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Tag: university don

  • Don to FG:  Offer grants for quantity surveying studies  

    A university don, Prof. Henry Agboola Odeyinka, has appealed to the Federal Government to ensure that studies into quantity surveying problems receive adequate research grants.

    He said it was sad that quantity surveying does not receive necessary attention that would encourage researchers to move the frontiers of knowledge forward.

    The Professor of Quantity Surveying and Construction Project Management in the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife’s 318th inaugural lecture series, advised the FG to urgently address the issue.

    In the lecture titled “Unsettling the Uncertainty of Construction in an Uncertain World: The Cost, the Challenges and Conquests,” Odeyinka there abounds great potentials in risk and uncertainty research in construction domain for “those who may be interested in that area.”

    According to him: “For instance,  we need to understand risk impacts on project cost in other procurement methods like management contracting, public/ partnership (PPP) and construction joint venture. With the advent of Building Information Modeling (BIM), we expect some risk factors to be eliminated but the issue is that BIM itself will create its own risk and this also needs researching.

    “Besides, our knowledge of risk impacts on the cost of infrastructure projects needs to be unlocked. In addition, while I have concentrated on the use of MLR and ANN to develop risk assessment models, some other modeling methods need to be employed such as fuzzy logic or neuro-fuzzy which may have the potential of yielding better modelling predictions.”

    Speaking with reporters after his inaugural lecture, Odeyinka said there will be a lasting solution to myriads of challenges facing the nation if the Federal Government pays serious attention to research development.

    He said: “There are a lot of uncertainties in the country which border on insecurity with attendant Boko Haram insurgency, kidnapping, herdsmen’s killings, economic malaise, poverty among other socio-political and economic challenges. These problems could be solved if only the academics in the tertiary institutions would devote more attention to high quality researches.

    “It is not the number of papers that academics had in their archives, libraries nor academic journals that matter but those that are relevant and had the target capacity to address peculiar challenges in the environments where they are found. So, I will advise the academics in tertiary institutions to focus their research works much more on the different sectors of the economy through which issues of economic travails, poverty, insecurity and other national crises could be effectively addressed.

    “In advanced countries, national crises and crucial issues are addressed through education, relevant data and information which could only be accessed and developed through research work in the academia. But in Nigeria, there is a laxity in these areas. Stakeholders, especially in the government circle do not reckon so much with information and data to find the root causes of problems before proffering solutions to them and that is why the problems linger.”

    The university don, therefore, called on the Federal Government to support academic  researches through adequate funding to enable scholars devise relevant data and information that could serve as solutions to the nation’s problems and, at the end, engender socio- economic development.

  • University Don Proffers Solution to Unemployment

    University Don Proffers Solution to Unemployment

    The need to strengthen Technology, vocational education and training has been proffered as the solution to the increasing rate of unemployment in the nation.

    Professor Abdullahi Shehu Ma’aji of the Department of Industrial and Technology Education of the Federal University of Technology, Minna made this assertion Saturday during the 52 Inaugural lecture of the university.

    According to him, technology, vocational education and training is the acquisition of the practical skills to be engaged in a certain occupation which would become a potential solution in overcomingthe increasing unemployment rate in the nations.

    Ma’aji attributed that the main reason for the high rate of unemployment in the country is due to the mismatch in the educational system pointing out that there is a need to restructure the education system to include technical and vocational training.

    He posited that Technology and Vocational training are positioned to train entrepreneurial labour force that is needed in Nigeria to generate wealth and come out of poverty stating that the youths, poor, vulnerable, less academically brilliant and school dropouts can benefit from technology, Vocational Education training.

    The University Don then recommended the assessment of existing training, vocational education system in the country in order to effectively link the TVE strategy to other national policies in the area of training, empowerment and socio-economic development.

    He then called on the government to make efforts to train new technical teachers, retain the existing ones, empower TVET trainings to manufacture their own training tools and equipment.

     

  • Marry educated women for better life, university don advises men

    A female professor in Zamfara state, Prof. Bilkisu Shinkafi, has called on men to marry educated women in order to check social vices in the society.

    Prof. Shinkafi made the call on Tuesday, in Gusau, at a Town Hall meeting organized by the Zamfara Circle, an NGO

    The Deen of the Faculty of Science at the Federal University, Gusau, noted that many of the vices exhibited by youths in the state were carried out by children of illiterate mothers who did not have the capacity to train their children.

