TheNewsGuru

Tag: Tanko Ishaya

  • NUGA: UNIJOS will organise best games in history – VC

    NUGA: UNIJOS will organise best games in history – VC

    Prof. Tanko Ishaya, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos (UNIJOS), says the university has concluded arrangements to organise the best and memorable Nigerian Universities Games Association (NUGA) games in history.

    Ishaya stated this while inaugurating the 27-member Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 27th edition of the games on Thursday in Jos.

    UNIJOS defeated Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, to clinch the hosting right, while the University of Calabar withdrew its hosting bid.

    The vice chancellor, who promised to provide state-of-the-art facilities that athletes and officials would be proud of, explained that preparations were in top gear towards ensuring the success of the upcoming event.

    “We have been longing and looking forward to this opportunity. We thank God and the people who made it possible for us to get the hosting right.

    “We are delighted that our bid won. Plans are already on ground for facilities and infrastructures which will meet the sporting needs of athletes and officiating officials.

    “This LOC, to be co-chaired by me and two others, is to ensure that we organise one of the best NUGA games in history,” Ishaya said.

    On the security of athletes and officials, the vice chancellor assured that the Plateau State Government would work round the clock to ensure that athletes and officials are secured.

    He called on the students of the university, particularly sports lovers, to actively participate in the forthcoming competition, billed for 2024.

    Responding on behalf of the committee, Prof. Joash Amupitan, the Deputy-Vice Chancellor, Administration, of the university, thanked its management for finding them worthy to serve in that capacity.

    He promised that members of the committee would commit their time and resources toward the success of the forthcoming event.

  • Minority languages may go extinct soon – Unijos VC raises alarm

    Minority languages may go extinct soon – Unijos VC raises alarm

    The Vice Chancellor, University of Jos, Prof. Tanko Ishaya, has said that most minority languages in Nigeria may soon go into extinction due to the lack of autography.

    Ishaya said this in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of an international conference on Language and Literature, organised by the Department of English at the university on Monday.

    The vice chancellor, who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), Prof. Rahila Gowon, also said that “this is the reason behind the non-implementation of the National Language Policy (NLP) of the Federal Government.

    “I remember when I was an undergraduate, we were taught to write lesson notes in our languages and use it to teach Biology and other subjects.

    ”Yes, for the minority languages, they’re likely to go extinct but not for the majority languages.

    “Already, the major languages have autography and they are being enforced in the school system as major subjects.

    ”The major languages may not go extinct but minor languages are likely to. It is left for parents to teach their children at home because they are the first teachers,” he said.

    Ishaya advocated the implementation of the NLP, saying the policy would naturally address the threat.

    He, therefore, called on Nigerians to adhere to lay down procedures towards reversing the trend.

    ”The NLP stipulates that the medium of instruction in the junior primary school is the mother tongue or language of immediate community.

    ”However, we find out that there are so many languages that are in use, but people prefer to go straight to English, because they do not want to or don’t know which one they should take as their language of instruction.

    “Of course, there are some major tribes like Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Efik and maybe Tiv, which use the mother tongue but in Plateau, for instance, it’s been very difficult.

    ”Also, implementation of the policy has been very difficult because many languages do not have autography, but these are being developed and they are being encouraged,” he said.

    The Head of Deparyment, Prof. Jeff Doki, said that the conference was important, adding that language and communication could be used to end conflicts in our society.

    He said the international conference, which was the first of its kind in the university, brought together at least 300 scholars from different disciplines, to chart a new future for the study of English, Literature and Communication Studies in society.

    The Chairman, Local Organizing Committee of the conference, Prof. Jerome Dooga, presented a paper on “Navigating the communication minefield in a turbulent and uncertain world”.

    According to Dooga, language had never been neutral.

    “The task of making sense of the increasingly complex communication minefield requires an amalgam of interdisciplinary perspectives and approaches.

    ”Language has never been neutral, but in today’s world, linguistic communication has become especially contentious as humans promote novel and sometimes strange ideologies.

    ”Our world is a linguistic and communication minefield, and peaceful human co-existence has become increasingly challenging by the day,” he said.

    The theme of the conference is ”Language Communication and Literature in an uncertain and turbulent world”.

  • UniJos VC appeals to lecturers to resume teaching

    UniJos VC appeals to lecturers to resume teaching

    Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos (UNIJOS), Prof. Tanko Ishaya, on Monday in Jos appealed to the varsity’s chapter of ASUU to be compassionate with students and resume lectures.

    The national body of ASUU suspended its eight-month-old strike on Oct. 14, following a court order directing union members to resume lectures and an intervention by the House of Representatives leadership.

    Part of the agreement the union reached with the leadership of the House of Representatives was that 50 per cent of members’ eight months withheld salaries would be paid.

    ASUU had asked its members across universities not to return to lecture theatres having been paid half salaries for the month of October.

    The University of Jos chapter declared on Friday its members would not return to the lecture theatres unless the last agreement reached was adhered to.

    Ishaya told newsmen that the lecturers needed to return to lecture theatres to prevent university education from total collapse.

    He pleaded with the union to consider the plight of students and parents and sheath their sword for the growth of education in the country.

    “ASUU should please be considerate and compassionate with students and parents and return to the classroom.

    “I appeal that it allows academic activities to go on while further negotiations with government on payment of withheld salaries continues.

    “We have asked these students to resume; it will be traumatic to ask them to return home again having spent eight months at home already,’’ he pleaded.

    Ishaya noted that ASUU’s struggles were for the betterment of education and appealed to the Federal Government to address its demands and stop treating university lecturers like other civil servants.

    He decried the remuneration and condition of service of lecturers in Nigerian universities as poor when compared with their counterparts in other clime.

    “I have had the privilege to be in academic environments in other parts of the world, and I can categorically say that the remuneration and conditions of service of lecturers in Nigeria is not comparable with our sister countries.

    “I am not in support of strike, but I’m appealing to the Federal Government to treat university workers differently when it comes to the implementation of the `no-work-no-pay’ policy.

    “The role of an academic is not only teaching, but there is also research, community service and as one advances on job, we also play administrative roles.

    “So, I am appealing to the Federal Government to understand that the academic environment is peculiar; it is not like normal civil service,’’ he said.

    Ishaya lamented that the recent ASUU strike had done huge damage to the university system and called on government and the union to find better ways of resolving crises.