The Nation Newspaper

Tag: UNILAG

  • VC hosts South African varsity

    A team from the University of Cape Town, South Africa have visited the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to discuss areas of mutual interest.

    The University of Cape Town delegation led by the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Max Price was received by the UNILAG Vice-Chancellor, Prof Rahamon Bello; Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics & Research), Prof Babajide Alo; Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services), Prof Duro Oni; Registrar, Mr Oluwarotimi Shodimu; Bursar, Mr Lateef Odekunle; Librarian, Dr Olukemi Fadehan, and Dean, Faculty of Law, Prof Imran Oluwole Smith, among others.

    Welcoming the delegation, Prof Bello, highlighted the history, academic programmes and staff strength of UNILAG. He expressed the institution’s readiness to collaborate with the University of Cape Town in International Law, Joint Research Venture, Staff/Student Exchange Programmes, Science and Communication.

    In his response, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town thanked the UNILAG Management for the warm reception. He expressed his willingness to ensure the establishment of linkages between the two tertiary institutions.

  • UNILAG students honour Ngozi Agbo

    The second Memorial Lecture in honour of the former CAMPUSLIFE Co-ordinator, the late Mrs Ngozi Agbo, has been held at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). The lecture, which was organised by the Press Club of the university, took place in the board room of the Faculty of Social Sciences with the theme: Becoming a successful campus writer.

    The guest lecturer and the Editor of The Nation, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, spoke on how students can be successful writers. He was represented by Wale Ajetunmobi, the Co-ordinator of CAMPUSLIFE.

    Ajetunmobi , who recalled how he met the late Mrs Agbo, noted that CAMPUSLIFE is a life-transforming platform floated by the newspaper.

    The Industrial Chemist turned journalist said the late Mrs Agbo carved a niche for herself in discovering and building the youths for a better future, saying there would not have been a platform where undergraduates would converge to air their views if the honouree did not initiate CAMPUSLIFE project.

    He described campus journalism as a nascent form of journalism being practiced by students of higher institutions across the world. He added that campus journalists write on issues related to campus life and people, including student-lecturer, student-student, lecturer-lecturer, student-management and student-host community relationships.

    He said: “To be credible, a campus writer must discharge his role within the purview of campus with courage and openness, without compromising his responsibility to the students on whose side he must always be.”

    According to the speaker, the ethical code binding a professional journalist, such as objectivity, fairness, openness, credibility and accountability, also applied to a campus journalist, which he described as interface between the students and management. He, however, cautioned that campus journalists should not write to paint the management as the devil all the time.

    Mr Damilola Ademola, a graduate of Microbiology, UNILAG, and former CAMPUSLIFE reporter, who is a post-graduate student of Mass Communication in the university, took the audience through his adventures and the reasons why he left the field of natural sciences to pursue a course in journalism at the post graduate level.

    According to him, the late Mrs Agbo inspired and nurtured him through CAMPUSLIFE platform during his undergraduate days. Ademola said the inspiration he got from the gesture prompted his decision to veer into journalism.

    The event was attended by students and some staff of the university.

     

  • Man arrested for distributing nude photos on internet

    A man who kidnapped and stripped naked a 22- year-old female undergraduate student of the University of Lagos State, Akoka, for refusing to date him
    has been arrested by operatives at the Lagos State Police command.
    The suspect, identified as Babajide Bashorun, 22, a dog breeder, also allegedly raped the student and took snaps shot of her nudity.
    It was gathered that few days after the incident, the pictures were all over the internet.
    The pictures allegedly had the girl’s name and surname, her university, age and department.
    The Nation learnt that the victim did not know of the internet post until other students on campus who saw it started telling her of her nude
    pictures which they saw on the internet.
    Sources said some of her relations abroad saw the pictures and called her parents, who were unhappy about the incident.
    The matter was reported at Adeniji Adele Police Station from where operatives moved in and arrested Bashorun.
    Detectives are also hunting for two other students of the institution, identified as Aje Mayowa and Babajide Ademuyiwa, both 400 level students
    in the department of Architecture, for their involvement in the crime.
    Our correspondent gathered that during interrogation Bashorun said after he took the snap shots of the girl, sent them to Mayowa, who in turn
    forwarded it to Ademuyiwa.
    He said the latter (Ademuyiwa) was responsible for the pictures’ distribution on the internet.

  • UNILAG students protest ‘sexual harassment’

    Students of the Department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos (UNILAG), yesterday protested “sexual harassment by their lecturers”.

    They urged the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Raheem Bello, to investigate the allegation and bring the culprits to book.

    About 100 students, dressed in white t-shirts, sang anti-lecturer songs. They carried placards with various inscriptions, such as: “Must we sleep with them to pass exam?”; “Is illicit affair part of the curriculum?”; “We say no to harassment” and “The authorities must call our lecturers to order”, among others.

