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Tag: Unilag students

  • Drowned UNILAG students buried amidst tears

    Drowned UNILAG students buried amidst tears

    But we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. Therefore, mourn not, cry not, grieve not; but rather give thanks to God for the life lived,” these were the soothing words of Pastor Biodun Alimi, the officiating minister during the funeral programme for Adesola Olubola Ogunmefun and Funmilayo Odusina, the two students of the University of Lagos who drowned at the Elegushi beach earlier this week.

    Despite the advice from the man of God, family members and friends of the two young women could not hold back their tears, as they wept bitterly while paying their last respect.

    Their remains were retrieved from the Lagos General Hospital, Marina, Lagos and moved to the Private Vaults Garden, a section of the Ikoyi Cemetry in Lagos. It was a solemn environment as deafening silence enveloped the entire area. And the people, all wearing mournful faces, started arriving in groups of two and more as the mourners found their way to the already set grave.

    As the lone voice of the officiating minister boomed out, it reverberated far and struck an emotional button in the families of the deceased, as they broke down in tears.

    At exactly 12pm, the remains of the two were simultaneously committed to mother earth with their graves not far apart from each other. Their friends, all wearing yellow T-shirts that had the pictures of Adesola and Funmi boldly plastered on it, wore long faces as they tried to cope with their loss.

    The deceased were nevertheless showered with numerous encomiums and tribute as their lives and times were recounted. According to Sunmibola Ogunmefun: Shola, my consolation is 1 Thessalonica, verse 13 and 18. Very simplistic, you have never been the kind to take things too seriously and your smile is always from ear…(I use ‘is’ because I know you are still smiling). Keeping malice with you was futile; you would always find way to break the ice and even now you won’t let me be angry at you. I guess you would have to scrub the gas cooker myself now, you promised you were going to do it this week.’

    ‘You are in the right place, not a single house chore; all you have got to do is sing your heart out, chill in your mansion, enjoy the feel of gold under you feet and keep smiling Shokuro (my talkative sister); I know you don’t understand why we are sad, I can imagine you staring at us as though we were are silly,’ she said.

    Shortly before their remains were interred, families, colleagues and friends of Adesola Olubola Ogunmefun and Funmilayo Odusina mustered strengths to pay tributes to the two. In her brief tribute, Adesola’s younger sister,nsaid: ‘Adesolami, I really don’t know what to say. Can I ever survive without you? I miss you; miss the fact that no one will be beating my breast. RIP baby.

    Aikulola Olu, a friend, said: “I kept hoping I would wake up on Tuesday morning and find out was just like a very bad dream. You would be back to hounding me on my personal life as usual. Unfortunately, this seems to be the reality. I choose to believe God has a reason. I most definitely won’t forget you and I will try to loosen up and live life to the fullest like you advised me constantly.”

    Another friend, Lanre Akinwale, said he found it incomprehensible to admit the reality of their death, saying, “each time I have to contend with the reality of your death, what comes to my mind is your smile. When we met at a ceremony in Ikeja on Saturday, 4th of June, you were full of joy, happiness and enthusiasm. We dined and danced together. While you were leaving the venue in the company of a senior colleague, you waved your hand; I thought you meant to say bye, but I never thought you were actually bidding me farewell.”

    Also paying their tribute, members of staff of the Ministry of Education, Ogun State, where she worked as the Personal Assistant to the Commissioner of Education, Science and Technology, described Adesola as a wonderful intellect of matchless courage.

    In a statement, they said: “Adesola Ogunmefun strived hard to make sure that all our Model Schools are on point; she didn’t relent in her effort until she lost her life. She was extremely dedicated to her duty and was loyal to her Principal. We will miss your perpetual smile, the winkle in your dark brown eyes that would be the envy of any man.”

    It will be recalled that the Post-Graduate Students of the University of Lagos, Funmi, 24 and Adesola 27 died last Sunday while celebrating the birthday of a friend a Elugushi Beach, Lagos.

    While consoling the bereaved families, the officiating minister, who spoke on the transiency of, said the bereaved must be grateful for the fact that the dead knew God before their demise, saying that a life without Jesus was a waste. He said death was an inevitable phenomenon for all and sundry and urged people to make positive impacts on others and leave indelible mark as they go about their daily lives. According to him, though their time on earth was short, they made their marks in the lives family members, friends and colleagues.

  • UNILAG students got it wrong

    UNILAG students got it wrong

    SIR: Protests are in place. It is a good way to channel your disapproval about issues. Definitely, a means of drawing the attention of any reasonable management to issues they might have discounted.

    In every sane environment, protests are done in tranquility, in order and without any form of unsightly scenes created. However, the latest protest embarked upon by University of Lagos students portends the opposite.

