WILL GEJ BOKO HARAM ALL CAMPUSES WITH EMERGENCY DECLARATION IF ASUU REFUSES TO BUDGE?

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ASUU dares FG over sack

Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities [ASUU], Calabar Zone, has reacted angrily to the order to return to the classrooms issued to them by the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, saying that the action would worsen the strike action rather than solving the problem.

ASUU accused the minister of deceiving  President Jonathan on the crisis, alleging that Wike and some other unnamed officials of the Government did not want the lingering problem between the union and the Federal Government to be resolved.

According to the zonal coordinator of ASUU Calabar zone, Dr. Charles Ononuju, with such threat the crisis would linger far longer than expected.

In a statement in Umuahia,. Ononuju said that the union received with shock the pronouncement by the supervising minister, saying the crisis could not be resolved that way.

“We received with shock the pronouncement of by the Supervising Minister of Education, Wike, that lecturers should resume work or be sacked”, Ononuju said.

He said that the union had gone far with discussion on how to resolve the crisis and was waiting for President Goodluck Jonathan’s reply to their letter after their meeting when the minister came up with the “unfortunate” pronouncement.

“Sacking lecturers will not solve the problem but will compound it. Wike should resign and come to the university and teach. This is not the way to go if they go this way, the crisis will not be resolved in the next 100 years”, he warned

WHICH IS WORSE?...ASUU'S 5-MONTH OLD STRIKE OR JONATHAN'S MILITARY ORDERS?...WILL ASUU SEEK RESTRAINING ORDER FROM COURT?...WHAT IF NLC COMPOUNDS THE MATTER?

Govt orders varsity teachers to resume work before Dec. 

• Directs VCs to sack, advertise vacancies
• ASUU says threat may prolong strike

FUMING at the failure of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off its strike, the Federal Government yesterday directed the immediate reopening of all its universities.
  It also directed that the position of any teacher who does not resume by December 4, 2013 should be declared vacant and advertised.
  The Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, made the position of the government known while briefing journalists yesterday in Abuja.
  But the ASUU yesterday dared the Federal Government, insisting that the strike was a legal action. It warned that the threat would only make the strike to linger.
  Wike said: “All vice-chancellors of the federal universities that are currently on strike should immediately reopen for academic and allied activities as directed by pro-chancellors.
  “Any academic member of staff who fails to resume on or before December 4, 2013 automatically ceases to be an employee of the institution.
  “Vice-chancellors should ensure that members of staff who resume for work are provided with the enabling environment for academic and allied activities.”     
  The minister also directed the National Universities Commission (NUC) to monitor the compliance of the directives by the various institutions.
  He revealed that as a responsible government, “we cannot allow the continuous closure of our public universities for this length of time (five months), as this poses a danger to the educational system, the future of our youths and national development.”
   Wike noted that the Federal Government had met all its commitments and obligations with respect to the FG/ASUU 2009 Agreement.
  “The Federal Government initiated a series of meetings between her team led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), including the Ministers of Education, Finance, and Labour and Productivity, and other top government officials with the executive of ASUU. It should be noted that a joint Senate and House Committee on Education also intervened without success. A committee was also inaugurated for the implementation of the Needs Assessment Report.
   “As a further demonstration of government’s commitment to resolving the crisis, His Excellency, Namadi Sambo, GCON, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on behalf of the Federal Government, intervened and invited ASUU to the meeting where the two contentious issues of Earned Allowances and Funding, for the revitalisation of the universities, were discussed and resolutions reached. There was still no positive response for ASUU.
  “Consequently, on November 4, 2013, in a 13-hour meeting, His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, met with ASUU executive, Labour union leaders from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), where all the issues were resolved and firm commitments were made to address the lingering issues.”      

