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Tag: Students

  • UNIBEN students shut down Benin-Ore highway over power outage

    UNIBEN students shut down Benin-Ore highway over power outage

    Students of the University of Benin, UNIBEN, on Wednesday took to the streets, blocking the ever-busy Benin-Ore Highway to protest weeks of power outage on the campus.

    The students, who have only two weeks until their first semester examinations, said the situation was severely affecting their preparation.

    NAN gathered the university was thrown into a blackout following the inability to reach an agreement with the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) over a contentious electricity bill.

    The management of the institution was said to have expressed discontent after the Benin Disco reportedly made an upward review of the institution’s monthly electricity charges by over 200 per cent.

    The monthly bill was said to have jumped from about N80 million to between N200 and N280 million, forcing the university to resort to power generators as well as rationalisation of power on the two campuses and hostels.

    They said, “We only had one hour of electricity every day since this issue started. We are tired of studying in the dark.

    “We need electricity to read and prepare for our exams. The university management needs to take responsibility and fix this issue,” said John Afolabi, one of the protesting students.

    The protest, which began early in the morning, saw students carrying placards and chanting slogans as they blocked the highway.

    “We will not leave until something is done. We can’t afford to fail our exams because of the university’s negligence, said Sarah Osaigbovo, a 300 level student of the Ugbowo campus.”.

    The protest caused a significant disruption to the free flow of vehicular movement, with many passengers stranded and unable to reach their destinations.

    A visibly angry commuter, who refused to disclose his name said, “I’m supposed to be at work right now, but I’ve been stuck here for hours.

    “I understand the students’ plight, but they need to find a better way to protest.”

    In spite of the rainfall, the students were hellbent to continue the rampage.

    When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Dr Benedicta Ehanire, said meeting of the Senate was ongoing on how to resolve the issue.

  • Army hands over 8 rescued students to Kogi gov, Ododo

    Army hands over 8 rescued students to Kogi gov, Ododo

    The Nigerian Army on Monday handed over eight students of Confluence University of Science and Technology Osara, Kogi State, who were rescued on Sunday, to Gov. Ahmed Ododo, at Army Headquarters Abuja.

    The handing over was conducted by the Deputy Chief of Operations (Army), Maj.-Gen. Emmanuel Emekah, on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja.

    Emekah said the troops of the Nigerian Army in synergy with operatives of the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies, successfully rescued the abducted students who were taken hostage by terrorists.

    He said the rescue operation took place in a dense forest near Oro Ago Village in Kwara following an intense clearance mission.

    He added that the operation was still ongoing to apprehended the perpetrators of the dastardly act and bring them to book.

    In his remarks, Gov. Ahmed Ododo thanked God Almighty for making it possible for the rescue of the students, adding that it was a mixed feeling for him as two of the 31 abducted students were murdered.

    Ododo said that 29 of the students were successfully rescued while appreciating the efforts of President Bola Tinubu and the military for the fight against insecurity in the country.

    He also thanked the National Security Adviser (NSA) for making the country’s security apparatus more effective, efficient and technology driven.

    “At this level, I have come to realise that the Nigerian army has all it takes to stamp out kidnapping, banditry and all forms of criminal activities from our land.

    “Because the level of synergy, the level of understanding, collaboration and coordination carried out by them professionally is highly commendable and I sincerely appreciate you and your men.

    “I want to promise that Kogi State will always be there to partner with you and we are ever ready to answer your call at any point in time and fighting crimes and criminality in our land.

    “We have all it takes in terms of equipment and we will continue to collaborate and synergise with your agencies to make sure our land is free of all these criminalities,” he said.

    Ododo assured the student that the government would continue to support them to ensure that they succeed in their aspiration and educational pursuits.

    According to him, Kogi is a state that is well known to be well blessed with mineral deposits and that deposit must work for the state.

    He said the criminals had now known that Kogi was not a safe heaven for them, assuring that no criminal that entered the state would be spared.

    The governor commended the army for its efforts and display of professionalism in carrying out the rescue operation.

  • 2 kidnapped Kogi varsity students killed

    2 kidnapped Kogi varsity students killed

    The police command in Kogi on Sunday confirmed the killing of two of the abducted students of Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH),Osara.

    The State Police Commissioner, Mr Bethrand Onuoha, said this when he spoke with NAN in Lokoja.