    She said that marrying an educated woman would eliminate thuggery, illness, illiteracy, poverty and hunger from the society “as such mothers will ensure that their children go to school to become better citizens of the society”.

    She also explained that the issue of maternal, neo natal and infant mortality would be significantly addressed thereby ensuring a healthier society.

    Guest Speaker of the event who is also the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Abdullahi Shinkafi, said that the state had been going backwards in the past years.

    He, called for apartnership between the government and the citizens to address  the problems facing the statend.

    The SSG, who expressed the state government’s willingness towards such partnership, called on NGOs in the state organizations  to assist in coordinating activities of various groups in the communities, particularly youths, for progress.

    Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of the circle, Mallam Gazali Shehu said the forum was aimed at creating a platform where the people  would come together to discuss the vast potentials of the state and how to harness them for development.

  • Nigeria may lose out in capacity building – Don

    Nigeria may lose out in capacity building – Don

    A university don, Professor Folarin Oguntoyinbo said it was a big minus that Nigeria up till now does not have a national culture collection centre for cutting-edge research.

    Professor Oguntoyinbo of the University of Lagos made this observation in his keynote lecture at the opening of the young microbiologists’ conference, which took place at Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State recently.

    He said there was no way the country would make meaningful progress in the microbiology world without a national culture collection centre for researchers to deposit and retrieve samples.

    In his lecture, titled, “Advances in Microbiology in the 21st Century-where do we belong?,”  Professor Oguntoyinbo said Nigeria stood at a very dangerous threshold of losing out if the capacity building and infrastructures in microbiology were neglected.

    “We need to build microbiology capacity early and invest in its infrastructure,” he advised.

    According to him, there were many available opportunities in the microbiology world begging for attention from the young microbiologists to take advantage of.

    “The future is bright for young microbiologists hence they must start early,” he said.

    He noted that the microbiology world was also advancing at a very fast pace, and that young microbiologists in Nigeria must think outside the box if they are to excel

  • Recession: FG advised to priotise industrialisation

    A university don, Prof. (Mrs.), Funke Olagunju, has charged the Federal Government to prioritise industrialization if the country must get out of the economic recession.

    She maintained that Nigeria has the potentials to be an economic giant but warned that no effort must be spared in building industries to fortify the national economy.

    Speaking at the 13th Annual Regional Conference of Nigerian Institute of Surveyor (Women in Surveying), the senior lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, Oyo State, said building of industries would create employment opportunities for many youths.

    Apart from building industries, Olagunju appealed to the government increase expenditure on skill acquisition.

    Describing women as significant elements in socio-economic rejuvenation, she said it was imperative for the government to build a capacity that would facilitate mass participation of women in national growth and development.

    In her paper titled “Economic Recession in Nigeria and the Building Industry: Issues and Options for Future,’’ Olagunju called for overhaul review of government’s policies and programmes.

    She said the nation has reached a state where government policies must align with citizens’ needs and aspirations.

    Identifying poor leadership as bane of development in Nigeria, the university implored Nigerians to inculcate the spirit of patriotism and reflect the good virtues in all they do.

    She said: “Economic recession is not religion or moral based. It did not happen over-night, it comes with periodic economic symptoms and statistics that warn the economic team of the nation.

    “Accumulation of debt servicing especially foreign debts, fall in aggregate demand, fall in wages, income, mass unemployment and general loss of confidence on the government, lack of visionary leaders, poor economic planning, high inflation rate, high interest rate, high taxation, policy conflict, poor management of resources, corruption and over-reliance on importation of goods and services are responsible for the current economic woes.

    “To ameliorate this pocket of challenges, then, unemployed people must see the need to accept a low paying job as a short term or part time job, business or small scale farming, change of plans and as well making changes in financial spending, life style, business opportunities through positive attitude.”

    Earlier, the National Coordinator, the Nigerian Institute of Surveyors, Mrs. Funke Adekunle, said  to secure vibrant and dynamic economy, all the sectors of economy must be given due attention with the building of industry as priority.

    She said the current economic situation must drive the nation to industrialise and promite science and technology.

