Fresh Students Cry Out Over High Departmental Charges

As fresh students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, commence registration at departmental and Faculty levels, Several students have taken to the media to express their grievances over the exorbitant dues charged by some associations. However, some executives of some of these different departmental and Faculty Associations have come out to explain the rationale behind the annual dues for the Freshmen.

Consequentially, the acting security committee has released a directive that students in such departments and associations should halt payment of such dues as appropriate actions were already being taken. This was made public in an online release signed by its Chief Security Officer, Ajala Michael (Olumighty).

DSA Advises Fresh Students To "Go And Rent"

Following the inability of a number of Freshmen to secure accommodation, unending queues have become the order of the day at the Division of Student Affairs as most of these students continue to go to lodge complaints. In response, several lists have been compiled by the Division, which is in charge of handling accommodation matters. The fate of most finalists also continue to remain uncertain as regards accommodation as only one batch of finalists have been able to secure bedspaces.

In times past, bedspaces were usually guaranteed for freshmen and finalists with the Stallites in between balloting for whatever spaces were left. However, this seems to have changed for worse as it was gathered that the Division of Students Affairs, in an address to the Fresh Students who are unable to secure spaces, have advised them to go and rent hostels outside campus. This just further diminishes the chances of finalists who are yet to secure bedspaces as Freshers rank above finalists in the hierarchy of consideration of bedspace allocation released by the Division some weeks ago.

Muhammad Ali, 'The Greatest', Dies At 74

Ali In His Old Age

Muhammad Ali, the three-time heavyweight champion who proclaimed himself “The Greatest”, defied the US government over the Vietnam war, and later became one of the most well-known – and loved – sportsmen in history has died, his family spokesperson has said. He was 74.

Ali was admitted to hospital on Thursday with a respiratory problem – a move that was described at the time as “a precaution”. However, reports emerged 24 hours later which said he had been placed on a life support machine and his family “feared the worst”.

He died late on Friday at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, a family spokesperson said.

Ali had become increasingly frail since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1984, aged 42, and in recent years had limited his public appearances. Earlier this month his brother Rahman Ali revealed that the condition was so advanced he could barely speak or leave his house.

As a sportsman he will be remembered for many classic fights – in particular beating the fearsome Sonny Liston to become champion; the Fight of the Century and the Thrilla in Manilla against Joe Frazier, and the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974 when, at the age of 32, he surprised everyone bar himself by cutting down George Foreman in Kinshasa to regain back his title.

Paying tribute after his death, Foreman wrote: “Ali, Fraser and Foreman we were one guy. A part of me slipped away.”

He told the BBC: “Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest human beings I have ever met. No doubt he was one of the best people to have lived in this day and age.”

Another former world heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson, wrote: “God came for his champion. So long great one.”

Ali’s influence out of the ring was no less marked. Having appalled white America by converting to the Nation of Islam and changing his name from Cassius Clay to Cassius X and then to Muhammad Ali, he later refused to be drafted into the army, telling reporters: “Man, I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.”

In 1967, still unbeaten and with no obvious challenger in sight, Ali was stripped of his titles and for three-and-a-half years had to scrape a living making campus speeches and appearing on Broadway. He lost his best years as a fighter yet as the opposition to Vietnam war grew, so did Ali’s popularity. By the mid 1970s he was the biggest sports star on the planet.

In his physical prime, a decade earlier, Ali had such grace and foot speed that watching him perform almost became an extension of the balletic arts. He won Olympic light-heavyweight gold as an 18-year-old at the Rome Olympics and four years later, in 1964, he won the heavyweight title for the first time by stopping Liston in a major upset. Challengers were dispatched with a surgical beauty, although there was a vicious streak to him too: when Ernie Terrell called him by his birth name, Cassius Clay, Ali shouted at him “What’s my name?” as he inflicted a terrible beating.

In 1971, within five months of his return in 1970, he earned a shot at his old title against Frazier, but no longer was he as elusive or brilliant. A thrilling contest ended with Ali suffering his first defeat, on points, after being dropped by a left hook in the 15th round.

A loss to the fit but limited Ken Norton appeared to confirm Ali’s decline – until, in 1974, he knocked out Foreman after using what he called ‘rope-a-dope’; lying on the ropes to conserve energy as his opponent punched himself out. Later, when Ali was asked when he should have retired, he admitted it was after that fight.

But he ploughed on, to a desperately gruelling decider with Frazier in Manilla which he won after Frazier’s trainer Eddie Futch pulled his man out before the 15th round. Ali would later call it the closest thing to dying he could imagine.

In 1978, after winning the title for a third time by avenging a loss to Leon Spinks, Ali retired. When he dragged himself back into the ring in 1980 to face his old sparring partner Larry Holmes, aged 38, he was probably in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease. Tests carried out by the Mayo Clinic found he couldn’t hop on one foot well and had trouble co-ordinating his speech.

After a final fight, against Trevor Berbick in 1981, he retired but three years later Parkinson’s disease was diagnosed. By the end of the decade the speech of the man once dubbed ‘the Louisville Lip’ for brash predictions before fights was reduced to a mumble.

Ali was well enough to light the torch to start the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, though his hands shook as a result of the disease taking further hold. After that there was further retreat into privacy and prayer.

But even in death his legacy burns on.



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No Successor Announced As Prof 'Tale Omole Bows Out Of Office This Month

It is just about 22 days to the end of Prof Bamitale Omole's tenure as the Vice-Chancellor of the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife, yet the school's Governing Council is yet to declare the successor of the Ekiti-born Professor, a ritual that is traditionally done in the month of may every five years. The current VC was announced on the 23rd of May, 2011, as a successor of Prof Faborode.