    Three key issues instigated the protest: shortages in water and power supply, disparity in prices of commodities on campus and the deadlock with the school management over the latter.

    Before now, the power supply in the school has always been a better than the supply to other Nigerians. However, students have in recent times been suffering from epileptic power supply. The lack of power supply slows down academic activities: Stuffy lecture theatres, Inability to read by students as well carry academic assignments.

    The students’ grievances mirror those of Nigerians who have continuously lived in darkness for days. Queues have tripled at different filling stations with Nigerians spending man hours without any success of getting Premium Motor Spirit to get on with their daily activities.

    It also reflects how the nation’s current economy has made many commodities sell for exorbitant prices. Several commodities have seen their prices tripled leaving buyers to their fate. Quite Saddening!

    The harassment, hounding and harrying of students on Thursday, April 7 from their hostels to the Senate Building was uncalled for. It was reported that students got into various halls of residences and ordered the students to protest. Many who wished to capture the scenes created were bullied, beaten and had their phones seized. Protests are voluntary.

    The recurrent reactive stance the university authority on certain issues in recent past has not been helpful. A progressive leadership is a proactive, foresees a lacuna and works tirelessly to block such. The continuous grandstanding, lack of communication, proper deliberation with students and stakeholders will continually result in this situation.

    Vice-Chancellor Professor Rahman Ade-Bello, knows too well that strategic and proper communication is germane if he desires to steer the University of Lagos appropriately. With the first semester examination scheduled for April 18, this break in the calendar is uncalled for. This protest succeeds two other unnecessary protests by students in the last one year. The students’ executives must admit they goofed and redress their steps. The earlier the better else the ten-year ban on union activities on campus might erupt again.

     

    • Kelechi Amakoh,

    Lagos.

  • Sagay, Ezekwesili contemptuous of Unilag students

    Sagay, Ezekwesili contemptuous of Unilag students

    At a roundtable organised by the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, University of Lagos, tagged “Winning the War Against Corruption”, ideological schisms on the anti-graft war have manifested on a scale that should begin to worry the Muhammadu Buhari administration. Controversial Vanguard columnist and scholar, Femi Aribisala, drew the first blood when he took on Oby Ezekwesili, a former World Bank vice president, and shredded her viewpoint on the subject to the admiration and applause of the students in the hall.

    According to Mr. Aribisala, “Corruption cannot be narrowly defined the way Dr. Ezekwesili defined it, only relating to public institutions. We are corrupt in Nigeria. The plumber, the tailor, the whole society is corrupt…The 2015 election was not an anti-corruption election. We did not have any political party that presented an anti-corruption mandate to us. The party that won the election was just a makeover of the PDP, I mean the PDP people moved from the PDP to the APC. If they were corrupt when they were in PDP, they became clean when they were in APC.”

    For the students to dare to applaud this trenchant criticism of President Buhari’s anti-graft war, Itse Sagay, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-corruption, fumed in response: “We are not here to make students clap…We are here on a very serious business. And students, don’t behave like American voters who are ignorant…The appreciation of unserious people shows ignorance. How can someone come here and say there’s no war against corruption and there is clapping?  “

    Also angry and exasperated with the students applauding Mr. Aribisala, Mrs. Ezekwesili thundered:  “I wasn’t surprised that some of you were clapping. The reason you were clapping is that you are a page in your own level of corruption. There are many whose exam malpractice is the basis upon which  they have come to school. So when you are talking about the need to wage a war against corruption, they are completely disconnected from it…There is no comedy session going on here. We are talking about something that can be destructive.”

    Not only were Prof. Sagay and Mrs. Ezekwesili haughty, they were contemptuous of the students. The students, most of whom are studying law, and have thus learnt the basis of law in a society, have a right to appreciate any point that makes sense to them. Rather than counter with superior arguments and also perhaps elicit more vociferous applause from the students, Prof. Sagay and Mrs. Ezekwesili churlishly attacked the students without proof or foundation. They were wrong to do so. They should be worried that when the students applauded Mr. Aribisala last Thursday, it probably presaged a silent but demonstrable shift away from the president and his party, not necessarily that the audience failed to recognise that the controversial columnist was cleverly politicking for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

     

  • UNILAG students design electric car

    UNILAG students design electric car

    A group of Mechanical Engineering students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has unveiled a zero-emission automobile built to reduce global warming. KAWTHAR BABATUNDE (300-Level Petroleum Engineering) reports.

    The project was conceived last year and the aim was to build an automobile that will not be powered by fuel. Months after they started the project, the engineers came out with a design of the car.