    According to her: “When governments embark on construction, more people would be engaged as this gesture would help the nation to wave her present economic impasse behind.”

     

  • Recession : Don tasks FG on steps to restructure economy

    A university lecturer, Dr Tolani Hassan, has advised the Federal Government to reflate the economy, stabilise the oil sector and create employment opportunities to reverse the current economic recession.

    Hassan, a senior lecturer of Economics at the College of Management and Social Sciences, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode, stressed the need for government to brace up its policies.

    He gave the advice while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ijebu-Ode on Saturday.

    Hassan also urged government to increase its spending on capital projects in order to stimulate the ailing economy.

    The economist observed that the money allocated for capital projects in the current budgetary dispensation had not been adequately utilised by the present administration, hence suffocating the economy.

    “Nigeria requires stability in the oil sector to overcome the current economic challenges.

    “Though, the drift in the nation’s economy did not start with the current administration, falling prices and instability in the oil sector drove the economy into recession,” Hassan said.

    He added that the recession was aided by the cumulative effect of corruption in the system, attack on oil facilities and the foreign exchange crisis.

    Hassan, therefore, urged the Federal Government to continue peace talks with key stakeholders in the Niger Delta and labour unions in the oil sector to reduce current instability in the industry.

    He said government must support indigenous production, improve power supply and encourage the financial service sectors to make loans available for investors at low interest rate.

    According to Hassan, the measures would attract investors, promote local production and stimulate the economy to flourish again.

    “Nigeria must look towards agriculture, tourism and manufacturing to get out of this economic conundrum.

    “In the meantime, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should also keep engendering policies to allow the naira to flow freely so that it can find its equilibrium,” he said.

    He also lamented that the country’s credit ratings had been slashed, thus it became difficult to fund diversification of the economy into other productive sectors,” he said.
    Hassan urged President Muhammadu Buhari to engage more economic managers, including seasoned economists, to chart viable economic pathways for the nation.

  • University don tasks media on coverage of rural areas

    Mr Monday Goshit, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Jos, has charged the Nigerian media to ensure effective coverage of rural communities.
    Goshit gave the charge  in an interview with the Mr Monday Goshit in Jos on Wednesday.
    “The living conditions in the rural areas are very appalling. The people do not have even the most basic of human needs, but these hardships are not reported because the media hardly reflect these horrible situations,” he said.
    He regretted that the rural areas only get a mention when a big shot is visiting them or during emergencies like epidemic or violence.

     

    While noting that the current government is working to change Nigerians’ negative attitudes that had stalled the nation’s growth over the years, he expressed fear that the initiatives may not succeed “unless the rural dwellers are carried along and made to participate”.

     

    “World Bank reports have always indicated that more than 70 per cent of the population live in the rural areas.
    “The reports have also confirmed that most of those people live in poverty-stricken conditions.
    “We cannot move forward and succeed as a nation if that huge segment of the population is left behind because, ultimately, the success or otherwise of the drive to reduce poverty will be determined by the impact on such rural poor,” he said.
    Goshit lauded the Federal Government’s moves to diversify the economy and minimise over-dependence on the oil sector, but wondered how that dream could come to fruition if the rural farmer was not encouraged to produce enough to sustain his family and also export.

     

    “Aside agriculture, the solid minerals sector is also being considered as an alternative foreign exchange earner, but if we do not report developments in the rural areas where most of the mining activities take place, success will be difficult because policy makers will not be properly guided,” he said.

     

    The university don noted that the media was concentrating “too much” on politics and the lives of the elites.
    “Politics seem to do dominate most discourse on radio and in the newspapers.
    “Journalists chase sensational stories that concern a very few number of persons, while leaving out major issues that affect the lives of people,” he said.
    Goshit recalled that most rural communities in Plateau had come down with cholera and other waterborne diseases like gastroenthritis owing to lack of good water and basic sanitation in the villages.

     

    “Unfortunately, we hardly hear of these deprivations. We only hear of the consequences when they reach frightening dimensions and become epidemics,” he said.

     

    The lecturer called for more human interest stories that would reflect other areas of life outside politics, and stressed the need for journalists to report issues like the effects of the lack of roads and bridges, as well as the need for strong markets where farmers could sell their produce.

