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Tag: Students

  • FUOYE VC proscribes SUG as police deny killing students

    …announces indefinite closure

    The Ekiti Police Command on Wednesday debunked the claim that the police had killed some students of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), who protested against epileptic power supply to the institution on Tuesday evening.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the protest had led to the suspension of the tour of the 16 local government areas by Mrs Bisi Fayemi, wife of Gov. Kayode Fayemi by one day, while the university authorities had announced the indefinite closure of the school.

    The institution’s authorities had proscribed the students union body, while the tour of the local councils by the governor’s wife continues on Sept. 12.

    DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Command, said, however, that he was not aware of any death emanating from the students protests.

    Ikechukwu described the death story in a statement he released in Ado-Ekiti as “baseless, unfounded and only intends to incite and create panic in the minds of the peace-loving people of Ekiti and the general public”.

    He noted that a weapon was recovered from one of the protesting students, adding that the quick intervention of the police at the scene prevented further damage to public and private properties.

    “The police officers at the scene pacified the protesting students, removed the blockade they erected and dispersed them peacefully.

    “However, the protesting students turned around in their numbers and took their plight to Her Excellency, Mrs Bisi Fayemi, the wife of Gov. Kayode Fayemi, who was at an empowerment programme in the town.

    “The protesting students suddenly became unruly, hostile and took laws into their hands, and vandalised the motorcade of the governors wife.

    “The protesting students did not stop at that, they also assaulted the policemen who were at the scene to maintain law and order, and damaged police vehicle found at the scene.

    “Investigation is ongoing to bring the perpetrators to book,” Ikechukwu said.

    Meanwhile, the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, on Wednesday announced the immediate closure of the institution and proscription of the Students’ Union Government (SUG).

    According to a statement by the institution, the unfortunate incident acted out by the students forced the authorities of the Federal University Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) to announce the immediate and indefinite closure of the university, to forestall further breakdown of law and order.

    “In the same vein, the students union of the institution is hereby disbanded indefinitely.

    “Following this closure, the students population are hereby ordered to vacate the university premises not later than 10.00 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2019.

    “Further developments will be communicated in due course,” the statement quoted the vice-chancellor as saying.

    The university condemned the violence that followed the protest by the students against the epileptic power supply to the community.

    “Our findings revealed that the students gathered themselves and blocked the Abuja-Ado and Ijan-Ikole highways from the early hours of Tuesday till about 2.00 p.m.

    “After much persuasions by the university ‘s internal security personnel and the federal security agencies, they dispersed.

    “Only for the news to get to the university authority thereafter that the students had assaulted the motorcade of Mrs Bisi Fayemi and vandalised some vehicles in the motorcade,” it said.

    “Sensing that her excellency was under attack, in view of the continued aggression of the students, the security personnel attached to her convoy had to repel the attack and some students were injured in the process.

    “In view of the foregoing, the management at an emergency meeting discussed and reviewed the unruly behaviour of the students.

    “Such behaviour, which included the destruction of vehicles and burning of a police van, as well as threat to lives, compelled the university management to take these urgent decisions.”

  • Benue evacuates students from Taraba varsity after killing

    Benue evacuates students from Taraba varsity after killing

    The Benue Government announced on Wednesday that it had commenced the evacuation of Benue State students at the Federal University, Wukari in Taraba.
    The evacuation followed the closure of the university after the alleged killing of two Benue students in the institution on July 30 by people suspected to be members of the Jukun militia.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that hundreds of people have been killed over the years in recurring communal clashes between ethnic Jukun and Tivs in the agricultural belt of Northern Nigeria.
    The bloody conflict has taken its toll on the two ethnic groups with many lives lost and property estimated at millions of naira destroyed.
    Speaking in a telephone interview with a NAN correspondent in Makurdi on Wednesday, the Benue Commissioner for Education, Prof. Dennis Ityavyar, said the evacuation of the students was due to the closure of the university.
    He said that relevant security operatives and the government of Taraba had been notified about the evacuation.
    Ityavyar said that the Benue Government was hopeful that the Taraba Government would provide adequate security for all Benue citizens, including students residing in Taraba.
    He said the Benue Government had since started making arrangements to provide for the needs of Benue students affected by the crisis.
    “The Government of Benue State has contacted the Government of Taraba State, police commissioner, the army and other security formations in Taraba State to ensure the safety of Benue State indigenes in Taraba State.
    The commissioner appealed to Taraba indigenes schooling in Benue to remain calm, assuring that the Benue Government was on top of the situation to ensure safety for everyone.
    “There should be no panic moment of students of Taraba State origin who are schooling in Benue State. We are on top of the situation,” he stated.
    Benue and Taraba Governments have held series of meetings over the years to find a lasting solution to the crisis but the killings have not abated.

