Category: Education

Lagos State First Lady, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu today presented bank drafts to some of the beneficiaries of the 2nd Edition of the Lagos Exams Support and their parents.

She said the presentation was in line with her avowed commitment to support education of students in the state.

The initiative, powered by the Office of the Lagos State First Lady, is targeted at supporting WAEC candidates, especially in low-cost schools, to pay their outstanding school fees so that they can be allowed to write the ongoing Senior Secondary School Exams.

“This is part of our modest contribution to the future of the beneficiaries who were selected across the state, and it is expected that they will reciprocate this gesture by studying hard and coming through with flying colours in the exams. This is important for them to move to the next level of their academic pursuits,” the First Lady said.

THE Academic Staff Union of Universities has expressed its readiness to embark on another round of industrial action following what it called the failure of the Federal Government to implement an agreement signed with the union.

The union is giving the government till month end (Tuesday) to reach out or it will activate the procedure of embarking on strike.

The union’s President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, who disclosed this in an interview with The PUNCH on Sunday, added that the FG no longer picked its calls.

Recall that in March 2020, ASUU embarked on a strike following its disagreement with the FG over the funding of the universities and the ineffectiveness and discrepancies around the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System and others.

ASUU, however, developed the University Transparency and Accountability Solution to replace IPPIS and had several meetings with the Ministries of Finance, Education, Labour and Employment, and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation before it was approved but yet to be implemented.

Likewise, the FG and ASUU signed an agreement aimed at resolving some of the demands of ASUU, a development that led to the suspension of the strike on December 24, 2020.

In addition, after a meeting with the FG on August 2, 2021, Osodeke said the Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency insisted that UTAS must be re-presented to the end users.

Also, at the meeting, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, assured ASUU that the N22bn earned allowance captured in the 2021 supplementary budget would soon be accessed by university workers.

On the contrary, Osodeke told one of our correspondents on Sunday that the FG had stopped reaching out to ASUU and had failed to implement the agreement reached.

Due to government’s silence over their demands, Osodeke said the union would not hesitate to embark on a fresh strike to protest government’s failure.

He said, “The government has refused to reach out to us. Government officials have stopped. In fact, they don’t take our calls again. Nigerians should tell the government to do what they agreed to do.

“We signed an agreement and even in May, we reached a final agreement; this is August and nothing has been implemented. Does it make any sense? We are giving them till the end of August and after that, we start the procedures.”

The members of staff of the newly-created College of Agricultural Science and Renewable Resources of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Iseyin Campus will resume in Iseyin on Monday, as academic activities will commence by September.

This was disclosed by the Provost of the College, Professor Jacob Adewale on Tuesday evening after inspecting facilities provided by the Iseyin community for the take-off of the institution.

Adewale said the inspection tour was in accordance with the directive of the State governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde that the College should start academic activities by September and for the management of LAUTECH to see the readiness of the community to host the institution.

He told community leaders after the tour that the College will start off with two faculties, which are Faculty of Agricultural Science and the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources.

He said “no doubt, the establishment of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Renewable Natural Resources, the Iseyin Campus of LAUTECH, is the dream come through. I reliably gathered that the Iseyin community had been looking forward to establishing a Higher Education Institution, by the Government, in the town, since about seventy (70) years ago. Thanks be to God and the Executive Governor of Oyo State, His Excellency, Engineer ‘Seyi Makinde for the actualization of the dream of this community, by the establishment of the College.

“The College of Agricultural Sciences and Renewable Natural Resources, Iseyin Campus of LAUTECH, has two Faculties: (1) Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and (2) Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, While the former is already in existence, the latter is newly created.

“The existing Faculty has six Departments, and the new Faculty has four Departments, making a total of ten Departments. The existing Faculty has Professor A. A. Akingbade as the Dean, and Professor L. A. Alamu is the Acting Dean of the new Faculty.

“The departments in the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences are
Agricultural Economics (AEC),
Agricultural Extension and Rural Development (AER),
Crop Production and Soil Science (CPS), Crop and Environmental Protection (CEP), Animal Production and Health (APH), Animal Nutrition and Biotechnology (ANB)

“The departments in the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources are Aquaculture and Fisheries Management (AFM), Forest Resources Management (FRM), Wildlife and Ecotourism Management (WEM), Environmental and Resource Economics (ERE).

“The academic development of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Renewable Natural Resources, Iseyin Campus of LAUTECH, is of paramount importance towards the actualization of the mission of LAUTECH, which is “to provide suitable condition for the advancement of knowledge through research and learning; produce self-reliant graduates, apply technology-driven knowledge to creativity and positively impact on the global environment, It also aims at becoming an epitome of integrity and service”.

“A carefully-crafted academic plan of the College has been set for its academic development. In the first academic session of the existence of the college (2021/2022), the University shall present an academic brief and a detailed curriculum on Renewable Natural Resources programmes to the National Universities Commission (NUC) in Abuja for approval in order to admit students into the new programmes.

“Resource Accreditation by the NUC will take place in the second session (2022/2023). That is, one year after students’ admission into the Renewable Natural Resources programmes, the University is already working on the requirements of curricula, personnel, physical structures and facilities for teaching and training, such facilities include workshops, laboratories, and studios. In addition, in 2022, the NUC shall be invited to carry out re-accreditation of programmes in Faculty of Agricultural Sciences.
Research development of the college.”

The Provost hinted that a research and development unit will soon be established to facilitate an accelerated research development in the institution.

