36—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013
Osundare backs call for state of emergency in sector Continues from page 25 To revamp the sector, he added, there must be a change in our attitude saying success or failure come from inside. The professor who believes money is not our problem in Nigeria but how to judiciously spend it, stated that money generated in this country can fix the sector if our government set their priority right. “Government has to reorganise its priority. There was a time Nigeria was committing 20 per cent of its budget to education but later went back to 1.8 per cent,” he said. He, however, maintained that the Federal Ministry of Education should know where to commit the allocation given to them because there are lots of things to spend the money on. His words, “When you have your allocation, you should know how to set your priority right. Why don’t you commit 25 per cent or 30 per cent of this money to post-graduate education in major regions in Nigeria. Spend part of it on staff training and development, while some of the fund can go for equipping the laboratories.” Having lived in Nigeria for years before relocating to UK, he disclosed that the physical environment of our university is not conducive for learning adding that lecture rooms are too close to students' union building. “How can somebody think in such kind of place,” he queried. He also lamented that many of our students have no ambition, therefore lack the drive to pay the price for success. The Professor of Literature who concurred that learning is difficult said personal discipline on the part of students will help them, adding; "that is part of the
price to pay." After each course with a professor, students should ask themselves, what they have gained, what they have learnt and what can they pass on to the future students?
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eanwhile, addressing the crowd at the launch, Governor Kayode Fayemi stated that the innovation of IGSSwas to encourage and provide scholarly exchanges and interaction between post-graduate students, scholars in Nigeria and Nigerian scholars abroad. He said it is to provide external mentoring to post-graduate students in Nigeria, to train them in the art of writing proposals for graduate programmes, research funding and how to publish in international journals. He said; “We hope to create and nurture relationships amongst Nigerian scholars in the diaspora, Nigerian scholars at home and post-gradu-
ate students in Nigeria.” Fayemi explained that the IGSS will adopt inter-disciplinary, comparative and highly interactive approaches to training participants adding, that the IGSS is designed to enrich and expand the training of post-graduate students in Nigeria, to provide expansive and great scholarly opportunities for post-graduate students, to train post-graduate students in the processes and culture of research in the global age. The programme, he pointed out, will deepen and expand the horizon of post-graduate students in Nigeria thereby introducing post-graduate students to world class research and scholarship. Recalling the conceptualisation of the idea, Dr Fayemi said; “The proponents of the IGSS thought that if our education system was to become competitive on the global scale as quickly as possible while implementing necessary reforms, we have to ur-
gently seek out ways to redeem the colossal loss of human capital. That is why some of our brightest minds in the academia leave shores.” He disclosed that the phenomenon popularly called brain drain was as a result of decades of military dictatorship and bad governance which almost paralyzed our education system. According to him, the programme is designed as a fully residential intensive training school and will facilitate scholarly, experiential and practical insight into the dynamics of knowledge production in 21st Century Nigeria. Fayemi who urged the 50 pioneer students of the IGSS to make the best of the opportunity, stated that his administration has invested huge resources into the project to ensure that all 50 successful candidates are able to participate in the IGSS free of charge so as to forestall exclusion of anybody on the basis of finances.
*Mrs Joan Ihekwaba, General Manager, Marketing, UAC Foods Limited (3rd right); Mrs Ethel Mba, Brand Manager, Dairies and Beverages, UAC Foods Limited, Mr Peter Folikwe, General Manager Sales, UAC Foods Limited (right); Mr Solomon Addey, Vice-Principal, Wesley School II (left); Mrs Kemi Ogunnubi, General Manager, Trading, UAC Foods Limited, Mr Alimi Kehinde, Vice-Principal, Wesley School and students of Wesley School for Hearing Impaired during the donation of items to the schools on Children’s Day, in Lagos.
Dufil supports motion against child abuse D
UFIL Prima Foods, makers of Indomie Instant Noodles, in line with its passion to empower and support Nigerian children, recently partnered with Vanguard Newspapers on the fifth edition of its Annual Children Conference in commemoration of The Day of the African Child. The theme of this year ’s Children Conference was Roles of Teachers in Curbing Child Abuse. This yearly event which took place at the Lagos Television (LTV8) Agidingbi, Ikeja, hosted pupils and students from public, private primary and secondary schools in Lagos State as well as heads of schools and counsellors. C M Y K
The event was graced by dignitaries such as wife of Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Adesegun and wife of frontline industrialist, Mrs. Khuburat Olayinka Razak-Okoya, who was the mother of the day. Speaking at the event, the Mother of the Day, Mrs. Khuburat Razak-Okoya, noted that “child abuse in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, is a silent endemic issue with long-term adverse effects on victims. This issue invariably has a longstanding impact on the future of the nation and the continent.” She also used the opportunity to appeal to leaders, welfare groups, corporate organisations and all
well-meaning Nigerians, to keep fighting against child abuse until it is totally eradicated. lso commenting on the event, Mr. Tope Ashiwaju, Public Relations/Events Manager of Dufil Prima Foods, explained that Dufil Prima Foods’ resolve to support Vanguards initiative to celebrate as well as empower the African Child, is hinged on the organisation’s core belief of placing high value on children and at the same time, understanding their relevance to the future of any nation. In Ashiwaju’s words, “Dufil Prima Foods is committed to the proper growth and development of Nigerian children
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and dedicated to celebrating their importance to the nation. The Day of the African Child is a laudable initiative on the part of Vanguard Newspapers as it commemorates children in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.” The ‘Day of the African Child’ conference is in commemoration of the International Day of the African Child, which was created by the African Union (AU) to mark the gruesome murder of 200 South African students in Soweto who protested the discrimination and poor quality education given to black children 23 years ago, during the apartheid era.
Victoria Global University confers professorship on three Nigerians BY JAPHET ALAKAM
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N line with its mission of maintaining a global presence as Education Knows No Boundary, Victoria Global University Turks and Caicos, (UK Overseas territory), one of the institutions dedicated to the propagation of knowledge and its correct application, recently conferred her highest academic award (Professorship) on three deserving Nigerian scholars who have distinguished themselves in nation-building, education and professional advancement in Africa. The recipients were Dr. Archibong Edem Archibong, Professor of Law, Engr. Roland Bassey Ephriam, Professor of Civil Engineering and Prof. Inoalaji Ruth Abosede, Professor of Education Management. The event which attracted notable dignitaries especially friends and family members of the awardees held at the Fuction Hall of the University of Lagos, was chaired by Chief Alex Akinyele. In his address, the president of the university, Dr. Benedict Mukul who described the event as the first of its kind in Africa said that VGU which is founded upon the highest of human ideals and aspirations is predicated upon the principles of goodwill and service. The school according to him, “welcomes the opportunity to acknowledge, embrace, and celebrate individual accomplishments. And that it was in line with that philosophy that we choose to appoint these three Nigerian scholars with the Victoria Global University highest appointment in the academia.” He stated that these people have proven to the university that "you are preeminent leaders in your fields, and persons of integrity. You have demonstrated superior expertise and commitment and we equivocally state that you are deserving of the highest acclaim that the university can bestow. On his part, the chairman of the occasion, Alex Akinyele who congratulated the recipients observed that a little learning is dangerous. We are here to honour those who have taken time to learn. It is necessary in our life to do well in whatever we do. Learning is a very serious discipline because everything about it is discipline. The former sports secretary who is comfortable with what is happening in the educational sector charged the new professors and old ones to take it upon themselves to translate what they have learnt to the younger ones. “Our duty now should be to take it on ourselves to translate what we have learnt to the children, take it as a challenge to inculcate moral and physical discipline in the children,” he added.