are LASU; we are Proud”.

     

  • Students advised to learn state anthem

    Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mrs Modupe Mujota has appealed to the new students of the Ogun State Institute of Technology (OGITECH) Igbesa, Ogun State to learn the lyrics of the State anthem: Ise Ya, saying it would help direct their career paths while in the institution.

    Mujota spoke during the institute’s 10th matriculation of OND and HND  students for the 2015/2016 academic session.

    The Ogun State anthem espouses virtues of industry, resilience, integrity, prayerfulness, and optimism, among others, all which make up the trademarks of an average native of the state.

    She said: “We all just sang the Ogun State anthem after that national anthem but I want you all to pay more attention to the lyrics of that song. It talks about those qualities which when imbibed, can make you realise your purpose in this school.

    “These are the virtues of an average Ogun man and I can tell you that armed with those qualities, you can never lose focus. I also wish to appeal to you not to join bad company so that you don’t destroy your life and career. As I rejoice with you today, I also wish to rejoice with you on your graduation day.”

    Mujota said commitment remains man’s greatest asset that engenders creativity in him.

    The Rector of the institution, Dr Olufunke Akinkurolere, urged matriculating students to strive for excellence.

    “I will again like to congratulate you because gaining admission to OGITECH and standing here this morning to take the matriculation oath has not been an easy journey; it can be likened to the proverbial carmel that successfully passed through the eye of the needle,” she noted.

    Dr Akinkurolere, who said the institution has zero tolerance for unwholesome activities, advised them to be committed to their studies, which is their primary goal of coming to the institution.

    She announced that the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone would be partnering with the institute by employing its students upon graduation.