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Tag: UNILAG

  • BREAKING: UNILAG Governing Council sacks Vice-Chancellor

    BREAKING: UNILAG Governing Council sacks Vice-Chancellor

    The Vice-Chancellor of University of Lagos (UNILAG), Professor Olawatoyin Ogundipe, has been sacked by the governing council of the institution.

    His removal was announced during a meeting of the Governing Council of the institution which held at the National Universities Commission (NUC) building in Abuja on Wednesday.

    Seven members voted for the removal of Ogundipe (UNILAG Vice-Chancellor) while four voted against. One of the members voted that he should rather be placed on suspension.

    The meeting was presided over by its Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN).

    A statement by the Registrar and Secretary to Council, Mr. Oladejo Azeez titled: Notice to the General Public on the removal of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos” based the decision on gross misconduct, financial recklessness among others.

    It reads: “The general public is hereby notified that at an emergency meeting held on Wednesday 12 August 2020 and in accordance with the statutory power vested in it by law, the Governing Council of the University of Lagos removed Prof. Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe, FAS from office as Vice-Chancellor of the University with immediate effect.

    “The decision was based on the Council’s investigation of serious acts of wrongdoing, gross misconduct, financial recklessness, and abuse of office against Professor Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe.”

  • I was depressed, brokenhearted when my father left the family- Deyemi Okanlawon

    I was depressed, brokenhearted when my father left the family- Deyemi Okanlawon

    Suave actor, Deyemi Okanlawon has shared the challenges he encountered before stardom.

    The award winning Nollywood hunk noted that he was once asked to withdraw in the university as a result of poor academic performance which was triggered by the absence of his father.

    Speaking in an Instagram Live chat with popular rapper, Bouqui, he said:” I was in my coming of age years when my father left the family. It was a time when I felt I needed a male influence the most. I had just gotten into the University of Lagos. I was pretty young, I was 16 and I was studying Chemical Engineering.

    “We share this same name and my identity was strongly tied to that of my father. It was so tied to my father that I felt broken hearted. Everything in my life shut down. It is now that I can look back and call it depression. I had no words for it, I was just lethargic, didn’t care about anything .I couldn’t study, I had a mental block for years”.

    On how it affected his academics, Deyemi said:”I remembered that at some point, things had gotten so dark that at some point I went to the field of UNILAG medical centre in the middle of the night , I knelt down and I was screaming ‘Saying I was done’. I was screaming and praying. Not too long after that, I just felt this kind of peace and I started meeting the right people, I started studying again. Because I had been failing in school, I had been warned by my department that I would have to withdraw If I kept on failing”, he revealed.

  • UNILAG lecturers protest, call for Babalakin’s removal

    UNILAG lecturers protest, call for Babalakin’s removal

    The tension at the University of Lagos, Akoka on Wednesday was palpable, as lecturers protested against the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Dr Wale Babalakin.

    The lecturers, who moved round the school, gathered under the auspices of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, UNILAG branch.

    The distraught lecturers, who chanted slogans against the pro-chancellor, called for his removal.

    The protest followed a week of renewed clash between the varsity management led by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Toyin Ogundipe, and the governing council.

    Ogundipe had announced that 13,489 graduating students would be conferred with degrees, diplomas and certificates from March 9 to 13.

    However, the National Universities Commission, in a memo, called for the suspension of the event.

    It was reported that the NUC halted the programme after Babalakin complained to the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, that the varsity council was side-lined from the convocation ceremonies.

    UNILAG ASUU Chairman, Dele Ashiru, said during the protest they had reviewed the circumstances that led to the postponement of the convocation.

    He noted that the reports obtained by the congress revealed Babalakin was tyrannical; hence they made a resolution to declare him a persona non grata.

    Ashiru said, “After taking an analytical perspective of this unwarranted postponement, the congress noted the damaging activities of the pro-chancellor of this university.

    “Beginning from today (Wednesday), Dr Olawale Bolanle Babalakin has been declared a persona non grata in this university; he is not to be seen in the council chamber anymore.”

    He also urged the lecturers to enforce the resolution, adding that any day Babalakin was seen at the institution, he should be thrown out.

    In the same vein, a senior official of the varsity, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed a loyalist of Babalakin was sent out of the ASUU congress.

    He said, “The congress held first before the protest. The (hall for the) congress was filled to capacity; everyone spoke with one voice, except one Daramola, who wanted to make excuses for him. He was chased out. Babalakin wants to run UNILAG like his law chambers.

    “Contrary to the claim of the council, there is evidence that the convocation was discussed during their meeting. UNILAG is number one now in Nigeria and 13th in Africa, the pro-chancellor is supposed to capitalize on that to move the school forward, instead of all these issues”, he told Punch.

     

  • Rape: 21-year sentence of Unilag ex-lecturer not stiff enough- FIDA

    The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) on Monday said that the 21-year sentence handed to Akin Baruwa, a former part-time lecturer in the University of Lagos (Unilag), for raping an admission seeker was not stringent enough.

    The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that Justice Josephine Oyefeso had on Feb. 20 in Ikeja sentenced Baruwa after finding him guilty on a one-count charge of rape, contrary to Section 258(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2011.

