The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Students

  • Amosun warns students

    Amosun warns students

    The Ogun State Government has warned students in tertiary institutions to desist from cultism and other vices that may truncate the peaceful academic atmosphere being experienced in the schools.

    Governor Ibikunle Amosun, gave the warning during the Eighth matriculation of new students into the Institute of Technology, D.S Adegbenro Campus, Itori in Ewekoro Local Government Area.

    “While the state government will continue to encourage our higher institutions through adequate funding, sanction, however, awaits any student who engage in cultism and other social vises which may distracts you from your studies,” the Governor warned in a statement by the press officer of Ministry of Education Science and Technology, Kayode Oduyebo.

    Amosun, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Segun Odubela, however, assured the students that the government will continue to give necessary support to the Institute whenever necessary.

    The Rector of the institute, Mr Funsho Olusanya, assured the new students that the management was making efforts to make teaching and learning easy with the construction of more infrastructure.

    The institute, which was established as Gateway ICT Polytechnic on February 27, 2006 runs about 10 programmes at both Ordinary National and Higher National Diploma.

     

  • Mystery Hatman terrorises students

    Mystery Hatman terrorises students

    Students of the Ekiti State University (EKSU) in Ado-Ekiti are uncomfortable with the presence of a mysterious hoodlum, known as Hatman, who is terrorising the Satellite Phase II area of the institution’s host community, where many off-campus students reside. OLATUNJI AWE (300-Level Political Science) reports.

    Who is the Hatman invading students hostels at the Ekiti State University (EKSU) at night? Students can no longer sleep with their two eyes closed for the fear of Hatman.

    For days, the masked hoodlum, who students claim adorns a black hat and clothes, and is armed with a shotgun, has been terrorising off-campus hostels in Satellite Phase II area.

    Those, who claimed to have seen him, said he is six feet tall, huge and with a deep voice. They said he speaks English fluently. He is said to invade hostels, with locally-made shotgun and machetes.

    Last Sunday, the hoodlum invaded El Shaddai Hall at 4am, trying to rob the occupants. But a drama ensued between him and the Hall Chairman, Adeleke Adaramola, who is a 400-Level student of Economics.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the thief ordered Adeleke’s roommate, simply identified as Babajide, to gather all the gadgets in the room and hand over to him. But Babajide pretended to be sleeping as the masked hoodlum pointed a gun at him through the window.

    It was gathered that Adeleke, who slept close to the window, got up quietly to dispossess the hatman of his gun. In the ensuing struggle, the gun-powder exploded and injured Adeleke. The hatman took to his heels.

    Recounting the incident, Adeleke, who sustained an injury on the last finger of his right hand, said: “I was sleeping close to the window, which is opaque to anyone viewing from the outside. I heard my roommate Babajide being ordered by the hatman to deliver all the gadgets and money in the room to him. But he pretended as if he was fast asleep. Then, Babajide saw his weapons. While the thief was shouting, I quietly got up from the bed and held the gun. As we struggled, my roommate was looking around for a club we could use against him. This was when the gun exploded and hurt my last finger.”

    Adeleke sounded the hostel’s alarm to alert other occupants, who ran after the hatman. But they could not trace him. The gunpowder explosion alerted the university cadets, who joined the students to search for the assailant.

    Earlier, the hatman had visited Great God Hall, where he robbed all the female occupants in the hostel of their properties. A victim, who pleaded for anonymity, said: “It happened around 3am on Sunday. My roommate was in the toilet while I was asleep on the bed and my cousin on the floor. We started to hear funny sound on the window net. Before we knew what was happening, hatman had drawn up the window blind and pointed a gun at us. He ordered that we should bring everything in the room or he would waste our lives. We had no option than to start giving up everything we had. He made away with N20,000, two Tecno Phantom phones and one laptop.”

    Another victim, Oluwatosin Ojo, a 400-Level Microbiology student, who lives in Great God Hall, said: “Hatman broke my window with a heavy stone around 3:30am. My brother suddenly screamed after the impact. He thought my younger brother was my boyfriend who came to pass the night in my house. He told us to stay together in one place and asked me to bring all the money and the gadget I have in the house. I gave him N5,000 I had with me and our mobile phones.”

    In the last three days, several students have fallen victims to the hatman, prompting students to cry out to the management and the government to unravel the figure behind the mask. A 300-Level English student, who simply gave her name as Jumoke, said she had a conversation with the masked hoodlum, who spoke “good English”.

