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THE NATION THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011
EDUCATION FUTA FILE
Row over Ekiti federal varsity •Oye, Ikole are site settled joint campuses
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HE controversy over the site of the Federal University for Ekiti State has been resolved. The institution will be jointly sited in Oye-Ekiti and Ikole-Ekiti. Oye will host the Faculties of Science and Humanities; the faculties of Agriculture and Engineering will be in Ikole. This decision was taken to relieve the tension over which of the communities should host the university following the Federal Government’s establishment of such institutions in nine states. The Vice-Chancellor Prof Chinedu Nebo, broke the news
From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti
of the location of the university at Ikole during inspection of the site. Nebo, who described the choice of the Agriculture Development Programme (ADP) site for the takeoff of the varsity as fantastic, promised to turn Ekiti into the food basket of the nation and Africa, considering the fertile nature of the large expanse of land in Ikole. His words:“With what I have seen today, I am determined to make Ekiti the food production centre in Nigeria. I will put up facilities that can make our students to be globally competitive and relevant. “I am also happy that neither Oye
nor Ikole-Ekiti lost out in the struggle for the location of the university so, what we need now is convivial environment to operate.” The Elekole of Ikole Ekiti Oba Adewumi Ajibade Fasiku, expressed the hope that the modern structures at the ADP site would enhance a stress-free take off of the institution. Oba Fasiku, who led other traditional rulers in the Egbeoba Kingdom to receive Nebo, noted that the community had earmarked suitable buildings to accommodate principal officers and other senior members of staff of the university. The monarch said 15 houses had been provided to accommodate the pioneer workers.
Fasakin is DVC
•Prof Nebo
UNICAL students to pay N10,000 riot damages •Resume Oct 24 OR alleged massive destruction of properties during a demonstration last month, students of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) are to pay N10,000 damages on resumption on October 24. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof James Epoke, at an emergency congregation at the Faculty of Arts auditorium, said the damage would be used to effect repairs and replace damaged properties. The protest fellowed the death of a student and the imposition of late registration fees on students defaulting. Epoke said instructions on payment would be published on the institution’s website. He said the Senate has instructed that for the remaining session, students would live offcampus to allow for renovations of the hostels to be completed. The authorities, he said, would no longer tolerate the reselling of hostel spaces by students, noting that most of those who buy spaces are not bonafide students. Such students constitute the core of those who foment trouble and lawlessness, he said. Epoke, who regretted the death of the student allegedly shot by armed robbers, explained that registration deadline is aimed at
Lawyer donates books to varsity
•Lecturers’ vehicles vandalised by the students.
ensuring that, students follow order and also check the activities of those he referred to as “charges racketeers”. He said the Investigative Panel of
Inquiry decried the security lapses on campus and recommended an overhaul. Other panels are expected to look into the remote causes of the violence, unmask those behind it
and make recommendations. On August, 26, the students went on rampage, destroying cars and buildings. They also reportedly looted valuable materials worth hundreds of millions of naira.
UK Higher Education boss for OOU lecture
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O support law students, a Port Harcourt-based lawyer, Sebastine Tar Hon (SAN), has donated books worth N2 million to the Benue State University (BSU). The lawyer said the donation was his modest way of contributing to the study of law and also maintain the academic standard associated with the university. He said the books are also used in courts by legal practitioners. Hon said he has also subscribed to three years’ supply of the Nigeria Weekly Law Report (NWLR) to the university’s Law Faculty. He described the institution’s law graduates as the best in the country. Hon paid tribute to the late Governor Moses Adasu, who established the institution during his tenure, and lauded the university management for the post humous award on him. Responding, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Charity Angya,
Mimiko launches greening campaign ONDO State Governor Olusegun Mimiko has advised Nigerians to sustain the environment and stop activities that can cause disasters. Mimiko spoke during the tree planting campaign at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA). The governor, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Mrs Olufunmilayo Osundolire, attributed disasters, such as flood to human activities, arguing that people are ignorant of the hazards their negligence could pose to man. Mimiko said his administration would work with the Federal Ecological Fund to avert all environmental hazards caused by climate change and human activities. He said the donation of 4,000 tree seedlings to FUTA was deserving, giving its commitment to the sustainability of human environment. Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Adebisi Balogun, said the university was committed to tree planting to orientate both the students and members of staff on the need to take environmental maintenance seriously.
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From Kunle Johnson, Calabar
THE Management of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) has appointed Prof Emmanuel Adedayo Fasakin as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics). Fasakin joined the university on October 2, 1992 as Lecturer II in the then Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (now Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology) and rose to Lecturer I in 1995. Fasakin, who had his early education at Omuo Comprehensive High School, Omuo-Ekiti (1970 – 1974), bagged a Ph.D in Fish Nutrition/Management from FUTA in 1997 and became a Senior Lecturer on October 1, 1998. He was Co-ordinator of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife; later Acting Head and Dean, Students Affairs.
•Hon with Prof Angya shortly after the donation From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi
praised Hon for the kind gesture and called on other Benue indi-
genes to emulate him. She said the books would convince the National Universities
Commission (NUC) that the faculty is ready for the final phase of its accreditation.
HE Chief Executive Officer of United Kingdom Higher Education Academy, Prof Craig Mahoney is to deliver the first Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) Faculty of Education Distinguished Lecture today at the Equity Resort Hotel, Ijebu-Ode, OgunState. Prof Lasun Gbadamosi, Dean of the Faculty of Education OOU said he will speak on: “Globalization and Higher Education: Challenges and Management of Quality Control”. Gbadamosi revealed that the crave for the professionalism of teaching and the need to prevent discrimination against certificates issued by Nigerian Universities abroad informed the choice of Mahoney as the lecturer. Gbadamosi said Mahoney, as the Chief Executive Officer of United Kingdom Higher Education Academy, is in position to educate his audience which will include Vice- Chancellors, Provost, Professors and other members of the academia what they are doing about quality control in the United Kingdom that we are not doing here. Mahoney is an Australian who has lived in the UK for the past 24 years. He is a graduate in Chemistry and Maths from the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education (now the University of Tasmania).