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Tag: varsity

  • Veritas varsity and peace-development nexus

    A conference on Peace and Development in Nigeria by a centre backed by a university is bound to occupy a striking presence on the radar of those who, perforce, have to maintain such radar, either as peace journalists, peace activists or as formal students of Peace Studies. This is the fortune of Veritas University, Abuja, (also known as The Catholic University of Nigeria) and the conference on Peace and National Development it is holding on November 20 – 21, as part of activities marking its 10th anniversary. Peace and development remain two of the five most contested concepts in the post Cold War era, the other three being security, power and the state. So much contestation around peace that Peace Studies, for instance, which jumped out of International Relations (protesting realist framing of peace as absence of war and, Strategic Studies as a performance of war), have come round to inhabiting the same academic homestead with the same IRs and Strategic Studies. Now, they are all studied under Critical Security Studies.

    This time though, all three have, to a great extent, pushed out realism and its rationalist epistemology and, substantially, replaced it with the emancipation analytics. Contestation around development has been no less fierce, including the argument that even talks of post-development or of ‘death to development’. Professor Aturo Escobar, the American educated Colombian anthropologist and the leading exponent of post-development theory says this is because development has been a story, an alienating narrative by which the story tellers nurture underdevelopment instead of development. There is no likelihood this conference would escape manifesting a Nigerian version of this contestation.

    This is more so if it is linked to the question of where the African voice is in all the debates and contestations. It is no national chauvinism to say that asking about the African voice is also asking about the Nigerian voice. It is not only that Africa is still the centrepiece of Nigeria’s foreign policy; it is also that there are no alternative countries to Nigeria in terms of territorial, demographic, resource endowment stature vis-a-vis the responsibility of leading Africa. It is thus a tragedy that Nigeria has been going down over the years in terms of a coherent, stable and focused polity. But what it means is that there would be nothing surprising if a Nigerian entry point and an African voice are heard at the Veritas conference.

    But why an African voice on peace and development? To what extent would such a voice be African in a terribly fluid and an ambiguous world? If concepts such as peace and development are nothing but what we make of any or each of them, then the implication is that a conference on peace and development by a university in a country desperately in search of both peace and development as Nigeria must be some turning point in itself. We can say so because such a conference opens up the space for imagining or producing peace and development in accordance with Nigeria’s specificity. The Nigerian specificity becomes important in the context of the critical credo that every theory is for someone and for some purpose. If theories are not innocent interventions, then the Nigerian specificity is the only way to achieve originality in thinking and doing peace or development or constructing the nexus between them. In other words, peace is not about some universal master codes, master keys or master techniques with which to resolve conflicts. Peace is more about the voice that constitutes the power that frees all those structurally constrained from freedom and self or collective realisation. This is another potentially big angle to the Veritas conference.

    Closely related to that is the point that Peace Studies has been growing in Nigeria lately, beginning with the pioneering efforts at the University of Ibadan which now has a full-fledged Institute for Peace Studies. However, the totality of Peace Studies in Nigeria still lacks an overarching paradigmatic wager in the same manner that History, for instance, defined itself distinctively in the 1960s and thereafter in Nigeria, beginning with the Ibadan School of History and its methodological feat and then the ABU, Zaria School of History. If the African voice is the Nigerian voice and vice-versa, then this methodological self-definition is an imperative. The way peace is studied is constitutive of peace itself. This conference being substantially an academic exercise offers Nigeria her closest and earliest opportunity for an insight into how academia is constructing and constituting peace or the Peace – Development nexus.

    There is, unarguably, a rather Veritas University specific but no less a plausible explanation for the excitement in the air. Veritas University articulates a notion of a Centre for Peace and Development that is a cross between the old and the new as well as the ecclesiastical and the academic. In addition to the goodwill and collective standing of the Catholic establishment in Nigeria which owns the university, there is a uniqueness in this that cannot escape attention as well as attraction of many. The argument here is that there must be something inherently promising about a conference organised by such a centre backed by such a university. By the old, one is referring to the sense of the centre espoused, for instance, by Prof Mike Kwanashie, the Vice-Chancellor and the intellectuals around him. Prof Kwanashie is not a formal student of Peace Studies but an economist. But he speaks to holism in Peace Studies that formal students of the field would envy. This is not sycophancy but a recognition of the height their generation of scholars took academia to before the coming of crisis into academia in Nigeria. That is the element of the old in Veritas University’s Centre for Peace and Development while the new are the contemporary environment, attitudes, agenda and analytics enveloping the study and the production of peace.

