OAU Students' Union Gives Management Ultimatum Hours To Shut Down School If Crisis Is Not Solved

Olukanmi Abidemi Abeeb ÀBÍMÓ 

Following the protest that ensued in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife minutes after the announcement of Professor Adebayo Simeon Bamire as the new Vice Chancellor of OAU by some aggrieved indigenes of the ancient city, the protesters on Monday went spiritual as some of them were seen in their full-blown traditional outfits

The protesters in the early hours of Monday blocked the main entrance to OAU and some strategic spots on campus including phase 2 gate and road 7 gate. Due to the fact that protesters are not happy about the emergence of non-ife indigene as the incoming Vice Chancellor of the institution. Prior to this protest, GREAT IFE STUDENTS' UNION

OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY, ILE-IFE has made a released that says 

"The Union strongly condemns the barbaric acts perpetuated by the protesters, including but not only beating and harassing members of our campus."

Based on the aforementioned, "the Union has demanded that the Management of the University, if the protests do not subside in 72 hours, should close the University until the crisis is over. Informing this decision is also the fact that the protesters are scaling up their affront on our University community and its immediate community where a large number of our members live. Without proactive measures to address this crisis, it is not impossible that the protesters will invade the campus at any time and further inconvenience the University community such that Union members suffer.

The Union, with all sense of responsibility and its revolutionary decorum, will keep Union members abreast of developments as they affect them. Union members are implored to stay out of harm's way. The Union cannot and will not be quiet over this issue – we cannot afford having Union members as casualties of this confrontation!"

Junior Chamber International OAU: Induction and Award Ceremony

By Onyekpe Okechukwu 

The Junior Chamber International Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo University Chapter inducted new members into the organization on Saturday 19th of March 2022. The event started by exactly  3:48pm with the recitation of the creed by both the inductees and members of JCI as a whole. The M.C of the occassion, Cooperate Emcee invited the dignitaries to the high table, he then as usual lightened the mood in the hall , after which was followed by a welcome speech by the president of JCIOAU Miss Feyisayo Awopetu. 

Mrs Oluwatoyin Atanda, the keynote speaker of the occasion graced the occasion virtually, she duly apologised for her absence from the induction. She mentioned a lot of things on JCI to advice and motivate the inductees to work harder. She stated “ JCI Nigeria will be 65 years old this year" what a wonderful speech she gave 

Professor S.S Okoya, the staff adviser came up and he stated how he was excited about the induction of new members into the association. He also said he was happy about the current president being a female due to the fact that he want females at the arms of affairs. He ended by congratulating the inductees.

Cooperate Emcee came up with up with more fun activities and giveaway to make the audience lively. A beautiful spoken words performance was presented by All I Memunat. The Erstwhile President of JCIOAU; Femi Adeyemo started off his speech with a brief story about himself while asking the inductees about what made them join JCI. Shortly after, the Induction started with the inductees who were well dressed coming out to recite the Creed and also read a section of the constitution.

Prof Lara Oradiay who was duly represented by Dr Adekoya admonished the new members to ensure they carry the roles of JCI; impact lives and give back to the society. She ended the speech with a charge for them saying “Be different like Daniel in the Bible”. Soon after Awards were offered to outstanding members of the association by the president. The Board members were introduced to the audience and the president gave vote of thanks

OAU NUGA'22 Journey

By:Olukanmi Abidemi Abeeb ÀBÍMÓ 

The Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA) organizes university-level sports events in Nigeria. It hosts an interuniversity sports competition called the University Games. The first NUGA games were held at the University of Ibadan in 1966. Presently, there are over eighty universities as members of NUGA, both private and public owned.