He noted that the President’s gestures were enough to guarantee the commitment of government to addressing all issues as resolved at the meetings.
  “At the end of the meeting with the President, the ASUU executive promised to meet with its NEC to present all the resolutions reached and report back by Friday, November 8, 2013. It is unfortunate that while travelling to attend the NEC meeting in Kano, we lost a key member and former President of the union, Prof. Festus Iyayi. Government sympathises with the family of the late Iyayi and ASUU.”
   He, however, revealed that three weeks after the meeting with the President, ASUU responded by giving new conditions for suspending the strike.
  He hinted that government had reviewed the situation and come to the conclusion that the continuation of the strike was an attempt by ASUU to sabotage all efforts to address the issues.
  But ASUU said the threat further buttressed its earlier claim that the Federal Government was not committed to implementing any resolutions it reached with the union.
  In his reaction, the National Treasurer of ASUU, Dr. Ademola Aremu, said the Federal Government was wasting the time of Nigerians and youths in the country by failing to perfect the resolutions and get the strike suspended.
  The union said it had reasons to be wary following the failure of government to honour its promises to polytechnic teachers, resident doctors, and health workers who have suspended their strikes.
  ASUU added that the threat was an insult to the sensibilities of Nigerians who were waiting for the Federal Government for positive reaction.
  “With the latest action, the Federal Government has shown that it is not committed to its word. We are saying that since we agreed at the meeting that the sum of N200 billion is for 2012 and 2013 revitalisation, the Federal Government should deposit same in the Central Bank of Nigeria. We are already in November and December is around the corner. If they don’t do that now, when do they want to do it? We are saying the non-victimisation clause should be included as agreed while the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement should be included as agreed with the President.
  “It is a pity if the Federal Government is not willing to perfect the resolutions reached with the union. This is why we find it difficult to trust our leaders by their words. How can someone be threatening to sack lecturers when universities are already short-staffed by almost 60,000? We are not in a military era.   The military tried it and failed. This one will fail again. Government can reopen the schools. ASUU did not shut down the universities. It was the school management that ordered the students to go back home.”
   Aremu berated Wike, saying it was a shame that the Federal Government would wait for four months to take any step and scuttle the strike through military orders.
  “We are saying the government should show commitment to the resolutions. It should address the issues before it: we are not demanding any extra kobo. This is another long path to make the strike linger more than necessary.”
  Meanwhile, Ekiti students in tertiary institutions who were tired of the strike yesterday took their case to God.
  They held a prayer session and sought divine intervention in the impasse. The session, held at Lady Jibowu Hall, Ekiti Government House, had in attendance the Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu and some clerics.
  In her remarks, the deputy governor noted that the students did the right thing by taking their petition to God. She described as unfortunate that both parties to the dispute – ASUU and the Federal Government – remained adamant despite interventions from well-meaning Nigerians.

GUARDIAN

FG CONDEMNS ASUU’S NEW DEMANDS

ABUJA — The Federal Government, yesterday, condemned the new conditions which Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, insists must be met before the five-month old strike could be called off.

The three conditions were payment of four months salaries, which accumulated during the period of the strike; immediate implementation of the N1.2 trillion offered by the government to public universities, starting with the release of N100 billion this year and the balance of N1.1 trillion to be spread over five years from 2014.

The union also demanded that the salary arrears must not be paid in piecemeal.



These were some of the resolutions reached by members of the National Executive Council, NEC, of the union that met in Kano on Friday.

Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, condemned the new conditions but assured that he would present them before President Goodluck Jonathan.

EBSU breaks ranks, recalls students

Meanwhile, the management of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, EBSU, yesterday ordered lecturers and students of the institution to return to classes following the inability of ASUU to end its strike.

A statement by the Registrar of the institution, Mr. Sam Egwu, stressed that the institution had resolved to resume academic activities regardless of the ASUU-FG dispute, adding that academic activities would resume in all the campuses of the institution from today, Tuesday, November 26.

EBSU chapter of ASUU however, said that lecturers would not return to classes until their demands were met in line with the position of its national body.

