Auction of Malala Painting Raises $82,000 for Girls’ Education

0 0
Read Time:1 Minute, 2 Second
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has reported that an oil painting of 16-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl and activist, Malala Yousafzai, by British artist Jonathan Yeo, has been sold for $82,000 at an auction in New York.
 
Proceeds from the sale will go to support the Malala Fund, which will be directed to Nigerian charities focused on education and advocacy for women and girls, a topic in the news since which has been Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 girls.
 
The Taliban, for campaigning for girls’ education had shot Malala in the head in 2012.
 
Yeo told BBC that he wanted the portrait to convey 'this extraordinary dichotomy' of someone very young but still possessing 'enormous power and wisdom.' 
 
“Her birth instinct isn’t self-pity, rather what else she could do to help other girls in her position.”
 
According to a spokesperson for Malala, the young activist is “delighted that her portrait raised so much at yesterday’s auction and that the generosity of the buyer will allow the Malala Fund to help those working on the ground in Nigeria to support education for girls and women.”

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

Nigeria: LASU lecturers declare indefinite strike over high fees

0 0
Read Time:1 Minute, 19 Second

LAGOS—ACADEMIC Staff Union of Universities, Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo, branch yesterday, declared a total and indefinite strike over what it described as failure of the state government to meet its three core demands.

At a briefing, ASUU Chairman, Dr. Idris Adekunle, said having exhausted one year of dialogue and consultations with relevant stakeholders without headway, the union decided to call out its members on a total, comprehensive and indefinite industrial action.

Idris,  flanked by other executives of ASUU, said the three core issues  to be addressed before members could return to work were the reversal of the high LASU tuition regime from N348, 750 to a maximum N50, 000 across board; repeal of the no vacancy, no promotion policy of the institution’s administration and the implementation of the universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act, 2012, which would  see academic staff in the professorial cadre retire at age 70 instead of 65, in the university.

According to him, “The union met at different times with the university administration, the governing council, the Pro-Chancellor, the Chancellor, the Ad-hoc committee on the LASU crisis, the Parents’ Forum, Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu, Oba Babatunde Akran of Badagry, and Oba Jubrilu Rufai, the Olojo of Ojo, among other eminent personalities in the state, without resolving the core issues at stake.”

“The union this year declared a trade dispute with an initial 21 day ultimatum effective from March 24 which expired April 13 and another 14-day ultimatum which expired April 29″.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

Kickstart your international degree in 2014

0 0
Read Time:1 Minute, 29 Second
You can be anything you want. Attend the 2014 ESCC Education fair this May and discover the best international study options, courses and institutions available to help you get started.  Foundation, A-level, Undergraduate, and Post Graduate courses are available.
 
Free entry, free application processing and free visa guidance. See what to expect at the fair after the cut…
 
 
What to Expect at the Fair
·         Meet UK Universities’ representatives for discussions and interviews. Exciting study options in the USA, Canada and Dubai are also available.
·         Start your application process
·         Get information on part tuition scholarship and bursaries
·         Get student VISA advice from experts and more.
 
EVENT DETAILS
Events hold in Abuja, Lagos Island and Lagos Mainland as seen below:
 
REGISTER NOW.
Visit www.nigeriaoffice.co.uk/overseas-education-fair-pre-registration/ or call 07042932505.
 
Abuja
Monday, May 5th 2014 (10am till 4pm)
ESCC Education – 3rd Floor, IGI Building, No 3, Gwani St, Off Cape Town St. Wuse Zone 4.
09 2913317, 08074535747, 07042932504
info@nigeriaoffice.co.uk
 
Lagos VI
Wednesday, May 7th 2014 (10am till 4pm)
ESCC Education  – Plot 16 Karimu Kotun Street, Opposite JMG. By Oko-Awo Junction. Victoria Island. Lagos
07042932505, 07084042726
admin@nigeriaoffice.co.uk
 
Lagos Ikeja
Friday & Saturday 9th – 10th May 2014 (10am till 4pm)
Planet One Event Centre – By Onigbongbo bus- stop Maryland, Ikeja. Lagos
07042932505, 07084042726
admissions@nigeriaoffice.co.uk
 
REGISTER NOW.
Visit www.nigeriaoffice.co.uk/overseas-education-fair-pre-registration/ or call 07042932505.
 