NUGA approves fifteen different sporting events at the University Games: track and field, badminton, basketball, chess, cricket, handball, hockey, judo, soccer, squash, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, and volleyball, after which the games have grown overtime to sixteen

The Zone C Pre-Nuga which hosted the likes of

FUTA, AAUA, Uniosun, Elizade University, JABU, OUI, Redeemers University, Adeleke University was hosted by Obafemi Awolowo University, commenced on Sunday, 13th of February, 2022 and end on the 16th of February, 2022

Having completed and qualified from the Pre-Nuga , OAU Sportmen traveled from 16th of March, 2022,  from Ife to Lagos in order to represent the university in the Nigeria University Game Association that will be holding in Unilag

However, OAU was unable to transport all the Sportmen at once due to unavailability of buses to transport them at once. Sports like hockey, athletics,taekwondo were unable move  some were told to wait till Thursday 17th March, 2022.  due to the fact that there were no enough buses. This was made known to OAU Peeps News Agency Correspondent by Oluwanoni the Students' Union Director Of Sports

While some sports like cricket, badminton, swimming,judo,handball, basketball, football actually moved on 16th of March, 2022. Leaving ile-ife around 1pm and getting to Unilag Lagos State around 5pm, they were told to converge in a one-multipurpose Hall to do one of the Corona test which was ecountered with delays according to one of the Sportmen Orisunbade Tunde who confirmed the scenario. 

The 26th Unilag NUGA  started on 16th March, 2022  at University of Lagos which was said to have adequate, enough and good facilities to host the competitions.

Also the competitions will come to an end on the 26th of March 2022.

Biography Of OAU Newly Appointed Vice-Chancellor Prof Bamire Adebayo

The newly appointed Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Bamire Adebayo Simeon is a native of Oyan in Odo-Otin LGA of Osun State, was born on 18th January, 1959. He started his educational life in Datus Preparatory School, Accra, Ghana and then had his secondary school education in St. Charles’ Grammar School, Osogbo in the 1972/76 period. He was admitted into the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) to read Agricultural Economics in the Faculty of Agriculture where he completed his first, second and third degrees; Bachelor of Agriculture in 1985, M.Phil., in 1992, and Ph.D. in 1999. He had a joint sponsorship for his PhD programme by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). His PhD thesis won him an award: “National Universities Postgraduate Thesis Award” in 2001.

Prof. Bamire joined the Department of Agricultural Economics as Assistant Lecturer in 1992 and rose to the post of Professor in 2008. He was a Visiting Scientist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan; the Vice-Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University in the 2007/2008 & 2008/2009 sessions; the Head of Department of Agricultural Economics for the 2010/2011 academic session and the immediate past Dean of our great Faculty - the Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

During his tenure as Dean (1st August, 2013 – 31st July, 2015), he embarked and completed laudable developmental projects in the Faculty through donations from his social capital network and amiable disposition to Faculty members, Alumni and friends of the Faculty. These projects include: resuscitating the Faculty water fountain which has now become a centre of attraction for film makers, drama and photography; changing the Faculty Committee Room to wearing a modern outlook; beautifying the Faculty and environment with flower gardens, paint markings of parks and lightings; refurbishing toilets attached to Faculty Committee Room, Soil and Land Resources Management Department, ground floor and landscaping the frontal part of the Faculty with the inscription of the Faculty name; restructuring of Faculty Agro-fresh Mart; renovating the Faculty Library; and many more. Prof. Bamire ran an open door policy and has proven to be consistently diligent, disciplined, resourceful, reliable and with good team spirit. He has a good insight and experience of best business practices that could contribute to system development, having served in various capacities in different committees and assisted tremendously in promoting academic and research programmes in his Department, Faculty and University as a whole. Prof. Bamire is computer literate with a good knowledge of the application of statistical and econometric tools.

Prof. Bamire Adebayo Simeon has also participated and still participates as Principal Investigator in different on-farm researches and as Resource Person in training programmes which have provided long-term interactions with farmers and non-farmers in their communities and business concerns. This is made possible through his long-time collaboration with scientists in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) based in Ibadan, Nigeria; ILRI/DfID (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia); HarvestPlus/IFPRI (Washington, DC., USA); International Wheat & Maize Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Mexico; Makerere University (Uganda); United Nations University Institute of Natural Resources (UNU-INRA), Accra, Ghana; United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU- WIDER), Helsinki, Finland; AERC (Nairobi, Kenya), and African University for Cooperative Development (UADC), Cotonou, Benin Republic; among others. As a result, he has attended different national and international conferences and workshops relating to biodiversity and sustainable agricultural development and has participated in collaborative studies involving researchers from various disciplines on sustainable agricultural production. Prof. Bamire has participated in and written different technical reports that relate to practical work experiences in agricultural business and development in Nigeria and other developing nations. He also has more than fifty publications in local and international Journals, which are centred on field experiences on resource development and institutional support for smallholder farmers in rural and urban centres for enhanced food security and poverty reduction.

