The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Students

  • Students present Genius Next Door

    To mentor the youth, a group of students from first and second generation universities has collected the memoirs of successful individuals in academics and the business world to guide students on how they can excel in their chosen careers.

    At the presentation of the book titled: Genius Next Door, which was held at the Cooperative Building of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Science Education of the Bowen University, Prof Samuel Ilori, who delivered a keynote address, said a genius was a person with exceptional ability which may be natural or acquired. He said a genius possessed exceptional mental ability and endowment.

    On how students could expand their academic potential, Prof Ilori, said: “Students can achieve academic excellence through good mastery of the course and assimilation by meditation. Proper understanding of the course and overnight reading and effective study make student to be successful.”

    A literary icon, Prof Daniel Izevbaye, noted that there were many unrealised and unfulfilled geniuses among the youth. He said without passion for excellence, genius would be useless. “Don’t be discouraged by your background. Persistence, passion, determination get you there,” he said.

    Alex Adegboye, a senior pastor at The Stone Church International, said reading biographies of great men would help the youth to discover themselves. He said: “I have books about wicked people that ever lived. It is through the study of books that I found Jesus. Everything exists in books. Don’t base your life on what people say. Read to be informed. Do something with your life. Education should help develop your area of strength. No two people are equal. We have special abilities. Make yourself a genius.”

    Ademola Adesola, a Senior Special Assistant to Govenor Rauf Aregbesola on Media, said that the only advice he had for the young people was to read extensively. He bought copies of the book to be distributed to schools in Osogbo.

    Kunle Ajayi, co-ordinator of Graffito Initiative, said it was never too late for anyone to become the person he dreamed to be. “Our moment of rebirth arrives when we recognise our inherent creative value,” he said.

  • Philip Obaji Condemns Attack on Students in Yobe

    Philip Obaji Condemns Attack on Students in Yobe

    Following the Monday morning suicide bombing on Government Science Technical School in Potiskum, Yobe state that claimed the lives of about 47 students, 1 GAME Founder, Philip Obaji has condemned the attack, describing it as cruel.

    Obaji, an education campaigner, who has been at the fore of the campaign to ensure that education is accessible to every street child in the north, reiterated his conviction saying, “no grievance justifies violent actions on innocent people”.
    “I’m outraged by the brutality of attacks against schools in the northeast of the country, and we must act quickly to avoid a total collapse of education in the region.
    “Some of the victims might have been those I met when I stopped at Potiskum to access the level of terror attacks on schools, while on my way to Maiduguri two weeks ago. My thoughts and prayers are with family and loved ones of those affected.
    “I call on the Nigerian government to bring the perpetrators of this heinous act to justice, and to do more to protect school children,” the Campaigner demanded.

    The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who disguised as a student to detonate the explosive on the assembly ground of the school where the students were converged, making the impact severe, since the school is one of the densely populated boarding schools for boys.

    The school is located very close to the Potiskum General Hospital in the heart of Potiskum, the largest town in Yobe State after the state capital, Damaturu.

     

  • Final year students mark week

    After six years of studying efficacy of drugs and reaction pattern, it was time for graduating students of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) to take stock and prepare themselves for life after school.

    The 600-Level class of the faculty organised a final year Week, which featured seminar, visit to orphanage and award night.

    At the opening ceremony held at the Banquet Hall of the university with the theme: Creating a professional Niche, were Prof Ray Ozolua, Prof Magnus Iwagwu, Dr Angela Obaseki, Dr Pius Ukpabio and Dr Allen Iboi, the Chief Executive Officer of Dreamlife Pharmacy.

    In his lecture on the theme, Iboi urged the graduating students to always be keen on doing things differently, stressing that for anyone to be a good pharmacist, he must go an extra mile to avoid mediocrity.

    He said: “The problems you solve determine how important you would be in the profession. If you solve common problems, you would get common remunerations. If you go extra mile, you will get extraordinary benefits. Strive to create a position of advantage for yourself; the room for improvement is the largest room in the world.”

    After the lecture, the students observed a minute silence for their colleague, Hulera Momoh, who died recently from ulcer complications. Commenting on Hulera’s death, Precious Chiazor expressed sadness, saying the deceased was everyone’s friend.

    The event moved into excitement when Emmanuella Adegha, a gospel artiste and one of the graduating students, thrilled the guests her music. The guests left their table and moved to the stage to dance as artiste sang Okaka, one of her hit track.

    Advising the graduating students, Prof Ozolua encouraged them to have good purpose for doing things, saying it was a secret to success. “You do not stay on the crossroad for too long, hence you become a casualty. Endeavour to make good choices and make them quick,” he advised.

  • OAU law students win contest

    OAU law students win contest

    The Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State, has lifted the 4th edition of the Chief Wole Olanipekun National Moot & Mock Competition.

