News
Nigerian Universities No Longer Conducive for Learning – ASUU President
- /home/rhoncare/pointblank.ng/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 27
https://pointblank.ng/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ASUU.jpg&description=Nigerian Universities No Longer Conducive for Learning – ASUU President', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
- Share
- Tweet /home/rhoncare/pointblank.ng/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 69
https://pointblank.ng/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ASUU.jpg&description=Nigerian Universities No Longer Conducive for Learning – ASUU President', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
Biodun Ogunyemi, National President, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has also blamed the poor attention many students get from lecturers to the poor learning environment across universities.
Mr Ogunyemi said this when he appeared on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja on Sunday.
Mr Ogunyemi said that the learning environment in the 1980s and 1990s was quite different from what was currently obtained, stressing that the environment in most universities was no longer conducive for effective learning.
“First, I do not agree with you that they do not pay attention to their students, but, again, you can see that lecturers have hindrances in the discharge of their mandate.
“Lecturers are supposed to do three things – teach, conduct research and carry out community services.
“I have visited a lot of campuses; the environment is not conducive. In our days in the university, we had what we called clinic hours. I started that way in 1988.
“Clinic hours are when students could come freely into my office and we will discuss their problems, academic and otherwise. It was possible because where I was working, we had stable power supply.
“Now, you will see that in some campuses, they will give you light during the office hours, and that is the end, and this clinic hours is best outside office hours.
“Lecturers are not routine workers; lecturers too are under pressure in their offices. They do not have the comfort, they do not have the wherewithal to do their work and students’ populations is more than four times over.’’
Mr Ogunyemi said that relating, communicating and getting to know the students had become difficult as a result of the large population.
He also highlighted inadequate laboratory and library facilities as some other major hindrances to effective learning.
“So, you find that each time ASUU talks about the universities, these are issues we are trying to track and we bring them to the attention of government.
“That is why even now, we were having a regime of negotiation with the government team led by Dr Wale Babalakin, which was truncated at some point.
“That is why we are trying to engage the issues of funding of universities, universities are now grossly underfunded.
“We are also trying to talk about the conditions of service.
“The fourth area we are engaging is the enabling environment for academics to do their work. I believe academics in Nigeria are still doing their best within our environmental circumstances.
“That is why you still see our products going to universities abroad and still excelling.’’
He noted that the sector had the capacity to breed quality products regardless of the environment, and urged lecturers to give students the needed support.
Mr Ogunyemi emphasised the need for further negotiations with the federal government on funding and the provision of adequate learning environment and materials for the development of the education sector.
He also said that it is not a crime for lecturers to go on sabbatical in separate universities from that of their main employment.
He said such opportunity usually offers the opportunity of comparing standards.
He said that such sabbatical would only add to the system as it would afford the opportunity for lecturers to borrow and learn ideas from each other.
“The university systems allows for what we call Sabbatical. It is part of university tradition and practices all over the world.
“The purpose that it serves is that you create window for peer review. In other words, what you are doing in university A, you go to university B and see whether that is what obtains exactly, or you need to borrow something, or you share some ideas.
“Sabbatical is a mechanism for assuring comparability of standards. Anybody that goes out for sabbaticals, when he or she comes back to the university, he adds value to the system.
“You are bringing something back, no matter how little, to the system. Where you have gone too, they get something from you.
“So, we encourage that from time to time in the university system because universities are regarded as universal places of learning and research,” he said.
Mr Ogunyemi also explained that lecturers, who embarked on sabbaticals, are being paid by both their original employers and the benefiting institution.
According to him, before you go on sabbatical, you must write a proposal on what you want to do for that year; when you come back, you must present the result of what you have done.
“It is like a research/teaching leave; you also go to another place within Nigeria or outside Nigeria to acquire new information, knowledge and bring back the knowledge to add value to your work place.
“So, it is part of the inbuilt mechanism for developing the competencies and skills of the university academics for global competition. So, working in more than one place is not a crime.
“It is not something that is now being debated whether it is moral or immoral, because they are trying to read some moral script into it,’’ he said.
He also blamed the poor attention students get from lecturers to the poor learning environment across universities.
Mr Ogunyemi said that the learning environment in the 1980s and 1990s was quite different from what was currently obtained, stressing that the environment in most universities was no longer conducive for effective learning.
“First, I do not agree with you that they do not pay attention to their students, but, again, you can see that lecturers have hindrances in the discharge of their mandate.
“Lecturers are supposed to do three things – teach, conduct research and carry out community services.
“I have visited a lot of campuses; the environment is not conducive. In our days in the university, we had what we called clinic hours. I started that way in 1988.
“Clinic hours are when students could come freely into my office and we will discuss their problems, academic and otherwise. It was possible because where I was working, we had stable power supply.
“Now, you will see that in some campuses, they will give you light during the office hours, and that is the end, and this clinic hours is best outside office hours.
