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Tag: University of Lagos

  • ‘Fear is reason women don’t go into politics’

    ‘Fear is reason women don’t go into politics’

    The University of Lagos (UNILAG) Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) for Developmental Services, Prof Folasade Ogunsola had said fear is the real reason why women don’t go into politics. She spoke at the maiden parliamentary summit with the theme: Youth and the legislature: Powerhouses of the nation, organised by the legislative arm of the College of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences Students’ Association (COMPSSA).

    Giving research-based evidences, Prof Ogunsola said there had been low percentage of women participation in politics from 1996 to 2016, adding that the number of educated women and girls in the country could not be compared to the number of educated men.

    According to her, religious and cultural barriers, stigmatisation, low level of education and patriarchy were part of the facts that limited women from participating in politics. She described the factors as “untenable excuses”.

    She said: “All these factors are untenable excuses that women put forward from not participating in politics. From research, it was discovered fear is the sole reason why women don’t participate in politics. The fear of failure, fear of not knowing enough, fear of not being worthy, fear of the unknown and fear of bursting the stereotype.”

    The Lord Chancellor of the COMPSSA House of Lords, Michael Arowoshola, said the event was aimed at galvanising pharmacy students to participate in politics and leadership programme.

    The event also featured debate on Not-Too-Young-To-Run. Another segment of the debate discussed low budget for healthcare in Nigeria. The aim was to enlighten participants about the happenings in key sectors.

    The event was attended by guests, including the Provost of the UNILAG College of Medicine, Prof Folusho Lesi and the keynote speaker, Pius Ige Olarewaju.

  • UNILAG researches into solar power

    UNILAG researches into solar power

    The University of Lagos is researching into a cost-effective solar energy supply to people in its immediate environment.

    The University’s Director of Research and Innovation, Prof. Wellington Oyibo, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

    “We have colleagues in the energy space. We told them that we want people to have access to energy that must be cost-effective.

    He said that provision of the alternative source of energy would be a unique way for the institution to make more impact on the society.

    “If you should compute how much it takes to run a generating set every day, you will discover that what you have spent in buying fuel in a week can actually provide you electricity for one year.

    “So, we are talking about access to low-cost energy, which is what we are working on now,’’ Oyibo said.

    According to the director, the team of researchers is not only concerned about alternative source of energy, but also about low-cost energy.

    Oyibo told NAN that some research products of the university were undergoing material reduction in an effort to reduce cost.

    He said that researchers were working on reducing to N10, 000 or less, the cost of a product that could ordinarily gulp N100, 000, so that it could be affordable.

    `All these are in the pipeline; of course, we will not want to tie down the time of the completion to any particular period because a number of factors will come into play.’’

    According to him, the research into cost-effective alternative energy source is coming after the university’s groundbreaking research into malaria testing with urine which was validated in 2016.

    According to him, the urine test kit is currently in the market.

    Oyibo said that the institution was at an advanced stage of providing solutions to a number of societal challenges.

    “With focus, commitment and support that the university is providing, we are sure to get to where we intend in terms of research and innovation.’’

  • ‘Ex-UNILAG VC, man of peace’

    The greatest achievement of Prof Rahamon Bello during his tenure as Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) was peace.

    This was the submission of Prof Benjamin Chukwuma Ozumba, who delivered a Valedictory Lecture in Bello’s honour on Tuesday at the Afe Babalola Auditorium of the university.

    Ozumber, who is Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), described Bello as a man of peace whose discernment in managing conflicts was exemplary.

    “In the last five years, the University of Lagos was always in the news about all manner  of issues, especially concerning relations between the unions and the administrations. In practically all the easily recalled cases, they were eventually resolved amicably.  Relationship with students is never easy. A skilled Vice Chancellor like Bello was would have to manage through it all, and today, UNILAG is experiencing a tolerable level of harmony between students and the administrations.

    “We are truly envious of Prof Rahamon Bello for successfully completing a generally peaceful five-year tenure.”

    Ozumba  in his lecture titled “Transformative Leadership in an evolving democracy” noted that Bello’s tenure recorded excellent emotional and practical commitment  with his staff in terms of promotions, employment in the teaching and non teaching cadres, saying such “ administration with human face  seems to be the credo of Bello administration”.