    Some of the students, who spoke with The Nation, said female students were often harassed by certain lecturers. They threatened to disclose the identities of the lecturers, if a panel is not set up by the management to look into their complaints.

    They alleged that some lecturers were fond of inviting female students to their offices to harass them, adding that many students were suffering in silence.

    The protesters said some female students have fallen victims because of the fear of being failed by such lecturers.

    A male student said: “The fact that we are openly protesting shows that all is not well here. Some of our lecturers have descended so low to threaten female students with failure, if they refuse to sleep with them. We have evidence and we are ready to tender them before a panel set up by the university. Our trust and confidence in these lecturers have been betrayed.”

    The student said while some lecturers are father-figures, role models and mentors to them, there are randy ones who are bringing tertiary teaching into disrepute.

    He said: “Really, some of our lecturers are good and we relate with them very well, but we have a few who are always eager for illicit affairs by force. These are the bad eggs we are protesting against.”

     

  • UNILAG don bags best researcher award

    UNILAG don bags best researcher award

    A lecturer at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr Soji Oni and winner of the best education research award in Africa, has identified what he calls the “harsh research environment” as the bane of education.

    The award was conferred on him by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) in Paris, France. He emerged winner out of the 150 African researchers that entered for the award.

    Oni and another Nigerian, Prof Pius Obanya, won two of the three categories of the awards. Oni won the Best Accomplished Education Research in Africa award for young academics who have carried out outstanding research in education in Africa; while Prof Obanya won the Outstanding Educational Mentor in Africa award for his legendary research works and those he has mentored.

    While Oni is happy about his achievements, in an interview with The Nation, he lamented the harsh research environment academics have to endure in Nigeria.

    He said: “In this part of Africa, Nigeria in particular, we are still struggling against harsh intellectual environment. What I mean by harsh intellectual environment is not just about salary alone.

    “We face power outage, poor internet and communication facilities. We face inefficient library system. The lack of reputable publication outlet and lack of incentives for academic performance is another major hindrance.”

    He called on the Federal Government to support research works by making the necessary grants available.

    “The University of Lagos is doing some outstanding work by ensuring academics are provided the enabling environment to do their research. I want to urge the government to support the efforts because UNILAG alone cannot do it,” he said.

    On the significance of the award to him, he said it would boost his appetite for research than before now, knowing that someday his efforts would be rewarded. He added that it was an honour for him to be recognised with his mentor, Prof Obanya.

    He said: “It is like I won one award in the three categories. One of the organisers, the Education Research Network for West and Central Africa which I am a member of the Nigerian chapter, honoured Prof Pius Obanya, who won the outstanding mentor. He is my great grand father in the academia.

    “Why I said so is that he taught the teachers who taught my teachers. I have also been very close to him. Apart from that, this award is also a tonic to do more work. That whatever you are doing, some people will recognise your work will be rewarded.”

    Oni recalled that he started his journey to the various researchworks right from his days as postgraduate student.

    “In fact, my first publication was in an international journal when I was a postgraduate student at the University of Ibadan. I have worked in the areas of deviant behaviour with particular reference to students’ secret cult in Nigerian higher institution. I have also worked on social problems in our society like HIV/AIDS, Globalisation, as well as democracy in education,” he said.

    ADEA is a forum for education policy and dialogue made up of the 54 Ministers of Education in Africa. It has about 16 development partners like the African Development Bank, UNESCO, Korea/Africa Economic Cooperation etc.

    The group instituted the awards to identify and recognise the role of education for economic development in Africa.

  • UNILAG students protest school’s plan to cut campus trading

    UNILAG students protest school’s plan to cut campus trading

  • Unilag shuts shops over protest

    The University of Lagos has shut all shops on the campus following protest by students against high prices of goods and services.

    The Director of Students Affairs in a text message to all students said the shops will remain closed until the issues raised against the owners by students  are resolved.

    Students of the institution had held a peaceful protest against what they described as expensive cost of living on the campus which they blamed on the high prices charged by owners of business outlets.

  • Books and balls at UNILAG

    Books and balls at UNILAG

    It was not all about academics, last week at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Lagos (UNILAG). Students of the faculty and their colleagues from other faculties trooped to the Sports Complex to cheer their teams engaged in various sporting contests.

    It was another edition of the yearly Social Sciences Students Association (SOSSA) sports festival. The association is the umbrella body of all the students in the faculty.

    The event started last Wednesday, with the opening football match between the departments of Mass Communication and Political Science. The match, which started at 4pm, was chaired by the Dean of the Faculty, Prof Omololu Soyombo, who stormed the Sport Complex with a handful of staff of the faculty.