Prof. Bamire is a member of different professional bodies including the Nigerian Association of Agricultural Economists (NAAE) and Leadership for Environment & Development (LEAD). He is also a member of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Project and Agribenchmark based in Germany.

He is a member of CONUA OAU 

Prof. Bamire is happily married to Dr.(Mrs.) Felicia Bosede Bamire and together are blessed with children.

Source: _Information Technology and Communication Unit (INTECU), OAU Ile-Ife, Nigeria_

Breaking:OAU Appoints New Vice Chancellor

The Governing Council of the Obafemi Awolowo University has announced Professor Adebayo Simeon Bamire as new Vice-chancellor of the institution as the post will become vacant from 7th June, 2022.

In a meeting held by the council on 7th December, 2021. The post of the Vice-Chancellor was flagged off the process for the appointment of a new  Vice-Chancellor who is expected to assume duties on 7th June, 2022. In line with approval of the Council, the vacancy was widely advertised to compliance with relevant Statuses and Acts guiding appointment to the position. 

At a special meeting of 14th February, 2022. The council check out the Curriculum Vitae of the twenty applicants of which sixteen were shortlisted, having met the advertised criteria. Interaction all the sixteen candidates with Candidates began on Monday, 14th  2022 and ended on Wednesday, 16th 2022. 

After the interaction of the sixteen candidates before the Joint Council and Senate Selection board, Professor Adebayo Simeon Bamire, a Professor of Agricultural Economics from the faculty of Agriculture Obafemi Awolowo University ile-ife has been appointed the new Vice-Chanclellor of the institution in line with the provision of the Universities (Miscellaneous Provision) (Amendment) Act as amended. 

 

Popular Yoruba Actor Attends Linguistics OAU Freshers' Induction

By Ajibade Abdullah Adewale

 The popular Yoruba Actor, Chief Kola Oyewo graced the Induction Ceremony of the New Intakes of the Linguistics and African Languages Students’ Association in grand style. 

The ceremony which was held on Thursday, March 10, 2022, at Pit theatre, Obafemi Awolowo University had many prominent personalities in attendance.

The veteran actor, who was awarded for his impact on the progress of Yoruba Language and culture in the society, was asked to do “Iwure” where he prayed that the inductees have a smooth run in their academic pursuits.

He implored the inductees to make good use of the opportunity of getting educated as there are people who do not have such opportunities.

"Focus on what you have come to do in OAU, don't let frivolities take over your time," he urged.

In his remarks, the Head of Department, Professor Fabunmi, who was also awarded, noted that any student who wants to graduate well will put in a great effort from the first year. 

 “Don't say that you will start to put the effort in year 2 or 3,” He charged.

 The Director of Culture, Abidemi Abeeblah while expressing his joy, appreciated God for the success of the ceremony and gave kudos to the lecturers, guests, awardees, and the new intakes for their maximum cooperation.

“To the best of my knowledge and people's remarks, I think this Induction is the best so far,” he added.

In the same development, the president of the department, Ojetola Ridwan said, “ The induction ceremony has been an avenue for lecturers to pray for the students and also, emphasize how languages and cultures are interrelated. It has been the practice of the department for a long time."

“Through the induction, students discover their talents. We have some students in part 4 now who discovered their talents when they had their induction,” He affirmed.

According to Semilore Adesite, one of the inductees, “ The induction ceremony was a very interesting program and an eye-opener to the understanding of our cultural heritage. The teamwork of everyone produced an interesting and eye-catching event for everyone and even the guests.”

 Kolawole Azeez Opomulero, Samuel Ibikunle, Bababunmi Obanimi were also awarded. 

 A student of the department, Bababunmi Obanimi who was awarded as the best cultural female student extended appreciation to the association and beseeched inductees to be well behaved and face their studies.