    Some occupants of Great Mind Hall, who were not around, met their rooms plundered when they returned from night reading.

    The hatman took away N30,000 belonging to Tomilola Sijuade, a 300-Level Accounting student, who resides in Jum Kay Hostel.

    “This is not the first time this is happening. Each time students return from their houses, some robbers would invade the hostels to collect everything we bring back to school,” Daniel Asugbo, a resident of the Satellite Phase II area, said.

    Adejumoke Adebanjo, a 300-Level Medicine student, who resides at Jum Kay Hostel, narrated her encounter with Hatman.

    “I was sleeping when I perceived smoke from the window area; it almost got me choked. Then a voice came from behind the window, asking me to get up. It was then it dawned on me that a robber was around. He ordered that I bring out all the money I had in the house and my laptop. I brought out N7,000 but he threatened to shoot me if I did not co-operate. After I gave him the money, he asked for my laptop and I told him I had lent a friend, who wanted to use it for project work. While all this was happening, he held a big torch light which he flashed on my eyes for me not to see him.”

    The commander of the university’s Cadet Corps, Segun Adekunle, a 500-Level student, said the outfit was doing its best to arrest the masked hoodlum. “We understand there are security challenges and we are doing our best to stop the attacks. But we need patrol vehicles and security gadgets to adequately secure the environment. We are also students and we have only volunteered to save our fellow students.”

    When contacted, the institution’s Deputy Registrar (Information), Mr Olubunmi Ajibade, said the management would react to the development in “due time”, because, according to him, the incident happened outside the campus.

  • VC counsels Pre-degree students

    The Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Prof Olusola Oyewole, has advised pre-degree students of the university to be focused so they can scale through the programme.

    Oyewole gave this advice during the 2013/2014 orientation programmes for Pre-Degree and Cambridge ‘A’ level students of the university’s Institute for Human Resources Development (INHURD).

    The Vice Chancellor called on the students to be conscious of why they enrolled for the programmes, have a clear vision and get prepared to face future challenges.

    Speaking on Entry Qualifications and Admission into FUNAAB, the Chairperson of the University’s Admissions Committee and Director, Agricultural Media Resources and Extension Centre, Prof Carolyn Afolami, took the students through the admission guidelines and admonished them to work hard because securing admission into the university was highly competitive. She advised them to make wise choices of their preferred universities, while filling the University Tertiary Matriculation Examination for

    In the lecture, Recreations, Securities and Community Interactions, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Muyiwa Adejobi, charged the students not to engage in cultism and other anti-social behaviours. He also advised them to avoid areas he tagged as ‘black spots’ in town, dress well and desist from what could bring them into police net.

    Other speakers at the occasion include the Dean, College of Agricultural Management and Rural Development, Prof Bolanle Akeredolu-Ale, who spoke on Examination and its Expectations; Deputy Director, INHURD, Mrs. Olubukola Agboola (Code of Conduct in INHURD), and the Deputy Director, Health Services, Dr Abiodun Amusan (Healthy Living and Health Facilities).

     

     

  • Mass Comm. students visit media house

    Mass Comm. students visit media house

    Some Mass Communication students of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) have visited the corporate headquarters of the Nigerian Tribune in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on excursion.

    The students, who are in 300-Level and 400-Level, said they embarked on the tour to learn practical aspects of newspaper production.

    Led by their lecturers, Mrs Yusuf Tajudeen and AbdulGafar Arikewuyo, the students, who intend to specialise in print journalism, were received by a reporter on the Features desk of the newspaper, Mrs Taiwo Olarenwaju. She took them round all the desks in the newsroom and the administrative department.

    The editor of each desk, explained to the students the activities and mode of operation of the beat. The Tourism Editor, Mr Wale Ojo-Lanre, told the students how he discovered the site of the first plane crash in Africa, which occurred on April 12, 1942 in Ekiti State.

    At the computer room, the students were received by Mr Oke Olatunde, a graphic artist, who taught them the dynamics of impressive page planning and design. ‘’The computer room is under the editorial department and it is the engine room because all the raw works from the editorial department are designed and planned into pages here, which are now sent to the machine server at the prepress,’’ he explained.

    The students observed the editorial board meeting, which began about 1:00 pm. They were welcome by Mr Edward Dickson, the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief.

    While the meeting was on, some market women, under the aegis of Oyo Fish Sellers Association, arrived to express their dissatisfaction with the ban on importation of fish by the Federal Government, saying the policy had resulted in increase in fish prices nationwide.

