THE Pro Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, on Friday, performed the ground-breaking ceremony for the N3 billion Faculty of Engineering of the institution. Iwuanyawnu said the first phase of the project which would be the building of the department of Civil Engineering would be completed in 72 weeks. He said the Civil Engineering department would cost N369.8 million to complete. Other phases of the project would include a faculty lecture theatre, dean’s office and departments of Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering and Electrical and Electronics. He said funds for the project would be sourced from contributions from the private sector and well-meaning individuals. The federal and state governments, he said, are also expected to contribute. He disclosed that the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, had already donated N50 million to the project. He regretted that the university situated in Calabar, a town that occupies a special place in the history of Nigeria, did not have an engineering faculty. He said Calabar was located in an area where all the prerequisites of development are. He described the city as a cradle for development and industrialisation, where young men and women could acquire skills without the bustle that characterises other Nigerian cities. He said when functional, the faculty would serve not just as a hub for Nigerians but Africans in general. The Pro-chancellor said the faculty would be international in outlook as they would seek affiliations with top institutions all over the world in engineering. Vice Chancellor of UNICAL, Prof James Epoke, said plans for the faculty had been on for the past four years. He said the institution was on the verge of performing the ground-breaking 22 months ago but had to cancel it due to some circumstances. Engr Ebo Godwin who spoke on behalf of the contractor handling the project, TIMDOZ Engineering Limited, said they would complete it on time if the funds were made available.
Tag: UNICAL
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Igbo students visit monarch
Iembers of the Federation of Igbo Students (FIS) of the University of Calabar, (UNICAL) have visited the Eze Igbo of Kano, Odu Ndi Igbo VI, Nnaji Aguna Eche Ibe 1 of Nkeke.
The students were led by President, Ekene Odumegwu. Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, Odumegwu said the visit was informed by the need to gain from the Eze’s leadership experience.
He said: “We believe that the elders are the custodians of knowledge acquired through diverse experiences. We decided to embark on this mission so as to get gain knowledge of our culture.”
The monarch commended the students for their knowledge of the Igbo culture.
He noted that great leaders are those with strong human relationship skills. “People basically can be best governed when there is a good relationship between the leaders and the led,” he said. He urged the students to be mindful of the company they keep, adding that bad company ruins good reputation.
He decried the gradual extinction of the Igbo culture and urged the students to preserve the rich cultural heritage of the race.
Odumegwu thanked the monarch for giving the students audience.
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Imoke commissions VC’s lodge
Amid fanfare, lecturers and students of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) welcomed the governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, to the campus for the commissioning of the renovated Vice-Chancellor’s lodge. The building, which is located along MCC road in Calabar, was abandoned 13 years ago.
The event started by 4:30pm with the Public Relation Officer of the university, Mr. Eyo Bassey, welcoming dignitaries to the occasion, among dignitaries who included former pro-chancellor, Dr Rolland Ehigiamusoe, ex-Vice-Chancellor, Prof Kelvin Ita, Cross River State Commissioner for Education, Prof Offiong Offiong and former coordinator of Centre for General Studies, Dr Ndubuisi Osuagwu.
Others were members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), led by its chairman Dr James Okpiliya, their counterparts in Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) and Students’ Union Government (SUG) officials led by the president, Bassey Eka.
The Deputy Governor Effiom Cobham, who represented Imoke, was welcomed by the cultural troupe of UNICAL International Secondary School.
After prayer by Dean, Students’ Affairs’ Division, Prof Eyong Eyong, Vice-Chancellor Prof James Epoke gave the opening remark by thanking members of the immediate past Governing Council of the institution for their support and approval of the reconstruction of the lodge. He also commended members of the present council for ensuring the project was completed on time.
While cutting the ribbon to officially open the building, Cobham noted that the reconstruction project was a mark of true and exemplary leadership of the university authorities. After the commissioning, Prof Epoke led dignitaries into the building.
The white one-storey building is a seven-bedroom duplex. Attached to the main building at the back are two chalets with one bedroom flat each. On the side is a guest quarter for visitors. The lodge sits on about three plots of land.
