The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Students

  • Old students to spend N1.4m on school gate

    No less than N1.4 million has been earmarked for the construction of a gate by the 1983 set of the Alhudda Secondary School, Sokoto.

    The chairman Sokoto State chapter of the Alhudda Secondary School Old Boys’ Association, Alhaji Abubakar Jida said project would also help to improve the aesthetics of the college, which is now called the Sheikh Abubakar Gummi Memorial College.

    He explained that the alumni hope to conclude the project, which started December 7, before his set’s 30th anniversary of graduation.

    “We want to complete it before the 30th anniversary of the chapter on December 28,” jida explained.

    He also advised other old students to give back to their alma mater.

    “The task of providing infrastructure to the people should not be left to the government alone. All Nigerians, rich or poor, have the duty to complement government’s efforts in funding education, either in cash or in kind. Our foundations were laid in those schools and we should not abandon them now that we have blossomed into useful members of the society,” he said.

     

  • LASU Governing Council meets with students, workers

    LASU Governing Council meets with students, workers

    Students of the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo have renewed calls for a downward review of their tuition fees.

    They are also urging the university’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to pull out of the union’s national strike in light of the high school fees they pay. They made these demands during a meeting called by the LASU governing Council last Friday.

    They asked the Council chaired by Mr Olabode Agusto to relate the message to government that there is no justification for the increment which the Students’ Union leaders say is killing their members.

    The students, who came from the various campuses of the university in Ikeja, Epe and Surulere arrived late. By the time, Mr Agusto had left, so former commissioner for education and health, Dr Leke Pitan, another council member superintended on his behalf.

    The LASU Students’ Union PRO, Adeleke Steven told our reporter that apart from fees, the students also raised other issues such as student-lecturer relationship, reverting to a minimum of 4.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average [CGPA] not 4.50 for the university scholarship scheme, as well as other ways the university can generate funds during the meeting.

    Steven said of the discussions: “We told the Council that enough is enough as students cannot continue to be oppressed under the weight of the tuition. Since the new fees regime started, the level of admission to LASU has drastically reduced.

    “Our discussion also showed that that new tuition is not justifiable. Council informed us that the total amount of fees students contribute is small compared to the huge financial responsibilities facing this university. If that is the case, then why is the university still charging us? LASU fails to realise that most of us are children of commoners,” he said.

    A day before the meeting with the students, council met with workers of the institution. Members of the various unions except ASUU attended the meeting. They were the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities SSANU, the Non Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied institutions (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT). However, SSANU members walked out of the meeting when Agusto asked if they were the senior staff of the university. The workers reportedly responded in the affirmative, adding “We are degrees and masters holders like you.”

    The Chairman of SSANU-LASU Oseni Saheed said the Governing Council was not ready to help the university.

    “This council is coming with a private sector ideology forgetting that LASU is a public university. If the council must succeed in its plan, the interest of all workers and students must be taken into cognisance. No matter how lofty their plans are, it is us workers and students that will realise them,” he said.

    Oseni said the union is also against high tuition.

    “The purpose of establishing this university by Jakande is to serve the interest of Lagosians and the entire Nigerians at large so they can afford university education regardless of their backgrounds,” Oseni added.

    Meanwhile ASUU-LASU chairman Dr Adekunle Idris who addressed journalists after the union’s congress Tuesday last week, wondered how parents that earn the N18.000 minimum wage could afford the new N350.000 tuition fees as against the N90,000 they used to pay.

    He said other courses now cost N250, 000, except those under the Faculty of Education which currently stands at N 197, 000.

    The university’s Chief Information Officer, Dr Sola Fosudo told our reporter on telephone that on students’s request to end the strike, the Council only urged them to meet with ASUU for a roundtable talk towards achieving that.

    “The Governing Council told the students that they should realise the lecturers are their teachers so they should meet and talk them into calling off the strike, “Fosudo said.