    The highpoint of the visit was the presentation of a copy of the first edition of the newspaper, which was published on November 16, 1949, to the students. The presentation was made by Editor of the newspaper, Mr Debo Abdullai.

    Abdullai said the problem of brown envelope in the media could only be eliminated when journalists adhere strictly to professional ethics, adding that media houses should pay their staff well.

    He noted that social media was affecting the practice of journalism today, noting that any editor or reporter that was not in tune with the new media was doomed to fail.

     

  • Students pray as Nasarawa varsity resumes

    Students pray as Nasarawa varsity resumes

    Last year, students of the Nasarawa State University in Keffi (NSUK) spent only three months in school, no thanks to the internal crisis and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike. On resumption last week, the students gathered to pray for a smooth academic year. KAMALUDEEN ABUBAKAR (200-Level Geography) writes.

    Nasarawa State University in Keffi (NSUK) was re-opened last week after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) called off its five-month industrial action.

    The institution did not enjoy a smooth session last year. It was shut for over four months, following a violent protest that led to the death of two students. A few weeks after the campus was re-opened, ASUU declared an indefinite strike to demand implementation of the agreement it reached with the Federal Government in 2009.

    The school resumed last week, but students are not excited about the resumption. They returned to the campus, praying against another strike because of their experience last year. They said 2013 was a bad academic year for them.

    During the strike, burglars and petty thieves invaded their hostels, carting away their property, including mattresses, television sets, rugs, fans and electronic gadgets. When the school resumed, many students returned to meet their rooms empty.

    Also, the school’s inability to admit students into the departments of Psychology, Sociology, Economics and Political Science left some prospective students stunned. The development was caused by the months of closure, which made the campus to open for just three months.

    The 2012/2013 session has yet to be completed because of the disruption.

    A 100-Level student said: “I thank God we are back in school. I am happy for this, but I cannot forget my strike experience. To me, the whole of 2013 was wasted because the campus was only opened for three months. A year like last year is not what a sane man should pray for.”

    For Usman Yarwa, a 300-Level Economics student, 2013 was a year for Nigeria’s education. “For us in Nasarawa State University, the strike is not what we would like to experience again. By October, the school ought to have graduated its students and begin another session. But, we are yet to be complete the first semester of the 2012/ 2013 session. It was a year that is not worth remembering; I don’t pray for a repeat,” he said.

    Gift Okafor, 200-Level Public Administration, has mixed feelings. She said the year was both bad and blessed. “It was bad because I am suppose to be in 300-Level, but the strike would not allow that. I can say it was a blessed year because I am alive.

    “While the students are yet to settle down for lectures, the management has released a timetable for for the first semester exam, which is scheduled to begin on January 27. This development has increased activities on campus as students moving up and down to sign their course forms.

    Business activities have also picked up in the school. Shop owners were seen conducting business as CAMPUSLIFE visited last week. Eka Pinging, a trader in Angwan Lambu, said business were gradually picking up. “Yes, we are happy that students are back after six months of strike; we are also back here to offer them everything they need to succeed in their academic work,” she said.

     

     

     

  • Obolo students get leaders

    Obolo students get leaders

    The National Association of Eastern Obolo Students (NAOES) has elected new leaders.

    Victoria Lambert a 200-Level Civil Engineering student of Rivers State Polytechnic, is President and Felix Sampson, Vice President.

    Others are Eminye Idante, General Secretary; Dandy Azu, Assistant General Secretary; Stone Simeon, Financial Secretary; Marcus Tallick, Director of Information; Jackson Mfon, Provost.

    The inauguration was attended by the Chairman, East Obolo Local Government Council, Dr Francis Charles and his deputy, Mr Ukomkpa Bernard, Mr Blessing Isotuk; Students Affairs to the Chairman on Students Affairs, Mr Tamuno Timothy.

    In her acceptance speech, Victoria said her administration would be innovative.

    Dr Charles advised the new executive to be objective and transparent warning them to shun vices and take their studies serious. He promised to give the executives grant that would enable them to run the administration effectively.

  • NUC boss counsels Elizade Varsity students

    NUC boss counsels Elizade Varsity students

    The Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Julius Okojie, has enjoined the newly admitted students of Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin in Ondo State to uphold the excellent standards that the university has set, both in character and academics.

    Okojie gave the advice at the second matriculation of the university.