VANGUARD

ADEKUNLE AJASIN UNIVERSITY SHUNS ASUU...STUDENTS RECALLED TO RESUME...LECTURES START ON DEC.2ND

AAUA Shuns ASUU Strike, Resumes Lectures On 2/12/201

The Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), in Ondo State has recalled its students after almost five months of strike. The institution Registrar, Mr Bamidele Olotu, directed the students to resume Monday

Lectures are to start December 2.

Though the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has not officially called off the strike, AAUA has joined two other state universities, Enugu State University of Technology (ESUT), Enugu, and the Ibrahim Badamosi University, Lapai, in Niger State to reopen their schools for academic activities.

The AAUA Vice-Chancellor, Prof Femi Mimiko, had tried to pull out of the strike in September but the local ASUU branch had resisted the move.

In a statement, Olotu said the students should continue their registration on the school portal immediately.

The AAUA Student Union President, Mr. Julius Adeniyi welcomed the development and assured his fellow students of a hitch-free semester.

He said, “We are dying and rusting at home; and I am backing my Vice Chancellor on the resumption date. We are coming in and nothing will happen.”

WHY ARE "EDUCATED PEOPLE" THE WORST ENEMIES OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA?...WHY MUST ASUU CONTINUE TO BE EDUCATION POLICE TO ARREST THEIR ATTENTION?

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After ASUU …

THERE is a paradox governments have  built around education — they are spending billions of Naira on education, yet the financial issues around education are not being resolved. The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, strike is only one of many matters that are dogging education.

Government’s supposed interests in negotiating with ASUU, the speed being applied, and the uttermost neglect of other aspects of education confirm the diminishing importance that governments attach to education.

ASUU’s case is exceptional, in that governments appeared concerned. When the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, went on strike, it took almost three months before governments started talking to the union. The issue remains partially resolved.

With the ASUU strike, the failure of governments and their programmes are obvious. Governments sign agreements they do not intend to keep. ASUU is on strike over a 2009 agreement. Governments want to re-negotiate implementation of a four-year-old agreement.

They also know that the negotiations for a new agreement are due. We have governments that plan for immediate needs, if they ever do. They are exhausting themselves over ASUU strike as if meeting ASUU’s demands would resolve the challenges that our education faces, among them irrelevant curricula.

How do governments spend billions of Naira they budget annually for education? Bureaucracy consumes the bulk of the money. Duplication of agencies that manage education is the biggest cost centre in our national education management. Governments are running up new costs.

New higher institutions are being built with emphases on physical structures. Laboratories, libraries and research centres that they require to be centres for meaningful academic engagements are available in inadequate numbers.

It is absurd that governments — the owners of the universities — would need an ASUU strike to determine the status of the facilities in universities.

What plans do governments have for education? How would they tackle sustainable funding so that we are not soon back to another wave of strikes in a matter of months?  Would governments ever consider education important enough that it should run without disruptions from strike?

There would be no easy solutions. Many of the federal agencies on education just drain resources that should have been invested in improving learning facilities. States imitate the federal waste, making education one of governments’ biggest cost centres, without commensurate value for the expenditures.

Governments can save costs by eliminating duplication in the functions of education agencies. There should be clearer lines about the roles of governments at different levels of education. The Federal Government should not be dabbling into primary school education.

Finally, the future of education is too important to be left to haphazard funding. Governments should provide resources for education beyond ASUU’s demands.

VANGUARD EDITORIAL

LATEST NEWS ON PROF FESTUS IYAYI’S DEATH

There are strong indications that the Federal Road Safety Corps is shielding the alleged driver of the convoy vehicle that caused the accident which killed a former president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Festus Iyayi at Banda village, near Lokoja, Kogi State on Tuesday.

Festus Iyayi was travelling to Kano for a meeting of the National Executive Council of ASUU when a Toyota Hilux pick-up van in the convoy of Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, crashed into the bus he was travelling, killing him instantly and injuring two others.