  • As students’ fate hangs in the balance

    Many students thought the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike would end after the marathon meeting between the lecturers and President Goodluck Jonathan a few weeks ago. But little did we know that the strike has just begun.

    While the meeting was going on, there were strong indications that ASUU would accept the President’s offer right at the discussion table and the expectation that the strike would be over soon became high, following the lecturers’ call for the National Executive Council (NEC). Alas, the meeting could not hold because of the death of ASUU’s former national president, Prof Festus Iyayi, who was killed by a vehicle in Kogi State Governor Idris Wada’s convoy.

    This incident has extended the strike, which is approaching its sixth month; this development seems to aggravate the woes of students who have become tired of staying at home. Hopeful that the strike could be called off, some students were sighted at the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUT MINNA) alighting from cabs with their mattresses.

    One of them was quoted as saying: “We are all tired of staying at home; this is why you can see many students in the school now with the hope that the strike would be called off.”

    Even, some students have wondered why ASUU shelved its NEC meeting because of a member’s death. The students reasoned that the death of a single person should not be used to determine the fate of millions of students whose future hangs in the balance.

    If it is not for providence, Law students that graduated from the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) would have missed the chance of being in Law School with their colleagues from other campuses.This is due to government’s insincerity to accede to lecturers’ demand. The Law students would have wasted a whole year at home as admission into the Law School could have been concluded without students from UDUS.

    Thank God that the school was able to meet the deadline for forwarding the names of the graduates.

    However, it should be noted that the persistent strike has resulted to a major setback for Nigeria’s education. The government’s nonchalant attitude towards improving the standard of education has, over the years, become a cankerworm eating deep whatever left of the values we attach to tertiary education in this country. No Nigerian leader believes in the nation’s education system again.

    Just recently, Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime was spotted in Scotland attending his son’s graduation ceremony. Government officials, who contribute largely to the state of education, are now sending their wards to school abroad and make quality education in Nigeria a mirage. This attitude is one of the major reasons we have infrastructural decay and steady collapse of our varsities.

    All said and done, while still sympathising with ASUU and the families of the late Prof Iyayi, we hope that the union would call for its NEC meeting soonest to determine the fate of students that has been left in the balance.

     

    •Mubarak, 500-Level Animal Science, UDUS

     

     

  • The world-beating students

    The world-beating students

    IT was a short reception but memorable. It was for students of Kaduna State Polytechnic (KADPOLY), who participate in the Enactus World Cup Challenge in Cancun, Mexico.

    They came third in the contest. The feat earned them the accolade of their colleagues and teachers. For their achievement, the students were offered scholarship and jobs after school.

    Before their Rector, Dr Mohammed Bello Ibrahim, last weekend, the 14 students received medals for their efforts to stem desert encroachment and poverty in the northern part of the country.

    Enactus, a non-governmental organisation, is a global network of tertiary institution students helping to proffer solutions to human challenges.

    In the two-hour reception ceremony held in Ikoyi, Lagos, the students recalled their experience in Mexico when they faced their peers from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and South Africa among others.

    They recalled how their evergreen project and empowerment of the physically-challenged saved many from natural disasters and poverty. The programmes were adjudged the third best in the world in promoting the ideals of Enactus, which include advancing the ideals of entrepreneurship and poverty reduction.

    Prior to the Mexico contest, the students faced their colleagues from 20 institutions in a national challenge to represent Nigeria at the world challenge. The contestants presented several projects aimed at reducing pollution in the country. The KADPOLY team, however, won the challenge with its two projects.

    In the poverty alleviation project, the students redeemed 38 physically-challenged in Kaduna State and taught them various vocations, including metal fabrication, shoe and paint making processes. They did not stop at teaching them craftworks, the students also lobbied the Kaduna State House of Assembly to enact a law that would make government contractors to give out 30 per cent of fabrication works to the physically-challenged.

    Having discovered that drought was a factor contributing to desert encroachment, the students moved to regain the 350,000 hectares of land in the North being encroached on by people in the rural areas, who cut trees and convert to firewood.

