The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Students

  • Students tackle hypertension, diabetes

    Students tackle hypertension, diabetes

    As part of their Health Week, Pharmacy students of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) have launched “Pharmacare 10,000”, a scheme aimed at providing free medical care to 10,000 people suffering from diabetes and hypertension. EZEKIEL EFEOBHOKHAN (400-Level Pharmacy) reports.

    As they trooped out, nothing else preoccupied their minds except to ensure they are not suffering from hypertension and diabetes. The two ailments, according to experts, kill their sufferers faster and cause life-time damage.

    The event held at the New Benin Market, Benin City, the Edo State capital, where traders gathered to take part in a medical outreach organised by the Pharmacy students of the University of Benin (UNIBEN).

    Armed with drugs and medical equipment, the students moved to the market to treat the traders of various ailments and educate them on how to win the battle against diabetes and hypertension. This was part of the activities marking their health week.

    Addressing the traders, Darry Emazor, president of Pharmaceutical Association of Nigerian Students (PANS), described diabetes as a killer disease, dispelling the myth that the disease is a spiritual affliction.

    He said: “We are here to give all traders an orientation and provide health services for those who are suffering from treatable ailments. We don’t want them to suffer because of their ignorance. If the drugs are costly, they are the ones who bear the brunt and die in silence because of wrong prescription. This is why we have come to help the traders manage and prevent diabetes and hypertension.” The health week, tagged: Pharmacare 10,000, was organised to cater for 10,000 persons that may be suffering from hypertension and diabetes within the state. The students believe the ailments could be reduced if people could have knowledge on how they could be managed.

    Many traders were tested of various ailments, but some of them who had hypertension were ignorant of the disease.

    According to Jennifer Omuri, a 500-Level student and a member of the outreach counselling section, many ignorant people die of the diseases. She said many people she counselled did not know the implications of what they eat and drink, and how the environment they live in affect their lives.

    Her words: “After counselling a trader, she did not know that too much fat is injurious to her health. I told her that the fat could lead to different clinical conditions if it gets to a certain limit”.

    Jennifer also advised most of the traders who visited her to visit the hospital, adding that she advised them to conduct regular exercise to reduce excess fat in their systems.

    Commending the students, a member of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), who gave his name as Papa Monday, said: “If the students did not come to organise this programme, I would have been ignorant of the need to reduce my sugar intake. After they tested me, I was told sugar in my blood is in excess. They advised that I should stop taking local gin and gave me referral to see doctor.”

    The Anti-Drug Misuse and Abuse Program (ADMAP) President, Chinenye Ihejirika, said she was surprised by the turnout, praising the sponsors of the event for providing drugs and equipment to make the outreach successful. She urged members of the association to imbibe good attitude to affect lives of host communities, saying it would help to cultivate care in the heart of students.

    The students extended the free medical service to their colleagues on campus. They mounted a canopy at Hall One Car Park, where students gathered to check their Body Mass Index (BMI). Female students were tested freely on a wide range of ailments and given orientation on how they could live healthier life in their hostel.

    Speaking to the crowd, Peace Ibadin, a Pharmacy student, urged those present to imbibe good eating habits, saying improper eating culture could lead to intestinal problems.

    He said: “We plead with all our colleagues to maintain hygiene in preparing the food. We know many of us would want to place ourselves on a diet to control our weights and fat distribution in our bodies. That may be good but it could also lead to ulcer. This is the reason many students are suffering ulcer.”

    Darry thanked the students for attending the outreach, saying the association would continue to embark on the outreach to make the campus free of diseases.

     

  • Pre-medical Muslim students visit LASUTH

    Pre-medical Muslim students visit LASUTH

    To enhance their knowledge, pre-medical students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) have gone on excursion to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.

    The students, under the banner of Muslim Medical Students’ Association (MUMSA), an arm of Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), were led by the association’s Coordinator, Daud Abdus-Salaam, a 100-Level Physiotherapy student.

    They were 100-Level students drawn from the departments of Physiotherapy, Nursing, Medicine and Surgery, Radiography, Pharmacology, Physiology, Pharmacy, Dentistry and Medical Laboratory Science.

    According to Daud, the tour was aimed at sensitising members of the association on the ethics of medical practice and modern equipment.

    He said the association was saddled with improving its members’ knowledge and and intellectualism, adding that the excursion would prepare them for challenges ahead.