    The Chairperson of the Lagos Chapter of FIDA, Mrs Philomena Nneji, lauded the judgment, describing it as a good step in the right direction, but said it could be stiffer.

    “We would have wished for a higher sentence. We must follow this kind of prosecution to a logical conclusion in a way that it will act as a deterrent to others.

    “Women and children are the most vulnerable members of the society; we have zero tolerance for gender-based violence and all types of violence, especially rape.

    “The rate of rape in our society is becoming worrisome to FIDA,” Nneji said.

    Mr Akin George, an Assistant Director in the Directorate of Public Prosecution, Lagos State, also lauded the sentence, but said that the maximum sentence for rape – life imprisonment – should have been passed by the court.

    George, who is also a prosecutor in the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court – which gave the judgment – said that incidences of rape and other gender-based violence had risen.

    He said that life sentence would send a strong message to perpetrators of such crimes.

    “It is a very good judgment and will serve as a deterrent to lecturers and other people in authority who take advantage of the country’s broken educational system to exploit vulnerable students seeking admission.

    “However, a life sentence would have been preferable to send a very strong message to perpetrators,” he said.

    Mr Malachy Ugwummadu, the National President of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), lauded the sentence and noted that the law had made provisions for parole for individuals who committed grievous crimes.

    “The sentence is good enough; in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, there are now provisions for parole.

    “This is a mechanism in which a convicted felon is pardoned before the completion of his sentence if he genuinely demonstrates some reforms and penance in a way that he no longer poses challenges to the society.

    “The whole essence of this is to serve as a deterrent; punishment is given to mitigate the incidence of crime.

    “Where parole is available, the society should pay attention to the fact that such people need not suffer the capital punishment,” Ugwummadu said.

    NAN reports that according to prosecution, Baruwa raped the admission seeker (name withheld) at 9.25 a.m. on July 23, 2015, in Room 8, Faculty of Business Administration annex building, Unilag.

    Baruwa, who was a friend of his victim’s father, was requested by him to help his daughter to secure admission into the institution.

    The rape occurred when the victim was in Baruwa’s office to make arrangements for her admission.

  • #Sexformarks: UNILAG sets up panel to probe ‘randy’ lecturers

    The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has constituted a panel to probe Dr Boniface Igheneghu and Dr Samuel Oladipo for sexual harassment allegations.

    A statement by the Principal Assistant Registrar (Communication Unit), Mrs Taiwo Oloyede, also said Oladipo, of the Department of Economics, had been suspended.

    The panel, headed by Dean Faculty of Law, Ayodele Atsenuwa, would investigate the allegations of sexual harassment against the two lecturers exposed by a BBC Africa Eye documentary, Sex for Grades.

    The statement reads: “The UNILAG management has set up a panel, headed by Professor Ayodele V. Atsenuwa, a Professor of Public Law, Faculty of Law, UNILAG, and the incumbent Dean of the Faculty.

    “The panel will probe into the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu of the Department of European Languages and Integrated Studies, Faculty of Arts and Dr. Samuel Oladipo of the Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, as well as other related cases.

    “As previously announced in the university’s statement, dated Monday, October 7, 2019, Dr. Samuel Oladipo, who was featured in the full version of the BBC broadcast, has been suspended from work with immediate effect and barred from the university’s academic areas until conclusion of the panel’s assignment.”

    The statement added that a pending investigation against another unnamed lecturer was still on, urging students with information to come forward.

    “The university wishes to inform the general public that the panel set up to investigate another allegation of sexual harassment involving a professor in the university in June, 2018, still subsists and awaits further information that will aid in concluding the investigation.

    “Students and members of staff who have relevant information are encouraged to come forward.”

    “Their protection is assured.

    “We firmly reassure all our students, staff, alumni, parents and guardians that this matter will be tackled with every sense of responsibility, and the seriousness it deserves. The whole process will be transparent and appropriate sanctions will be meted out to anyone found culpable,” the statement said.

  • I won’t be put under pressure to speak —Alleged sex-for-grade UNILAG lecturer declares

    I won’t be put under pressure to speak —Alleged sex-for-grade UNILAG lecturer declares

    Following allegations of sexual harassment leveled against him via a trending documentary, a senior lecturer at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu, has said he would not be hassled to speak on the allegations.

    TheNewsGuru recalls that Igbeneghu, a cleric with the Foursquare Gospel Church, was captured making sexual advances at a ‘student’ who sought his help for admission.
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    In a chat with Punch, the lecturer said: “I work for the University of Lagos; if you want any reaction, talk to the university.”
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    “Contact the information unit and they will tell you the correct position.
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    “If I talk, I will be running foul of the varsity law. Don’t put unnecessary pressure on me to say beyond what I have said,” Igbeneghu added.

    Nigerian celebrities have continued to react over the trending video.

    In her reaction, Uche Jombo Nollywood actress and filmmaker said: “We have a proper problem with sex abuse culture in Africa as a whole and using God to do the most horrific things”.