    The Enactus partnered with the United States Embassy in Nigeria and First City Monument Bank (FCMB), which freely donated 100,500 seedlings to plant and recover lost land.

    In their research to promote the evergreen project, the students invented Save 80 stove and Wonder Box, which are cost-effective and energy-saving cookers, as alternative to the use of firewood. The inventions were unveiled last March in Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), after which hundreds of the stoves were distributed freely to residents.

    Their effort was crowned at the World Cup Challenge.

    Mrs Adesuwa Ifedi, Enactus country coordinator, praised the zeal of the students despite security challenges in the North, adding that the ceremony was not to celebrate the position which the students won but their passion to succeed against all odds.

    The Enactus board chairman, Mr Olumide Olayinka, said the students surprised the world with their performance in Mexico, urging them to put in more efforts in the next edition of competition.

    Ibrahim, who was visibly elated by the students’ feat, commended the Enactus board for creating the platform that would always put the brain of students in use. He said the performance of his students had boosted the image of the polytechnic.

    He said: “This is not the first time Kaduna Polytechnic students would be winning in the World Cup Challenge. But what we can derive from this, is that the success of the students is as a product of what they are being taught and we have to commend the National Board Technical Education for making a good curriculum available to our students.”

    He gave scholarship to the students and promised the graduating members of the team job after completion of the National Youth Service.

    One of the students, Zam Obed, said the aim of the students was to make northern Nigeria a safe place to live. He said: “I have sit down several times to wonder that, if I had not been part of Enactus, I would have been somewhere doing something useless. This platform gives us opportunity to judiciously use our time to think and use our brain for everything productive.”

     

     

  • Leadership seminar for students

    A youth development organisation, Tolerance Academy (TA) in conjunction with Youth Development Centre, Osun State and the United Nations Alliance of Civilisation, has invited undergraduates to apply for its coming leadership engagement programme.

    The Curator of the academy, Ayodele Obajeun, said the organisation was committed to developing young people across the country to build a peaceful nation and combat the challenge of insecurity.

    “Through this programme, we are dedicated to incubating youths across the country for peace, development and leadership engagement through dialogue, religious tolerance and cultural integration. It is a mobile peace-building academy that drives ethnic integration among young people. It also fosters cross-cultural relations for sustainable development,” he stated.

    He said that the event was a week-long residency programme where 40 successful students will be taken through engaging situational analysis which included classroom dialogue, field demonstration and video modeling.

    “Applicants need to be between the ages of 17 and 25 and undergraduate of a tertiary institution in Nigeria. They must have a passion for winning and should demonstrate ability to be proactive in life and business situations,” Obajeun added.

    Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, a graduating student of the Federal University, Owerri (FUTO) said the leadership conference was an opportunity for him to build enduring skills for professional success and become an advocate of tolerance in his community.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the programme which commences in January next year was set to impact leadership skills in young people and promote the values of tolerance and socio-cultural integration.

    The Programme Coordinator, Ishola Samson, said: “Tolerance Academy is poised to bring about a paradigm shift in our approach to the task of nation building and security. The only reason why Nigeria wallows in insecurity is because there is a high level of unrest and ethnic bigotry in the land. We can make a lot of difference when we start preaching the message of peace and tolerance to our young people.”

     

  • OOU takes steps to regain lost glory

    OOU takes steps to regain lost glory

    To redeem its lost glory, the management of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, has started reforms in the instutiton.

    In a statement, Mr Niyi Oduwole, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the university, said Senator Ibikunle Amosun’s election as governor and consequently the Visitor to the university has had positive effect on the institution’s development. Oduwole said Amosun’s inauguration of a new governing council led by Dr Segun Oshin, was the beginning of a new dawn for the institution and its 1,396 workers and 13, 922 students.

    Some of the changes made included Prof Saburi Adesanya’s appointment as the Acting Vice-Chancellor with the mandate to reposition the institution to meet the challenges of a modern day university and proffer necessary solutions.