ESCC….. a world of great possibilities awaits you. Let’s take you there.  

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

NIGERIA: ASUU Issues Seven-day Final Ultimatum to LASU

0 0
Read Time:2 Minute, 18 Second
The Lagos State University (LASU) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday said it had given the institution a seven-day final ultimatum to address its demands.
 
The Chairman of the union, Dr. Adekunle Idris, who made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said the ultimatum became effective on Wednesday, April 30 and would expire on May 7.
The union had on March 24, issued a 21-day ultimatum, which expired on April 13. Another 14- day ultimatum was issued from April 15 and its expired on April 29.
 
The union had contended that the hike in fee accounted for drop in student enrolment in the institution.
The lecturers also expressed dissatisfaction over the “no vacancy, no promotion” policy of the university and the non-implementation of the 2009 University Miscellaneous Provision Act, already operational in other universities.
 
In the fresh deadline, Idris said the lecturers would embark on a comprehensive and indefinite strike if management continued to ignore the union.
 
Idris said the fresh ultimatum was another opportunity for the university to meet the union’s demands and decried the management’s nonchalance toward the issues.
 
He said the institution’s governing council, which was their employer, had not invited the union for dialogue since the initial trade dispute was declared.
 
“It was only the Chancellor, Chief Okoya Thomas, that invited us for a meeting towards the end of the initial 21-day ultimatum issued and he promised to bring the issue to a logical conclusion, we are yet to hear from him.
 
“The parents’ forum also met the union on April 29 and promised to discuss with the government not to allow the issue result into a strike,’’ he said.
 
Idris said the union had been considerate enough to narrow down its 20 demands into three, “yet the management finds it impossible to meet them”.
 
He said the union declared the trade dispute to fulfill all the regulations of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) by giving the grace for dialogue before opting for strike.
 
According to him, it is almost certain that the union will embark on strike, judging by the levity with which the management, governing council and state government are handling the issue
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. John Obafunwa, had on April 15 appealed to the lecturers not to down tools because the institution was making effort to meet their demands.
 
Obafunwa explained that only three out of the 20 demands were yet to be met, and urged them to embrace dialogue because strike would only do more harm to the image of the institution.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

LASU lecturers to embark on ‘total’ strike, April 29

0 0
Read Time:3 Minute, 24 Second

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo Chapter, on Thursday threatened to go on strike at the expiration of another 14-day ultimatum it declared on April 15.

The union made the declaration at its South-West zonal congress, held at the institution.

Dr Adesola Nasir, ASUU South-West Zonal Coordinator, said the ultimatum was effective from April 15.

“The 14-day ultimatum trade dispute had been issued to accord the management an opportunity to address the demands of the union.

“ASUU would be holding its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the expiration of the ultimatum and ASUU-LASU will embark on a full scale strike, if its demands are not met,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ASUU- LASU had, on March 25, declared a 21- day ultimatum trade dispute, following the non-implementation of some agreements reached with its management over 12 months ago.

Nasir said that ASUU, at the National level, had intervened to resolve the brewing crisis in the university through dialogue with the management.

He, however, said that the issue was being handled with levity by the institution’s authorities.

“The national level had tried to arrest the trouble that is about to erupt at LASU.

“But the university authority says there are lots of demands they cannot resolve, except with the aid of the state government,” he said.

Nasir said the university authority had not met the demands of the lecturers but chose to engage in propaganda against the union.

He said the union, as a conscience of the nation, would not allow the hike in fees in the institution to remain.

“Student enrolment drops yearly due to the hike in fees, ranging from N197, 000 to N350 000.

“The annual enrolment in 2011/2012 before the increment was 3,052, but has dropped to 1,119 in the 2013/2014 admission,” he said.

According to Nasir, the `no vacancy no promotion’ policy was also yet to be addressed by the management, adding that such policy would stagnate the progress of staff.

“The management, saying that promotion was ongoing, was economically far with the truth.