    He added that the improvement in the webometric ranking of the University during Bello’s tenure was a testimony  of the competence of the academic, administrative and other staff of the university.

    Bello’s successor, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, said that his predecessor paid his dues and deserved to be celebrated.

  • Youths take leadership, mentorship campaign to secondary school

    Youths take leadership, mentorship campaign to secondary school

    Youths mostly university undergraduates have showed their commitment to train secondary school pupils to become visionary leaders that will help Nigeria achieve sustainable development.

    The youths in their resolve to train and mentor young students for leadership and career opportunities  organised a Youth and Leadership Career Summit for secondary school pupils under the aegis of i-Mentor Education Foundation.

    Themed “Youth Innovation; a Panacea to Underdevelopment,” the summit held at Iwerekun Community High School, Lakowe, Ibeju Lekki at Ajah area of Lagos state.

    The keynote speaker at the summit, Prince (Dr.) Ademuyiwa Oniwonlu advised the pupils to prioritise their academics and never put their hopes and aspirations on government.

    He lamented that greed is one of the major problems that have adversely affected the leaders of this country.

    Urging the pupils to develop the  will to change, he said they should look inwards and invest positively in their time and maximize all the opportunities that could prepare them for the future.

    He said, “Be determined to succeed, have plans to succeed. Understand the governance of your country and how it is being run. Understand the strength and weakness.

    pupils
    pupils

    “Nigeria can only be developed if you young ones can be determined to grow up and take up the mantle of leadership and change the country for better. Nigeria need a new developmental plan and you are the ones to actualise this dream,” Oniwonlu said.

    The school vice-principal, Mrs. Amzat Mojirola, expressed delight at the gesture of the facilitators of the programme as she said the school will always be open for youth and innovation-oriented programmes subsequently.

    She noted that the leadership programme demonstrated that there is still hope for Nigeria to become great.

    Also speaking at the summit, founder, Parliarment of Poets, Michael Babajide, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, ( UNILAG ), said self discovery is key to successful career adding that every child has a been blessed with  specific talents.

    Convener, Foundation  for Young Leaders, Akorede Taiwo advised the pupils to prepare themselves for future through valuable trainings before they graduate from school.

    President, Chance Foundation, Ibrahim Oladimeji noted that it was very imperative to make effective use of the internet and essentially the social media.

    Urging the pupils to create creative and impactful contents, he warned them never to allow the social media jeopardize their academics and moral values.

    Speaking on HIV/AIDS, representative, Nigeria Youth Aid Program, Lagos, Niniola Adesina urged the pupils to know their health status through regular and periodic checks.

    Noting that a bad health could be detrimental to one’s choice of career and dream, he advised the pupils to read more and get education about the HIV/AIDS virus in order to be safe from contacting the disease.

    i-Mentor Education Foundation  is a Not For Profit organisation designed to equip students with requisite skills needed to become a self reliant adult, who will add value to the country and the world at large.

    According to the convener of the foundation, Hassan Ahmed, Physics Education, faculty of education, ( UNILAG ), i-Mentor seeks to leverage, train and link mentors to support secondary school students with academics and career exploration.

  • Education big factor in maternal mortality, says Briggs

    Education big factor in maternal mortality, says Briggs

    Uneducated women are more likely to die during pregnancy or child birth, a professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology has said.

    Emeritus Professor Nimi Dimkpa Briggs said, while delivering the first annual lecture of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), a pregnant woman who stayed in a slum and also not properly educated was more likely to lose her baby because of lack of education.

    In developed and industrialised world, the average woman starts child bearing later in life, with some education, and have their pregnancies and deliveries supervised by skilled professionals, he said.

    On the contrary, he said mothers in developing countries tend to be younger, with less formal education and often deliver without supervision by skilled personnel.

    Briggs, an alumnus of UNILAG and former Vice Chancellor, University of Port Harcourt, said India and Nigeria produced one third of global maternal deaths, while Sierra Leone had the highest maternal mortality ratio which was 100,000 deaths of infants.