     

    “There are also farming, hunting and fishing festivals and competitions in some rural communities which should be highlighted to encourage the rural dwellers to have a sense of belonging,” he said.

     

    Goshit said that the nation risk total apathy from the rural dwellers, who had continued to feel that they were only remembered for electoral purposes and quickly forgotten after elections are won

  • University don tasks govt on revamping institutions

    A university don, Prof. Owolabi Usman has tasked the successive governments on revamping the institutions as panacea for a sustainable development.

    He spoke at this year international conference by the Department of Management and Accounting of Ladoke Akintola University, (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso which was themed “Institutional frameworks building and National Development” laying emphasis on government institutions as catalyst for a sustainable development.

    According to him, the change of government and ruling political parties in Nigeria are affecting sustainability of policies unlike what is obtained in United State of America where policies remain irrespective of whoever or political parties come to power.
    Usman, who was the chairman of the conference said though the mantra of President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration is ‘change’ which connotes eradicating corruption, but said that the question many people have failed to ask is how do we curb the menace of the corruption?

    He noted that corruption has remote and immediate causes which are the problem of institutions saying the institutions of government are over-due for overhauling.

    The university don added that the responsibility of revamping our institutions is not only responsibility of government officials but entire citizenry by supporting the policies by the institution as a way to engender sustainable development.

    Prof. Usman said the tenet of the conference is to enlighten both the government and the populace on how to revamp our institutions and the focus is not only about financial institutions but many other institutions.

    He maintained that institutions like Central Bank of Nigeria have failed in their statutory responsibilities. He said a vivid example was the last capitalization of N25billion capital base saying it was later learnt that the policy was only on the papers. He added that banks produce different statement of accounts depending on the motive they want to achieve but CBN as regulator has refused to run a checked on them.

    Corroborating him in his earlier welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Adeniyi Suleiman Gbadegesin said the topic of the conference is most important especially now Nigeria attempting to put the country at the cutting edge of developmental strides among the committee of nations.

    He noted that Nation building and national development are not a tea party issues but serious business that requires concerted efforts by both the governors and the governed.

    He however said meaningful nation building can only take place within a strong institutional framework which is capable of ensuring national development and an ingredient lacking in the nation’s quest for development.

    He maintained that a situation where there is no strong institution and strong men rule, all machineries of governance are at the whims and caprices of the leaders and which is inimical to nation building and national development.

    He added that in order to make ‘change’ mantra by the present administration to be effective, all Nigerians must be ready to change their orientations and key into entrepreneurial activities in small, medium scales, adding that they should pay their taxes to encourage government’s drive towards the provision of social infrastructures and guaranteeing an acceptable standard of living for the citizenry.

     

  • Media unfair to Islam, says university don

    Media unfair to Islam, says university don

    AS Islam being well projected by the media? No, says a university teacher, Dr Mahfouz Adedimeji, while reviewing a book: “Muslims and the threats of the media.”

    The book, written by a reporter with Encomium Weekly, Rasheed Abubakar, was launched in Lagos yesterday, as part of activities marking the World Press Freedom Day.

    The event was held at the Abdul Wahab Iyanda Folawiyo, New Lagos Central Mosque (Hall) in Shitta, Surulere, Lagos with the theme: “Let Islam thrive! Towards balanced reporting and religious equality.”

    Many at the event hailed Abubakar’s resilience in the face of an accident that almost claimed his legs two months ago. His injury did not stop him from going ahead with the book presentation.

    Adedimeji, Director, Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies (CPSS) at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), lamented what he called some distortions in the media about Islam.

    The book, he said, was meant to serve as a “wake-up” call for all media practitioners to be objective.

    “This event does not only serve as a convergent point but a medium to showcase the value of Islam which is opposed to what is presented in the media. It will appreciate the positive role the media have played in our democratic experience”.

    He expressed displeasure with the harassment of journalists in some parts of the world, describing some Al-Jazeera reporters’ incarceration by the Egyptian government as a travesty of injustice.

    He chided the media for not projecting Islam’s positive side to the world.

    “Islam,” he said, “is not averse to journalism neither is Islam an enemy journalists. The picture we are seeing in the media implies that the media have not portrayed Islam and Muslims in good light. If journalists are balanced with their reportage, I believe everybody will be taking care of.