“Those who are due and qualified for promotion, there is no vacancy for them, and are not promoted,” he said.

He noted that ASUU-LASU may be denied the over N2 billion Needs Assessment intervention fund, because the available facilities had been under-utilised.

“LASU is far behind the recommended National University Commission (NUC) carrying capacity for universities, as available facilities are under-utilised.

“The university has at least 6,000 carrying capacity, but is now carrying 1, 500,” the official said.

Nasir advised the authorities to implement the 2012 University Miscellaneous Provision (Amendment) Act by the Federal Government, to discontinue the continuous retirement of staff in the professorial cadre.

He urged the management, governing council and the government to do the needful in the matter, so that peace and industrial harmony could be restored in the university.

Meanwhile, the authorities of the institution had on April 14 urged the union to embrace peace, as efforts were being made to meet their demands.

The management had, in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer, Mr Kayode Sutton, said that there were only three demands, out of the initial 20 of the union that had not been met.

According to the statement, the government has dealt with the issue of salary arrears by paying its part, while the university has also been paying its own part.

“The schedule of paying the balance has already been announced and will be honoured,’’ the statement said.

The management, in the statement, also refuted the claim that it was operating a “no vacancy no promotion policy.”

It also said that the government had been in discussion with the students on the issue of school fees, and that it should not be a basis for grounding activities at the institution

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

Decalage: Exploring the Gap Between Africans and African Americans

0 0
Read Time:3 Minute, 22 Second

Kambi Gathesha is a Kenyan actor, choreographer, and playwright living in the United States. He studied both at Columbia University in the fields of History and African Studies and at Juilliard in Acting. He has appeared Off-Broadway in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, No Exit and Moby Dick-Rehearsed as an actor. Kambi will also perform in The Rivals and Romeo and Juliet. As a dancer and choreographer, he has performed at: Downtown Dance Festival, Merce Cunningham, PMT, Columbia University, New York Live Arts, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, and the HERE Arts Center. His original one-act play, Decalage, premiered at Columbia University in the Spring of 2014.

How long had you been thinking about writing Decalage?
I have always been interested in developing my own work, and throughout the years have presented small versions of original work. The idea for Decalage came last summer as I was wrapping up an off-Broadway show I was acting in. I drafted the early versions of the script in September.

How did you come up with the name of the play
The name, Decalage, is a French word that has no direct translation in English. It can mean “gap,” “wedge,” “jet lag,” etc. Professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia, Professor Brent Hayes Edwards, employs the term to theorize about social relations within African Diasporas. The metaphor of Decalage as a tool for understanding Diaspora fit in perfectly with my concept for the piece.

Did you show the initial drafts to anyone, if so, who saw them and what was the feedback?Yes. I had a writing circle that I met with every Thursday. I would write a draft and have those in the circle read the script aloud. Then they’d offer feedback or I would tweak some lines based on what I was hearing. With writing a play, it is essential to hear the language out loud. This writing circle was comprised of four people: Randolph Carr, Imani Brown, Bryant Brown, and Kwasi Adi Dako.

Would you have changed anything about the play?
I don’t if I would’ve changed anything about the play. Since I envisioned it as a one act play there were a lot of narratives I didn’t include. I would’ve liked to find a way to address gender and racial violence more fully. There have been some great bloggers writing articles about the role that gender plays in the public’s eagerness to mobilize around certain cases. And, at what point I thought about making creating the play around that idea- a female student of color shot and killed by police.

Do you follow the arts scene in Kenya, if so, what are your thoughts?
I follow the arts scene in Kenya, nominally. The music scene is very exciting with artists like Miriam Chemmoss and Eric Wainaina. I recently discovered the work of Kenyan Director, Wanuri Kahiu, whose science fiction short film, Pumzi, is incredible. There are some exciting voices in Kenya, and as a Kenyan living in the diaspora I am more committed than ever to [engage] with those voices.

Any new projects you are working on?
Yes. I am primarily an actor, so there is always another project in development. I am currently in rehearsals for an Off-Broadway play titled “The Rivals.” In terms of work that I am developing, I am currently working to tour Decalage to different universities in the fall and next spring. Additionally, I am developing a dance-centered musical on the history of hip-hop and freestyle dance in New York.