     

  • BOMBSHELL: I was sexually harassed in university (OAU), says Gov Fayemi’s wife [Updated]

    Bisi Fayemi, wife of the governor of Ekiti state, says she faced sexual harassment while she was a university student.

    Fayemi said this on Monday during the premiering of #SexForGrade, an hour long documentary exposing randy lecturers in some universities in Nigeria and Ghana.

    From her educational records, Bisi Fayemi received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from the University of Ife, now the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.

    One of the lecturers exposed is Boniface Igbeneghu, former sub-dean of faculty of art at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), who sexually harassed Kiki Mordi, an undercover reporter who posed as a 17-year-old admission seeker in the institution.

    Condemning this, Fayemi said it is troubling some of these lecturers have a culture of entitlement to the bodies of the girls.

    “I cried because what this young women have experience is the story of many of us who passed through higher institution in this country,” she said.

    “I was educated here in Nigeria and I too was a victim of sexual harassment during my university days. I was luckier than these victims. It didn’t go that far but it was extremely unpleasant and of course back in the days when all these things happened you can’t tell anyone because if you do even up till now people ask you to keep shut.

    “You know people don’t talk about things like this. I was watching the documentary and there were three words that came to me, one is voice, it is time to speak up and speak out and for those who do we need to stand with them and stand by them and not silence them because the culture of silence has endured enough.

    “Another word that came to me was accountability, we need to be accountable whether there are parents, guidance or teachers or leaders in any form through out the different section of society. We have to be accountable for the well being and health of the young people in our care, from when our children come to say mummy, uncle so so and so touched me and instead of asking further to find out what’s its all about, we should act.

    “There has to be accountability and the third thing that came to mind was justice, justice for victim or I choose to call them survivors and so those of us who have worked in the women’s whether at international level or Africa or national air in Nigeria, we know that we have many law and policies in place that are supposed to guard against things such as this but this law sometimes means very little because there is inadequate political.”

    The governor’s wife said Ekiti had already opened a register to name and shame sex offenders in the state.

    She also called on other states do likewise.

  • DETAILS: UNILAG shuts down ‘Cold Room’, where lecturers ‘sexually harass’ students

    The University of Lagos has announced the shut down of the ‘Cold Room’, where lecturers allegedly sexually harass students.

    This was disclosed by Taiwo Oloyede, the Principal Assistant Registrar (Communication Unit) of the university.

    The ‘Cold Room’ was mentioned by a lecturer of the school, Boniface Igbeneghu, who was caught on video sexually harassing an undercover journalist who posed as an admission seeker.

    Mr Igbeneghu, in the BBC undercover documentary, described the secret place where lecturers meet to “touch students breast” at the staff club of the university.

    “They call the place cold room,” he said. He then explained that female students must pay to have good grades.

    “The so-called ‘Cold Room’ is a Functions Room that may have been abused because this is a deviation from the purpose for which it was created (meetings, seminars, events, etc)” the university spokesperson said.

    Recall that TheNewsGuru had earlier reported that Mr Oloyede also told newsmen that Mr Igbeneghu had been suspended.

  • Commotion as Naira Marley gets barred from performing at UNILAG [VIDEO]

    Commotion as Naira Marley gets barred from performing at UNILAG [VIDEO]

    Fans of hip-hop artiste, Naira Marley protested on Friday night when the crooner was stopped from performing at a show inside the campus of the University of Lagos, Akoka

     

    According to findings by TheNewsGuru, the decision to stop Naira Marley from performing stems from his poor public perception and ongoing court case over cyber fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

    The event planned by mobile phone manufacturer, Infinix, took place at the Sports Centre of the institution.

     

     

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B2qdOa5Hnit/

  • UNILAG announces date for Post UTME exam

    The University of Lagos has fixed Aug. 1 to Aug. 21 for application for its post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Matriculation Examination (post UTME) screening into all courses/programmes for the 2019/2020 academic year.
    This is contained in a statement issued by the Registrar, Mr Oladejo Azeez, on Saturday.
    According to the university, only candidates who made the institution their first choice in the 2019 UTME and scored 200 and above are eligible for screening upon payment of screening fee of N2, 000.
    “Candidates who will not be 16 years old by Oct. 31 are not eligible and need not apply.
    “In the same vein, candidates who do not participate in the UTME screening will not be considered for placement,” it said.
    According to the institution, the post UTME aptitude test will hold from Aug. 26 to Aug. 30.
    It added that qualified candidates must possess five credits passes at one sitting in relevant ‘O’ Level subjects including English Language and Mathematics.
    It also said that former students of the institution whose admissions were withdrawn for poor academic performance or absence could reapply on the condition that the new admission should be for a new programme/course.
    The university added that any student expelled from the university would not be offered fresh admission.
    It urged eligible candidates to log in to the university,s website, www.unilag.edu.ng, click on admission and follow the registration procedure.
    “Candidates are to log in with their post UTME number as user name and the surname in lower cases, as password, and then continue with the procedure to generate their post UTME examination pass,” it said.
    The university urged candidates to adhere strictly to the guidelines and obtain necessary clarifications.
    It said that it had zero tolerance for drug abuse, warning that any student found wanting would lose his/her studentship.