    Some of the departments visited by the students include hematology, pharmacy, dental clinic, physiotherapy and the pediatric wards, during which they had interaction with patients.

    Addressing the students, head of Physiotherapy Department, Dr Fatai Fadeyi, described the discipline as indispensable unit in the hospital. He said the department has equipment, such as shortwave diathermy, electromagnetic stimulator and lacer machine used as pain relief.

    At the Department of Hematology, the students were taught how the consumption of large volume of water by sickle cell patients could prevent them from dehydration.

    The students described excursion as educative, praising the leadership of the association for the trip.

  • Students call for make-up exams

    Students of the Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) have asked management to organise an urgent examination to enable graduating students, who failed three courses to re-sit before mobilising successful students for National Youth Service in November.

    The students said the non-inclusion of such examination in the school calendar has dealt a heavy blow on the affected students, as most of them have spent over seven years in school. They said some of the affected students were battling ailments, because of the burden brought on them in trying to scale through the examination hurdles.

    The students wrote a letter signed by Florence Ema-Obong, Paul Effiong and Godwin Ucheikechukwu from the four campuses of the institution to the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof John Owan Eno and chairman of the Governing Council.

    The letter stated that it is only CRUTECH that does not organise summer examination for its students among higher institutions in the Southsouth region.

    It read: “With grave concern, we, the students of this noble institution, hereby request for the setting up of summer examination in CRUTECH, to enable graduating students who failed, at most, three courses in to re-sit the examinations before National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) mobilisation in November.

    “We have decided to express our plights formally as learned minds, hoping that you would look into our request. We are no longer comfortable with the policy of spending an extra year for one or two carryovers.

    “We write, because we know that it is our right to express our plights through any medium and we want the issue addressed immediately. The fact that we failed one or two courses does not mean that we are not intelligent. To put it succinctly, most of us have never had any carryover until we got to final year.

    Sir, we are elated by your development agenda and giant strides which you have recorded within this short period of your stay in CRUTECH, but we are forced to say that we regret ever schooling in CRUTECH because the university has brought us pain.

    “Our request is hinged on the fact that, the cost of living in our campuses is very high. Most of us have taken to menial jobs to sustain ourselves and pay high rents. We request you to give directive to all Deans of faculties to allow those who have, at most three carryovers, to re-sit the examinations before November. We are ready to pay the required fee.”

  • Kwara poly suspends four students for alleged crime

    Kwara poly suspends four students for alleged crime

    Authorities of the Kwara state Polytechnic, Ilorin have suspended four students of the school for alleged involvement in criminal activities.

    In a statement, Principal Assistant Registrar (Academic) of the institution, Mr. Ahmed Yahaya said that the suspension was sequel to a report received from Oke-Oyi Divisional Police headquarters.

    One of the suspended students, with registration number ND/12/PA/PT/610, was arrested for alleged unlawful possession of two life cartridges, while two others with registration numbers ND/13/COM/FT/394, and ND/14/COM/FT/843 were arrested by police for alleged membership of unlawful society.

    The statement also added that a female student among the suspended students, with registration number, ND13/PS/FT/903 was accused of unlawful possession of knife and charm.

    The statement also said that the suspension was in line with the Polytechnic’s practice to suspend any student under investigation pending the outcome of the investigation by the police.

  • New Horizons takes students to Microsoft’s global competition

    New Horizons Nigeria will be sponsoring two students from its Partner Schools, Doregos Private Academy and Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls plus a school teacher as chaperon to the 2015 Certiport Microsoft Specialist and Adobe Certified Associate competition taking place in Texas USA.

    The winners are Miss Aisha Toki of Doregos Private Academy who emerged the national winner of Adobe Certified Associate Photoshop Competition and Miss Afopefoluwa Laja of Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, national winner of Microsoft Office Word Specialist Competition.

    The two of them emerged the winners after very rigorous competition held at New Horizons Centre Lagos in June this year where they sat for real time on line test in various aspects of ICT. New Horizons will pick all the bills on behalf of the two kids and one chaperon for this competition.

    They are to represent their schools and Nigeria in the Worldwide Championship in Dallas Texas, USA where they will be competing with other national champions from 90 countries with a total of 400,000 participants in Europe, America and Asia fromAugust 9 to 12.