  • U.S. Universities Offer $7.5m in Scholarships to Nigerian Students

    U.S. Universities Offer $7.5m in Scholarships to Nigerian Students

    More than 303 Nigerian students from the 17 states of southern Nigeria have received no less than $7.5 million in full or partial scholarships from 225 American universities and colleges to study in the United States for the 2019-2020 academic session.

    Acting United States Consul General Osman Tat disclosed this in Lagos on Tuesday during the 2019 EducationUSA pre-departure orientation for students who have received offers of admission and scholarships to attend U.S. colleges and universities this fall.

    Noting that the U.S. remains a top destination for international students, Acting Consul General Tat explained that the list of acceptances for Nigerian students for the upcoming academic year has been quite impressive, cutting across many of the 50 U.S. states.

    “I congratulate each one of you on your tremendous success. This is a very important step in your life. I encourage you to make the most out of your time in the United States to acquire the requisite skills and knowledge needed to support Nigeria’s development,” Tat told the group of U.S.-bound students.

    The students have been accepted for undergraduate and graduate degree programs at top notch U.S. institutions ranging from Ivy League universities, liberal arts colleges, women’s colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), to community colleges.

    They include Stanford University, The George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, Purdue University, Tufts University, Boston University, Emory University, and Howard University, among many others.

    The pre-departure orientation is intended to assist students to prepare for their move from Nigeria to attend a college or university in the United States. The event included interactive sessions on topics such as travel planning, adjusting to life in America, safety on campus, and F-1 visa rules for international students.

    Participants also had the opportunity to meet with students currently studying in the United States who offered tips on how to prepare for the U.S. academic, social, and cultural environment.

    Among the departing students are 13 EducationUSA Opportunity Fund grantees —10 undergraduate and 3 graduate students, with full scholarships — who received financial aid to cover the up-front cost of obtaining admission.

    Annually, through the Opportunity Fund Program, the U.S. Consulate’s EducationUSA Advising Centre assists talented low-income students who are good candidates for admission to U.S. colleges and universities, by funding their application process.

    According to the latest Open Doors Report, published annually by the Institute of International Education, Nigeria is the 13th highest sending country of international students to the U.S., with about 12, 693 Nigerians currently studying in the United States.

  • Exam malpractices: Ibadan Poly burns phones seized from students

    To restate its commitment to fighting examination malpractices to the barest level and enforcing discipline, the management of The Polytechnic Ibadan has ordered that mobile phones, worth millions of naira, which were confiscated from the students during examinations be set on fire.
    The Deputy Rector of the institution, Bayo Oyeleke, addressing journalists on Wednesday, at the Ibadan campus of the institution said the authorities have resolved to ensuring that the examinations of the Polytechnic are sacred.
    According to Oyeleke, the phones worth millions of naira were recovered from the students during examination in the school and that the school has decided to burn the phones to restate its commitment to fight examination malpractices to the barest level.
    “We are here to take further action on our resolved to ensure that the crop of students and product being produced by the school are students with exemplary character and are those who really work and worth the certificate of the institution.” He said.
    He further said there are rules guiding the school examination and that any student that goes against any of the rules will be made to dance to the music.
    “There are rules guiding the principles of our examinations and one of it is that no student under whatever guise should come into the examination hall with cell phones but you know that some students are very recalcitrant
    “We have resolved to confiscate them because it has been expressly stated on their examination paper that any phone found on any students during examination shall be confiscated and in order not to allow any of the phones to filter out, the school has resolved that such phones shall be burnt,” he said.

  • 11 students die as school bus crashes into mountain

    Eleven students were killed in India on Thursday after their vehicle fell into mountain gorge, local officials said.

    At least seven others travelling in the minibus were injured in the accident in South Kashmir’s Shopian district, senior administration official Mohammad Saleem Malik said, adding that the condition of two of them was critical.

    The victims, aged between 20 and 25, nine of them are women, were enrolled in a computer training institute in Surankote town, Malik said.

    India has the highest number of traffic fatalities in the world. An average of 135,000 people die on the country’s roads each year, according to government data.

    Many accidents are reported in mountainous regions like Kashmir and they are usually caused by reckless driving, bad roads or the poor condition of vehicles.

  • ‘Nigerian students have one of the highest rates of suicidal thoughts globally’

    ‘Nigerian students have one of the highest rates of suicidal thoughts globally’

    The Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CCAMH), University of Ibadan, says that Nigerian students have one of the highest rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts globally.

    Prof. Olayinka Omigbodun, the Director of CCAMH, stated this on Wednesday in Ibadan at a symposium held to mark the 2019 Day of the African Child.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme selected by the African Union to commemorate the day is: “Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First”.