The University Governing Council is yet to decide the school's next vice-chancellor due to a court injunction obtained by the  Ademola Oketunde of SSANU and Wole Odewumi of NASU to halt the process due to the gross misconduct attributed to the process as claimed by the unions. It should be recalled that towards the conclusion of the screening of the Eleven candidates who had applied to take over from the current VC of the university, Prof. Bamitale Omole, whose five-year single term tenure will end June 23, 2016. The Chairman of the OAU chapter, Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), Mr. Wole Odewumi, stated in a chat with Punch Newspaper correspondent that  workers would resist any attempt by the school authorities to impose a candidate on them. Days later, members of the school’s chapters of NASU and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian University laid siege to the VC’s Lodge to disrupt the final screening of the final candidates for the position.

The VC who came in to office on the 24th of June 2011 renewed the hope of students and staff for a better leadership. However students and staff remain divided on the performance of the VC, as while some believes he has performed averagely well, some are of the opinion that he failed the University community.

The chairman of NASU had claimed earlier, that the selection body, has failed to follow the law guiding the appointment of a new vice chancellor contained in OAU Statue 6, Sections 3(a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) as amended by Statue 22, the Miscellaneous Decree 11 of 1992. But the university senate through the University's PRO, Mr Olanrewaju, has frankly denied such claims, he said: “The committee has been constituted. The senate sat and elected members to represent them. I don’t think other processes are not being followed. The unions that claimed that the processes are not being followed are members of this community. We have four unions here and only two are protesting. We are a family here and I believe that we ought to come to a roundtable to resolve our issues, if in fact there are issues, instead of fsaying that processes are not followed.” in a chat with news men.

It is still unclear whether the court injunction would be vacated anytime soon, or if all the processes that has been undertaken will be nullified and the selection process would start again. It is also worthy to note that if a VC is not appointed by the time of the current VC's exit, an interim VC would be appointed by the Governing Council on the recommendation of the Senate.

Meanwhile, our correspondents also gathered that protests by members of NASU disrupted the book launch the the current Vice Chancellor, Prof 'Tale Omole, yesterday, 2nd June 2016, which eventually led to the postponement of the book launch.

Win Cool Prizes At JCI Spelling Bee Competition

JUNIOR CHAMBER INTERNATIONAL (J.C.I) is a non profit organization of young active citizens age 18 to 40 who are engaged and committed to creating impact in their communities. It is an organization where her members work towards making sustainable impact within our community.

As part of our ways to say welcome to the amazing set of new students of the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Junior Chamber International (JCI OAU) in collaboration with AIRTEL would be holding an epic spelling bee competition specially tailored for fresh students.

FRESHERS SPELLING BEE

DATE : June 10, 2016
TIME:  7:00pm
VENUE: Anglomoz Car Park

Are you fast in word formation?

Are you good in spelling words?

Would you want to win cool prizes at a spelling bee?

Are you a fresh student of OAU?

Then this is for you!!!

Call Tolu on 07063704281 or TITI on 08166084002.

Better still, you can visit the JCI OAU secretariat; Topmost floor, Block 5, Fajuyi hall, OAU.

Visit www.jci.cc to know more about JCI.

FG Scraps Post-UTME, Pegs Cut-off Mark at 180

The Federal Government has scrapped post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations, UTME, as a pre-condition to gaining admission into universities in the country.

The government and stakeholders in education sector also pegged 180 as benchmark for 2016 admission into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education to improve quality of education in Nigeria.

‎These decisions were reached at the 2016 Combined Policy Meeting on Admissions to Universities, Polytechnics and other higher institutions in Nigeria.

The Minister of Education ,  Malam Adamu Adamu, while declaring open ‎the meeting, said since the federal government and stakeholders had confidence in the examinations conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriulation Board, JAMB, there was no need for other examinations to be conducted by universities after JAMB exams.

He said: “As far as I am concerned, the nation has confidence in what JAMB is doing, the universities should not be holding another examinations and if the universities have any complain against JAMB, let them bring it and then we address it.

”But if JAMB is qualified enough to conduct tests and they have conducted test, then there will be no need to conduct another test for students to gain admission.



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Bill To Extend JAMB Results Validity To 3 Years Passes Second Reading

A bill which if passed will extend the validity of results from the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board JAMB, to three years from the one year it presently stands on, passed second reading in the senate yesterday June 1st.

The bill is being sponsored by Senator Joshua Lidani from Gombe.

The Bill for an Act to amend the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Act & for other matters connected therewith 2016 SB. 245 #JambAct

— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) June 1, 2016

The #JAMBBill SB. 246 amendment Is sponsored by Senator Joshua Lidani of Gombe South Senatorial District and he rises for the lead debate.

— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) June 1, 2016

Senator Sam Egwu rise to speak on the #JambBill. He supports the Bill but fears the confusion of having Jamb Results valid for 3Years.

— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) June 1, 2016

Deputy Minority Leader Bwacha rises and kicks respectfully, against the contributions of Senator Egwu.

— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) June 1, 2016

Senator Bwacha says students results should be valid for up to 3Years as said while opening up more capacity via more Universities.

— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) June 1, 2016

Senate President @bukolasaraki says the Senate had already done a motion on the #JambBill with a resolution that results be valid for 3Years

— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) June 1, 2016

SP @bukolasaraki says it's technically already a fiat accompli and Senators should help the average Nigerian Student. #JambBill

— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) June 1, 2016

Senate President @bukolasaraki now puts the question and Senators vote in favour of the amendment of the #JambBill SB. 245 2016

— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) June 1, 2016

The #JambBill amendment passes second reading and is referred to the Senate #TertiaryEducationAndTETFundCttee for further legislative action

— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) June 1, 2016

The #JambBill SB. 245 amendment is to ensure, amongst other things that JAMB Results of Students be valid for up to 3 Years.

Landmark!

— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) June 1, 2016