The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Students

  • ‘Why we attacked Nigerian embassy’

    ‘Why we attacked Nigerian embassy’

    Niger-Delta students on scholarship in Peoples Friendship University of Russia have  justified their attack on the Nigerian Embassy in Russia.

    In a statement released by one of the students, Okoriko Maxwell,  he gave an account of the events that led to their action citing the nonchalant attitude towards one of their mates who was in dire need of medical assistance.

    The statement reads: “We were angry because the executives of the students visited the embassy for dialogue, we also put calls through to the Consular  notifying them that two students needed serious medical attention but the embassy refused to take any action or come to their aid even as they await operation.

    “The embassy in a recent meeting represented by the Consular and Deputy Head of Missions promised that we should give them one week to contact the head of education in the Niger Delta Scholarship Office which we did but they have till date refused to give us the feedback. Mr. Raymond Ekpobodo on the 28th of January 2013 gave the embassy the sum of 442,971.62 rubles (more than 13 thousand dollars) belonging to the students as the remains of funds used in paying students tuition fee. This money was received by the consular.

    “According to Mr. Raymond Ekpobodo, he was trusted by the former head of education in the programme, Mr. Patterson Ogon, to help him and pay stipends of students after which the receipt for the payment be given to the embassy  because the man who was supposed to coordinate the students according to the former head of education did not meet the requirements of being awarded a contract, the embassy promised to add some money to the existing one which will be used for payment of students’ stipends, but for more than nine months, the embassy never accounted for this money  even when we told them that we have not paid for medical insurance. We therefore demanded for this money to enable us take two of our students to the hospital which they never provided. Heaven can bear us witness that we have met with the embassy.” 

    “We tabled our problems for four time but they never bring this money to save the lives of these two students who are still unable to attend classes because of their ill-health.

    “We destroyed the furniture in the embassy because, we saw the billboard of the Sokoto state governor very large in the reception hall of the embassy, as civilized students, we see it as betrayal, unpatriotic and uncalled for to hang the portrait of Governor Aliyu Wamako on the wall of the conference hall of the embassy. 

    “The Defence Attache of the Nigerian mission in Russia, Air Commodore OluRotimi  A. Ogunjobi who was the only principal officer pleaded with us the students and did his best by giving us evacuation fee to enable us vacate the premises and transport ourselves home. In that regards, we decided to live the embassy, five students have already left as we were all about to live back to the school. But to our greatest Surprise, a group of police men numbering up to 30 and above drove in through the back door of the embassy, they forcefully arrested us into the police BLACK MARIA VAN, we were then 16 because five persons already left the embassy. That was why every news headline only accounts for 16.” 

    “The police released us after confirmation from the Rector of the university that we the affected students have no records of hooliganism, or any traceable crime record with the university coupled with the efforts and attestation of Patriotic Nigerians for our outstanding records since our arrival in the Russia Federation on the 17th of March 2011. We were released after 19 hours under detention.

    “We appeal to the office to contact the University for Further Investigation about some false allegations which was directed against us. We are proud to state here that we have never exempted ourselves from school and the university is our witness. 

    “We therefore appeal to the president of the federal republic of Nigeria to terminate the appointment of Amb. Assam Ekanem Assam. He is unprofessional and lacks managerial qualities, apart from the fact that he relegated the embassy to the status of a police post.”

  • UBA university educational grant for students

    UBA university educational grant for students

    The Corporate Social Responsibility,(CSR),  arm of the United Bank for Africa,(UBA) has announced the commencement of the 2013 edition of the National Essay Competition amongst secondary school students in Nigeria.

    Winners will get educational grants to study in any African university of their choice.

    According to the announcement by the  bank, the winner will  get N1million. The first runners-up will go away with N750,000 while the second runners-up takes N50,000 all in the  local currency equivalent towards university tuition/fees and a laptop. Consolation prizes will be given to the finalists.

    The essay competition titled: ‘How reading has impacted my knowledge’ is a follow up of the Read Africa Initiative of the Foundation which involves giving out literature books to secondary school students to help rekindle the reading culture amongst the youth in Africa.

    To enter for the competition, applicants must attach photocopies of their original birth certificates or photocopies of international passport data page. It is open to students of  senior secondary schools in Nigeria. Handwritten essay of not more than 750 words on the competition topic should be submitted along with their complete contact information, (school name & address, residential address, phone number and email address)

    All entries should be sent latest before November 1 to the UBA Foundation, UBA House, 3rd Floor, 57 Marina, Lagos – Nigeria.