    Onuoha described  the killing by their abductors as very unfortunate.

    The CP did not however, gave the details of the killing, said that the security operatives were on the trail of the abductors to bring them to book.

    According to reports, the abductors invaded the school around 9.00 p m., on May 9 while the students were studying in their classes ahead of their examinations slated for May 13 and abducted some students, after shooting sporadically into the air.

    Although security agencies had rescued 21 of the abducted students with the help of local hunters, a few were still in the hands of the abductors.

    Meanwhile, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Education For All (E4A), had condemned the killing of two student in spite of ongoing negotiations with the parents to pay ransom for their release.

    Malam Nasir Ibrahim, the Publicity Secretary of the NGO said this in a statement in Lokoja.

    Ibrahim described the killing as the height of callousness.

    He said that the intent of the kidnappers was to scare young people from going to school, which was unfortunate.

    “It is sad that the criminals killed two of the students who were not among the 21 rescued through the operation coordinated by the Kogi Government.

    “Although the circumstances of their kidnap and being traced to a forest in Kwara State by security agencies are yet to be ascertained. This is sad, callous and a call for collective action against attackers of educational institutions.

    “We are aware that parents of the students were negotiating with the kidnappers which slowed down the offensive on the kidnappers by security agencies so as not to endanger the lives of the captives.

    “We were very hopeful and optimistic that they will be released at the end of the negotiations,” he said.

    Ibrahim added:“Information reaching us shows that the students allegedly killed were James Michael Anajuwe, a 100 level Information Technology student and Musa Hussein, a 100 level Software Engineering student of the University.

    “They were allegedly killed at the kidnappers’ hideout in Kwara.

    “We are broken and shattered that despite the efforts of the parents, NGOs and the State Government, we still lost these promising students.”

    He called on the Kogi government to work with its Kwara counterpart to take a decisive action against the perpetrators who were said to be hiding in a forest in Kwara, very close to Kogi and Ekiti States.

    He commiserated with the families of the lost children, urging the NSA and the Federal Ministry of Education to reinvigorate efforts on the Safe School Initiative.

    “The painful loss of the two students should provoke the office of the National Security Adviser to work with the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure the safety of our schools across the country.

    “It is unacceptable to lose children whose only offence was embracing education. Our nation must rise to the occasion to arrest the rising insecurity across the country, ” he said.

  • OAU amphitheatre ceiling falls, injures students during lecture

    OAU amphitheatre ceiling falls, injures students during lecture

    A part of the ceiling of the Amphitheatre of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, collapsed on Thursday injuring eight students.

    According to reports, students were at the time of the incident receiving a morning lecture at the venue at Oduduwa Hall.

    The Public Relations Officer of the Students’ Union Government, Elijah Omisore, speaking with NAN, debunked earlier speculations that the entire roof of the amphitheatre collapsed.

    According to him, only a part of the ceiling collapsed on eight students, who are now receiving treatment at the university health centre and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC).

    He said he was, however, grateful to God for not recording any death.

    Omisore urged the school management to continue monitoring to ensure the maintenance of lecture buildings and hostels for the safety of staff and students.

    Meanwhile, the management of OAU has, in a statement, appealed to students and staff to remain calm and go about their academic and administrative activities without fear.

    The statement, signed and issued on Thursday by the spokesman of the university, Mr Abiodun Olarewaju, attributed the incident to the day’s windy rainfall.

    “The wind affected the ceiling of the amphitheatre as it fell off and injured a few of the students,” it read.

    According to the statement, the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof. Simeon Bamire, led other principal officers to the Medical and Health Centre of the university, ensuring the injured students were adequately attended to.

    In addition, the statement said the VC followed two other students with cases demanding more medical attention to OAUTHC.

    It explained that the Chief Medical Director (CMD), OAUTHC, Prof. John Okeniyi, physically supervised the proceedings.

    “The Vice-Chancellor has, therefore, appealed for calm and urged students and staff to go about their academic and administrative activities without any form of untoward action.

    “Meanwhile, the management of the university has sealed off the amphitheatre, the venue of the unfortunate incident, until further notice,” it read.

  • Four remaining as 6 more abducted Kogi university Students rescued

    Four remaining as 6 more abducted Kogi university Students rescued

    The Kogi State Government has disclosed that six more students abducted from the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH) Osara, Okene, have been freed from captivity.