    “The vice-chancellor started the onerous task of updating the database of all the students in the university. Students were compelled to see the completion of their on-line registration as a necessity to being a formal member of the university community,” Oduwole said.

    He said this update made it possible for the university to sort out outstanding results and graduate 40, 121 during its convocation in October last year.

    He said: “This was evident in the combined convocation ceremonies held in October 2012 where 4, 041 diploma certificates, 34, 200 first degrees, 1, 856 masters, and 51 PhDs were awarded to deserving individuals in deserving disciplines. Thus, the issue of outstanding result which had become a blight on the image of the university was resolved by the present management.

    “Now OOU students do their convocation and take their certificates same day. As at this moment, there are no students with outstanding results. Results which were hitherto non-available or very difficult to retrieve are now made available to graduands with ease.”

    Oduwole said soon, the vice-chancellor has promised to evolve an (Information and Communications Technology) ICT system that will enable the institution to send results to parents and wards by the end of this 2012/2013 academic session.

    He further said in line with the National Universities Commission (NUC) guidelines, OOU has pruned her programmes from about 75 to 56 for effective management.

    Oduwole said little wonder that during OOU had 100 per cent accreditation for all her programmes during the last NUC accreditation.

    He added that its admission quota also increased from 4,000 to 6,000 for the 2012/2013 session.

    Oduwole added that with the support of the Oshin-led council, the management has been able to convince the senate to introduce new postgraduate programmes in Management, Engineering, Science, Medical and Para-Medical courses.

     

  • Students donate blood

    Students donate blood

    Students of the Lagos State College of Health Technology (LASCOHT) have participated in a health symposium aimed at encouraging students to donate blood. The event featured talk on healthy nutrition, blood donation and sickle cell anaemia.

    The exercise, which was organised by Club 25 of the college in conjunction with the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee (LSBTC) offered free medical check-up to students. Some of the medical examinations provided during the programme included blood sugar level, blood group, HIV status and hepatitis B and C screening.

    Hundreds of students donated blood to make blood available in hospitals across the state.

    A 200-Level student of the college, Dosumu Hannah, said she was scared of donating her blood but one of her classmates motivated her.

    She told CAMPUSLIFE that the process was easy. ‘’The staff of LSBTC were very friendly and I felt healthy after the donation. Initially, I was scared of offering my blood. But I feel good about donating my blood to save the lives of other persons,’’ she stated.

    Another donor, Ifeoluwa Afolake, a 400-Level student of Environmental Health said she was not scared since it was not her first time to donate blood.

    Modupe Sarumi, also a 400 level Environmetal Health student said that was her third time of donating blood. She urged her other students to donate their blood voluntarily, saying that it helps the body to produce new red blood cells.

    President of club, Shogo Oloshunde, said that there is fulfillment in voluntary blood donation, noting that it was a necessary to save others’ lives through blood donation.

    The Chairman of LSBTC, Dr Adetoun Agbe-Davies, said voluntary blood donation is important to save people’s lives, especially accident victims and women in labour.

    She said: ‘’We cannot overemphasise the importance of voluntary blood donation because it is the source of life to people in emergency situations.that is why we encourage more people to donate blood and rescue those in need of it.’’

    She added that the donor must be between 18 and 65 and free from infections.

    Head of LSCOHT, Dr Abiola Tilley-Gyado said voluntary blood donation is a self-less way of saving the lives of others, saying it was economical and would ensure its availability in blood banks.

  • N37m largesse lifts Katsina students

    N37m largesse lifts Katsina students

    A N37m lifeline has changed the fortunes of 104 indigents students in Katsina State.

    A former Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF)  Mr. Muttaqha Rabe Darma, an engineer, provided the money in order to enhance the education of some of the state’s financially challenged students.

    While stating his reasons for instituting “Partnership for Alleviation of Poverty Initiative,” under which he runs his charity foundation, Darma narrated a grim story, revealing the pathetic life of his primary school academic rival.