  • Students urged to know HIV status

    Students urged to know HIV status

    Students have been urged to know their HIV status and avail themselves of free cervical screening at Optimacare Foundation in Surulere, Lagos Mainland. They were given the advice at a seminar organised by Iniative for Peace Building and Social Change (IPSC), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), for students of Lagos City Polytechnic, Ikeja and Lagos City Computer College.

    According to the Director, Optimacare Foundation, Dr Femi Olaleye, the reason for knowing one’s status is to avoid living on assumption and to seek medical care, should one be positive, instead of deteriorating to AIDS.

    “It is also safe to undergo screening for cervical cancer and also engage in breast self examinations. These are simple steps to stay healthy without living a complicated medical lifestyle. If these are not done, the purposes for early detection of either cancers will be defeated. Also, these cancers are highly preventable. There is a vaccine for cervical cancer treatment, depending on the stage. And also breast self examination does not cost a dime, so our females can do hat regularly.”

    He taught them how to conduct breast self-examination.

    The Executive Director of the NGO, Gbenga Gbarada, said it is disheartening when people allow their condition to deteriorate before seeking medical help. “That is why through this organisation, we are spreading the word on prevention, early treatment and living responsibly. Till date there is no cure for HIV or AIDS. Many people contact these diseases because of their ignorance. That is why we are telling everyone, especially students that prevention is better than cure,” he said.

  • Students, Surveyors hail UNIBEN VC

    Nigeria Institute of Surveyors, Edo State branch and Esan Students Association have commended Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof. Osayuki Oshodin, for leading the fight against sexual harassment and corruption among lecturers.

    Both bodies urged the VC to continue the fight against such social vices until they are eliminated in the institution.

    They spoke separately during a courtesy call on the VC.

    The students under the auspices of Esan Students Association passed a vote of confidence on the leadership style of Prof. Oshodin.

    President of the body, Sunday Ogun said there was a big difference between the administration of Oshodin and previous administrations.

    The chairman of NIS, Eromosele Iria Oboh, expressed the body’s readiness to partner with the university to develop the newly created department of geomatics.

    He stated that establishment of the Geomatics department in the university has been their dreams.

     

  • Getting set for future

    Getting set for future

    SIX million youths are thrown into the job market yearly, with the only 10 per cent getting employed. With such a frightening figure of unemployment, the onus, many beleive, is on students to stem the tide. Rather than waiting on the government for job, it is believed that they should employ skill acquisition to tackle the problem.

    This was the aim of the examination conducted for students offering Rehabilitation Education after a workshop organised by the School of Special Education, Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo State.

    The Head of the department, Dr A. I. Ajobiewe, said the course would run through the session, during which students would be made to acquire skills of their choice. She said students could specialise in over 33 vocations, depending on their interest. She listed block making, bag weaving, bead making, horticulture, leather works, tiling, barbing, hair dressing, catering and batik making, among others, as skills students could acquire.

    The examination, which started at 8am, was held in the department’s workshop. The students were divided into groups and required to carry out what they learned during the workshop.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the experts who conducted the training were not lecturers; they were hired by the school to instruct the trainees on various skills.

    Dr Ajobiewe said the institution wanted to open the eyes of its students to entrepreneurship, which was why the course was added to the school’s curricula. She urged the students to acquire lucrative skills during the training, advising them to think beyond academic and seek practical knowledge on how to be productively engaged after graduation.

    After the training which lasted for a session, the students prepared for the test. They besieged the department to unleash the expertise received from the workshop. Some of them who trained in catering appeared in white apron, other groups also came in various shades of aprons.

    Mr Ajayi Olufemi, a lecturer in the department, harped on the importance of skill acquisition. He said entrepreneurship was the way the nation could tackle unemployment. He urged the students to utilise the skills they acquired during the training, saying it would be an added advantage for them when they leave the school.

    At 4pm, the exercise ended. Participants submitted their works for assessment. Some of them completed the task before the time while others could not.

    Mr Emmanuel Ajayi, a lecturer in the department, chided some students who could not complete the task, saying they did not attend the workshop regularly.