    Apart from education, Briggs said in Nigeria, despite the advancement in technology and skilled professionals, the maternal mortality rate was still high because of the environment.

    For instance, Briggs said in the hinterlands of the Niger Delta, women were more likely to lose their lives and their babies.

    He added that poverty worsened the problem created by lack of education and the environment.

    To address the problems, Briggs said the government was empowering women through the N-Power schemes, other development centres for women and effective family planning to reduce fertility and unwanted pregnancies.

    He said the Nigeria’s National Health Act 2014 provides for the creation of a Basic Health Care Fund (BHCF) and the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for the provision of basic minimum package of health services to all citizens through the National Health Insurance scheme as a way of reducing the pay for health services.

    He also said international organisations and agencies with interests in global health care such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), World Bank, United Nations Children Fund, etc are all making effort to reduce death and destruction associated with childbirth.

    However despite all these provisions, Briggs lamented that the health care system was still fragile, calling for more private sector collaborations – like that provided by the late Mrs Abimbola Aina Omololu-Mulele, who endowed N72 million at UNILAG towards research aimed to safeguard the life of an expectant mother and her unborn child.

    He called for more donations like hers to enable them to fulfill their mandates.

    “This endowment demonstrated her commitment to stimulate and advance the knowledgein Obstetric and Gynaecology and the purpose is to fund researches from time to time as well as to enhance industry university cooperation through the use of research funding in the field of Obstetric and Gynaecology.

    Guests at the lecture included John da Rocha Afodu, brother to Mrs Omololu-Mulele, Dr Oluyomi Abayomi Finnish, who chaired the occasion; UNILAG Vice Chancellor, Prof Rahamon Bello, represented by Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the Registrar, Dr Taiwo Ipaye, among others.

  • UNILAG gets 104 profs in five years

    The outgoing Vice Chancellor of University of Lagos, Prof Rahamon Bello has said 104 of the 292 professors produced by the institution since the inception in 1962 was during his tenure.

    Bello who bows out as the 11th vice chancellor of the institution on November 11, 2017, also said 25 per cent of the over 200,000 graduates produced by the school passed through the institution five years he was in charge, while 21 per cent of the Inaugural lectures were delivered in his time – underscoring his administration’s focus on strengthening academic culture.

    Speaking during his valedictory press conference at the Senate Chambers yesterday, Bello said: “As at today, a total of 292 professors have been produced in the university of Lagos since inception.  104 of these were appointed in the last five years accounting for 35.6 per cent of the total in the whole of the 55 years of the university.  Also as at today, there have been 354 Inaugural Lectures delivered in the 55 years of this university and 75 or 21.2 per cent were delivered during the five years of this administration.

    “Some of these decisions of Senate has enabled the university to graduate a total of 50,785 students in the last five years accounting for about 25 per cent of the total number of graduates produced by the university. Not just that about half of these are postgraduate students making us slowly becoming a postgraduate institution.  We now produce averagely 100 highly qualitative PhDs annually.”

    These, in addition to strengthening quality assurance, expanding infrastructure, facilitating international collaborations, introduction of online result processing, e-admission, electronic document management system and other IT reforms were some of the achievements Bello highlighted at the conference.

    “The institution has signed over 40 Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with sister institutions all over the world…these agreements afford our staff and students exchange and collaborative research opportunities,” he said.

    Speaking on challenges he faced while in office and his biggest regret, Bello mentioned the failure of the institution to sustain the Students Union despite efforts to do so as well as the inability to build structures for the Faculty of Law, Postgraduate School and the Distance Learning Institute.

    “The buildings planned for the School of PostGraduate Studies, Distance Learning Institute and Faculty of Law were not done.  If we had financial autonomy we could have done it on PPP arrangement.  Already the DLI has almost N1 billion for the building; the PG school has close to N400/N500 million; while Faculty of Law has between N100-N300 million.  The road also planned to connect the Commercial Avenue to Jaja Hall could not be done because of constraints of funds and bureaucracy,” he said.