    The ecclesiastical and the academic are self-explanatory in terms of ownership of Veritas and academic nature of the venture. Being a combination of the old, the new, the ecclesiastical and the academic necessarily turns the centre into a torchbearer in the prospects of returning Nigeria to the culture of debate, the death of which is at the root of the current, steady deterioration of the country. Some egg heads have been shouting themselves hoarse that the quantity and quality of debate in Nigeria is not adequate to sustain the country. All such voices are absolutely correct. Every country is as good or as hopeless as the quality and direction of debates taking place in its universities, policy mills, think tanks, bureaucracy, the military, political parties and the media, among others.  There is no great power today that is not a product of such debates. Neither Britain, the United States nor China, the newest great power, has attained that status without debates provoked by their Halford Mackinders.

    Nigeria does not seek to be an empire in either its territorial or discursive senses. Still, it needs quality debates on the key requirements for managing complexity in the 21st century. This makes contestations over ideas on peace and development a matter of priority. No university is inherently indebted to the country in terms of producing such ideas. The long connection between Catholicism and the education industry would, however, appear to tie Veritas University to the task of rising to the challenge of discourse and power in the search for peace and development in Nigeria, Africa and the world. This conference has the potentials to fulfil that. It cannot but be so for a Centre for Peace and Development imagined into being within just 10 years of the university’s existence and which at barely one year of age is able to stage a conference at which all voices are scheduled to be heard – Christians, Muslims, Judaism, Hinduism, traditional religion and more. That would be a remarkable statement on governing diversity that Nigeria itself cannot but note.

     

    • Onoja is a researcher in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Veritas University, Abuja.

  • Danbatta delivers varsity lecture

    The Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, will deliver the 23rd professorial inaugural lecture of Bayero University, Kano (BUK).

    He was billed to deliver the university’s  22nd inaugural lecture on August 18, which did not hold because of the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ (ASUU’s) strike.

    The professor of telecommunications engineering is now scheduled to deliver the lecture on November 2, at the old campus of the university in Kano.

    The topic is: Getting out of the Woods: “Diversifying the Nigerian Economy through the Telecommunications Sector”.

    The NCC chief also accepted the invitation of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Kabuga branch, to deliver the 1st Engineer I.K. Inuwa Annual Public Lecture on November 4.

    Earlier this year, the professor joined the league of eminent Nigerians, who delivered the convocation lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he spoke on “The Role of ICT Infrastructure in Tertiary Education in Nigeria: NCC Interventions”.

    Danbatta, who presented the October 2016 lecture of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, was the first chief executive officer of NCC to address participants of the Senior Executive Course of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in March 2016.

    He was declared the Chief Executive Officer of the Year by Tell, among other recognitions locally and at the global stage. Since he assumed leadership of Africa’s biggest telecoms regulatory body, the commission has continued to receive more global attention.

  • ‘Maryam Abacha varsity to rank among world’s best’

    ‘Maryam Abacha varsity to rank among world’s best’

    Maryam Abacha American University, Niger State (MAAUN), will soon rank among the best in the world, chairman of the United Kingdom-based accreditation institution, Accreditation Service for International Schools, Colleges and Universities (ASIC), Mr. Maurice Dimmock, has disclosed.

    Dimmock hoped that with the conducive learning environment, state of the art facilities, qualified workers and secured environment, the university will soon rank among the world’s best universities.

    A statement by the proprietor of the institution, Dr. Adamu Gwarzo, said the award was conferred on the university sequel to a critical scrutiny of its courses and learning environment.

    According to him, ASIC considered MAAUN for the award because of its outstanding contribution to international education, saying MAAUN will continue to provide quality, top class education to all its students to justify the well-deserved recognition.

    Gwarzo noted that the university has since its establishment built a reputation for excellence and has produced quality graduates that could compete favourably with their colleagues anywhere in the world.