“In order to accelerate the research development of the college, a Research and Development Unit shall be established. The academic staff shall be encouraged to take the advantage of the institution-based research funds at Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

“There shall be an establishment of a Training and Research Farm of the state-of-the-art, with facilities for students and staff research projects. There shall be students and staff experimental pens for livestock, poultry, fisheries, forestry, ecotourism, and wildlife. The college research programmes shall focus on the development of technological innovations in Agriculture and Renewable Natural Resources that are cost-effective, and adaptive for Agricultural and National development.

“The college shall take off on the premises of the former Teachers’ Training College, Okeho Road, Iseyin., where its administrative building, two faculty buildings, and at least four lecture theatres will be located. The Teaching and Research Farm, and the Commercial Farm shall be located at the site along Iseyin – Ogbomoso Road, Iseyin. The productions on the commercial farm shall be sources of internally generated revenue (IGR) for the institution.

“The Institution shall acquire functional and state-of-the-art ICT system in a centre as well as campus wide networking for internet services. Staff offices would be connected to the Institution’s internet server and the staff would be charged some affordable amount for the services.

“Also, there shall be a provision of the facilities in the ICT centre for an additional role as a Computer Based Test (CBT) centre for examinations, as done at the main Campus. As the institution grows, additional facilities such as laptops and connectivity shall be provided at the ICT centre for the CBT of JAMB. Registration of Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates and conduct of UTME in the centre shall provide an easy access for the indigenes. It shall also be a source of IGR for the institution.”

The Chairman, Iseyin Development Union (I.D.U), Alhaji Bayo Raji said the development has called for prayer for the present administration to succeed in all its endeavors, looking at the fact that it has met the paramount need of the community.

He stressed the need for unity among indigenes to work towards a smooth commencement and sustaining the development needed in the College.

In his word, a former Senator representing Oyo North Senatorial District, Chief Gbenga Babalola, who took the management to his fish farm along Iseyin-Oyo road, said he was ready to relinquish the facility to the College, in as much as it would speed the development of Oke-Ogun and Iseyin community.

The fish farm has five functioning boreholes, feed mill, lecture room, incubation unit and a standby generator set.

A foremost indigene of the town, Alhaji Ahmed Raji also donated staff quarters of about seven chalets and boys quarters to accommodate some of the management staff of the College.

Raji who was represented at the event by the former Chairman of Iseyin local government, Alhaji Saheed Alaran said the occasion called for a true symbiotic relationship between what he called ‘the town and the gown’, adding that the community has so much to contribute for the successful take-off of the institution.

He called on other well meaning indigenes of Iseyin to rally round the College, as according to him, it is a flagship of better things to come.

It is heart-warming to hear again that the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth has honoured Fareedah Oyolola, a secondary school student at Greensprings School, Lagos, as one of the brightest students in the world.

This recognition is a result of her exceptional performance in the advanced School and College Ability Test (SCAT), which every student must undergo in order for the institution to determine their current academic abilities before admitting them into its talent search programme.

Sharing her experience about the test, Fareedah said: “The test was a multiple-choice aptitude test in verbal and quantitative reasoning, and I had to answer 100 questions within 44 minutes! At the end of the test, my score was in the 92nd percentile for verbal reasoning and 87th percentile for quantitative reasoning.

There’s no way I would have gotten these high scores with such a limited time window if not for the great work put in by my teachers, towards developing my comprehension abilities and mathematical reasoning skills. I am very grateful to them.”

In a statement issued by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth as obtained by ODUDUWA NEWS, the Executive Director; Virginia Roach, congratulated Fareedah and other outstanding students across the world. She said, “We are thrilled to celebrate these students. In a year that was anything but ordinary, their love of learning shined through, and we are excited to help cultivate their growth as scholars and citizens throughout high school, college, and beyond.”

Mrs Magdalene Okrikri, the secondary school principal at Greensprings Anthony campus, also expressed her satisfaction with Fareedah’s honour. She said, “This honour brings great joy to my heart. Fareedah’s achievement is a testament that our Thinking School programme is rewarding to our students, helping them to develop mentally and strengthening their cognitive abilities.”

The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth is an initiative of Johns Hopkins University committed to nurturing extraordinary young minds. Its 2020 – 2021 programme draws nearly 19,000 students from 84 countries. Fareedah and other honourees from other countries are expected to attend a summer programme in the United States or Hong Kong.

The Senate of the University of Lagos may shut the institution’s hostels after its emergency meeting on Wednesday.

It was gathered that, the meeting was summoned following panic among students and staff of the university over cases of COVID-19 recorded in the school.

“It should be a short meeting. We will be deciding on whether hostels should be shut and if physical classes should continue.

“Some of the students are already leaving the hostels even before our decision,” the academic staff said.

Some students and lecturers in the university confirmed the development to The Punch on the condition of anonymity on Tuesday.

They noted that students and workers in the hostels are mostly affected.

The spokesperson for UNILAG, Nonye Oguama, said “no comment” when contacted on the telephone.

A student who resides in one of the hostels said, “We are having many people falling sick with COVID-19 symptoms.

“We don’t know what is happening. Many of us have to start going home instead of sleeping in the hostel.”

Another student confirmed that her roommate tested positive and had been isolated.

“Yes, one of my roommates tested positive. After that, we (other roommates) went for the COVID-19 test but returned negative.

“People are saying that there is Delta variant on campus but I don’t know how true that is,” the undergraduate added.

The management of the university also confirmed that UNILAG medical centre has recorded an increase in the number of patients with COVID-19 symptoms.

It also confirmed that the institution is being affected by a potential third wave of coronavirus in a ‘COVID-19 pandemic update’ published on the university’s website on Tuesday.

The statement read, “The University of Lagos Medical Centre wishes to inform all members of the University of Lagos Community about what appears to be the start of a potential 3rd wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Lagos State.”