    Regarding the Students Union not being sustained as planned, Bello said: “My greatest challenge was the student crisis.  Prof Amund who was Dean of Students Affairs is here to tell us all we did so that when the Students Union emerged again, there would be no problem.  But the problem is we did not realise that are professional students from polytechnics, colleges of education and even universities in Nigeria who move from one institution to another looking for where they can control. It took us that event in 2016 to realise this but it is more like a caucus, if the students of the University of Lagos are the ones that take over there leadership  and handle it the way the need it will not go that way.  We are trying to take care of that.  It was the failure of the Student Union to stand after we re-emerged it that was a challenge,” he said.

    Speaking on his administaration’s relationship with workers’ unions on campus, Bello said forming a Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the major unions (ASUU, SSANU, NASU and NAAT)

    Bello charged his successor, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who was the former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics and Research), to make the university’s interest priority always and learn to carry others along.

    “When you run a university like this, ensure you carry everyone along.  You must put the university as the main object, not yourself,” he said.

    He also urged Ogundipe to finish up on projects he did not complete.

     

  • Babalakin bemoans Nigerian varsities ranking

    Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Chief Wale Babalakin (SAN), has lamented no Nigerian university ranks among the best 800 in the world.

    He however expressed hope that Nigerian institutions could return to position of reckoning like used to be the case.

    In his speech yesterday at the presentation of a book, “Walking the Vision”, written in honour of the outgoing vice-chancellor of UNILAG, Prof Rahamon Bello, held at the Ade-Ajayi Main Auditorium of the university, Babalakin said the renaissance of Nigerian universities could only be made possible by the joint effort of all stakeholders and not government alone.

    Babalakin said: “A situation where no Nigerian university is rated among the top 800 is acutely hurtful – more so when we know where we came from.   I once watched Prof Akinkugbe state that at some point the University College Hospital Ibadan was the fourth rated in the Commonwealth.  The Commonwealth has countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia, India, New Zealand.  At some point our people created an institution that was number foru.  What happened?  How do we move forward?

    “The era of seeing government as distributor of largesse has come to an end.  Government alone cannot fund education.  We all must find a way of putting serious resources into education.  Today, Nigeria spends far more than the national budget for education educating people outside the country.  But it was not the case before.

    “In my set, more than 15 people who went for A Levels abroad – because A Levels was easier than our HSC – came back home to attend the University of Lagos.  We want to bring it back to that with your help.”

    Babalakin praised Prof Bello for completing his tenure, which ends next month, honourably and pledged to buy two copies of the book each for all federal-owned universities, Fountain University, Olabisi Onabanjo University, King’s College, and his alma mater, the Government College, Ibadan, which he said would get three copies.

    The book was compiled by Prof Lucian Chukwu, Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika of the Mass Communication Department; Prof Chimdi Maduagwu of English Literature; Dr Obi Iwuagwu, associate professor of economic history; and Dr Taiwo Folasade Ipaye, the university Registrar.

    Book Reviewer, Emeritus Professor Nimi Briggs said the eight-chapter 320 page book gave a clear picture of the achievements of Prof Bello as vice-chancellor of the university for five years.

    He critiqued the book for not having a final chapter which would have served just to talk about the future of the university and prepare Bello’s successor for the task ahead.

    He advised whoever would succeed Bello to build on his achievements rather than start new projects.

    “In that same chapter, they would have poit out areas that would require urgent attention to keep up the momentum that has been generated in the last five years.  Surely, Prof RA Bello has done an excellent job be he could not have solved all the problems of the University of Lagos,” he said.

    Guests at the event included Senator Olamiklekan Yayi, who pledged to buy copies of the book for all 109 members of the Senate; Chief Olu Odebiyi, Chief of Staff of Ogun State government, who pledged N2 million for copies of the book for ogun state tertiary institutions on behalf of Governor Ibikunle Amosun; Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who pledged N100,000 for four copies, among others.

     

  • UNILAG alumnus seeks social impact

    UNILAG alumnus seeks social impact

    An alumnus of the University of Lagos and Chairman Inducon Nigeria Limited, Dr. John Abebe has urged Nigerians on the higher rungs of the social ladder to reach out to the less-privileged by contributing to their emancipation and the nation’s development.