    He admonished the students to shun cultism, drug abuse, examination malpractice, sexual immoralities, disrespect for constituted authority and other vices.

    The NUC boss, who was represented by a former Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, (FUTA), Prof Adebisi Balogun, said the Commission was impressed with the university, especially its adherence to procedures while seeking approval for 16 additional programmes.

    He described the approval, barely 10 months after the university started academic activities, which as a great feat, praising its management for a job well done.

    He said Elizade University is one of the institutions the NUC holds in high esteem and promised them further support.

    The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Valentine Aletor, said the Institution is prepared to give quality education to the students.

    He said the curricula are designed to meet the country’s need for technological and scientific breakthrough.

    The Vice-Chancellor was impressed that the university, which started with 64 students, admitted 220 for the 2013/2014 academic session.

    He urged the students to make the most of the quality facilities and sound academics, drawn from America, Europe, Asia and Nigeria to acquire education that would make them globally competitive.

     

  • Students against teachers’ strike

    T he Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has begun an indefinite strike over the Federal Government’s alleged failure to meet its demands.

    But students are not happy, describing the action as a setback for their studies.

    The strike is ill-timed, Kofoworola Olaniyi, a final year student of English at the Adeyemi College of Education in Ondo, said, adding that the strike may further erode education standard in the country.

    Students pleaded with the government and their lecturers to reach a compromise and end the strike immediately. “We can’t afford to stay at home when we have just two months left to finish our courses,” a final year student lamented.

    The union, in a letter signed by its General Secretary Mr Nuhu Ogirima, to the supervising Minister of Education Nyesom Wike, lamented that government’s failure to address issue its raised in its demand. The union complained of decay of infrastructure, poor funding, non-implementation of the 2010 agreement it reached with the government.

    The union’s National President, Asagha Nkoro, accused the government of using the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) to impose the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) on colleges without considering the earlier agreement by both parties.

    COEASU also complained of discrimination against lecturers in colleges of education, which includes refusal to provide allowances their counterparts are paid.

    The Students’Union leader of Adeyemi College of Education, Alade Oyindamola, said the union was optimistic that the government and striking lecturers would come up with a way forward. The damage the strike would cost the nation, he said, cannot be quantified.

    A lecturer, who pleaded anonymity, said the disagreement would soon be settled by both parties.

    Tina Imorhoa, a 200-Level student of the College of Education in Ikere-Ekiti, urged the government to resolve its disagreement with the lecturers as quickly as possible.

     

     

  • Study the Constitution, students told

    Study the Constitution, students told

    The Students’Association (SBA) at the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti (ADO POLY) has held its 10th Law week.

    The event featured various activities, including an awareness campaign on court cases.

    Speaking on the topic: Access to justice at the Multipurpose Hall, Mr Oyebanjo Aiyelakin, a lawyer, said before any students could be penalised for any offence, he must face the disciplinary panel. He advised students not to engage in jungle justice.

    A former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice in Ekiti State, Mr Obafemi Adewale, advised the students to make good use of the lecture, urging them to acquaint themselves with the Constitution.

    Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, the association’s Protocol Officer, Mr Azeez Arisekola, said the event was timely, saying he was better equipped with the workings of the justice system.

    Daniel Agbaje, ND 1 student of Electrical Engineering, said he was motivated to join the group.

    The Chief Judge of the Student, Judiciary Council, John Ayemowa, thanked the guests.

  • Students urge Fed Govt to sack Wike

    Students union presidents of colleges of education have urged the Federal Government to remove the Supervisory Minister for Education Nyesom Wike for failing to resolve the differences between the Federal Government and their lecturers.

    The lecturers have been on strike, demanding the standardisation of education and students’ welfare.

    In a communiqué after an emergency meeting in Abuja, the students urged the Federal Government to meet the demands of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) before January 14.

    They enjoined President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint a minister of Education.

    President of the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) Comrade Ogbonaya Sunday; NAPS Senate President, Comrade Lukeman Salahudeen; FCT NANS Chairman, Comrade Adediwara Adesina and others, urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), COEASU and ASUP to embrace the Integrated Personnel Payroll System (IPPS) to remove ghost workers from the system.

    The communiqué urged the Federal Government to restructure IPPS in a manner that it would be easy for lecturers to deduct loan, union dues and salary without travelling.

    The students’ leadership said: “Each Students’ Union Government (SUG) president from colleges of education and polytechnics should raise money from the union’s account and mobilise 100 students from each campus to the Office of the Supervisory Minister for Education.”