    Darma said his primary school classmate who was always second whenever he (Darma) was first, earned a living from digging graves because there was no one to fund his tertiary institution.

    His words: “The second motivation is that when I was in primary school, as far as I could recall from my Primary School One to Six, I was always taking the first position in the class. But then there was someone taking second position in the same class.

    “We were in the same class from Primary One to Primary Six, when we left primary school, that person was lucky to get to secondary school in Wusasa, Zaria. But I would say I was not too lucky to get a boarding school, I got Day Secondary School here in Katsina.

    “I saw this my friend who was always taking second position recently. Do you know what he is doing: grave digging. He digs graves for the dead to be buried. I asked him what happened and he told me all sorts of stories and I then realised that no matter how good one is if you don’t give him a helping hand, that person could be the worst person.”

    Presenting N11.5 million cheques at Mariamoh Ajiri Memorial International Schools, Katsina to some private schools in Katsina State for 2013/2014 for the first and second terms school fees under his scholarship scheme, he noted that the best gift an individual or government can present to a child is access to education.

    He described education as a responsibility that must not be left to only government to discharge, urging well-meaning Nigerians to intervene in the educational development of children.

    On the scholarship, Darma said he started it three years ago, meaning to extend it to 29 local governments in the state.

    He said: “It is my belief that some students from poor families, if given a chance and better learning environment, can perform much better than the children of the rich”.

    Asked to state the source of his fund for the scholarship scheme, he said while in office, he commenced the initiative with the belief that 60% of his income should go back to the society. Darma added that he has been spending his pension fund and monetisation benefits on the charity initiative.

    Chairman of the event Senator Umar Tsauri said it is very unusual to have people like Darma in our present setting where most people think of their immediate family alone.

    He said Katsina currently is blessed with two people, the state governor Ibrahim Shema who is a champion of development and Muttaqha Darma an exponent of people’s emancipation.

    He urged the students to utilise the opportunity provided to them by passing studying hard and their examinations with good grades.

    Representative of the schools and proprietor of Mariamo Ajiri International Schools, Alhaji Tajuddeen Babatunde Raji urged the public to assist in educating poor children.

    He said some families who can barely afford to feed their children consider education a luxury.

  • Student Leaders to FG, ASUU: Save us from boredom

    Student leaders from Akwa Ibom State have  cried out to the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to save them from prolonged stay out of school.

    The students under the auspices of Akwa Ibom Students Leaders’ Forum in a statement in Abuja lamented that they were tired of staying at home.

    The statement was signed by 52 Akwa Ibom student leaders drawn from within and outside the state.

    They include the Vice President (Special Duties), National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Ubon Marcus, Saviour Ekpe of the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ) Uyo, Comrade Joshua Akpan of the University of Uyo and Comrade Uko Michael Ukpong of the University of Uyo , among others.

    The students further urged a quick resolution of the Federal Government and ASUU impasse to prevent escalation in crime rate across the country.

    They said: “The quick implication of this strike borders also on internal security as crime rate will soar, because an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.

    “We are not laying blames for the current impasse but all we want is to go back to school and we want to do so as soon as possible.

    “We hereby appeal to ASUU and Federal Government to kindly ensure that the strike is called off and students return to classes as we are tired of being idle. We do not intend to be students for ever.

    “Think about our future. Think about our respective families that have suffered to send us through school and the financial implication of our continued stay in school on their lean resources. We are tired of this strike. We want to go back to school.”

    The students lamented that the strike which was called to positively improve the nation’s tertiary education is today having a negative impact on the students.

    They said: “While we salute the doggedness and resilience of ASUU towards ensuring that the 2009 agreement is implemented by the Federal Government, we wish to remind both ASUU and the Federal Government that this strike is affecting us negatively.

    “ASUU embarked on strike with the aim of achieving positive developments in the education sector but with the prolonged strike coupled with FG and ASUU’s uncompromising stance, the reverse is the case.