    Abebe, a former President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, was one of the recipients at the “2017 Distinguished Alumni Awards and Celebration of UNILAG at 55’’ organised by the Alumni Association of the University of Lagos last weekend at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island.

    The UNILAG Alumni President, Dr Sunny Kuku, had in his welcome address said that the awards took cognizance of those who contributed to the growth of the university in the past.

    Expressing his feelings about the award, Abebe said that he was humbled by the recognition he got for using personal funds to sponsor cricket competitions across the country, donate cricket kits and equipment to the National Cricket Teams and many schools.

    Abebe also ran the Nigeria Cricket Federation between 2011 and 2005 as President without government funding and single-handedly sponsored the national team on international training tours and competitions.

    “One has been associated with the promotion, the sponsorship and funding of Cricket in Nigeria for the past forty years without really expecting any recognition and praises. As for one’s activities in the Old boys Association of St Gregory’s College, I really didn’t think it would be noticed and commented upon by my university alma mater. So I thank God for it,” he said.

    Abebe, who is the President of the St. Gregory’s College Old Boys Association, said he contributed to cricket and his alma mater because he enjoyed doing so.

    He said that the award would spur him to do more, adding that he had always advocated that government alone should not be allowed to handle everything about education.

    “Nigerians should learn to give back to the society that has made them what they are,” said Abebe.

    The Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who was the special guest at the event, congratulated the awardees, saying that their achievements were worthy of celebration and such had indeed emanated from a great institution.

    “I would like to thank everyone, and to hope that when we celebrate our 60th you will all be here.  And we will all be here to celebrate the 70th and 80th and 100th as well for the young ones amongst us,’’ he said.

    Chike-Obi; Chairman, Niger Delta Development Commission, Sen Ndoma Egba; and Majority Leader, House of Representatives, and Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila.

     

  • Lufthansa partners UNILAG for Youth Impact Week

    Two hundred students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) are to undergo six days of coaching with international trainers courtesy of Lufthansa Group and Help Alliance.

    Lufthansa is bringing its internationally-acclaimed Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project, ‘Impact Week 2017’, to Nigeria between October 20 and 26.

    During the programme, the participants will learn to develop sustainable business models using various innovation techniques like the innovative ‘Design Thinking’.

    They would be expected to come up with innovative solutions in agriculture, healthcare, education, alternative power generation, information technology transportation, and business management.

    The university would be responsible for the selection of the participating students from a variety of faculties. The course will also empower lecturers.

    “We are excited to have a team of UNILAG professionals, Lufthansa international staff and other experts to come together with about around 200 students to develop their skills, broaden and take on the tasks of thinking about solutions for socio-economic challenges right here”, Robin Sohdi, Lufthansa General Manager, Nigeria, said.

    Dr. Sunday Adebisi, Director, Entrepreneurship Centre, UNILAG, said the institution was happy to partner Lufthansa on the programme.

    “It is exciting to have the Impact Week in Nigeria and more importantly in University of Lagos to support a life changing experience for our teachers and students by Lufthansa Germany Airlines,” he said.

  • Lufthansa partners with UNILAG for Youth Impact Week

    200 students from University of Lagos are to undergo 6 days of coaching with international trainers organized by Lufthansa Group and Help Alliance

    Lufthansa is bringing its internationally acclaimed Corporate Social Responsibility project to Nigeria. ‘Impact Week 2017’ will be held at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) campus in Akoka  from October 20 to 26. Impact Week is a one-week programme  aimed at training participants to develop sustainable business models using different innovation techniques like the innovative ‘Design Thinking’.

    “We are excited to have a team of UNILAG professionals, Lufthansa international staff and other experts to come together with about around 200 students to develop their skills, broaden and take on the tasks of thinking about solutions for socio-economic challenges right here,” says Robin Sohdi, Lufthansa General Manager Nigeria.

    The Director Entrepreneurship Centre, UNILAG, Dr. Sunday Adebisi, said: “It is exciting to have the Impact Week in Nigeria and more importantly in University of Lagos to support a life changing experience for our teachers and students by Lufthansa Germany Airlines.”