As an actor, my dream is to be on Broadway and to act in film and television; to have my original work produced globally; to move into producing and have my own production company; to be an artist with influence both in New York on Broadway and in California with film and television

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

NECO Releases 2013 Nov/Dec Examination Results

0 0
Read Time:1 Minute, 19 Second

The National Examination Council (NECO) on Friday released the 2013 November/December examination results.

The Registrar of NECO, Prof. Promise Okpalla, who announced this in Minna, said that out of 51,759 who sat for the examination 31, 201 candidates scored credits in Mathematics.

According to reports monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Okpalla said 28,113 candidates, representing 48.7 per cent of the candidates scored credit in English Language.
He said that Zamfara recorded the highest cases of malpractice in the examination, with 6.14 per cent and was followed by Imo with 5.28 per cent.

The registrar said that there had been improvement in NECO results in the last three years.
He attributed it to its collaboration with stakeholders and security agents, especially the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

Okpalla said that the council fared well in the conduct of the examination in spite of challenges it faced, and called for sustained cooperation from the public and stakeholders.

He said Zamfara and Imo topped the list of states with the high cases of malpractice, the Federal Capital Territory and Bayelsa recorded zero per cent in cases examination malpractice.

He stressed that the council had maintained zero-tolerance for examination malpractice “through the adoption of effective quality control measures.”

In his contribution, Chairman of NECO Board, Dr Paddy Njoku, commended the council for the painstaking manner it was conducting its activities.

Njoku urged every stakeholder in the education sector not to rest on his oars until cases of examination malpractice in the country were reduced.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

Castle of Knowlegde – Robert Record (c. 1510 – 1558)

0 0
Read Time:5 Minute, 54 Second

This essay gives a brief account of a passage from Robert Record’s The Ground of Artes. Following a few biographical details, we locate Record’s work relative to various mathematical traditions, comment on his work more generally and then move to consider the passage itself.Born in Tenby, South Wales, Record earned his B.A. at Oxford in 1531 and, perhaps after teaching and further study there, his M.D. at Cambridge in 1545. Record went on to be an eminent medical doctor in London, and may even have been doctor to Edward VI and/or Mary I. From 1549, Record occupied important positions as controller of the Bristol mint and then as general surveyor of mines and monies in Ireland. In 1558, convicted of libel against Sir William Herbert, Record died in prison after failing to pay a fine of £1000.[1] Convinced of the usefulness of mathematical knowledge and with a desire to spread that knowledge as widely as possible, Record became a key figure in the vernacular tradition, being one of the first to write mathematical works in English. Record also belongs to the humanist and practical traditions. While his works “emphasized reason over authority,”[2] they are not concerned with rigorously proving new theorems, but primarily with teaching useful mathematical techniques to his readers.   

Record wrote four mathematical textbooks, The Ground of Artes (1543) on arithmetic, The Pathway to Knowledge (1551) on geometry, The Castle of Knowledge (1556) on astronomy and The Whetstone of Witte (1557) on algebra.[3] The use of the vernacular, along with his engaging style made Record’s works unprecedentedly popular; The Ground of Artes went through some fifty printings, the last being in 1699, over 150 years after the book’s first appearance.Excepting The Pathway to Knowledge, these textbooks took the form of dialogues between scholar and master. Rather than using technical terms borrowed from other languages, Record invented his own, adapting words from ordinary English. While few of Record’s terms are now in use, the modern equals sign “=” is derived from that appearing in The Whetstone of Witte.   