    Excitement greeted the match. The Mass Communication team, was in red jersey, and Political Science team, yellow and orange. The spectators roared intermittently as the Mass Communcation guys mesmerised their opponent in the first-half of the game.

    Having mastered the strength of the Mass Communication team, which missed several scoring chances, the Political Science team confused its opponent by changing tactic in the second half.

    The Political Science team also missed scoring chances but forced its opponent to defend throughout the game. The encounter ended goalless.

    Two days later, the Mass Communication team played against the Social Development Administration Department. The match ended in draw.

    With just two points in two matches, many spectators believed that the Mass Communication team was on its way out of the tournament. But the mood in the department’s camp was different.

    Speaking after the game, the coach for Mass Communication department, George Best, said the team was good for gold but lamented that his side lost many scoring chances, which would have placed it in a proper position to grab the gold.

    George, 400-Level student and former Media Officer of Julius Berger Football Club, said he was determined to coach the team to victory.

    “We did not take our chances because some of my boys are not consistent in training. Besides, we observed some of them in different positions on the field. We hope to improve on our performance in the subsequent matches,” he said. George assured Mass Communication supporters that his side would not draw any game again.

    The SOSSA president, Ebenezer Ishola, 400-Level Political Science, said with the growing crowd at the sport complex and the games played so far, he was satisfied that the tournament was accepted by student. He, hailed the teams for their discipline.

    “So far all the teams played well. I have seen a great show of strength and tactics. I believe the quality of the match will improve as we progress to final match,” he said.

    President of Mass Communication students Solomon Samuel said he believed his department would put up a good performance in subsequent matches. He said: “The match is good and I have confidence in the Mass Communication team.”

    The team’s Assistant Captain, Rotimi Akinola, said his teammates had been warned against indiscipline and other vices that could affect his side’s success in the tournament. He said: “We are not here to play to the gallery. We are here to win. However, our expectation for the next game is high and we will take all our chances. We have worked on all our chances and we are good for gold.”

    Other sporting activities held during the week included cycling, table tennis, basketball, karate among others.

  • Goldie’s costume for Unilag Art Department

    Goldie’s costume for Unilag Art Department

    The belongings of late hip hop star and Big Brother Africa Housemate was yesterday, May 1, auctioned at her residence, 30B, Ologunkutere Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    The property of the singer, who passed on February 14, 2013 shortly after returning from the last Grammy Award, was displayed for sale and some of the items include her house fittings, a 72” Pioneer flat screen television set, camera, glass cups, personal effects some of which had not been worn such as clothes, shoes, jewelries among other things.

    However, Goldie’s costume, as ordered by her husband, Mr. Andrew Harvey, is to be sent to the University of Lagos Creative Arts Department. Also, Engineering Text books belonging to her husband are to be sent Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech). Other items for sale which are still left unsold include her 500 ML Mercedes Benz. Proceeds from the auction, according to information released by late Goldie’s family, will be sent to Project Alert, a charity organisation she was associated with when she was alive. To action the property for the family was Mrs. Akinkuotu and Deji Adetayo.

    Mrs. Akinkuotu gave reason for giving the proceeds to the NGO. She said the family are not interested in the proceeds are they are comfortable and do not the money.

    Among those who came to buy from the items is Engineer Isaac who showed interest in the artiste’s concrete hanger. Although, he wasn’t seen bargaining for the item, it wasn’t certain if he eventually left with it. Others present were not willing to talk to the press.

    Mr. Raymond Bola-Brown, Head of Highgroove Radio, a friend to Mr. Harvey who granted this reporter audience, also used the opportunity to clear the air on the late singer’s marriage. According to him, Mr. Harvey, the late singer husband was married but was divorced before he married the singer.

    On the story that the woman in question happens to be Goldie’s friend, Mr. Raymond dismissed the story. He said, “It’s not true that they are friends.”

  • Sterling Bank’s Sketchamania grand finale rocks UNILAG

    Following months of scouting the nation’s tertiary institutions for budding designers, Sterling Bank Plc has held the grand finale of its fashion competition, Sterling Bank Sketchamania Challenge for undergraduates.

    Held at the main auditorium of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and compered by comediansAkpororo and Deza, the event featured a high dose of comedy, music and fashion.

    Among the contestants were Ayodeji Balogun (Yabatech), Sipe Olanrewaju (UNILAG), Stephen Wayne (UNILAG), Kayode Arigbede (UNIL:AG), Amina odey (Radford University), Anyogu Enefelicia (UNN), Aimanoshi Dania (UNILAG), Kayode Durosimi-Etti, Seyi Adegoke (UNILAG) as well as Stavely Temidayo (Yabatech).

    The competition, according to the bank’s Group Head of Strategy and Communications, Shina Atilola, was held to discover and celebrate the creativity of the Nigerian youth.

    “The name Sterling Bank simply symbolises excellence and standing out…”