    NAN also reports that the Day of the African Child was set aside by the African Union in 1991 to recognise children who lost their lives in the June 16 children uprising in Soweto, South Africa.

    Omigbogun, a consultant psychiatrist, said that 50 per cent of mental disorders had their onset before the age of 14, a period within which he said critical growth and development occur.

    “Several studies identifying the health situation of children and adolescents in schools have been conducted by the CCAMH.

    “The results of several needs assessment reveal a huge burden of health concerns within schools in Nigeria.

    “A couple of years ago, our research team went into 22 rural and urban schools in Ibadan and studied about 2000 in-school adolescents.

    “We have found that one in five of these students in our study reported thoughts of suicide while one in 10 said that they had attempted suicide in the last one year,” she said.

    Omigbodun also said that they found that adolescents who came from unstable homes had higher rates of suicides.

    She added that adolescents, who were exposed to sexual abuse, physical attacks, physical fights and bullying at school, were more likely to report attempting suicide.

    The consultant psychiatrist also noted that one in five of adolescents in school use psychoactive substances which, according to her, are more likely to cause depression and conduct disorder among other mental health problems.

    She called on government at all levels and private school owners to invest in sustainable school health and welfare programmes, saying that school forms an integral part of children and adolescents’ mental health and wellness.

    “Promotion of health and wellbeing in school is a child’s right; children spend a lot of their formative years in school.

    “Our children’s mental health is our nation’s future wellbeing. Despite the presence of a school health policy and programme in Nigeria, many students are not enjoying good health and wellbeing within their schools.

    “In primary schools, we found up to 8 per cent of children had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a mental health condition characterised by inability to sustain attention and regulate ones activity level.

    “We also found that many teachers did not understand or have the necessary skills to work with and help these children; whereas they described children with ADHD as stubborn, wicked, witches and evil,” she said.

    According to her, paying attention to school health and wellbeing programme will increase school enrolment and reduce the rate of out-of-school children.

    “Health and wellbeing are best addressed within the school system to facilitate learning and development.

    “Schools are the most productive and less stigmatising platforms for providing health services for children.

    “This is because schools are tailored toward learning and development and this makes them a natural context for prevention and intervention.

    “There is considerable evidence that school-based mental health services produce positive effects on children’s emotional and behavioural functioning.

    “Children and adolescents in Nigeria can no longer wait as their future hangs in the balance,” she said.

    In her remarks, Mrs Funso Adegbola, Director of The Vale College, Ibadan, called on private school owners to invest in school mental health services.

    Adegbola stressed the need for funding mental health programmes for adolescents and children to enable them live up to their maximum potentials.

    She also decried the upsurge in the factors creating mental health needs, including the problems at home, hunger, depression, anxiety and negative peer influence.

    “Researchers have found that access to school-based health services has high value for children, schools, and the country.

    “At Vale College, we have a resident psychologist and we do mental health education, all of which have been of long term benefits to our students and the school,” she said.

  • Osun Poly students set school clinic ablaze over student’s death

    Osun Poly students set school clinic ablaze over student’s death

    Irate students of the Osun State Polytechnic at Iree on Saturday set the school clinic and medical equipment ablaze over the death of one of their colleagues.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that the timely intervention of the school’s security officials prevented the fire from spreading to other buildings in the school.

    It was learnt that one Aminu Hammed, a Higher National Diploma student of the institution’s Department of Applied Chemistry, slumped in the examination hall on Friday and was rushed to the school clinic, where he later died.

    The protesting students, who stormed the clinic on Saturday morning, alleged that there was no medical personnel at the clinic to attend to Hammed when he was rushed to the clinic.

    During the protest, the school’s ambulance, drugs and equipment in the clinic were set ablaze by the students.

    When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the school, Mr Tope Abiola, said that apart from the burnt clinic, property worth millions of naira were also destroyed by the students.

    Abiola said that drugs, equipment, vehicles as well as medical facilities were razed down by the inferno.

    He, however, said it was not true that there was no medical personnel to attend to Hammed when he was brought to the clinic.

    Abiola said that when Hammed was rushed to the school clinic at about 4:30 p.m. on Friday, medical personnel on duty made frantic effort to resuscitate him but to no avail.

    He said that Hammed was immediately referred to another hospital in town where he later died.

    “It is very shocking to us that the institution would lose such a precious soul.

    “He slumped shortly after writing his examination in the hall and he was immediately rushed to the school clinic.

    “He was a Muslim and he was observing the Ramadan fasting.

    “He would have slumped, due to loss of stamina. He was buried on Friday evening in his hometown, Oba’agun, community close to Iree.

    “We sympathise with his family and we pray to God to console them.”

    Abiola, however, said to forestall breakdown of law and order on campus, the school’s management had ordered immediate closure of the institution.