    Its CEO, Mr Tim Akano, said the most viable solution to Nigeria current economic crisis is to reposition its economy now that the prices of crude oil keep falling   from an oil dependent nation to an ICT producing nation like Israel, South Korea and India. But this can only happen if we give our kids quality ICT education from Primary school to university.

    This is why for the past 10 years New Horizons Nigeria has taken it upon itself to champion this noble cause by focusing on massive ICT education across board’ . We are committed as a company to help Nigeria produce more people like Chinedu – the Nigerian born ICT Professional based in the US who sold his company to Apple for $1billion’

    Mr Akano ‘while congratulating the two schools that produced the top winners also used the occasion to congratulate their parents and the kids themselves. He challenges the kids to go to the Texas , USA  and conquer and bring the trophy to Nigeria ‘ New Horizons is a US-based, World’s largest IT and E -Business SkillsTraining Company (source www.idc.com) with more than 360 centres in 80 countries across the six continents.

    This will be the fifth year in a row that New Horizons will be sponsoring Nigerian kids to feature in this most important global ICT competition. New Horizons for the past 10 years have been at the forefront of repositioning Nigeria through the instrumentality of ICT, with the chief aim of making Nigeria become an ICT export nation as against being a consumer nation that she is presently.

    From Nigeria alone, over 200 students from different schools across the country participated in this year Microsoft Office Specialist and Adobe Certified Associate categories of the Certiport Competitions which began  in January. Apart from the topmost two, Aisha and Afopefoluwa representing the country, the other runners-up in the Adobe and MOS Categories who also scored 80 per cent and above are Emmanuel Emmanuella and Ayomide Abati of Phidel College Lagos while Doregoes Private Academy, Lagos that produced Aisha, one of the Champions going to Dallas Competition also had Adekunle Faderera and Abdul Bello in the 80 per cent and above category.

    Others that made it to the Top 10 in MOS Category are: Khairat Abubaka, Abati Ayomide both from Phidel College, MaryamBiobaku of Vivian Fowler, Momodu Oluwaseun of Regal College Ogun State, Asemota Isaac of Princeton College Lagos, Jawando Adetutu of Honeyland College Lagos and Bifarin Alayonimi of OAU International School Ile-Ife, Osun State and Adachukwu Chimaobi of Priceton College Lagos.

    The Test procedure is based on rigorous Online, real-time International Examination on various MOS and Adobe Technologies of which results enable the sorting of the ‘men’ from the ‘boys’. The Top finalists in the International Certification Examination are then selected on merit to compete for the grand finale in Washington D.C. USA.

    The World Championship Competition provides excellent opportunity for students to showcase their Microsoft Office, Adobe Design and other high-valued skills which enable participants earn international certification, impress student colleagues, gain recognition and become Internationally Certified in early readiness for a rosy future career and entrepreneurship pursuits.

    Certiport, the organiser, is a Pearson VUE Business, international giant and the leading provider of certification exams development, delivery and program management services delivered through an expansive network of over 12,000 Certiport Authorized Testing Centers worldwide and it reliably delivers over two million tests each year throughout the secondary, post-secondary, workforce and corporate technology markets in more than 148 countries and 27 languages worldwide.

    Part of its achievement in Nigeria includes: production of the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional, Youngest Adobe Certified Associate and Youngest EC-Council Security 5 Professional. It currently has partnerships with 80 primary and secondary schools and 12 Universities in Nigeria.

    In the last ten years New Horizons has empowered over one million Nigerians at different fora at National Stadium and various Schools and Universities. New Horizons pioneered the integration of ICT certification based training into the university academic curricula eleven years ago, long before the government decided to introduce ICT training into the Nigeria education system.

     

  • Students win Corps members’ debate

    Students win Corps members’ debate

    Corps members serving at the College of Agriculture and Animal Science in Kaduna State have held competitions for the institution’s students. The contest featured quiz, debate and scrabble.

    The auditorium was filled when the debate came up between departments of Animal Health and Animal Production, with the topic: Animal health more than animal production deserves more societal attention.

    Representatives of the Animal Health Department argued in favour of good health, saying sound health was God’s best gift to mammals. Without a sound health, there can never be production, they argued.

    The Department of Animal Production debaters posited that there was no need for health service if animals were bred under normal circumstance. “Production boosts economy of the country and with proper prevention, the health practitioners would be rendered useless. Do animals in the bush need health service to survive?” Promise Zamani, one of the debaters, argued.