    The eco-friendly automobile was unveiled last Wednesday at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

    The engineering students, who designed the zero-emission vehicle, named it DOVE P1 at an exhibition organised by Designed for Zero Vehicle Emission (DOVE) Initiative at the Julius Berger Hall.

    The 200 kilogramme automobile is powered by a high voltage battery and has no carbon emission. It has only a driver’s seat and a speed limit of 15 kilometres per hour. It is fitted with a tabular frame chassis and a 16-inch diameter tires.

    The project was initiated by Olusanya Olukoya, a graduate of Mechanical Engineering of the university, who said the car was built with locally-sourced materials.

    Olusanya told CAMPUSLIFE that the car was designed out of their desire to encourage eco-friendly inventions. He praised the school management for supporting the project and their passion for practising what they were taught in the class.

    He said: ‘The project DOVE Initiative is a design and innovation group established to encourage innovativeness of the youth to design and create vehicles of the future in Nigeria. We want to create pure, clean, eco-friendly and energy efficient automobiles. This informed our idea to build an electric car as against the conventional fuel-powered cars.”

    He said electric vehicles would be become a new trend in the future, noting that the world was running out of fossil fuels. Electric cars, Olusanya said, has an advantage over the conventional vehicle, because it reduces carbon emission into the atmosphere.

    During the presentation of the techniques behind the design, Peace Omoruyi, a 500-Level Mechanical Engineering student and leader of the project team, said they had already started the design of DOVE P2, which would be an improvement on the DOVE P1.

    According to him, the new automobile would have an ergonometric design, accident prevention system, fingerprint port and anti-theft technology.

    The exhibition was attended by guests from the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Corporation, Mr. F.A. Akandu.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Rahmon Bello, represented by the Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Prof A.O. Fakinlade, hailed the students, expressing hope that the project would place the nation on the global map.

    He said: “We must learn from countries that have vibrant automobile industries. The extent to which our automobile industry goes depends on the level of support we give young inventors and how fast we can learn. I urge other engineering students to emulate this initiative and design life-changing projects that can boost local inventions.”

    The Managing Director of Elizade Nigeria Limited, Mr Adedamola Adeojo, said he was impressed by the students’ creativity, noting that the development could boost local expertise for vehicles’ production.

    He said: “We are here to celebrate ingenuity of our youths. I see inventions like this to have to potentials to change the thinking of unemployed youths to become inventors. I will encourage the designers of DOVE P1 to transform the project into a business idea.”

    Prof Oluremi Olatunbosun, Head of Automotive Engineering Laboratory of the University of Birmingham in United Kingdom, said he was surprised by the students.

    If supported, Prof Olatunbosun expressed optimism that the project could make Nigeria a vehicle-manufacturing nation, adding that it could provide jobs to the unemployed youths.

    He said: “One of the areas we can create jobs is manufacturing industry and that is how countries like China and Singapore developed.”

    Akandu said Lagos government would maintain partner with the DOVE P1 designers to create opportunities for youths in the state.

    Maduka Smart, a final year Mechanical Engineering student and a member of DOVE Initiative, while unveiling the group’s plan for the future, said the team had the plan to take to take the initiative beyond the campus. He solicited support of the government and engineers.

    The NSE through its representative, Mr Tunde Jayesinmi, pledged its support, saying it would maintain cordial relationship with the group.

     

  • Unilag students hold Africa Sings IV

    ALTHOUGH the annual choral concert of the Department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos, Akoka, has come and gone, many of the participants will, for some time, treasure the fond memory.

    At the fourth edition of the talent hunt show tagged Africa Sings IV held recently at the university main auditorium, Dr. D.K. Olukoya’s Why Does The Nation Rage, a classical piece, was rendered by a young woman named Osazie Adekola.

    Thereafter, the Wura Chorale took over with a song titled Oke Nla followed by Yak Ikom Abasi and then Everytime I feel the spirit.

    Other groups who took part in the competition were Kakaaki Voices, Amuludun, Odidere Chorale and Okaka Chorale.

    While Wura Chorale emerged 5th position and went home with N250, 000, Kakaaki Chorale, which came fourth, also got the same amount.

    The second runner-up, Odidere Chorale, was rewarded with N500, 000, while Okaka Chorale, the 1st runner-up, won N 750,000.

    Interestingly, Amuludun, who stole the show, won the N1, 000,000 grand prize for Africa Sings IV.

    According to the convener of the show, Dr. Oikelome of the Department of Creative Arts, the concert was put together to celebrate the choral compositions of Dr. D.K Olukoya, founder and General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries.

    Olukoya, who was the special guest of honour, said he was overwhelmed by the various performances and prayed for the entire students.