Prof Florence Anijobi, Dean of the Faculty Education, said she was excited by the renovation of the facility.
The Director of Works, who oversaw the reconstruction project, said: “It is a comfortable place for the VC to stay. It is a product of collaboration of the Works department and the Physical Planning Unit. It is not my own effort. The status of the university has been elevated to the level it ought to be”.
Prof Epoke said: “The council felt that this kind of edifice the university owns could not be left fallow as it has been for 13 years. When the last council sat, we decided that there was no need to rent an apartment for the VC when the university has an official house. This place is like the government house of the university and I believe that it will dignify the university.”
Bassey noted that the VC lodge was a product of a good intension. The union praised the VC for carrying students along in the scheme of things.
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Varsity builds computer centre
The University of Calabar (UNICAL) has built a computer centre where computer-based examinations will be taking place. The facility, named National Universities Commission (NUC) Data Base, was built in collaboration with Afri-Hub, an Information and Telecommunication firm.
The centre, situated in the university Library Complex, was opened with examination, which had 560 candidates to write test in a week.
Speaking at the venue, Deputy Director, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), who is also the Zonal Coordinator of the board in Cross River State, Mr Kehinde Olukogun, said the computer-based test (CBT) was an innovation by JAMB geared towards addressing the problems associated with the Paper Pencil-Based Test (PPBT) and malpractice.
Olukogun said the computer test involved the use of computer to administer the test online, adding that UNICAL chosen as a centre for the exams because of its conducive ambience as well as availability of good facility.
In his remark, the Director of Information Communication Technology (ICT), UNICAL, Dr Rufus Okoro, said the management agreed to facilitate the examination because the initiative was in tandem with the Vice-Chancellor Prof James Epoke administration’s desire to do its all to curb all forms of dishonest behaviour in examination.
Okoro said the university had been considering the idea of using the computer-based test to conduct its post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) test, saying from what he saw, CBT remained best option for if credibility must return to public examination.
Okoro, however, said the challenge with the computer test was the facilities to accommodate thousands of candidates that registered for the examination yearly. He also said power supply was another problem being faced to effectively use the facility.
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Varsity inducts nurses
Graduating students of the Nursing Department thronged the University of Calabar (UNICAL) Hotel and Conference Centre in white robes to be inducted into the Board of Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).
Addressing the inductees during the thanksgiving service held for them, the Chief Medical Director of the UNICAL Teaching Hospital, Dr Thomas Agan, commended the graduates for scaling through the arduous training, charging them to uphold the ethics of the profession.
The inductees were enjoined to seek more knowledge and register with the council so as not to be seen as quacks.
CAMPUSLIFE learnt that of the 45 students, who were presented for the NMCN professional examination last November, 35 were successful.
The guest speaker, Prof Andrew Uduigwomen, admonished the granduands to be committed to their calling.
Citing Exodus 1-2, Uduigwomen urged the graduates to learn from Pharaoh’s daughter, who nurtured Moses, despite the king’s directive to kill him.
The highpoints of the ceremony was the oath-taking and presentation of awards to outstanding students.
In her vote of thanks, the graduating students’ representative, Dorothy Ikumegwang, thanked God for the success of their programmes.
She expressed gratitude to the management, lecturers and their parents, she who supported them throughout the training.
One of the graduates, Abasiama Edet, said: “I am grateful and fulfilled.”
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Faculty disrupts exam for registration
Final year students of the Faculty of Education, University of Calabar (UNICAL), were shocked when officials of the faculty kicked them out of examination halls for failing to complete their registration. The incident led to confusion in Pavilions 1, 2 and 3, where the students were writing their exam.
The officials, led by the Dean of the faculty, Prof Florence Obi, stormed the exam venues and ordered students to vacate the halls for incomplete registration.
Distressed Honest Mfon, 400-Level Educational Administration and Planning, told CAMPUSLIFE that the faculty officials were doing the right thing at the wrong time.
“There was no official information prior to the ejection of students from exam halls. Why didn’t they tell us before we entered the halls to write our exam?” she queried.