    He said that all students had been directed to vacate the campus with immediate effect.

  • France open to welcoming new students from Nigeria – Ambassador

    France open to welcoming new students from Nigeria – Ambassador

    The French Embassy in Nigeria on Monday reaffirmed the country’s commitment to ensure improved relations between the two countries.

    The French Ambassador to Nigeria, Jérôme Pasquier, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

    Mr Pasquier said Nigeria and France would partner in such areas as climate change, education and fight against terrorism.

    He said that his country had organised activities to commemorate this year’s International Francophone Week in Nigeria to strengthen the ties.

    The week is scheduled to start from March 18 to 23, on the theme: “French Language, Connecting for Action” to mark this year’s International Francophone Day, celebrated globally on March 20.

    The ambassador said “France and Nigeria have so many things to do together; we will like to have more friendship with Nigeria.

    “We want to work on key issues, such as climate change, which is a very serious issue for Nigeria; France is very committed to it, which is one area we can work together.

    “Notably, one special issue for both of us is fight against terrorism, you have victims of terrorism in Nigeria. We also have in France.

    “So, if there is any field we can work together, exchange information and experiences, it is in fights against terrorism, we cannot win the fight alone, we have to really work together.”

    He commended the ability by some Nigerians who speak French Language to have contributed to the growth in trade relations between the two countries.

    He urged Nigerians wanting to school abroad to consider France as priority place for their studies, in order to enhance their learning of French Language.

    “We really will like more students to come to France; we are very active in promoting knowledge of French Language studies traditionally in Nigeria.

    “Observably, students when thinking of where to go abroad often think about U.K., U.S., mostly because of language, but there is need for them to have a rethink.

    “We have to convince them, there are many good universities in France and it is not difficult to learn French Language and even study there,” Mr Pasquier said.

    NAN reports that the week is often celebrated globally by the International Organisation of Francophone countries.

    The organisation, also known as Francophonie, consists of 88 member states and governments, accounting for population of 300 million French speakers globally.

  • Students express mixed feelings over suspension of ASUU strike

    Some university students have expressed mixed reactions following the suspension of the three-month old strike by the Academic Staff Union of Students (ASUU).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the strike was suspended on Thursday, Feb. 7, after a conciliatory meeting between ASUU and representatives of the Federal Government led by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Nigige.

    The lecturers had demanded for the implementation of agreement entered into by the government with the union, including university revatilisation fund and earned allowances.

    Some Nigerian students who took to Twitter to express their opinion said the action was a tactic to deceive youths because of the coming elections.

    @iniobong tweeted: “How ASUU strike has not been a dominant issue in the ongoing presidential campaigns shows how unconcerned we all are about our shoddy education system.”

    @oheng2000 said “As much as I like the fact that #ASUU has called off its strike, personally I think this is wrong timing. One week to election? Are they looking for ways to get students back to school and use them for election thuggery? Students shine your eyes ooo. Don’t be used.”

    @Mayowasam1999 said “It is really a good step by the government, but we all know if there were no elections they won’t attend to it. I just pray we don’t go back to where we’re coming from after the election.”

    Meanwhile, others expressed readiness to return to school.

    @Bams_Jnr tweeted: “ASUU has finally called off the strike, yay!”

    @Tchinedvu tweeted: “Finally ASUU strike is over, I can now finish this 400L in peace.”

    Nifemi Adebowale, who just gained admission into the Federal University of Technology, Akure told NAN he was happy to finally start his university education, as his peers in other institutions were now ahead of him.

    “My parents advised me to start working to keep myself busy till the strike is called off.

    “My peers are now in their 100L second semester while I am just about to start my university journey.

    “I am just happy that finally, I can resume school since I gained admission into the university last year,” he said.

    Meanwhile, ASUU said if the Federal Government fail to fulfill its part of the agreement as reflected in the 2019 memorandum of Action, it would resume its suspended strike.

  • ASUU strike: Disregard resumption fake notice, LASU tells students

    The Lagos State University (LASU) has urged its students to disregard any notice directing them to resume for lectures amidst the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    Spokesman of the university, Mr Ademola Adekoya told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the information was a lie and handwork of mischief makers.

    “Similar information was released for Ladoke Akintola university students some days ago. Kindly disregard the information as it did not emanate from the office of the LASU Registrar,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that a notice had gone viral on the social media recently directing all students of the university to resume for academic activities on January 8.

    The notice had claimed that the management of the university at its meeting of January 3, said all students be notified of the commencement of academic activities including course registration and lectures.

    NAN also reports that ASUU had on November 4, 2018 embarked on what it described as a ‘total, comprehensive and indefinite strike’ to demand action from the Federal Government on challenges affecting universities.