Festus Iyayi

The Kogi State FRSC sector commander, Olakunle Motajo, told one of our correspondents in Abuja on the telephone that the report of the investigation into the accident was not ready.

Motajo “The report is not ready yet, we are still working on it; don’t worry, I will call you whenever it is ready,” he said and terminated the phone call.

Calls made to his phone to ask him further questions were not responded to.

The corps had blamed ‘wrongful overtaking’ by the convoy vehicle for the accident, saying its preliminary investigation showed that the driver of the pick-van was to blame for the crash.

Motajo, who said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, however, recanted when he was contacted by one of our correspondents on Wednesday.

“Motajo said, “I never blamed the governor’s convoy for the crash, and I didn’t speak to anyone because the investigation is not yet concluded. It is my men that are carrying out the investigation and they are not done yet. By tomorrow morning (Thursday), the report would be ready, so call me, I will give you the full details of our findings.”

On Thursday, the Corps Education Officer of the FRSC, Jonas Agwu, did not respond to several calls to his phone and the questions sent to him on the high rate of accidents involving convoy drivers and the refusal of the corps to prosecute errant drivers in the convoys of men and women in power.

The questions sent to Agwu are: “Why has FRSC been shying away from prosecuting errant convoy drivers?

“Is it true that the corps is unwilling to release the report of its investigation into the accident involving Wada’s convoy because it did not want to upset the governor?

“Why is the FRSC shielding the killer driver?

Rather than respond to the questions, Agwu simply said he had been busy, adding that he was “waiting to see if there is any available report (on the accident).”

But in separate interviews, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, Lagos-based lawyers, Festus Keyamo and Bamidele Aturu, warned the government and the Federal Road Safety Commission against politicising the accident that killed Iyayi.

They expressed worry at different accounts of the incident attributed to the FRSC on the cause of the accident.

DID NIGERIA KILL DR FESTUS IYAYI?...WHY DOES DR NIYI OSUNDARE THINK SO?

Nigeria Killed Iyayi By Niyi Osundare

Prof. Festus Iyayi

By Niyi Osundare

And so Nigeria killed Festus Iyayi. . . .

He was one of our very best: creative, energetic, dependable, and forthright. We were there in 1980 (with the then young and irrepressible Tunde Fatunde) when what we call ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities) today was in its infancy. Iyayi served the Union tirelessly and loyally, becoming its President in 1986, by popular acclamation. I worked with Iyayi, and saw him at close quarters. Fearless but fair, courageous but compassionate, demanding but decent, Iyayi was a great leader and an even greater follower, the kind who pressed on when others were seized by trepidation and despair. There is a painful logic in the fact he met his death while on a vital errand for our beloved ASUU.

Iyayi was a Balogun of the Barricades in our struggle against military dictatorship and our battle for Human Rights. He gave so generously, so valuably of himself and his inexhaustible physical and mental resources. Like the great Nelson Mandela, he could have said, without any fear of contradiction, that the struggle was his life.

All these virtues informed every line he wrote, from creative works to occasional interventions in the media. Art for Human Sake; clear illumination of the past; sensitive appreciation of the present; intelligent apprehension and anticipation of the future: Iyayi is a writer with the answerable vision. He chose his heroes very carefully, very judiciously. He ridiculed tyrants out of their despotic inclinations, challenged the unaccountably wealthy to show the source of their loot; urged the pauperized and the marginalized to interrogate the grounds for their plight instead of merely collapsing under its weight. Iyayi's blood boiled at the sight of injustice. Whenever he raised his voice it was to denounce the monsters that make progress impossible by laying us low. Iyayi challenged, then redefined our concept of heroism, for he knew that many of those propped up as heroes are nothing short of heinous villains; that many of our so-called giants are smaller than ants. His novel on the Nigerian civil war is never ambiguous as to who the real heroes of that war are, and where to look for the villains.