Some of the affected students said the disrupted paper was the reason they were still on campus, saying postponing the exam to a later date would subject them to hardship.
“Our foodstuff have finished and we don’t have any money with us again. How do they want us to survive?” one of them lamented.
According to Prof Obi, the action was to make students to know that departmental and faculty registrations are compulsory, adding that many of the students had not paid their dues.
The course lecturers urged the students to be calm, promising that the exam would be rescheduled to a later date.
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Student donates notice board
tudents are known mostly for demanding one thing or the other but Rejoice Eziedo, a final year student of Education Administrative and Planning and the former coordinator of Female Leadership Forum (FLF), University of Calabar (UNICAL), demonstrated uncommon courage when she donated an ultra-modern notice board to the Students’ Affairs Division.
While unveiling the board, Rejoice echoed the words of Abraham Lincoln, saying: “Don’t leave any environment the way you meet it, always bring a positive change to make it better.”
She said the quoted sentence inspired her to embark on the project.
The Dean of Students’ of Affairs, Prof Eyong Eyong, who was very excited by the project, commended Rejoice for the gesture. He said: “It is a thing of joy that a student could have the wisdom to think of having what to add to the system, we commend you for the presentation and we promise to make good use of the board.”
The Students’ Union President, Bassey Eka, eulogised the donor for her benevolence, saying with the gesture, Rejoice had demonstrated attribute of a good leader.
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Flood hits UNICAL
The regular students of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) were about rounding off their first semester examination to leave the stage for their colleagues in part-time classes, which is known on the campus as Centre for Educational Services (CES).
All measures had been put in place to start the Computer-Based Test (CBT) for the CES students last Monday but the exercise was not to be. Students trooped to the campus for their examination without unaware of what the day held for them.
The day began on a sunny note and final year students of the Faculty of Management Science converged on Pavilions 2 and 3 to write their papers. They waited endlessly for the arrival of question papers and answer booklets.
At 2:45pm, the atmosphere changed. The sun disappeared, casting a dark cloud over the sky. It was about to rain. Thunder struck, leaving cracking sounds on its trail. Some students, who were reading under a tree beside the Pavilions, scampered for safety.
Shortly there was a downpour. The rain was accompanied by thunderstorm. The wares of traders near the Department of Genetic and Biotechnology and the New Science Lecture Theatre 5 (NSLT 5) were scattered by the accompanying whirlwind.
Also, the whirlwind smashed the louvres of offices between the Physics and Chemistry departments.
Students who had converged to write their examination were drenched.
The downpour, which lasted for 40 minutes, flooded the campus, causing a traffic gridlock on the two-lane road. The campus drainage was blocked, making water to overflow the road. For hours, heavy traffic paralysed activities on the campus.
It was a field day for commercial cab operators who hiked fares.
Motorists drove against the traffic as they attempted to avoid the flooded stretch, aggravating the traffic snarl on the dual carriageway. The university security officers battled to restore sanity on the road.
When CAMPUSLIFE visited the campus, refuse littered some lecture rooms. Our correspondents gathered that a collision of two electric cables triggered a spark that shattered louvres and doors in the Genetics and Biotechnology department. Students, who took cover in the building, dashed for the exit as smoke billowed from the cables.
Lecture halls, students’ cafeteria and the bar joints behind the main library were affected by the flood.
Also, the road connecting Medical College to NSLT 5 was flooded, trapping students who wrote their exams in the lecture theatre for hours.
What could have been a tragedy was averted when a female student, who got stuck in a drainage, was rescued from drowning by male students. The victim, however, lost her handbag and phone to the flood.
The incident forced the management to cancel the examinations of final year Accounting and Banking and Finance students, which were scheduled for the evening of the day. CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the halls where the exams were to take place were flooded.
Speaking to our correspondents, a 500-Level Banking and Finance student, who pleaded anonymity, said:
“Our exam has been paralysed by the flood. Now, it has been postponed till further notice and only God knows when another date will be fixed. I pray the date does not crash with my carry over papers.”
He said the poor drainage system at the front of the Pavilions 2 and 3 caused the flood water to overrun the lecture theatre. He urged the management to construct a proper drainage system to prevent loss of lives.