    Some of the group leaders spoke to CAMPUSLIFE after the exercise. Joy Umaru, who led the interior decoration group, said the exam tested their practical knowledge of the vocation. She advised her colleagues to explore ways to practise what they were taught at the workshop.

    Adenike Adekunle, bag weaving group’s head, said: “The course has made me to better understand vocational training. I will source for capital to start the business because I just cannot wait anymore.”

    Another group leader, Agnes Ibeh, soap making, said: “I want to start something with the skill I have acquired and make profit from it.”

     

  • Schools should really exist for students

    The relationship between teaching and research and the influence of both on community development became clearer to me at a workshop I attended for school administrators and academics last week.

    One of the facilitators, Prof Samuel Bandele, did an excellent job of explaining how many more students will succeed if institutions formulate mentoring policies to monitor their progress. It made me understand how mentoring can help tertiary institutions adequately fulfil their teaching mandate.

    That schools exist primarily to train students is an incontrovertible fact. Unfortunately, this does not always seem to be the case in our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Students do not seem to be the centre of focus. They are forgotten in the web of administrative inconsistencies and poor student-worker relationships that exist in many schools.

    Institutions have more to lose if they do not evolve policies and institute practices that help their students succeed. The workshop got me thinking about many obnoxious practices in our schools. During registration, students sometimes have to queue to submit one document or the other to various departments. It is not uncommon for them to get to these offices and be kept waiting by officers who are not on seat, or who totally ignore them to engage in activities as mundane as gossip. These workers do not offer explanations or apologies for the actions they take or think they owe the students any. In worse situations, they even totally ignore or scream at them (students) if they are not in a good mood. Yet, the reason various cadre of workers are employed to work in tertiary institutions is directly or indirectly related to teaching students.

    If this problem were restricted to infrequent contacts students have with administrative staff only, it would not be worrisome. However, lecturer-student relationships suffer from the same malaise. Some lecturers are so hard that their students are afraid to ask questions in class or seek clarifications. Some are not just approachable; they even instill fear in the students by threatening them with poor grades.

    Such practices are archaic. Institutions that want to rank among the best in the world should be concerned about how well their students perform. While it is true that at tertiary level, students should be independent and enjoy a reasonable degree of freedom as adults, they will achieve more if institutions have deliberate policies that guide students’ performance. From covering convocations for many years, I have noticed that the greater percentage of students graduate with average performance. A few make the coveted First Class grades, whiel the largest groups in the result categories are usually divided between the Second Upper (Upper Credit) and Second Class Lower (Lower Credit) grades. And most times, the number of students that graduate with Second Class Lower grades are more. However, there is really no big deal to making good grades than hard work and commitment. That means that if students would only work harder, many more would succeed. That is an important reason why mentoring should be an important part of a school’s student-management policy.

    There are many of us today who wish we had had somebody who gave us the push and guidance we needed to succeed. We have seen how that little push would have made a whole world of difference in how we turned out. Youthful exuberance makes students lose focus. However, the counsel of a mentor can help them stay on track. If students are mentored in school, they are likely to turn out better and can benefit society better.

    The second facilitator for the workshop also did a fantastic job in describing the research landscape in Nigerian tertiary institutions. I will focus on that on another day because I found a lot of truth in the decay he said exist in our institutions.

    In choosing the focus of the workshop, Dr Ayo Ogunsan, chairman of Executive Trainers Ltd, the firm that organised the training said the thought behind the topic was to remind institutions of their core responsibilities.

    “I want to bring back to the fore the reason why institutions are in business so they can go back and re-design their teaching modules and work on their administrative processes so their students can succeed,” he said when I interviewed him. This is an issue that should concern every institution and they should seek to make amends.

     

  • Students protest lecturer’s abduction

    Students of the Rivers State School of Nursing yesterday blocked Ikwerre Road on Mile 4 axis in Port Harcourt with their school bus.

    They were protesting the abduction of one of their senior lecturers, Mrs. Daminabo Pual Beauty.

    The victim, a lecturer in the Department of Family Health, was abducted on Sunday evening by unidentified gunmen. She was on her way to the campus.

    The students said the abduction of Mrs. Daminabo would force them to shut down the school.

    They urged the Police Commissioner and Rivers State Government to ensure that the victim regains freedom, or else, they would shut down their campus.

    The students said insecurity had become alarming on the campus, adding that this has made them fall prey to rapists.

    The Students’ Union Government (SUG) President, Comrade Nwaorgu Anayochi, said the protest would continue until the victim is freed.