    There was excitement among members of the audience as the debaters exchanged ideas. The debate was followed by quiz between the Higher National Diploma (HND) 1 and II classes.

    The scrabble contest was held at an open space outside the hall, with enthusiastic students watched the players – Samuel Jonathan, representing the college and Joseph Elaigwu, NYSC team – slugging it out.

    At the end of the contest, the judges announced the final result. Animal Production Department won the debate contest with 18 points as against 14 points scored by their Animal Health counterparts.

    HND 1 class defeated HND II in the quiz, while the school team beat the NYSC team 356-103 in the scrabble contest.

    Lauding the initiative, the Deputy Provost, Mr Muhammed Abdullahi, enjoined students not to forget what they learnt in the competitions. He said the school would ensure such contest is held periodically.

    One of the Corps members, Aisha Ibrahim, described contest as educative, saying: “The idea behind the contests was to encourage public speaking, promote the spirit of sportsmanship and interaction among students and their lecturers. We purposely made this our Community Development Service project.”

    Other members of the CDS group include Habiba Muhammad, Sola Mamadelo, Musa Suleiman, Aisha Muhammad and Aliyu Ibrahim.

     

  • Akwa Ibom University matriculates 1,648 students

    Akwa Ibom University matriculates 1,648 students

    Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU) has matriculated 1,648 students for the 2014/2015 academic session. This is an increase of  32 per cent from that of the previous year.

    The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Eno Ibanga announced this during the 5th matriculation ceremony which took place at the main campus of the University at Ikot Akpaden in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area of the state.

    Prof. Ibanga said about 5,000 candidates chose the Institution for the 2014/2015  academic session out of which 2,143 were admitted but1,648 were finally cleared for matriculation into the various degree programmes of the University.

    He commended the management of the school and students for their support to the institution, saying the working relationship between the institution and students was cordial.

    “In Akwa Ibom State University, our main aim is to provide students with the best education possible, preparing them to compete in the 21st century global economy and think critically about how they can help make the world a better place,’’ he said.

    Ibanga said the institution was committed to expanding the frontiers of knowledge to enable students and faculty to solve the problems of the Nation.

    The Vice Chancellor urged students to focus on academic quest while charging them not to allow peer pressure to influence or distract their attention from academic work.

    According to him, peer pressure influence could be counter-productive.

    The Vice Chancellor warned the students that the institution has zero tolerance for any form of misconduct on campus.

    He advised them to shun all forms of criminality such as cultism, stealing, cheating, forgery, examination misconduct among others.

    Ibanga stated that the University had put in place rules and regulations to guide the students on campus.

     

  • Students, SERAP sue JAMB, others for ‘excessive’ cut-off marks

    Students, SERAP sue JAMB, others for ‘excessive’ cut-off marks

    Some candidates seeking university admission have sued the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the University of Lagos (UNILAG) at the Federal High Court in Lagos over the new policy on cut-off marks.

    The court yesterday granted their application for a judicial review of the decision to stop them from writing UNILAG’s entrance examination.

    The applicants alleged that JAMB Registrar Prof. Dibu Ojerinde issued a directive stopping them from participating in UNILAG’s post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations scheduled for August 12 and 13.

    They also accused Ojerinde of sending their names to other institutions they did not chose.

    According to them, they scored above JAMB’s 180 cut-off mark, but UNILAG refused to sell its post-UTME forms to them following the alleged directive by Ojerinde to send the names of all candidates with less than 250 marks to other institutions.

    In their ex parte application moved before Justice Mohammed Idris, the applicants prayed for leave to apply for an order of mandamus compelling UNILAG to sell the post-UTME forms to them.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Our Ramadan takeaway, by students

    Our Ramadan takeaway, by students

    Last Friday, Muslims celebrated Eid-El-Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month. Students  stressed the need for peace and unity in the country during the occasion, report OLADELE OGE (NYSC ENUGU), HALIMAH AKANBI (300-Level Law, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto) and MUFTAUDEEN RAJI (100-Level Mass Communication, University of Lagos).

    Last Friday, Muslims celebrated Eid-El Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting from sunrise to sunset. Many campuses were agog for the festivity. At the Eid grounds, imams spoke about the significance of the month.

