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Education
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH
Scholars, students extol UNIOSUN VC’s virtues at 60 Kayode Olanrewaju
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enowned scholars, members of the academia, traditional rulers and relations, as well as members of the Osun State University (UNIOSUN) community gathered last week to honour and celebrate one of their own. The event was the celebration of the 60th birthday anniversary of the ViceChancellor of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Professor Adekunle Bashiru Okesina, who turned 60 years old on October 11. To celebrate the iconic scholar, a birthday lecture, entitled: “The Dilemmas and Prospects of the African University in the 21st Century,” was organised to commemorate the anniversary which took place at the Leisure Spring Hotel, Osogbo. In the lecture, the guest speaker, Prof. Olutayo Adesina of the Department of History, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, challenged the
Nigerian and indeed African universities on the need to project the kind of knowledge through which intellectuals and scholars could better understand human situation with a view to transforming society. Lamenting the state of the Nigerian universities, Adesina reaffirmed that there is the need to retool the mechanisms by which African societies in the modern world generate the knowledge and innovation which African peoples need for survival and sustenance. According to him, the universities’ definition of development must include, and indeed emphasize, the need for mental liberation, generating necessary knowledge, innovation and partnerships that will make Africa to get out of the cycles of despondency and underdevelopment. The don said that African university should become an essential factor and instrument of development and change, even as he pointed out that to achieve this, the uni-
versities should also develop partnerships that would help in the grounding of younger African scholars in the most modern methodologies while retaining their primary focus and interest on the continent. His words: “Is it enough to address the challenges of the African university in merely managerial and financial terms? Cultural and intellectual capital are central to our capacity to engage in competitive scholarship.” In response to global development needs, Adesina said partnerships had become the paradigm of international development cooperation and the higher education community has responded with enthusiasm and intellectual rigour to this method of development. Extolling Okesina’s virtues, they described him as an erudite scholar and epitome of humility, whose leadership qualities has leverage tremendously on the development and transformation of UNIOSUN in the last one years.
L-R: The celebrant, Prof. Okesina cutting his birthday cake. With him are Mr. Tade Okesina, celebrant’s brother; former Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola (3rd from left); Prof. Adesina and Prof Siyan Oyeweso.
Students donate borehole to Lagos community Mojeed Alabi
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he 25th set of a Lagosbased entrepreneurial training school, Poise Graduate Finishing Academy (PGFA) Ilupeju, has donated a borehole valued at N300,000 to Orile-Bariga, a densely populated community on the Lagos Mainland. The gesture is part of the requirements and fulfillments of the students to be successfully graduated by the school. The manual borehole, which is estimated at N300,000 was sited in front of the palace of the community’s head, and was commissioned last week amidst thunderous ap-
plause from the community. While taking delivery of the water facility, the people thanked the students for coming to their aid through provision of water, saying water scarcity had been a major challenge facing them in the area. They added that the problem was compounded by the fact that the automatic borehole earlier donated to the community had not been functioning very well due to poor power supply in the area. Speaking during the commissioning, a worker in the institution, Mr. Olaniyi Omole told the community that the students sacrificed a
lot to ensure that the project was a huge success. He said: “These young executives had to go begging in markets and shopping malls in order to raise fund to execute the project within two weeks. They have really shown their competence by completing it within two weeks with no fund from any organisation, other than the proceeds of their street begging. He explained that the institution trains young graduates in acquiring employability N300,000 skills, adding that the project Worth of is a test of their abilities to borehole dowork as a team towards con- nated to Lagos tributing to the infrastruccommunity by tural development of their students immediate environment.
EDUPEACE
with Mahfouz A. Adedimeji (08066372516, sms only)
Dr Adedimeji is a Senior Lecturer and Director, Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, Unilorin
ABCD: Connect, don’t just collect!
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BCD. That is the mantra that runs through the DNA of Sir Richard Branson’s companies. As one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time, apart from being an engaging writer and syndicated columnist, his philosophy is simple but important: Always Be Connecting the Dots. This formula is not only applicable to industry; it is relevant to all spheres of life, especially education. You begin education by learning ABCD and you succeed in it by Always Connecting the Dots. Even when you complete schooling (you never complete education), you find out that succeeding in your career and life requires one thing: Always Be Connecting the Dots. There is a world of difference between collecting the dots and connecting them. A person who has collected the dots will be parading degrees, diplomas and certificates while complaining of unemployment, joblessness and idleness. A person who connects the dots, however, knows what to do with his education in such a way that he is not idle or helpless. He thinks out of the box and sees opportunities where other people see nothing. There are many opportunities around us but it takes the sixth sense to think of them and the third eye to see them. This ability lies in connecting the dots. Meanwhile, you cannot connect what you have not collected. You don’t build a house without first making or collecting the bricks. Thus, collecting bits and dots of knowledge without connecting them is ultimately counter-productive. The bane of many youths today is that they only COLLECT dots, they don’t CONNECT them. Connect, don’t just collect! It is the inability to connect the collected bits of knowledge that made an Ekiti State University engineering graduate to attempt suicide this April. His reason: “There is no state that I have not gone to in search of job in the past 10 years, but none for me…. I came to Akwa Ibom State because this is my last hope… But unfortunately, since I came, I discovered that even many people from Akwa Ibom are also crying because of poverty and joblessness.” The question is: what kind of engineer would be “jobless” for 10 years? As I wrote in anothér column recently, “it is
It is connecting the dots that constitute the kernel of innovation connecting the dots that constitute the kernel of innovation.” And what is innovation? According to one of the greatest inventors of all times, Thomas Edison, “innovation is one per cent inspiration and ninety nine per cent perspiration.” You cannot connect without perspiring; you cannot succeed without sweating. This is why it is confounding that many young people now want to enjoy their way to success. Hard work used to matter as the foundation of success. Nowadays, however, many impressionistic youths believe that they only need to be “smart”. Dubiety, dishonesty, disloyalty, immorality and all damnable things are part of being smart or connecting the dots in a wrong way. How do you connect the dots in the right way? The late technology wizard, Steve Jobs, provided the answer in this famous commencement speech: “You can’t connect the dots by looking forward; you can only connect them by looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will connect in your future. You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” But many Nigerians are let down. Taking some students for example, rather than focus on learning or acquiring knowledge, they just want to have certificates. Though the school or institution they attend is primarily meant for learning, they devote most of their time to socialising, online and offline, clubbing and burning their precious time away. At the end of the day, the dots don’t connect as they are found to be unemployable and incompetent. I do not begrudge those who want to become millionaires while in school but the linear approach, which the ABCD also represents, is that there is time for everything.