Another student blamed the incident on what he calls the inefficiency of the waste management unit of the university, saying the flood may have been caused by blockaged drainage.
“From the look of things, you will find out that when such downpour occurs, the debris is washed down to the drainage, thereby blocking the free flow of water. How can they provide one refuse bin in the male hostel for such large population of students? This is the reason why students dump refuse indiscriminately on the ground,” he said.
CAMPUSLIFE gathered that it was not the first time the university would experience flooding. The Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof Eyong Eyong, could not be reached for comment because of network hitches caused by the bad weather. Also, the Students’ Union president, Bassey Eka, could not be reached at the time of this report.
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Rotaract Club gives school a facelift
The Rotaract Club of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) has repainted the Government Primary School in Obufa Etuk, Cross River State, as part of its service to humanity.
Members of the club painted walls of classrooms in the school and chalk boards. The students divided themselves into groups and painted three blocks of the school.
Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, the club president, Solomon Obio, said the club decided to paint the buildings because of their deplorable condition. He said giving a facelift to the school would give the pupils hope.
In a related development, the club held a health awareness programme with the pupils in the school.
Edem Effiom, one of the Rotaract Club’s members, who was a facilitator in the awareness programme, told the pupils why they must wash their teeth in the morning and evening. He also taught them on how they could wash their hands after using the toilet and before eating.
John Julius advised the pupils not to join bad companies, urging them always behave well. After the programme, sachets of close-up tooth paste were given to the pupils.
The deputy Headmistress, Mrs Egwudo Udoh, praised the Rotaract members for choosing the school to carry out their humanitarian activities. She noted that the painting had beautified the school and the pupils were happy to receive the training.
She prayed for God to reward the efforts of the club members, saying it was a demonstration of the love the club had for the children and the school.
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Mind your diet, Nigerians told
Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences (FBMS), College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar (UNICAL), has held its third lecture series with a call on Nigerians to be conscious of their diets.
The lecture series, an initiative of the former Dean, Prof Atim Antai, was held at the conference hall of the college.
In his address, the Dean, Prof Mbeh Ubana Eteng, said the faculty lecture series was in line with the university’s five years strategic plan to become a centre of excellence, using research and teaching to drive development internationally.
“In the five years strategic plan of this university, it is our aim to emerge as centre of excellence using research and teaching to drive development internationally, nationally and individually,” he said.
Speaking on the theme of the lecture Lipid consumption: Food aroma and our health ,Prof Essien Udoh, noted that lipid consumption varied between the rich and poor, saying rich man’s food comprised animal products that contained saturated fats while poor man’s diet composed of vegetables.
Prof Essien explained that fat is a necessary nutrient for optimal health and wellbeing but excessive consumption of it is unhealthy.
“The lesser the fats coming from animal sources the better since the new trend places emphasis on people consuming as much as possible vegetable sources of food while moderating the animal sources which excess predisposes one to heart diseases”.
The don stressed that because of the appetising nature of lipid people are always enticed to consume more than required amount of lipid which he noted predisposes one to heart diseases.
“Lipid is the source of flavour in food, if you prepare a food without any source of fats the food will have no flavour and will not be appetising. Food aroma entices people to eat. We should be aware that the more appetising, we maybe getting too much fats”
In a chat with CAMPUSLIFE, Dr. Mfon Agbaso, secretary Faculty Lecture series committee noted that it cannot be overemphasized the need for Nigerians to be aware of their diet since the functionality of their body depends on what they eat.
“it’s important one knows what he/she puts in his body because at the end of the day, the functionality our our body system depends on what we eat. The clothes we wear do not determine how our body works but what we eat because the body system depends on what we eat so what we eat determiner how our body functions. So if you take something that will have adverse effects on our system then you know that you are dipping your grave rather early. So it’s ok to be conscious about what we eat”
The lecture held every semester with a view to encourage cross fertilization of knowledge between staff and students of faculty had the attendance of Prof. Osim, Prof. Anne Asuquo (Dean, faculty of allied medical science), heads of the constituting departments, staff and students.