    Chief Imam of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) Central Mosque Sheikh Adam Idoko  urged Muslim students to reflect on the lessons of Ramadan and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed in their lives.

    Idoko, the leader of Muslims in Enugu State, enjoined Muslim youths to promote peace and  show love to their neighbours, irrespective of religion, ethnic or political affiliations.

    He said: “Islam is a religion of peace that does not compel anyone to belong to it. But, anyone who willingly accepts the faith according to the teaching of Prophet Mohammed must promote peaceful coexistence where he lives and show love to his neighbours even if they are non-Muslims.

    “It is based on our conviction that we become Muslims, and the teaching of Islam is that, we must show love and care to all without discrimination. If we want to receive more blessings from Allah during this period of celebration and after, we must remember the poor, the needy around us as well as obey all the teachings of Allah and His Prophet.”

    Idoko said Muslims must always show appreciation to Allah and refrain from negative tendences.

    The imam urged those in authority to ensure justice, equity and fairness. He advised them to shun corruption, because Allah detests acts that could subject people to untold hardship.

    Idoko said: “As Nigerians, we must pray for our leaders. We should all support President Muhammadu Buhari administration as it commits itself to ridding the country of corruption and other challenges we face. Judges and security agents must ensure that only the guilty are punished, while the innocent are set free. No matter the position or class we belong to, we must always say the truth even if it affects our personal interest. This is the best way to restore dignity to the country.”

    Chief Imam of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Central Mosque Prof Murtador Bidmus enjoined Muslims to imbibe the lessons of Ramadan, urging the youths to  maintain strong bond with their fellow youths, irrespective of status.

    The cleric, who noted that  Ramadan teaches goodness, said it was about time Muslims sunk their differences and work for a common goal to engender a balanced and just society.

    Quoting Quran 2:143, Prof Bidmus urged Muslims to maintain peace in the world.

    He said: “Islam prides itself as a religion that promotes unity and brotherhood. These fundamental values cannot be compromised. This implies that Muslims must do the right thing; they must accommodate people of diverse backgrounds. We must be good example to others and we must show the will to see that righteousness prevails. We must not fan the embers of violence and injustice in the society.”

    Lateefah Abdulazeez, a 100-Level Mass Communication student of UNILAG, said she learnt steadfastness in prayers and acts of worship during Ramadan.

    Tajudeen Mukaila, a 400-Level Education and Mathematics student, said Ramadan taught him fear of Allah and dedication.

    He said: “Ramadan taught me good manners, charity and kindness. We must continue to reflect on the lessons in our dealings with our neighbours.”

    At the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria, Kaduna State, the message was the same.

    Students, who stayed back in school for Sallah, prayed for peace in the North.

    Hassan Abdulkadir, a 200-Level Education Biology student of UDUS, said he was frightened by the insecurity in Northeast. He said: “I did not fully concentrate on the Eid prayer because anything could happen. I did not even wait to supplicate or exchange greetings with my colleagues before leaving the prayer ground. I was in fear.”

    But, Abdulrozaque Ahmad, a 300-Level Law student of UDUS, said he was not scared of bomb at Eid prayer, because “death is something we cannot run away from.”

    At Bayero University, Kano (BUK) some students converged early to observe the prayer, because of security threat. Abubakar Sanni, a 200-Level Law student of BUK, said: “We prayed for peace in Kano and other parts of the North. We hope the end of Ramadan would bring lasting peace to the nation.”

     

     

  • LAUTECH students protest

    Students of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Ogbomoso, Oyo State  protested, penultimate Monday, in support of the industrial action embarked on by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    The protesters shut the  Ogbomoso North Local Government secretariat and barricaded the Ogbomosho–Ilorin Expressway for hours, calling on Osun and Oyo states’ governors to accede to the demands of their lecturers.

    The protesters also visited Soun of Ogbomoso’s palace to register their complaints, urging the monarch  to appeal to the school’s visitors on their behalf.

    The institution’s ASUU members, on July 10, declared full action, following the non-payment of their salaries for 13 months. They claimed that the school was being run by its Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR). The ASUU action disrupted the semester examination, which was ongoing before the strike.

    But, in a turn of event, the striking lecturers suspended their action last week, prompting the management to recall students back on campus to continue their examination.

    The LAUTECH Campus Ambassador, Adeneye Olayinka, urged students to maintain peace as trhey returned to school.