Other dignitaries present at the ceremony are, Prof. Salawu, Prof. Opefeyitimi, Prof. Ogunwale, Dr Jayeola, Mr Olodude and some parents of the inductees.

EXCLUSIVE: We Will Be Providing Buses For The Road 7 Axis Residence, President Reform Reveals His Plans To Great Ife Students

By Ayomide Emmanuel

 Following the inauguration and swearing into office of the Union officers that held on Wednesday, 9th March 2022. The inauguration which came after six months that they were elected and voted into office. 

The Great Ife Union President, Comrade Olayiwola Festus Folahan, Reform in an exclusive interview with the Association of Campus Journalist on Thursday 10, March 2022 discusses his plans and agenda for the Great Ife Students’ Union.

Speaking about how his first day in office looks like, he said " Well, i don't think i have any extraordinary feelings because this is the sixth month after election and which have been doing activities as the Union President". He further explained that before the inauguration, they have been attending to the needs of students when called upon and all this have been doing from there pocket to fulfill there own quota toward the development of the Great Ife Students' Union. 

Speaking on speculations that flew around during his campaign that he was a member of the left organization, he answered "the question is that is that who's a leftist?" he further went on to say he doubt if he has heard of the word leftist before. 

Speaking on the first thing that he wants to tackles as the president, he said "the transportation issues especially for the Road 7 axis, which he acknowledged that the residents of the Road 7 axis are going through a lot of transportation issues because they are always stranded so many times, both in the morning and in the evening. He however promised that his administration will see to it that a bus is made available for them to transport them to and fro at lesser prices which will be monitored by the students' Union and ensure that all the activities are properly watched. 

Consequently he said, the executive body are one irrespective of anything happen and they do things in accordance to their plans and they come together and have meetings everyday to make sure they annex their ideas and be able to present it to the Great Ife Students and also, the major priority of the executive body is the welfarism of the students. He further assures that the Welfare Director of the Union is working on the issues of price exploitation going on on campus.  

Dealing with external forces most especially those that have the outlook of "God-fatherism" in relations to how the Union was proscribed the last time. He said he doesn't think the Union was proscribed because of "God-fatherism" but because of bad leadership crisis. However, he said he's not a fan of Godfatherism although he has mentors who advises him and he also has the freedom to weigh every advice given to him and decide which one to use and which one to blot on because they are advice and not like "Godfathers" who wants to impose their idea on someone. 

Speaking on how to keep the Union finances strong, the president acknowledged every students is a financial member of the Union on the virtue that there's a union due that have been paid by every students to the school account and as representative of the students, it is their responsibility to demand for the union due and send it to the union account so as to be able to use it for the Union activities after which they will be a monthly report of the money spent by the Union and also the audit committee from the Students' Representative Council will also help in the check and balances because the Great Ife Students Union is a democratic system. 

In order to see to the fact that the welfarism of the students at all halls of residences are been maintained and adequately taken of, the hall executives are mandatory to send reports to the office of the President and also whenever there are issues reported to the Central Executive Council, a call is put through to the hall executives to confirm what's exactly going on in the hall of residence. 

In relations to getting justice for Heritage which the President made mention in his speech on the inauguration and swearing in day, he affirmed that the case in the court of law and the Union is watching keenly to ensure that the justice is

 justifiable. 

Speaking on the application of Scientific Maximum Shishi, the President said it will be replaced with application of community service however, parading of offenders will still be in place because while applying SMS on offenders, you have to put in place the health status of the individual. He however commended the student that was assaulted by the town-igboro driver for doing a nice job of snapping him and the plate number of his bus and every students should also emulate this habit so has to make judgment faster. 

Sending message to the generality of Great Ife Students', he said "I will firstly like to appreciate Great Ife Students' for entrusting us with this position and we also solicit for their continuous support Truthfully, Great Ife students have been helpful in all ramifications. So, we will also advise them to keep up with what they’ve been doing and also as Great Ife implies that Great Ife remains Great Ife that there are many things that we do outside Great Ife and that helps us to stand out, we should also continue in this lane with our best, we will do what is good at the interest of the Great Ife students. Thank you so much."