    He said: “MAAUN proudly teaches students from all over the globe by providing a high quality academic experience through our open curriculum, with the support of our uniquely modern and user-friendly student portal, renowned faculty, extensive online library, and many other components.

    “This is a brilliant example of internationalisation implemented through online education. MAAUN is proud to have accepted this award and have participated in the first ASIC International Conference 2017 in Malaysia, and looks forward to continue working closely with ASIC, and to continue upholding the core values that make it unique and its students globally successful.”

  • Fountain Varsity, IIIT hold Islamic conference

    Fountain Varsity, IIIT hold Islamic conference

    The Islamic educational institution, the Fountain University, Osogbo, Osun State is organising the fourth International Islamic Universities Conference in collaboration with an International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) between October 7 and 9 to improve standard of education in the country.

    Addressing reporters at the university’s Eti-Osa Hall, the vice chancellor, Prof. Abdul-Lateef Usman, said the theme of the conference is “Islamic Universities: Integration of Knowledge and Sustainability.”

    He said the conference, which will hold on the university campus in Osogbo, will attract scholars from different countries.

    Prof. Usman said the theme of the conference is: Islamic Universities: Integration of Knowledge and Sustainability.

  • Varsity president seeks police collaboration

    The Founder and President of Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu, Osun State, Chief Ramon Adedoyin has called for synergy between the University and security agencies to ensure security of lives and property in the institution.

    Adedoyin made the call when he paid a visit to the Assistant Inspector General, of Police, Zone 11, Mr. Agboola Oshodi-Glover in Osogbo, Osun State.

    Adedoyin said security was key to sustenance of peace in the university hence the need for management of the institution to seek collaboration with relevant agency.

    He said the institution would continue to seek support of relevant stakeholders with a view to making the university symbol of emulation in the country.

    He promised that the institution would continue to subject students to character test before being offered admission to avoid crisis.

    Adedoyin disclosed that the graduates of the institution have been excelling because of the quality of education in the institution.

    Reacting, The AIG Zone 11,  , Mr. Oshod-Glover said police would continue to safeguard lives and property of citizens through effective policing.

  • JAMB, VCs peg varsity entry cut-off mark at 120

    JAMB, VCs peg varsity entry cut-off mark at 120

    THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, in collaboration with vice chancellors, rectors and provosts of higher institutions, yesterday pegged the minimum cut-off mark for admission into universities at 120.

    They also approved 100 as the minimum cut-off mark for admissions into polytechnics.

    No higher institution is expected to go below these minimum cut-off marks.

    The board and the heads of higher institutions unanimously reached the decision at a combined policy meeting on admissions in Abuja.

    The cut-off marks are against the 180 approved during the same policy meeting for last year.

    The stakeholders agreed that admission into first choice universities should close on October 15 and December 15 was set as the deadline for second choice admission by institutions.

    JAMB Registrar Prof. Is-haq Oloyede said universities, with this decision, should not go below the approved minimum 120  cut-off point.

    Oloyede called for the adoption of flexible cut-off marks for admission by higher institutions.

    He said: “What JAMB has done is to recommend. We will only determine the minimum, whatever you determine as your admission cut-off mark is your decision.

    “The Senate and academic boards of universities should be allowed to determine their cut-off marks.

    Prof. Oloyede, who said the board discovered over 17,160 illegally admitted students by higher institutions, added that the agency has regularised some of them.

    “Thirty per cent of those in higher institutions do not take jamb or have less than the cut-off marks.

    “The admission process is now automated with direct involvement of the registrar of JAMB for final approval.

    “We have agreed to regularise admissions that were done under the table this year. From next year, we will not accept anything like that,” he added.

    Minister of Education Adamu Adamu admitted that the Federal Government’s ban on examinations usually organised by universities for admission seekers after the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) as a mistake.

    The minister said the government banned the conduct of post-UTME because the examination had become an avenue for corruption in some higher institutions.

    Malam Adamu, who encouraged higher institutions to conduct aptitude tests for candidates seeking admission, pegged the fee for the test at N2000.

    He said: “I must restate this administration’s zero tolerance for corruption and zero tolerance for exploitation. Because in line with this and with the best intention that I announced the cancellation of the conduct of post UTME las year.