For many of his readers, Violence remains his all-time classic. In this unforgettable novel, Iyayi invites us to a Fanonian aetiology of violence, its actuation, and awful ramifications. In this heart-rendering story, we meet a millionaire who never labours for his money but uses it to take advantage of the moneyless; we meet young people so desperate, so  poor – no, impoverished –  that they are forced to sell their very blood for money for the very basic essentials of life. We encounter the uncommon courage and stoicism of the poor and lowly and the callous bestiality of the rich and powerful. In the annals of African fiction, only Ousmane Sembene’s God’s Bit of Wood and Ngugi wa Thion’go’s Petals of Blood have dissected Africa’s social reality in such gripping detail and with such committed panache. I love all Iyayi’s works with a passion, but for me, Violence remains for him what Things Fall Apart is for Chinua Achebe: a magnificent story ennobled by unforced lyricism and spontaneous narrativity. Violence marked a new accent in Nigerian fiction when it appeared in the late 1970’s. In many ways, it is the harbinger for the likes of E.E.Sule’s Sterile Sky published about three decades later.

     Personally, to encounter Festus was to get ready to fall in love with him. Natural. Unabashedly, unapologetically natural. Humorous and always loaded with funny anecdotes, Festus took the sting out of the scorpion of the Nigerian jungle by laughing and helping others to laugh at its countless foibles. Victim of incarceration, unwarranted sack, vilification, and other abuses, he was always ready to forge ahead. Utterly disenchanted with Nigeria’s present, he never lost hope in her future. Festus was a comrade who was also a friend, a fellow-traveller and a brother.

     And so Nigeria killed Iyayi. Nigeria, that dragon which feeds so insatiably upon the most precious of its own eggs. We lost a gallant fighter and great patriot. Terrible. Unspeakably terrible. Behold the terrifying irony: the patriot who labored so tirelessly to rid his country of violence has become a victim of her egregious violence.

Yet another chapter in our running saga of waste. . . .

Adieu, brave comrade. Nigeria’s wasters are still here, Awaiting Court-Marshall. 

Niyi Osundare

New Orleans, Nov. 15, 2013

ASUU STRIKE COMING TO AN END?...STRIKE: FG, ASUU SHIFT GROUNDS

THERE are strong indications that the protracted strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, that has crippled academic activities for over four months may end in the next one week, Vanguard has gathered.

Vanguard sources at the Monday night meeting between the Federal Government led by President Goodluck Jonathan, the leadership of ASUU, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, said both the Federal Government and leaders of ASUU had shifted grounds and leaders of ASUU would meet with its organ (National Executive Council) to brief members of the outcome and then take necessary action.

One of the sources told Vanguard: “Both the Federal Government and the leadership of ASUU are now on the same page. Both parties have shifted grounds. The leadership of ASUU will now meet with its appropriate organ to brief its members and take the necessary action.



President Goodluck Jonathan (left); ASUU Vice President, Mr. Biodun Ogunyemi Onabanjo (2nd right); Vice President Namadi Sambo (2nd left) and ASUU President, Nasir Faggae (right) during the meeting.

“ASUU is in the right position to inform the public after meeting with its organ. However, I can tell you that all things being equal, the strike should be over in the next one week.”

The meeting between the government and the labour leaders started at about 2:30pm on Monday and ended at about 3:30am on Tuesday with a 15 minutes break.

Fagge, Wogu speak

National President of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Isa Fagge, emerged from the meeting and curtly told newsmen that his delegation was taking back a message from President Jonathan to their members.

He declined to disclose what the message was and when asked whether he was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting, the ASUU leader told journalists not to put words in his mouth.

He said: “We have had a lengthy meeting with Mr. President, rubbing minds on how best to address the problem of university education in this country.

“We now have a message from Mr. President that we are going to take to our members and we are expecting that our members will respond appropriately to his message.”

The Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu, who also attended the meeting, told journalists after the meeting that certain mileage had been attained and expressed the hope that the university lecturers would call off the strike soon.

He said: “The President of ASUU told you that they are going back with a message from the Federal Government to their members and the message is full of high expectation and hope.

“Our prayer is that they will come back with a positive outcome. They might even not come back to meet us. They might take decisions that will meet your expectations.”

According to the Minister, what government brought to the negotiation table were offers that were in tandem with the 2009 agreements between it and ASUU, pointing out that since the strike was based on the 2009 agreement, the government did not go beyond that agreement.

Roll call

President Jonathan, who led the Federal Government’s delegation, was joined by Vice President Namadi Sambo; Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike; and minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu.

The ASUU delegation was led by its President, Dr. Nasiru Fagge; past presidents such as Professor Abdulahi Sule-Kano, Dr. Dipo Fashina and Professor Festus Iyayi.

Other members of the delegation were Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, Prof. Victor Osodeke, Prof. Suleiman Abdul, Dr. Victor Igbum and Mr. Michael Odunmoraye.

President NLC, Abdulawahid Omar and TUC, Bobboi Kaigama, also attended the meeting.

While exchanging pleasantries with the ASUU delegation, President Jonathan had told them “I hope this strike will end today. Our children have suffered enough. We must find a solution.”

VANGUARD

PREGNANT AT 18, BEST GRADUATING STUDENT AT 25...IS SHE AN ICON TO EMULATE?

[caption id="attachment_23264" align="alignleft" width="400"] Aishat with her son, Damilola[/caption]

Seven years after an unwanted pregnancy forced her to drop out of the University of Ilorin, Aishat Farooq emerges the best graduating student of the Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, reports Temitayo Famutimi

When Aishat Farooq gained admission into the University of Ilorin at 15, to study Zoology, little did she know that she was not going to be an alumnus of the institution. That was in 2003.

Despite the fact that she was a high flyer in her first two years in UNILORIN, the now 25-year-old indigene of Ilorin West-Local Government Area of Kwara State got distracted along the line. She played the campus love game and got a shocking result: she got pregnant.

It was in 2006 and in her third year. She was pregnant for a fellow student whom she had been dating. She was disappointed in herself and thought the whole world was crashing on her.  Yet, she vowed not to terminate the pregnancy.

Although she wanted to continue her studies in the university,  she became disillusioned and dropped out at 18. She sought consolation in trading.

But her father, Mr. Shehu Farooq, who believed that his daughter’s academic prowess should not be wasted,  was determined to get her back on the academic track.

Today, Aishat has a different story to tell. On Saturday, she stood tall among her peers at the 5th convocation ceremony of Bells University, Ota, Ogun State,  where she emerged the overall best graduating student with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.93.

“The rebel in me won,” she declared while giving the valedictory address on behalf of the 208 graduating students of the university.

“I hope my story will inspire at least one person to change his or her circumstance. I was pregnant at 18 and by 19 I was already a mother. I had disappointed my father who believed so much in me. He had such big dreams for me and feared the dreams would become unfulfilled,” she added.

Breaking the news of the pregnancy to her father,  who was at the time based in the northern part of the country, was not easy. Aishat’s mother, Fatima, who stayed in Lagos with the family, did not break the “sad news” to the man until the lady was almost due. The mum feared her husband would be too angry.

Fatima narrated to our correspondent, “Looking back, we knew her to be very brilliant. But all of a sudden she got pregnant. Though her father and I were always discussing on the telephone, I hid it from him. Whenever he said he would  be coming to Lagos to visit us, I  would quickly chip it in that I would  like to be the one to visit. So, I ensured I was the one always visiting him.

“That was how I managed the situation until the pregnancy was eight months. But even when we broke the news to him, he felt really bad. Although there was nothing he could do, he couldn’t go out for three days.”