    “Whoever is found culpable in a criminal offence should be made to face the law without linking the crime to the person’s religion.

    “We have about two billion Muslims in the world. The ones that are crazy cannot be up to 50, 000. They are not up to one per cent of the population. So do not say Muslims perpetrate a crime because their religion has asked them to do it.”

    Chairman on the occassion, Executive Director, Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation, Mallam Abdullah Shuaib decried the western media reportage of Islamic issues.

    He said: “When someone commits an offence and he happens to have the name ‘Abdullah’, the headlines become sensational condemning Islam and Muslims. If on the other hand, the perpetrator is Solomon, the media report attributed it to the individual without including his religion.”

    Managing Editor, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Mallam Yusuf Zambo described the book as a great step and a challenge to other media practitioners.

    Abubakar appealed to the western media to be objective in dealing with matters affecting Muslims.

    Muslims, he said, have not been well represented in the media especially when it comes to coverage of Islamic events, explaining that he embarked on the work to x-ray the attacks on Islam and Muslims and chart the way forward.

    He urged journalists to learn more about Islam to ensure their stories are balanced.

    “The fact that you are a Christian journalist doesn’t stop you from learning Islam; ditto to the Muslims in the media. It’s essential for journalists to have wide range of knowledge on all other fields of study, because Islam doesn’t restrict knowledge-seeking to particular areas. If journalists study Islam from the source (Quran and Sunnah), they will definitely know that ISIS, Boko Haram and other terrorist groups are not representing the true Islam brought by Prophet Muhammad,” he said

    In attendance were Grand Mufti, Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO) Shaykh Dhikrullah Shafi’i; Chairman, Management Board, Vanguards Academy, Dr Zafaran Adeniyi; Alhaji AbdulRasaq AbdusSalam of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) and Amir, Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) Lagos State Area Unit Alhaji Kamil Kalejaiye.

  • Buhari urged to resuscitate Nigeria’s economy 

    Buhari urged to resuscitate Nigeria’s economy 

    Prof Ade Omisore, a lecturer at Faculty of Environmental Design and Management, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, has advised the President-elect, Mohammadu Buhari to resuscitate Nigeria’s economy.

    Omisore gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Ile-Ife, Osun.

    He appealed to Buhari to make the pronouncement by reversing the price of commodities that had been skyrocketing everyday immediately he is sworn-in as the president.

    Omisore added that Buhari should ensure the foundation for this within his 100 days in office and ensure the supply of constant energy, good roads and water supply.

    Also, Prof Olusola Ehindero, a former lecturer with the Faculty of Education, OAU, Ile-Ife, called on Buhari to regard the whole situation as not winner takes all in the interest of the nation’s unity.

    Ehindero urged the president-elect to forget all the acrimonies associated with the elections and see himself as the father of the nation today.

    He urged Buhari to make his first assignment to be national reconciliation, saying this is what Nigeria needed badly now.

    The educationist said such would ensure that he would be productive and succeed in governance.

    In this same vein, Mr Popoola Ogundoyin, the Chairman Petroleum and Marketer Association, Ile-ife, congratulated Nigerians for hitch-free general elections on March 28.

    Ogundoyin commended President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat and congratulated the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari.

    He said Jonathan has laid good example for coming generations to move democracy forward.

    He noted that Buhari would experience challenges as presently there are no jobs, good hospitals, water; the naira devalued to zero level, corruption and insecurity among others.

    Ogundoyin advised the president-elect to create jobs for the youth, establish new refineries, citing the example of Russia that still maintained its refinery for the past 70 years.

    Contributing, Mr Sikiru Ayedun, a former Osun Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, lauded President Jonathan for accepting the outcome of the election.

    Ayedun said that Nigeria was now growing in terms of political development, noting that Jonathan had proved himself as a great Nigerian and for which his name would be written on a platter of gold.

    The commissioner counseled other politicians to emulate President Jonathan’s actions towards the general elections and know that it was only God that could install and dethrone.

    He said that violence was not the best solution to political problems in Nigeria.

    “We know him as an upright person and a man of integrity and we know he will not deviate, he has served his country before and we know that he will try his best.

    “And in as much that Nigerians has put their destiny in his hand, I believe that he will not disappoint Nigerians,’’ Ayedun said.