    The students were kidnapped by suspected bandits who invaded the school premises last Thursday, May 9.

    Fourteen students were earlier rescued by the state government. In an update given today May 14, the state Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, stated that six more students have been safely rescued.

    The Commissioner said; “Our data shows that there are four students yet to be found. The fierce gun battle between security agents and the kidnappers forced the kidnappers to succumb to superior firepower and abandon the kidnapped students. Some of the kidnappers escaped with severe injuries”

    The Commissioner said that the families of the six students just rescued, confirmed that they have arrived home.

     

  • Nigeria ranks lowest in education budget in West Africa – ASUU

    Nigeria ranks lowest in education budget in West Africa – ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has decried the neglect of the education sector, saying Nigeria ranks lowest in education budgets across the West African sub-region.

    ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said this at a One-Day Workshop on ‘Emerging Areas of Students Needs in Beneficiary Institutions’, organised by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in Abuja on Tuesday.

    He also reiterated the union’s call for an upward review of education tax to 10 per cent, saying it would increase TETFund funding from the current N600 billion annually to N3 trillion.

    “We have done survey of West African countries. The least budgetary allocation to education by any country in West Africa is 15 per cent. The highest is 32 per cent.

    “We are in a country where we give 4.5 to 7 per cent out of which less than 70 per cent is released. But the Awolowo government was allocating over 30 per cent to education,” he said .

    He singled out Enugu, Abia and Oyo states for earmarking more than 20 per cent of their budgets to the sector.

    Osodeke berated many Universities Vice Chancellors for their failure to carry necessary stakeholders along in the utilisation of TetFund allocation to their schools.

    “The TETFund inviting us as stakeholders to this meeting is an example of how it should be.

    “But, you remember that when you were allocating money to universities VCs, we agreed that they would call stakeholders meeting before that money is utilised.

    “We had our National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting some days ago, less than 10 per cent have called for that stakeholders meeting.

    “I want to plead that any university that does not take the stakeholders along, should not be allowed to have access to the fund. The funds belong to the Nigerian people,” he said.

    Earlier, the Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono said funding educational activities required careful consideration of different needs and expectations.

    Echono said that funding must also be directed at essential programmes which align with the strategic objectives in terms of outcomes of investment in either physical or content development that the funding usually supports.

    “The provision of physical facilities must be accompanied by corresponding programmes that will ensure maximum impact and benefit to the target group.

    “As such, the Fund is constantly and critically reviewing its operations and interventions with a view to ensuring that the interventions meet the actual goals that are intended at conception,” he said.

    The executive secretary noted that new programmes and intervention lines were introduced, and some innovation or alterations were carried out regarding some existing ones, adding that, where necessary, non performing ones were dropped.

    “In the year 2024 disbursement cycle, the Career Services Centre was introduced to complement other programmes in tertiary institutions.

    “The Fund considers the establishment of these centres necessary for the development of students careers and their employability, which is the raison d’etre for establishment of tertiary educational institutions.

    “Career services centres have helped students in advanced nations to make informed decisions regarding their career paths.

    “The centers provide information for students on trends in the job market, opportunities, and requisite skills as well as linkages with the employment industries including the alumni of the institutions,” he said

    Echono said the centres also provide students with tools for self-assessment to identify their interests, strengths, weaknesses and prospects as well as counselling, guidance, and support to all student.

     

  • 1.94m students sit for 2024 JAMB – Registrar

    1.94m students sit for 2024 JAMB – Registrar

    The Registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Ishaq Oloyede, says no fewer than 1.94 million candidates are projected to sit for the 2024 examinations in the country.

    Oloyede said this on Wednesday in Kaduna, while inspecting Computer Based Test (CBT) centres in the state amidst the ongoing JAMB examinations.

    He added that at the end of the examination today, there would be less than 100,000 candidates remaining in Lagos, Benue and other states in the country.

    Oloyede explained that the pace at which JAMB cleared candidates and captured biometrics made the exercise faster.

    He noted this was part of JAMB’s re-engineering process towards ensuring hitch-free exercise.

    “Even today, I have seen something which we need to improve on, but most importantly, we have done so many things in the background to make the exercise faster, more efficient and better. We have increased the level of automation,” he said.

    The Registrar frowned at examination cheaters, saying “It does not pay”.