    “At that time, it had become an avenue for exploitation and it was a burden for many parents. However, following that cancellation, some institutions resulted in using SSCE and this led to faking and falsification of results and the inflation of grades and this led to reconsideration of the exercise.”

  • ‘I started business in the varsity’

    ‘I started business in the varsity’

    Most undergraduates are preoccupied with how they will pay off their debts and meet their commitments while on campus. The Chief Executive, TechPreneur Africa, Bolaji Finnih, found a novel way to do it; he started his own drinks business while at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). He was one of the speakers at this month’s CFA’s Startups Hangout in Lagos, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    This  month’s CFA’s Startups Hangout in Lagos turned out to be very exciting. Two  entrepreneurs, Chief Executive, TechPreneur Africa, Bolaji Finnih,  and his iBez Solutions counterpart, Ommo Clark, shared their knowledge with startups on how to grow their businesses.

    A serial entrepreneur, Finnih has founded over seven businesses in 15 years, the latest of which is Joulytics, a power solutions company offering innovative energy products and consultancy. Finnih’s is one of the entrepreneurial success stories.

    A graduate of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), he studied Cell Biology and Genetics. He shared how he founded the business while in school, and  he has used the lessons he learnt in those days to build the business into what it is.

    Finnih told the forum that  he established a drink business when he realised students stay late on campus daily. To make it a success, he had to work extremely hard, with many late nights to keep the business going. Open from evening, it was a melting port for students.The venture grew tremendously. Starting a business at the university, according to him, was difficult but it provided the best building blocks for any future entrepreneur.

    Upon graduation, he went into recharge cards and mobile phones sales through a website.   Having mastered the business, he went into online retailing. A few years later, he left for Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, UnitQed States  (US) to study for a Master of Business Administration (MBA) Sloan Fellows Programme in Innovation and Global Leadership.

    He came back well empowered and  set for the highbrow world of  business incubation and acceleration. Having mentored many youths who have gone on to build successful businesses, he refused to take excuses from  unemployed youths still awaiting   white-collar jobs.

    Instead of wasting away at home, Finnih advised young people to grab opportunities in their communities and provide  solutions that will help them  become entrepreneurs and active participants in the country’s economy.

    On his own, Finnih has  established a  partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  Legatum Centre for Development & Entrepreneurship and the MasterCard Foundation to open up new avenues for young entrepreneurs to develop locally grown solutions to problems.

    On her part, Ommo, Principal Software Designer & CEO at iBez, said she started off her career with Real Asset Management, United Kingdom (UK) as an Application Support Consultant. She moved to Lehman Brothers UK as a Team Leader charged with managing the web applications for the Mortgage Capital Division.

    She later moved to Nigeria in 2008 where she worked with a Software Company-SoftSolutions (EnterpriseWare) as Head, Delivery and Support until 2010 and then as an International Development Company as Chief Operations Officer (COO) until December 2012.

    She started running iBez full time in January 2013. She came up with Internet-based solutions to address some of these issues. The first of these is Handy Jacks, which is an application to find local vetted and trained tradespeople and technicians on demand.

    However, her entrepreneurial journey has been a roller coaster, full of ups and down. This is because she didn’t know how to run a business when she first started, although she had worked in the corporate world. She was soon to overcome her problems as the business has evolved dramatically.

    She has decided to take on less design work and focus on marketing her software and on teaching other designers. She also advised young entrepreneurs do a thorough research about the businesses they want to venture into to acquire knowledge about the business.

    The  convener, Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, said CFA’s Startups Hangout is a monthly meet where entrepreneurs meet, network, learn and grow.

  • ‘Nigerians make up 90 per cent of Beninois varsity students’

    The President of the Houdegbe North American University in the Republic of Benin, Prof. Dada Houdegbe, at the weekend  announced that about 90 per cent of its students were Nigerians.

    Houdegbe spoke at the university’s award of degrees and conferment of Honorary Awards to its graduating students, other local and international personalities.

    “Three years ago, we graduated about 3,000 students from different areas of studies.

    “Today, the Houdegbe North American University is graduating about 2,000 students, as well as the conferment of Honorary Doctorate Degrees on deserving personalities.

    “Let me say that about 90 per cent of students in our university are Nigerians, who are happy being our students,’’ he said.

    According to him, there is currently a growing interest of many young Nigerians in the courses being offered by the university, its affordability and good learning environment.