    The two-day competition organised annually in honour of Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), a former President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), featured intense stages of Moot, Debate and the grand finale, Mock Trial.

    The OAU edged out the University of Ilorin and four others – University of Abuja, Lagos State University, Babcock University, and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, to win the prize.

    The six schools were the ones that scaled through preliminaries of the competition nationwide.  Of these, four schools progressed from the Moot Stage to the debate stage. Two schools were further eliminated at the debate stage leaving the last two, the host school – OAU and the University of Ilorin – to slug it out at the grand finale which was a mock armed robbery trial in a fashioned court setting.

    The representatives of the Obafemi Awolowo University eventually proved too much for their UNILORIN counterparts and the former were unanimously declared winners of the competition by the panel of judges that presided.

    The event, organised by Radiant Justice Chambers, a student body in the university’s Faculty of Law, was graced by seasoned legal professionals, including the Executive Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, who was represented by his Senior Special Adviser on Legal Matters, Dr. Anwo J.O; the Acting Chief Justice of Oyo State, Hon. Justice L.M. Abimbola; Dean Faculty of Law, OAU, Prof. M.O Adediran; Justice Adebusoye from the Ondo State Judiciary and a host of others.

    The Mock Trial was presided over by sitting judges: Hon Justice D.O. Afolabi, Hon. Justice O.F. Oloyede, Hon. Justice Siyanbola from the Osun State Judiciary and Hon. Justice Ganiyu from the Oyo State judiciary.

    Speaking at the event, Chief Olanipekun praised his former classmate and friend, Dean of the Faculty of Law, OAU, Prof. M.O Adediran for his top-notch administration of the faculty as manifested in the quality of its graduates.

    He praised the brilliant display of the competing students at the mock trial and urged them not rest on their oars as it would eventually pay off in future.

    The Chairman of the Day, Hon. Justice L.M. Abimbola, praised Olanipekun for his immense contributions to the advancement of the legal system and legal education in the country.

    Abimbola also praised the Radiant Justice Chambers for the ingenious initiative behind the annual hosting of the programme.

    The event rounded off with the presentation of laptops and cash prizes to the representatives of OAU and UNILORIN by Olanipekun.

    Three students, Samuel C. Chukwu (UNIABUJA), Zuqulnain Muhammed Dayo (UNILORIN) and Olugbemi Kayode (OAU), who emerged as Outstanding Counsels from the Moot Stages were given with monetary prizes for their performances. Delegates of Babcock University and OAU were tied for the Best Moot Memorial prize.

     

  • Old students celebrate their alma mater

    Baptist Academy, Obanikoro, Old Students’ Association (BAOSA) has rolled out the drums to felicitate with its alma mater- Baptist Academy Obanikoro, as it clocked 159 last week.

    Its National President, Chief Olatunde Onakoya, told excited guests, pupils and parents at the school’s Founder’s Day that the old boys have not relented in ensuring that their alma mater reclaim its past glory.

    Onakoya praised an alumnus’ plan to construct a state-of-the-art library valued at N50 million.

    He said: “This (library) will be a modern library with e-books. It is our hope that it will be started very soon, it is being donated by Sir Kessington Adebutu a graduate of the 1956 set.  We believe in the next few months it will come to form”

    The national secretary of the association, Mr Adeniyi Thompson, desribed the Founder’s Day, which held at Shepherdhill Baptist Church, as a rallying point for all past graduates of the school.

    He added that other projects have been carried out by other class sets.

    He said: “Some class sets upgraded the old library while others upgraded the chemistry laboratory. Last year, another set donated communications systems. So there are different projects.”

    Speaking on the state of education in the country Adeniyi said: “The truth about education in Nigeria is that we haven’t taken it as serious as we should. Today, you find many people here going abroad to seek better education, but it was not so in our time because education at the homefront was rated high. So, I wish the government pay more attention to education in Nigeria, pay motivate teachers and devote more resources to develop pupils because they are going to lead us tomorrow,” Adeniyi said.

    The principal, Mrs Abosede Ladoba, said the school has produced many dignitaries, adding that, the school is always proud of its old boys.

  • Minister donates bus to students

    The Students’ Union Government (SUG) of the University of Ibadan (UI) was among the beneficiaries of the largesse from the Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, Mrs. Jumoke Akinjide. The minister donated a Marcopolo bus to the union.

    Mrs. Akinjide, who gave a bus each to four tertiary institutions in Oyo State, said the gesture was aimed at empowering the youth and supporting their cause.

    The donation was made at a programme at Adamasingba Stadium in Ibadan last weekend.

    She said the motive was to alleviate the suffering of students in transporting themselves within and outside school and to improve their welfare as a mother.

    Other institutions that benefitted from the gesture are Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Ogbomoso, The Polytechnic, Ibadan (IBADAN POLY) and Emmanuel Alayande College of Education in Oyo.