    He said that most of the problems JAMB faced were impersonation.

    He specifically said most of the cases were candidates who have double National Identification Number (NIN), adding that JAMB would take up the issue with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

    “The important thing is that we are ahead of the impersonators, we have arrested a father writing examinations for his son, the kind of parenting in this generation is uncalled for, I wonder what the father will tell the son if they are locked up in the same cell.

    “We now have the facilities to check all sorts of impersonation and other malpractices,” he said.

    The registrar, however, thanked parents for their support, recalling that in previous years; they were seen loitering around examination centres disturbing.

    “There is no report this year of parents intruding, except one state. In that state, they felt since the first session failed, their children should not continue with the second or other sessions.

    “Out of the country’s 775 centres, those who failed were not up to 20, and only one failed. Less than 30 of the centres failed at the first session because of ill preparation.

    “When such things happen, the candidates should stay aside for the next session to move because questions are designed individually for a candidate,” he said.

  • Tinubu Signs Amended Student Loan Bill Into Law

    Tinubu Signs Amended Student Loan Bill Into Law

    President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday signed the National Students Loan Amendment bill into law.

    The president signed the bill in a short ceremony at the state house in the presence of the deputy president of the senate, Barau Jibrin, the minister of state for education, the minister of state for youth, other government officials and aides to the president.

    Tinubu initially signed the student loan bill into law back in June 2023, to offer financial assistance to Nigerian students in tertiary institutions.

    While the bill was signed earlier, its implementation has faced delays due to various issues hindering its rollout.

    Speaking afterwards, the president said, “ First of all, I must thank members of the National Assembly for their expeditious handling of this bill considering the children of Nigeria, that education is the tool to fight against poverty effectively.”

    “We are determined to ensure that education is given the proper attention necessary for the country including skills development programmes. This is to ensure that no one, no matter how poor their background is, is excluded from quality education and opportunity to build their future.”

    “We are here because we are all educated and were helped. In the past, we have seen a lot of our children drop out of college and give up the opportunity. That is no more, the standard and the control is there for you to apply no matter who you are as long as you are a Nigerian citizen.”

    This development came after separate considerations from the two chambers of the National Assembly committees on tertiary institutions and TETFund.

     

  • UNILORIN expels, rusticates 19 students over examination malpractice, racketeering

    UNILORIN expels, rusticates 19 students over examination malpractice, racketeering

    University of Ilorin, UNILORIN has expelled or rusticated 19 students involved in various offences.

    Their offences ranged from misconduct, theft, examination malpractice, hostel bed-space racketeering, extortion and assault to admission racketeering,

    Those expelled included six final year students, the varsity’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr Kunle Akogun stated in Ilorin on Monday.

    “The expulsion or rustication of the affected students followed the recommendations of the Students’ Disciplinary Committee at its 220th/221st meeting,’’ he stated.

    Majority of the students expelled were either in their first year, second, third, or fourth year in school.

    While some of the students were expelled, others were rusticated either for one academic session or for one semester.

  • JUST IN: 3 feared dead as Nasarawa State University students loot rice

    JUST IN: 3 feared dead as Nasarawa State University students loot rice

    Three students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi were feared dead on Friday in a stampede when the students looted rice given for distribution by the state government.

    The incident occurred at the convocation square where the bags of rice were kept awaiting the arrival of Gov. Abdullahi Sule for the commencement of distribution.

    According to a student witness, Moses Ajah, the surging crowd of students waiting to enter the square over powered the security personnel and broke in through the gate thereby causing a stampede.

    He described the incident as very unfortunate.

    “Some of the students were struggling with the police over the rice and as more students got information, the situation degenerated.

    “As we speak, some students are injured and receiving treatment at the school clinic,” he said.

    He said some students picked up bags of rice and ran to their hostels and other places of residence even as the governor was yet to arrive to inaugurate the distribution.

    As at the time of filing this report,  police officers were seen retrieving the palliatives from students.

    When contacted, Mr Abraham Ekpo, Information and Protocol Officer of the University, said he was aware of the incident but yet to get details about it.

    Sule recently embarked on a palliative initiative for students of tertiary institutions in the state.

    He has  visited Federal University, Lafia, College of Education, Akwanga among others where he distributed 7.5 kg bags of rice and N5,000 to each students.