LASU Students Get Excess Fees Refund

SEVERAL months of tireless agitations and protests by students of the Lagos State University (LASU) Thursday yielded result as the state government began a refund of tuition fees for 2013/14 session.

The refund was an aftermath of school fees’ review by the government after students protested the initial high tuition.

Following the release of N209 million to LASU, in the first tranche of refund, the school authority began issuance of cheques on Thursday. The refund ranges from N63,000 to N300,000 per student.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Fatai Olukoga and Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. John Obafunwa, among others, were at the LASU Main Auditorium to present the cheques to some recipients.

The recipients, 5,031 in total, were 100 Level students and 200 Level Direct Entry students.

While the names of only a few were called to receive cheques, many others who were expecting theirs walked out in disappointment because they did not hear their names.

The authorities, however, gave assurance that all students would eventually get theirs when the government pays the N89 million balance of the refund.

Olukogan, who represented Fashola, said the money released was N209 million and the remaining would be released later. He added that government was committed to ensuring the wellbeing of the students, even though LASU remains the institution that charges the lowest fee in the country.

According to him, when the government reversed the fees, many people dubbed it as a political move that would not come to be. “We have proved them wrong,” he said.

Fashola, in his speech read by Olukoga, noted that the government was not unaware of comments from critical stakeholders that had made a mockery of university education in the country through the low school fees.

“We are also not unaware of the moves by the same stakeholders to frustrate our efforts at ensuring the quality of LASU programmes.

“Notwithstanding the frustration, we are relentlessly committed to making LASU a world-class university of our time.

“Information at our disposal reveals that initial computation of excess money to be refunded to 100 level and 200 level Direct Entry students for 2013/14 academic session stood at N209.874 million.

“However, following the release of the fund, the university management later reported a shortfall in the computed excess money to be refunded, particularly to those in 200 level to 400 level,” he said, adding that the shortfall would be released after the reconciliation exercise is over.

Obafunwa said that 5,031 students were supposed to have their money refunded in two tranche and N209 million had been released for disbursement in the first phase of the exercise.

According to him, some people thought that it would not be possible to get refund of the money from the state government, but such people had been put to shame.

“What some people thought was impossible, we are witnessing it. Some individuals try to take advantage of the slow pace of the refund and kept on saying that government or management has no intention of making the refund,” he said.

Obafunwa stated that the management of the school went through rigorous process to ensure that the fund was released for disbursement to the students.


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Violence Reports About Accounting Students In OAU Is False -NUASA OAU President

The widely reported parliamentary sitting of Accounting Students' Representative Council(ASRC) of the Nigeria Universities Accounting Students' Association (NUASA), Obafemi Awolowo Universities which allegedly turned violent has been debunked by leaders of the association and thus not true.

Below is the Press Statement made available to OAU Peeps News Agency by the Association:

At this moment, it is a must for me to come out and let the whole world know that accounting students of Obafemi Awolowo University are people of integrity and well-mannered students. I as the president of NUASA will not do anything that will tarnish the good image many past leaders of the association have shed blood and made a lot of sacrifice to build. The release that there was a fight at the last parliamentary sitting was untrue and our press must always realize that damaging images of people for popularity or for the purpose of making money is not good enough. As the pressmen are doing their job, every ethics guiding the profession of journalism must be obeyed.

It was unfortunate that the little disagreement in the house between the Accounting Students' Representative Council(ASRC) and the gallerias could be escalated by some students who came to the sitting as students but were there as informants and went online to publish another story which later caught the attention of different news outlets and national dailies. A lot of story in the publications were wrong. The General Secretary the person of Oladiti Oladotun was not suspended, there is no office as the Director of Studies in NUASA, nobody was attacked and what transpired between some gallerias and Lasisi Afeez was amicably settled by me and I was shocked when news outlets reported that he was attacked.

The principle that has been guiding the present administration is integrity and we have been doing everything within our capacity to make sure that the association funds are well accounted for and our staff advisers, lecturers, patrons and students can testify to this. More so, let me make it known to the public that the disagreement in the ASRC which was later escalated by individuals has nothing to do with money or financial report of our just concluded summit. A constitutional matter was raised during the sitting by a galleria which the appropriate authority refused to recognized was all that lead to the issue that has been hijacked by the press.

The ASRC approved a budget of over 2.2million for the summit and less than 1.8million was spent for the three days summit. The summit financial report has been submitted to appropriate authority and has been verified and approved by them. The Present NUASA leaders have been nominated for many awards based on our performances so far and we will not do anything to tarnish the good image we have labored so much to build. We appeal to all news outlets to make their findings very well before they publish anything and that money and popularity should not always be the motive for doing anything which in turn may have negative effect on others. I want all nuasites to be calm and that we must handle this issue with all maturity.

Our lives are not determined by our challenges but by how we handle every challenge we face. We will always be committed to courses that will add positive values to every student in the association and our promise to always give you our best still stands. Finally as paraphrased one of my role models the person of Martin Luther King Jr. "I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the challenges of the present moment". And I want to thank all NUASA past executives, lecturers, patrons, corporate bodies, students and other stakeholders for standing by us at this crucial period in the life of our association.


Signed

Adeoba V. Oluwadamilola (NUASA OAU President)

Oladiti Oladotun Victor (NUASA OAU General Secretary)

DLCF OAU Gives Scholarship Awards To Indigent Students

The Deeper Life Christian Fellowship (DLCF), Obafemi Awolowo University chapter has awarded scholarships to indigent students and top performing academic students of the university.

Scholarships worth N650,000 were awarded to 12 students of OAU who are workers in the fellowship for varying reasons. Announcing the scholarship on Sunday, Pastor Bakare who is the Chairman of the Scholarship Committee said the fellowship was able to identify some of their members who are in need of financial assistance and the reason for this help. Donations for the scheme according to him came from ex-students who were indigent members of the fellowship during their days in school.

Olubunmi Deborah of the Department of Foreign Languages and Oluwafunke Kehinde Adeoye of Department of Management and Accounting both bagged the academic scholarships for the best performing identified students in the fellowship. Both of them with CGPA above 4.5 (first class). 10 indigent students were also given scholarships to assist them in their studies. This will be the second edition of the scholarship award as similar scheme held sometimes last year.

The Sunday service also saw the announcement of new set of leaders for the fellowship as the tenure of the previous executive members elapsed. Awojodun Bunmi Amos who previously served as an off-campus representative was announced as the new General Coordinator(GC) of the fellowship while Oyebade Simeon emerged as the new Assistant General Coordinator(GGC). One of the recipients of the academic scholarship award, Oluwafunke Kehinde Adeoye was also announced as the Sisters' Welfare Coordinator(SWC).

The Regional Overseer of the Deeper Life Bible Church, Ife Region, Pastor Ajala in his charge to the newly chosen leaders urged them to lead the fellowship in the fear of God and see this as a privilege to lead God's people. The Regional Coordinator of DLCF, Ife Region, had earlier appreciated the outgoing executives for their great service to God and thanked God that none of them backslided in the course of their services to God. "By the grace of God, we did not record any backsliding among them. There was love, unity among them"

Egypt Calls For A Nigeria-Egypt Led Force Against ISIS In Libya

The Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Ashrat Salama, has called on Nigeria and the Africa Union (AU) to collaborate against the terrorist group, Islamic State and ensure the establishment of a multi-national force against it.

This, he said, is necessary to ensure that the terrorist group does not spread on the continent.

Speaking against the backdrop of air strikes recently carried out on IS targets in Libya by the Egyptian Air Force, Salama told journalists in Abuja monday that contrary to the propaganda by IS, no civilian was killed in the offensive.

Egypt carried out the offensive on IS training schools and ammunition storage in Libya in retaliation for the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by the group.

Salama particularly noted that it was necessary for Nigeria to work with Egypt to combat the terrorist group because both nations are not far from each other.

Both nations, he added, could also lead the call for a multi-national force on the continent as powerful voices in the AU.

“Nigeria is already achieving results with the multi-regional force with Chad, Cameroun and Niger, so we need something like this as we are dealing with similar issues,” he urged.

Although Egypt is ready to work to secure the region, the matter of IS is a bigger issue, he added.

“We can do this by sharing information, mobilising forces, co-ordinating strategies, form a coalition from the AU to be supervised by a multi-task force. If you do not support the fight against the terror group because it is not in your country, before you realise it, it could be in your neighbourhood,” he said.

The envoy added that to be nonchalant about IS is like shutting one’s door against fire.

“It is too big for Egypt alone, you cannot go just because you are provoked, you have to plan well. We must not give a chance to these terrorists,” he added.


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NUASA OAU Internal Clash Goes Viral

The Accounting Students sitting clash especially the Friday saga which has been the main talk on campus has gone viral on the internet featuring on popular blogs and news websites including Linda Ikeji's blog, the front page of Nairaland and even the Punch newspaper.

We hope the Association resolves its issues as soon as possible.

Accounting Students' Parliamentary Sitting Turns Violent

Nigeria Universities Accounting Students' Association (NUASA), OAU, went violent at their parliamentary sitting held last Friday to assess the state of the association and discuss proceeds of their annual summit (NISELS).

From a press release from the Parliamentary Section of the Association pasted around ODLT area, it was gathered that crisis began to rock the Accounting Students Representative Council(ASRC), OAU chapter, since the organisation of an annual conference (NISELS). The programme was said to have generated an huge sums of money to the association however the crisis reached its peak when some of the parliamentarians claimed that the President of the Association, Vincent Adebola, had refused to present the financial report of the program and walked out of a sitting without permission when asked to present a report by the parliament.

When contacted, the president said, “The issue is that we were there to present the financial report of our summit but in the process of giving that report, there were lots of interception from the members of the ASRC. It was just a minor issue and we were able to resolve it and everything has been settled. There was nothing like fighting.”

However, there was another sitting on Friday 20th February 2015 and the sitting was said to have ended violently with the suspension of two executives and a campus journalist identified as Afeez Lasisi being attacked.

President Jonathan Visits Alaafin of Oyo And Other Monarchs

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan, on Saturday continued
his consultations with traditional rulers from the
South West with visits to three of them drawn from Lagos and Oyo States.
His first port of call was the palace of the Alara or
Ilara Epe, Oba Akeem Adesanya, who is also the
Chairman of the Epe Divisional Council of Obas.
The second leg of the visits took him to Oyo State
where he met the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi
Adeyemi III, and the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba
Oladunni Oyewumi Ajagungbade III.
Jonathan’s message at the three palaces were the
same: that the monarchs should support his re- election in the forthcoming general elections so that his government can consolidate on its achievements.
At the palace of the Soun of Ogbomosho, Jonathan
asked the monarch to compile the list of Federal
Government’s abandoned or ongoing projects in the
town and hand them over to the Minister of State,
Federal Capital Territory, Olajumoke Akinjide, for
onward transmission to him.
“We promise that we will do our best to move Nigeria
forward. Oloye Akinjide will collect the list of
abandoned and ongoing projects from you (the
monarch).

When you send us back, we will complete
them. We may not do much between now and
election time,” he said.
Jonathan said while his administration had done
much, it shall consolidate on its achievements if he
was reelected in March.
He listed the areas his administration had achieved a
lot to include agriculture, education, power and
health among others.
He said only the Peoples Democratic Party
government can implement the report of the national
conference, while other parties would lock it up
inside a cupboard.
The President reiterated his position that with his
administration’s power reforms and full privatisation
of the sector, Nigerians would take power supply for
granted within the next few years.

 

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