    The UI union president, Oluwafemi Odesola, praised the minister for identifying with students, saying transportation remained challenge facing tertiary institutions.

    Oluwafemi said the union would discuss on how the bus should be used to ensure that every student benefitted.

    A student, who did not want his name in print, described the bus as a political gift extended to students because of 2015 elections. He urged students of the institution to engage politicians through their party manifestos for the youth and not by “emergency gift”.

  • ‘BELLSTECH won’t exceed 5,000 students’

    The Vice-Chancellor, Bells University of Technology (BELLSTECH), Ota, Ogun State, Prof Isaac Adeyemi, has said  the university would not exceed students’ population of 5,000 even if it can accommodate more.

    He spoke at a briefing to announce activities lined up for the institution’s sixth convocation this week.

    “We have our vision and objectives. The founder in the original document of the university stated it clearly that the school should never exceed 5, 000 students population because  5, 000 is a manageable and controllable number,” he said.

    Adeyemi said the university will graduate 326 students, comprising of 18 first-class, 96 second-class upper, 127 second-class lower and 85 third-class.  Afolayan Oluwaseyi of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences led the first class graduates with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.90.

    The ceremony started yesterday with a technology fair on research posters and product exhibition by colleges and industries from various sectors and ends Saturday with the convocation proper which will feature the conferment of first degrees and presentation of prizes.

    The convocation lecture titled: Emergence of Nigeria as Africa’s Leading Economy: Challenges for the Future will be delivered by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga tomorrow.

    Adeyemi listed achievements of the university to include: accreditation for two programmes; Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering; six professional accreditations in the 2013/2014 academic session, conferences, workshop and colleges lectures.

    He also said the College of Environmental Sciences has introduced a course that exposes students to practical experience to make them fit into the work environment on graduation.

    “The College of Environmental Science has innovatively designed a course wherein practitioners from the private sector come in and teach a college-wide elective course on modular basis. It gives students first-hand experience and necessary know-how in the application of classroom knowledge to practice. The course will cut across all other colleges soon,” he said.

     

  • Students urged to donate blood

    Students have been urged to save lives of those in need of blood for medical operation and other conditions. The advice came from Salihu Abubakar, a donor recruiter for National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS), who spoke last week at the Kogi State University (KSU) in Anyigba, when the body visited the institution for sensitisation and recruit donors.

    He said the body decided to engage in massive recruit of student-donors because they were in age category required for the exercise.

    Abubakar said the body had responsibility to ensure the availability of quality and safe blood in blood banks. He stressed the need to educate donors on some of the health benefits of blood donation. He said the functions of the body included collection, saving and issuing of blood to those in need.

    Abubakar praised students, who turned out for the exercise. He promised that the blood donated would be given to those in need.

    A donor, Michael Ekele, said he was moved into donating his blood out of passion to lend a helping hand to help the condition of the sick. He said though he was donating for the first time but was happy to willingly gave part of his blood to the beneficiary he would never meet.

    Other students praised the initiative, describing it as a worthy cause.

  • Students hail Rector on CBT exams

    The National Association of Class Representative Students (NACRS) has lauded the efforts of the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko (OKO POLY) in Anambra State, Prof Godwin Onu, to make the institution the hub of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) through the introduction of Computer-Based Test (CBT).

    The praise came at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the association held at Whiteview Hotel in Awka. NACRS, in its communiqué issued after the meeting, stated that the introduction of CBT in the institution would go a long way in fighting and eradicating examination malpractice in the institution and urged other institutions to emulate the idea.

    Speaking in an interview shortly after the meeting, Achionye Nnanedu, NACRS national president said Prof Onu had proved his visionary leadership and passion for the transformation of the institution through ICT.

    He said: “When you look around the school, there are so many changes. All the dilapidated buildings like the medical center, Mass Communication building and some other dilapidated buildings were pulled down and replaced with befitting ones. The issue of cultism, drug abuse and other social vices has been reduced in the institution.”

    Achionye added: “Onu brought sunshine on the campus, which has improved the rating of the polytechnic and elevated the quality of learning and research. He was re-appointed to continue because of the changing fortune of the school.”

  • Don counsels students on leadership

    An entrepreneur and researcher at the University of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom, Mr. Moshood Bello, has called for next generation leaders.

    He said this at the annual reportorial conference of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, Lagos State Area Unit in Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos

    He challenged participants at the conference with the theme, “Good people, good managers, good leaders,” to develop their leadership skills to move the nation forward when the opportunity to serve comes.

    “Nigeria needs a set of new generation leaders, who are economically and morally upright, for the nation to move forward,” he said.

    The Amir (President) of the society, Kaamil Kalejaiye, urged members to have a change of attitude if truly they want to be good managers.

    He emphasised the need for Nigerian youths to redefine what their roles are in nation building, making reference to countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Sweden and Brazil where youths are regarded as pivotal.