The passage for discussion brings out further themes from Record’s work. That passage comes from the 1552 edition of The Ground of Artes, and is reproduced under the heading “A Discussion of Sheep” at SB 9.A1(c), pp. 278-9. Interestingly, the passage is absent from some editions of the book, such as the 1660 version.  The passage opens as the scholar asks how many sheep may be kept on a 7000-acre farm if law requires that there be one acre of arable land for every 10 sheep, and one acre of pasture for every 4 sheep. The master returns the question to the scholar, who proceeds to his answer by the method of double false position, a method used by Leonardo of Pisa (Fibonacci) in Liber Abbaci (1202), and which probably came to Europe together with the Hindu-Arabic number system.[4]   This method, whose general validity is easily demonstrated, simplifies calculation by (initially) avoiding the use of fractions and may be used to solve any linear problem in one unknown. Furthermore, since any differentiable function approximately linear over sufficiently small intervals, the method can also be used to find approximate solutions to non-linear problems.  The method of double false position requires that two ‘guesses’ be made, from which the correct answer is then deduced. The student makes guesses of 500 and 1000 sheep, and writing these numbers down, calculates that to keep this many sheep a farmer would need only 175 and 350 acres respectively. Noting that these figures are ‘out’ by some 6825 and 6650 acres, the scholar produces the following diagram.
Multiplying the numbers joined by lines, the scholar then takes the lesser product from the greater. The result, 3500000, is divided by 175, the difference between the two errors. This gives 20000, the maximum number of sheep that may be kept on a 7000-acre farm. The scholar goes on to claim that under such laws many men might keep this many sheep, since many possess so much land. In reply, the master states that an area of 7000 acres is “in compas above 48 ¾ miles”. While it is unclear how this last figure is derived (and therefore what is meant by ‘in compas’) the master clearly intends the figure to make apparent just how much land is 7000 acres, and on those grounds how unlikely it is that many men possess so much land.  

Delaying the return to mathematics, the scholar comments that modern farmers possess far more sheep than did the shepherds that “the Egyptians did grudg so much against,” and that breeding has made them so fierce that “none can withstande them but the lyon”. Typically for Record, the point is not only humorously made, it is also politically loaded. Here he is objecting to the enclosure of the common land for the use of the landowner, a practice that prevented the poor from living off the land and led to ‘Kett’s rebellion’ in 1549. The passage closes with an editorial note stating that the master went on to explain an easier way to solve the problem. This was probably the method of (single) false position, used by Egyptian mathematicians as early as 1800 bc.[5] Here we need to make only one initial guess, and we make it carefully to avoid the use of fractions. Since the imagined laws require that farmers keep no more than 10 sheep per acre of arable land, and 4 sheep per acre of pasture, we take the lowest common multiple of 10 and 4, namely 20. By an appropriate scaling, we quickly see that since 20 sheep require 7 acres of land, on 7000 acres we may keep 20000 sheep, which agrees with our previous answer.Written in the vernacular, in dialogue form, and using examples carefully chosen for maximum impact, Record’s textbooks were (and are) a pleasure to read. The unprecedented popularity of those textbooks was well deserved.

Notes

[1]For a more detailed account, see J.J. O’Connor and E.F. Robertson, “Robert Recorde” The MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive <http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/Recorde.html> Accessed 17th May 2003.  

[2] SB from the editors’ introduction to 9.A, p. 276.  

[3] He also wrote a medical treatise The Urinal of Physick (1547).  

[4] The method can also be found in the ancient (1st century?) Chinese text Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art <http://www.math.sfu.ca/histmath/China/1stCenturyAD/NineChapIntro.html> Accessed 19th May 2003.  

[5] For example see Problem 25 of the Rhind papyrus, SB 1.D2(a), p. 16.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

VCs: Why Nigerian Universities Are Uncompetitive

0 0
Read Time:2 Minute, 24 Second
Vice-chancellors of Nigerian universities at the weekend ended their conference in Akure, the Ondo State capital, with a disturbing verdict that institutions in the country may not meet up in an increasingly competitive global knowledge economy.
 
The position of the vice-chancellors was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) held at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) which was attended by 60 members of the association and 70 other officers.
 
The verdict of the VCs, according to the communiqué, was sequel to the fact that teaching, learning and research take place in resource-poor contexts.
The VCs said the proliferation of universities without increased funding would pose challenges to the new public universities in Nigeria.
 
While noting that universities do not operate under the same circumstances having been established by various entities, they said inadequacy of funding by university proprietors was a major cause of declining educational quality in all universities.
“The availability of infrastructure such as energy and telecommunications is a critical need in Nigerian universities,” they stated.
 