Aishat studied Business Administration with specialisation in Human Resources Management, and received the Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for the Overall Best Graduating Student with a cash reward of N50,000 and a plaque. She also won the College of Management Sciences Prize and Department of Business Administration Prize for the Best Graduating Student.

Speaking with our correspondent after she received the awards, Aishat, whose face beamed with smiles, expressed gratitude to her dad for not losing hope in her during her trying time.

She noted that the popularly-held notion that the child that goes astray belongs to the mother, while the good ones belong to the father, was not applicable in her situation as her father did not give up on her.

Asked why her dad had so much hoped in her, she stated that her history of academic excellence from childhood right to the university was a major driving force.

Aishat, who attended Nazareth Nursery and Primary School, Lagos; Penny International College, Lagos and Model Secondary School, Maitama, Abuja,  said she bagged several academic awards while growing up and noted that she secured admission to UNILORIN the same year she completed her secondary education.

She noted, “I did exceptionally well and bagged awards in the schools I attended. I had the overall best result at the Senior Secondary School Certificate level at Model Secondary School, Maitama, Abuja. In fact in UNILORIN, I was on the first class grade in my first year but in 200 Level, I dropped to second class upper division because I had already started getting distracted by the boys.

“It just happened that things turned out the way it did. But here I am, a product of God’s unending mercies, unconditional love and grace – all coupled with the faith my dad had in me and my fierce determination.

“I’m a goal getter. I push myself hard. Even here (BELLSTECH) in spite of being a mother, I was pushing for the best despite the challenges. I wanted to make my dad proud again. Once you are determined, nothing is impossible. Nothing can stop you.”

She said her decision to study Business Administration as against the sciences, which she was studying in UNILORIN, was informed by her two-year experience in the world of business after she dropped out of university.

She explained that incessant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, however, informed her decision to attend a private university. “Age was no longer on my side and I wanted to do it fast. And my dad could afford it because he was a businessman,” she added.

Asked if she was involved in any relationship at the Bells, she explained that she was a popular “snob” on campus because the majority of male students were younger than her. Besides, she did not want to get distracted or disappoint her parents and herself again.

Aishat,  who has been posted to Lagos State to observe the mandatory National Youth Service Corps scheme, said, “If you ask around you will be told that I was a snob. My favourite spot was my room. I rarely went out of the room for social events. I went to mosque. However, when I contested for the president of my departmental association, Business Administration Students Association, the Nigerian system worked against me.

“I lost to my male opponent. Although I had plans to take some giant strides if I won,  especially in the academic aspect for my fellow students, the fact that I was not the  type of person who hangs out worked against me. I didn’t have a social life.”

She said she has no plans for marriage for now. She wants to pursue a master’s degree programme in Human Resources in the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She added that she also plans to work in a corporate environment to garner experience and afterwards go back to the university to teach “as a way of giving back.”

The second child in a family of eight children, Aishat brought her six-year-old son, Damilola, to the convocation. It was, however, learnt that the Edo State-born father of the boy has since got married to another woman.

She noted that her major challenge on campus was the randomness of classes which denied her the opportunity of spending quality time with her son while her stay in the university lasted.

“We had visiting professors who came into the campus at anytime. Although we had schedules, many of them had a bit of flexible time.  Sometimes on Sunday when I took permission to visit my child in Lagos, my classmates would call me up on the phone that there  was going to be a class. Because attendance is very important, I had to rush down. This affected me a little,” she added.

Aishat’s father advised parents to give their children and wards the best of tutelage and close monitoring. He noted that he least expected the feat achieved by his daughter as he was at a time disturbed that “she could no longer make it.”

Asked if it was  lack of adequate monitoring that made Aishat go astray at UNILORIN, he said,  “Let’s just say that is how God wants it. You see,  70 per cent of the fault is on us the parents. Parents should give their children good supervision and tutelage. With this, they cannot derail. I thank God for her because it’s is not easy to have raised her from grass to grace.

“I screamed on the phone the day I learnt she was pregnant. I started asking questions: When, where and how. I burst into tears. But today, she is a new being. And I know the mistake will not repeat itself. My expectations for her are that she should fly higher and higher.”

Some other graduands who distinguished themselves were also recognised at the convocation ceremony.

Kolawole Lawal,  who finished from the Department of Economics with a CGPA of 4.73, received the Olusegun Obasanjo’s Prize for being the best graduating student with outstanding academic performance and leadership qualities. Former President Obasanjo who is the Chief Promoter of the university, also attended the event.

Francis Sogunle,  from the Department of Computer Science, who had a CGPA of 4.74, received the Chancellor’s Prize for excelling in external competitions of academic nature.

At the ceremony, 208 students were awarded first degrees with Aishat and 13 others being conferred with first class degrees,  while 64 of them got second class upper degrees; 83 bagged second class lower; just as 43 were awarded third class degrees. Meanwhile four of the graduands finished with pass degrees.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Isaac Adeyemi, charged the graduates to be patriotic and dedicated to nation building.

“Our beloved country is currently going through a rather stressful period. All hands must be on deck to seek lasting solutions to militancy and insurgencies and disregard for the rule of law. This is the time to prove your worth as you can’t afford to fold your arms or sit on the fence,” he observed.

http://www.punchng.com/education/pregnant-at-18-best-graduating-student-at-25/

ASUU STRIKE...OUR LOSS,THEIR GAIN...DONATING OUR LOST CHILDREN TO ACCRA AND COTONOU!

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300"] English: The Tower on Legon Campus, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana. Français : La tour dominant la colline de Legon sur le campus de Legon à Accra, Ghana. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

ASUU strike heats up admission in Ghanaian varsities

Ghana’s public universities are facing a boom in applications, but do not have sufficient facilities to meet growing demand that has been exacerbated by an influx of students from neighbouring countries and a double cohort leaving school this year.

As a result, admission to universities is no longer based on obtaining the required grades – some qualified candidates have been turned down or made to sit additional selection tests.

The situation has been compounded by students from neighbouring countries – especially Nigeria – competing with Ghanaians for admission. Nigerians have been seeking out Ghanaian institutions because of the frequent strikes that have bedevilled their public university campuses.

“Over the past four months, Nigerian universities have been on strike and students have been forced to stay at home so it is better for some of us to look elsewhere to educate our children,” a Nigerian parent, Folu Agbeniran, told University World News in Accra.

Agbeniran said he had spent a month in Ghana looking at institutions that could admit his child as a first-year political science student.

“It is expensive to send your child to universities in Europe because even if you have the money, the visa regime has become very complicated so it is only logical to turn to a neighbouring country where everything is working,” he said.

Local students have become frustrated as institutions put in place competitive procedures to select qualified applicants. This year the University of Ghana rejected 39,645 qualified applicants who wanted to pursue undergraduate or graduate programmes in the 2013-14 academic year.

The vice-chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, said the situation was worse this year because there were two groups of students that sat the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in May-June 2013. This was due to the shortening of the four-year senior high school course to three years.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300"] English: A group of drummers in Accra, Ghana, wearing dashiki shirts and knitted kufi caps. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

Aryeetey said about 37,507 undergraduates and 2,138 graduates were denied admission. He described as “painful” the decision to reject 881 applicants who obtained good aggregates.

“We are faced with the painful decision of having to turn down the applications of many otherwise well qualified applicants due to limitations of staff and facilities,” he said.

As a result of these limitations some science students said they had to sit selection tests to gain admission.

“I made the grades and was expecting to be admitted but the university authorities used a test that they conducted to deny my admission,” said Joseph Addo.

“My dream of gaining admission to study medicine has been dashed and I am not sure of what I can do because private universities are very expensive and my parents cannot afford to pay those fees,” Addo added.