    “ASUU has accused the Federal Government of insincerity in implementing the 2009 agreement, while the Federal Government on its part has accused ASUU of making unrealistic demands.

    “We are hereby calling on both parties to consider the hardship imposed on us due to this strike. As the saying goes that when two elephants fight the grasses suffer, we the students are the casualties in this case.

    “There are some self sponsored students who make a living through small businesses like selling recharge cards on campus and other business ventures but with this strike, economic activities have been paralysed for such students. The question is: How will they survive?

    “Additionally, while the strike is ongoing, we are growing older without commensurate academic attainment but the age limit for employment is not adjusting to reflect strike.

    “In fact, most companies do not employ any person who is above 25 years as a fresh graduate. Is this not a ploy to give our colleagues in private universities and those studying abroad undue advantage over us? What wrong have we done in attending public universities?”

  • Muslim students beg lecturers to return

    The Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) has urged the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to resume work in students’ interest.

    The group called on ASUU members to use other means to achieve their demands, because the strike has crippled the academic calendar of universities.

    Its National Amir, Abdulazeez Sirajudeen, said at a symposium organised by the association urged the government to meet ASUU’s demands so as to end students’ agony. The event, which was held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta in Ogun State was theme: Putting a stop to endemic corruption.

    Sirajudeen said: ‘’The billions of dollars that have been set aside as security votes are enough to meet the demands of ASUU. This must be done to safeguard the future of education. We cannot be paying lip service to the education of youths while our treasury is being looted by self-serving politicians. An ignorant nation will always remain unsafe.’’

    He decried the denial of some Muslim children the right to exercise their religious rights in school, adding that Muslim female students must be allowed to wear their hijab.

    ‘’It is sad our Muslim children are denied their rights to practice Islam. To make matter worse, some state governments in the South have deliberately hindered the teaching and learning of Islam and its language in schools. This is unacceptable. We are Muslims and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria permits us to practice our religion. And as such, nobody can stop us from living our lives as prescribed by Al-Islam,’’ he said.

    He called on Muslim students to embark on campaigns to oppose any government or party that is anti-Islam.

    Sirajudeen said President Jonathan must sign into law the controversial same-sex marriage bill. “We are calling on Mr President to sign the bill on same sex marriage into law so as to avoid mass protest by the coalition of Muslim and Christian students’ associations in Nigeria. Same-sex marriage is not only an abomination but a criminal act against God and humanity,” he stated.

    A former National Chairman of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Mr Olasupo Ojo, stressed that the only way to stop corruption in the country was for individuals to exercise self-control in everything they do, adding that the true test of morality lies in the mind.

    ‘’You will not find solution to corruption in laws or judgments, democracy or in any human institution. But the solution can only be found in a transformed mind because every decision and action we take comes from the mind,’’ he said.

    He charged Nigerians to demonstrate the fear of God and remember that they would one day give account of everything they do before God. ‘’If you fear God, you will always take the right decisions,’’ he said.

    In his lecture titled: The role of leadership in stopping the endemic corruption, Dr Taofeek AbdulAzeez said leaders have a role to play in putting an end to corrupt practices.

    He observed that every individual is a leader and shall be questioned about how they led their followers.

    He said: ‘’The Prophet described us as shepherd and we shall be asked by God to account for how we led our flock.’’

    Taofeek advised Muslim faithful to fight corruption and other evils, saying they were called by Allah in the holy Qur’an to reject corrupt deeds.

    The highlight of the occasion was the donations made by participants to projects at the permanent site of MSSN B-zone Islamic Vacation Course (IVC) as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogunmakin in Ogun State.

    The event was attended by Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, who was represented by the State Deputy Chief of Staff, Shuaib Salisu; Prince Bola Ajibola and Yusuf Olaniyonu, Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy.

    Others are Ambali Ishola, Permanent Secretary, Ogun State Ministry of Education; Kmaldeen Akintunde, Yunus Odekunle, a missionary at Ansarudeen Society.