They noted that funding from the private sector is inadequate because Nigerians do not know how to give to worthy causes.
 
In seeking alternative sources of funding, the VCs said philanthropy should be encouraged in order to have more advancement in the university system while differentiating between genuine advancement and ‘Cash and Carry Advancement’ that compromises on integrity.
 
They also stressed the need for universities to seek innovative sources of financing education, outside government and private proprietor funding through student loans and scholarships and private sector contributions.
 
Concerned by the frequent disruption in universities’ calendar, the VCs stressed the need to seek innovative and workable solutions to instability in the university occasioned by student and staff union issues.
“There is a need to put unionism in the right perspective to be responsive and responsible to nation building as it used to be,” the communiqué said.
 
While the VCs were at the conference, registrars of various universities met on the side to discuss the theme of the conference: 'The Nigerian University System and the Challenges and Prospects of Globalization' and resolved that the federal government should increase funding of public universities and extend financial support to private ones.
 
The registrars also recommended the review of curriculum of Nigerian university education to make it more entrepreneurial and need driven.
 
They also said vice-chancellors, as chief executive o fficers of the universities, should ensure the enforcement of desirable codes of conduct, including dress code, just as they said appointments of members of university governing council should be based on integrity and work experience in the university system and not only by political considerations.
 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

ASUU Strike: Army to Hold Education Summit to Tackle Anomalies in the Sector

0 0
Read Time:2 Minute, 50 Second

In a bid to tackle the various anomalies facing the nation’s education sector, the Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC), has put in place measures to hold a summit that would proffer solutions for the sector.

This is coming as policemen in Kano State prevented members of the Bayero University Kano (BUK) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), from carrying out a peaceful protest organised to educate the public on why the union would not call off its four-month-old strike, unless and until their demands were met.

Addressing journalists in Lagos, on the forthcoming education summit billed to hold on November 4 to 8, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Commander of the NAEC, Brigadier General Sunday Adebayo, expressed concern over the standard of education in the country, stating that the Nigerian Army, as an integral part of the larger society, cannot claim to be unaware of the problems confronting the education sector.

Tagged: 'Education Sector Development in Nigeria: Tackling Contemporary Challenges', Adebayo said the Governor of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akpabio; the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Azubuike Ihejirika and Education Minister, Nyesom Wike are among guests that will grace the occasion.

“It is a fact that the quality of the contribution made by a person is dependent on the quality of education the person possesses. Graduates from the university get enlisted into the Nigerian Army. It is the quality of education they received that they will contribute to the authority.
“The ultimate aim of the summit would be to compile these series of lectures into a book that will serve both as a reference material and a veritable guide for education stakeholders.

“Topics such as rethinking security education in a world of asymmetric warfare; an appraisal of the 6-3-3-4 Nigerian education system for global competitiveness; emotional intelligence: an emerging trend in educational management; as well as quality assurance in the Nigerian education system: matters arising, are among issues to be treated,” Adebayo said.

Meanwhile, the police, which stopped the planned protest in BUK were said to have been armed with tear gas canisters and stationed at the main gate of the BUK to prevent the aggrieved lecturers from staging the protest.

Notwithstanding this, the lecturers still carried some placards, which read: ‘Universities must be revitalised’; ‘ASUU will not give up without adequate funding’; ‘Development is a mirage and ‘It is government that must pay of university education, not the common man".
Speaking against the backdrop of the protest, the Chairman of BUK ASUU chapter, Dr. Mahmud Lawan, said neither the threat to lives and safety of ASUU officials nor the attempt to destroy the ASUU Secretariat by sponsored thugs would distract the struggle of the union to achieve the objective behind the lingering strike.

Lawan therefore added that the union would remain resolute and committed in support of its national leadership to ensure the revival of the deplorable university system in the country.
According to him, the motive behind their struggle was to educate the public on the cause of the strike, linking it to the refusal of the federal government to implement agreement entered into with ASUU.
However the rowdy situation later led to serious arguments between the union members numbering hundreds and the police over the right to protest.

 
 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %