Nigeria Varsity System Syllabus Is Archaic And Misused - Ope Banwo

The Vice Chancellor of America Internet Business School Dr. Ope Banwo, has challenged the Federal Government over the archaic syllabus usage in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

Ope Banwo, fumed at the Federal Government and the Ministry of Education over non inclusion of certain new courses in the tertiary institutions syllabus. He made this known at the just concluded Nigeria Internet Business Conference which was held at the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, where he talked about how young Nigerians can generate legal money on the internet.

According to Banwo "Nigeria varsity system syllabus is archaic and misused. "Why are we not having E-commerce, Freelancing, Blogging, Affiliate and Digital Marketing included in the Nigeria University syllabus? As the internet is becoming larger, youth are supposed to be growing with it. But otherwise is what we have in Nigeria, even youth that grew with the internet used it on illegal businesses". He said.

He further stated that he has forwarded a petition to the current Nigeria Education minister Adamu Adamu, on need for a revised syllabus in universities nationwide.

Meanwhile, to put in his quota to online business development, Ope Banwo, is inaugurating an internet business club - 'Netpreneur club' on campuses across the country. He recently launched the Netpreneur Club at the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, where Lukmon Fasasi, emerged to be the club interim president.

Congressmen Accuse TY Of Congress Manipulation

The congress of Obafemi Awolowo University students on Friday did not end without descending heavily on the Students' Union President, Omotayo Akande a.k.a TY as he was alleged of manipulating congresses to satisfy his opinion. Apart from this, many congressmen expressed doubt in the ability of the current Union leadership to implement congressional resolutions thereby requesting for the constitution of a 19-man Committee that will include the CEC members, some SRC members and some other congressmen to ensure the implementation of the congressional resolutions that will be made.

A congressman who is also an honourable of the Students' Representative Council (SRC) asked the congress rhetorically in his submission that should the students trust a President that can boldly say to the students that he manipulated the previous congress to ensure that the Afrika remembrance day held? He further stated that the Union President over time has not always effected the implementation of congressional resolutions. Corroborating the initial submission, the popular student activist and a member of the Left, Comrade Engels confess to share the same sentiment with the former saying he does not trust the President though they are friends.

Responding to these claims, TY warned that they should not feed the congressmen with lies as he denied saying he manipulated the congress to favour any programme to hold. Also reacting to the vote of no confidence passed on him by Engels, TY said it is not fair for Engels to come out and say he does not trust the Union leadership that fought for his reinstatement.

Some students who spoke with our correspondents after the congress however had diverging opinion as regards the turn of events. Some said the Left is doing everything possible to frustrate the TY led-administration and also calling for the creation of a committee so that they can sell out the reactivated struggle for better welfare conditions to the Management. Some others are also of the opinion that TY started getting it wrong since he manipulated a congress to favour the then embattled Secretary General of the Students' Union, Hon. Seun even after a judicial injunction had sacked him for not meeting the criteria for contesting the elections that brought him in.

OAU Recognized & Awarded For ICT Strides

The annual NITDA-NIHILENT awards held on the 18th of November, 2015, during the eNigeria 2015 conference at the International Conference Centre Abuja. This award held in recognition of excellence in e-Governance cuts across ICT based sectors ranging from State Government, Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Education and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

The award reflects the all-inclusive use of ICT for organizational operations in general, but in the case of educational institutions, the adoption of ICT in Teaching, Research, Learning and Administration.

In attendance were the Honorable Minister of Communication, Barrister Adebayo Shittu (himself and IFE alumnus), the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communication, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

The award was received on behalf of the Vice Chancellor of University, Prof. B.I Omole by the Director, INTECU, Prof. G.A. Aderounmu.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) whose mission is: To develop and regulate IT for sustainable national development, was established to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardization and regulation of Information Technology practices in Nigeria.

Welfare Condition: Lecture-boycott To Continue On Monday In OAU

By David Adetula

The Congress of Obafemi Awolowo University students that held on Friday at the Afrika Amphi theatre has decided that no lecture will be allowed to hold on campus starting from Monday, November 30, 2015.

In a moderately attended congress which was announced to students during the early hours of Friday in the heat of water scarcity and power failure deploring the inimical welfare conditions of students seems to have a common submission as Great Ife students were of the opinion that it is time for ‘war’. In a bid not to get the plan for the lecture-boycott stipulated for Monday thwarted, the congress resolved that irrespective of whether there is power and water supplies or not, the boycott will continue since the issue at hand surpasses that of water and power.

A congressman who lamented that beyond the power and water supplies, the state of the students' toilets in all the Halls of residence are very bad. He also raised concerns on the non-reinstatement of Olawale Ogunruku who has been rusticated from the university since 2010. Arguments however ensued if ASUU leadership should be notified about the lecture boycott 48 hours before it begins. It was however agreed that ASUU should be notified even as the boycott continues on Monday.

It is not clear at this time if the lecture-boycott will only be for Monday or persist beyond. However, indications from some quarters suggest that the TY-led Students' Union leadership is not interested in taking any practical approach that may lead to the school closure on the deplorable welfare conditions of students even as the Union President, Omotayo Akande a.k.a TY has continually reiterated that he will not sacrifice students' welfare on the slab of stable academic calendar.

Newly Admitted OAU Predegree Students To Resume December 1

By David Adetula

The Centre for Distance Learning, Obafemi Awolowo University has announced the 1st of December, 2015 as the set date for the beginning of resumption for the newly admitted students as the 2015/2016 academic session begins.

Screening of the fresh students and their registration are billed for the same day of resumption. Below is the important information detailing the schedule based on the subject combinations of the students.


 Tuesday, 1st December, 2015 (9 am – 4 pm) - Biology/Chemistry/Physics (BCP)

 Wednesday, 2nd December, 2015 (9 am – 4 pm) - Chemistry/Mathematics/Physics (CMP), Geography/Mathematics/ Physics (GMP) & Economics/Government/Mathematics(EGM)

 Thursday, 3rd December, 2015 (9 am – 4 pm) - Government/Lit./Rel. Studies (GLR), Mathematics/Geog./Economics (MGE) & Economics/Govt/Literature in Eng. (EGL)

There will be Parents’ Forum at 12.00 noon each day where all parents are expected to be present.

As parts of the registration packages, admitted students are to present the following for registration on resumption:

i. Original and photocopy of your admission letter
ii. Downloaded copy of medical history and examination form duly signed and stamped
compulsorily from a government hospital.
iii. Downloaded copy of CDL Clinic Biodata duly completed
iv. A downloaded copy of oath form duly completed and signed by both parent and student. Postal
stamp of N50.00 should be affixed as appropriate on the form. (Make a photocopy for yourself
and keep for orientation day.)
v. Originals and photocopies of your credentials (WAEC, NECO, etc.)
vi. 3 Copies of your Hostel allocation Slip
vii. Proof of payments (original Copies of your e-payment documents)
viii. Six passport photographs

Alongside the above, the fresh students are to report to the Centre for Distance Learning Campus, Moro, Ife-North Local Government with the following:


 A 2x6 mattress, a pillow (For students allocated to hostels outside campus only)
 Cooking utensils.
 2 pairs of beddings.

The Financial Times and the Bodley Head 2015 Essay Competition

The fourth annual Bodley Head/FT Essay Prize aims to discover the world’s best young talent in long-form essay writing. We are looking for a dynamic, authoritative and lively essay of no more than 3,500 words on a non-fiction topic of your choice. It can be journalistic, it can be a case study; it can be wide-ranging or minutely focused. In keeping with the ethos of both sponsors, it can address any topic – from finance to history, from current affairs to a scientific discovery. We are not looking for a particular subject; we are simply looking for quality writing.

If you are 35 years old or under and would like your work to be read by Simon Schama (historian and FT contributing editor), Will Hammond (editorial director at Bodley Head), Dan Franklin (digital publisher at Random House), Stuart Williams (publisher at Bodley Head), Caroline Daniel (FT Weekend editor) and Lucy Tuck (editor, FT Life & Arts) then please send us your entry by midnight GMT on November 29 2015.

Topic
Any non-fiction topic of your choice

Organizer
The Financial Times and the Bodley head

Prizes
The prize for the winner will be £1,000, an e-publication with Bodley Head, and a mentoring session with the FT/Bodley Head.
Two runners-up will each receive £500 and e-publication.

Deadline
November 29, 2015

Guideline
This Competition is open to anyone aged between 18 and 35 years as at midnight GMT on Friday 2nd October 2015
Essay entries will be accepted until midnight (GMT) November 29th 2015 (closing date).
The winning entrant and runners-up will be notified by the Promoter by telephone in the week beginning 15th December 2015
Each entry must be: (a) in English; (b) an original work of which the entrant is the author which has not been previously professionally or commercially published in any language and is not in breach of any third party right; (c) complete in itself; (i.e. not a fragment of a larger work)
Accepted file formats are word doc, docx, pdf or txt.
Maximum size 2mb

Click here to submit your entry here.

Inquiries
Any inquiries relating to the prize should be emailed to: bodleyhead@ft.com

Credit: Naija Writers' Coach

Adventist Students’ Fellowship Embarks On Community Service

By Farombi Oluwaseun

It was indeed an awesome day on Sunday as the Adventist Students’ Fellowship embarked on a community service exercise for the entire Obafemi Awolowo University community. An exercise which kick-started at about 8am and ended around 6:30pm at the Health Centre car park had many dwellers and passer-by to stop and take part in the event. 300 students to partake in the event..

The community service which had about 300 students participate involved free medical check-ups ,free barbing, free hair dressing and lots more. The medical check-ups conducted included glucose test, blood pressure test and body mass index which was handled by medical experts from the Seven-day Adventist hospital in Lagere, Ile-Ife.

Relating her experience to our correspondent, Omitokun Grace, a participant of the exercise said the programme is really a nice initiative and a great one indeed to partake in. She further added that she loves the humility displayed by the organisers of the programme. The President of the fellowship, Pastor Adesola Samuel Olawale explained that the event is tagged ‘Maranatha 2015’ with the theme; Receiving the Word’.

Adesola said the community service is an annual programme which is done for people to reach out to them in order to know about the gospel, accept the gospel of Christ and give back to the Great Ife students at large. He however thanked all those who volunteered towards the success of the programme and all the Great Ife students that participated in the event with a promise that the event will still be conducted next year by God’s grace.