    The president said the university was meant to build bridges across political, economic, linguistic and cultural divides in Africa.

    Houdegbe hailed former president Olusegun Obasanjo for his belief in the institution’s ideals, as well as the encouragement he kept giving the university.

    Ms Samia Nkrumah, founder of the Kwame Nkrumah Pan-African Centre, said that the time had come for West African and other African countries to embrace the policy of “Education for All’’.

    The daughter of former Ghanaian President Kwame Nkurumah said the overall development and transformation of the region and the continent would largely depend on education.

    Prof. Peng-Khuan Chong, an Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Plymouth State University, in the United States, enjoined the graduating and undergraduate students to learn to be competent, confident and have compassion.

    The university was established in 1992 in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, as a private tertiary institution, which offers both undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

  • NUC upgrades Moshood Abiola Polytechnic to varsity

    NUC upgrades Moshood Abiola Polytechnic to varsity

    The National Universities Commission yesterday granted approval for the upgrading of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, to Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology (MAUTECH).

    The approval brings the number of universities owned by Ogun State to three.

    Executive Secretary of NUC Prof. Abubakar Rasheed granted the approval when a delegation of the led by Governor Ibikunle Amosun, visited the commission in Abuja.

    He said the new university brings the number of state-owned universities to 45 and 85 public universities.

    Rasheed added that the approval had already been communicated to relevant authorities.

    The NUC boss said: “I, on behalf of the NUC, write that with effect from Monday, July 3, the MAUTECH has been recognised as the 45th state university in Nigeria and also the 85th public university.

    “This university is also the 153rd in the country. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund and the National Youths Service Corps are being informed of the establishment of the MAUTECH, Abeokuta.

    “We need to invest more in education. We are particularly happy that Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology is taking off from the current polytechnic, but it will not kill it. The polytechnic will resurrect somewhere and it will come back.”

    According to him, the number of universities (private and public) in the state has help positioned the state as the education capital of black Africa.

    He was confident that the new university would live up to expectations.

    The governor, who spoke earlier, said the state would establish a new polytechnic at Ipokia to replace Moshood Abiola Polytechnic.

    He added that the establishment of the new university would help address the various challenges facing Nigeria.

     

     

     

     

  • On the proposed army varsity

    SIR: It was reported recently that the Nigerian Army plans to establish a university in Biu, Borno State. According to details released to the media, the university is billed to take-off September next year.

    Establishing a university for the Nigerian Army is a welcome development as it will serve as a means of accommodating admission seekers who don’t make it into other universities. It could serve as a research centre which will develop solutions to enhance our security infrastructure at a time the nation is being confronted with myriad of security challenges.

    Despite all the good purposes the university may serve, however, caution must be exercised before going ahead with the university. It is one thing to establish a university, and quite another to ensure its viability. As of now, no Nigerian university makes the list of top 1000 universities in the world, which brings to question the quality of our institutions.

    Currently, the federal government has established universities in every state of the federation but these universities have not achieved the aim of their establishment. They are confronted with financial, administrative and labour-related issues. Salaries are not paid as and when due, research grants are not available for lecturers, some universities cannot afford diesel to fuel their generators, while some can’t provide potable water for their students. Some do not have a functional website while those who do update it for admission purposes only.

    The timing and location of the army university is wrong considering some factors. Currently the army is still battling with the Boko-Haram menace which is taking a toll on its scant resources. Establishing the university at this time will deplete the funds of the ministries of education, defence and army at the same time.  Besides, why do we need to start a new university in Biu when we have the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna which is a degree awarding institution? Equipping and expanding  the NDA will cost less for the government than establishing a new university in a fresh location considering the economic reality of the country  at this moment.

    Equipping the existing universities should be a national priority. To make them more viable, necessary equipment should be provided for the students as some science-based universities still use kerosene stoves as Bunsen burners in their laboratories. Incessant industrial actions by ASUU and other labour unions in the universities should be addressed and salaries paid promptly. Funding for education should be increased from its current inadequate state so as to make these universities work.

    Before we go ahead with the Army University, the existing rot in our public universities must be addressed.

     

    • Adesina Tosin Nathaniel,

    adesinatosin1@gmail.com