    Police spokesperson Mrs. Angela Agabe said she was yet to be briefed on the matter. She promised to get back to our reporter.

  • Students protest ‘defilement’ of colleagues

    Students of the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure (FECA) in Ondo State yesterday marched on the streets to protest the alleged defilement of three female students by hoodlums.

    They started the protest in the morning and resisted moves by the police to maintain peace, demanding the arrest of the hoodlums and the Chief Security Officer of the institution.

    Some reporters were molested by the students for attempting to enter the college premises to perform their duties.

    During the incident, the ever- busy Fiwasaye/Owo Road was blocked by the students, causing traffic jam that lasted many hours.

    The Students’ Union leader, Oladapo Akindamini, alleged that five hoodlums, led by a part time student of the school, invaded the campus around midnight and headed for the female hostel.

    He said the students were alerted by the alarm raised from the female hostel, only to discover that two of the female students had been allegedly defiled and the third assaulted.

    Akindamini said: “Before we could rush to the female dormitory to restore normalcy, two of our colleagues had been defiled and one was molested. Two other students were also assaulted when the rapists were trying to overpower them. We took them to the General Hospital.”

    He said the students, who were preparing for their examinations, trooped out of their hostels and apprehended one of the hoodlums, who was handed over to the security officer.

    He alleged that the security man, however, kept him in an open room instead of handing him over to the police and the hoodlum escaped.

    The students said security on the campus could no longer be guaranteed.

    The Provost, Dr. Mary Ogunkoya, said the police were handling the case, adding that those found culpable would be prosecuted in line with the law.

    Police spokesman Wole Ogodo said: “We have put the situation under control”, adding that the victims have reported the incident at the Divisional Police Station in Ijapo, Akure.

    He said the victims were on admission at an undisclosed hospital and investigation is ongoing to arrest the culprits.

  • ‘Let’s emulate the Germans’

    The FUNAAB Vice-Chancellor, Prof Olusola Oyewole, has challenged aspiring entrepreneurs and stakeholders in the education sector to learn from the German government which upgraded its polytechnics to universities.

    Oyewole threw the challenge while inaugurating an eight-week intensive skill acquisition training organised by the Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies (CENTS) of the university.

    He expressed optimism that such conversion will afford the participants the impetus to acquire first-hand-skills required in their various fields of specialization.

    Oyewole praised CENTS for taking steps to ensure that FUNAAB students are equipped with additional skills that will stand them out after graduation.

    He said such skills would strengthen the certificates issued by Nigerian universities.

    “Our certificate is not worthless; if you have knowledge and it is not applied, it becomes useless. What we are doing is to ensure that the certificate of FUNAAB is different from others,” he said.

    Speaking earlier, the Director, CENTS, Prof. Olufemi Onifade, said the skills acquisition programme will be the first to be organised since CENTS was established in 2011.

    The various skills training provided by CENTS included fashion designing, automation and fabrication, clothing and textile, events management, hotel management, construction/plumbing, fish farming, forex trading and shoe making.

    Others are poultry production/hatchery, furniture making, jewellery making; creche management and Web design among others.

     

  • Students paralyse Ibadan

    There was confusion yesterday in Ibadan when students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan took to the streets, protesting lack of social amenities in their hostels.

    Human and vehicular movements were paralysed for nearly two hours as motorists found it difficult to pass through the major roads linking Sango-Eleyele to other parts of Ibadan.

    The students complained about epileptic power supply.

    They shouted anti-government slogans and barricaded entrances to their campus.

    Some of the students, who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said the epileptic power supply should be addressed to ensure smooth academic activities.

    One of them said: “Electricity supply is terrible in our school. We have made our grievances known to the polytechnic authority, but to no avail.”

    The institution’s spokesman, Alhaji Soladoye Adewole, said: “We all know that power generation is a critical issue in this country. We generate light for four hours a day for students between 6am and 8am and 8pm to 10pm, using a generator.

    “We started having problems with them when the generator became bad. It requires overhauling and this is taking us time.”

    He said there was no need for the protest since there was an effective means for the students to channel their grievances.

    Said he: “We once gave them the phone numbers of the polytechnic’s principal officers so that they can lodge complaints and cross-check facts from the school authority.

    “We understand that the students are not happy about the situation, but the matter should have been tabled instead of protesting.”