“Lecturers are not routine workers; lecturers too are under pressure in their offices. They do not have the comfort, they do not have the wherewithal to do their work and students’ populations is more than four times over.’’
Mr Ogunyemi said that relating, communicating and getting to know the students had become difficult as a result of the large population.
According to him, students oftentimes hide under this situation and may not even come to class which makes it difficult for lecturers to track them.
He also highlighted inadequate laboratory and library facilities as some other major hindrances to effective learning.
“So, you find that each time ASUU talks about the universities, these are issues we are trying to track and we bring them to the attention of government.
“That is why even now, we were having a regime of negotiation with the government team led by Dr Wale Babalakin, which was truncated at some point.
“That is why we are trying to engage the issues of funding of universities, universities are now grossly underfunded.
“We are also trying to talk about the conditions of service.
“The fourth area we are engaging is the enabling environment for academics to do their work. I believe academics in Nigeria are still doing their best within our environmental circumstances.
“That is why you still see our products going to universities abroad and still excelling.’’
He noted that the sector had the capacity to breed quality products regardless of the environment, and urged lecturers to give students the needed support.
Mr Ogunyemi emphasised the need for further negotiations with the federal government on funding and the provision of adequate learning environment and materials for the development of the education sector.
(NAN)
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
If you are asked, what’s your calling, what will be your response? If you are asked what your purpose on earth is, what will be your response? If you are asked who you are, what would be your response? These, no doubt, are interesting questions to decipher one’s calling.
Finding one’s calling is the best thing that can happen to anyone. According to one of my most cherished mentors, Dr. Yomi Garnett, the day you find your purpose is the day you become a millionaire. I couldn’t agree more to this saying because it is nothing but the gospel truth. This is because the best thing that can happen to anyone is knowing their calling.
According to Mark Twain, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. This is a fact. It’s quite unfortunate that many people are just existing as opposed to living. We were not created to exist, we were created to fill a vacuum, and we can only make an impact if we are intentionally answering our call.
Let’s circle back to the question I asked at the beginning of this article, what’s your calling? To answer this question, I would like you to approach it from a spiritual perspective. At creation, God called us to be something in the world, that’s why he gave us gifts and talents and told us to be fruitful and multiply.
Just like we all have names which our parents, friends, children, mentors, etc. call us. These names are reflections of what we mean to them or how they perceive us. Names are symbolic and have deep meanings if we apply reasoning to them. So, if we can answer the names we are called to earth, how about answering the name God called us at birth. I believe that’s the most important call or name we need to answer as human beings. When we answer the name God gave to us, the world will begin to respond to what we say because we have answered the mother’s call.
Why do I say this? Your purpose was made in heaven, but your calling is meant to be fulfilled on earth. It’s sad to see people answering different names they are not called. When God created you, there’s something he had in mind for you to accomplish or solve on earth, but it’s unfortunate due to life vicissitudes, some of us derail from the path God destined for us, and hence that’s the reason many of struggle because we are not working in the direction and pathway God designed for us to tread upon.
It should be known that your calling was not a conference call, the call was a personal call. If God wanted anyone to know your calling or purpose, he would have revealed it to anyone he wants, but he chose to reveal it to you, so the onus is on you to focus on it, follow it religiously and ultimately fulfill it because that’s the only way you can get fulfillment.
I also asked, what’s your purpose? Your purpose is the reason why you do whatever you are doing. In this context, your purpose is your why. According to Dr. Myles Munroe, “When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable.” Your purpose is the reason why you applied for a job, married your partner, started an NGO, a business, relocated/travelled, started school, or even wrote a book. There’s always a reason why we do something. That reason is the inspiration and motivation we need to forge when everything else fails.
Again, I ask you what’s your purpose? If you can’t figure out your purpose, I will strongly advise you to go to your creator (God) and ask him, what’s your purpose because he’s the person that created you. When people desire different interests in different majors, skills, profession, vocation, etc., it’s simply because someone puts the desire and interest inside them.
To understand how purpose works, there’s no problem on earth without a solution. The only problem without a solution is the problem the person with the solution hasn’t arrived.
Let me share a practical example on purpose. There was a story of an old man whose car (Ford) broke down in the middle of the road, all efforts to fix the car proved abortive. An old man was passing by and saw this man struggling to fix the car, he asked him, “What’s the problem?” The old man said, well, my car has refused to start. The stranger told the man to give a minute. The man initially refused saying who is this old man to fix what I have been working on for hours.
On second thought, he said, what will I lose if I give him a chance. He decided to listen to the old man who told him to give me a minute to check out the car. This stranger didn’t do much, he just touched a particular side of the engine and told the old man to start the car, and immediately the car cranked back to her life. The man was surprised and asked him, who are you? ” The stranger said, “I am Henry Ford, the owner of Ford Motors.
The moral of this story is, Henry Ford, the founder of Ford motors, knows his car more than everyone. So, if a mere mortal can know much, how much about the creator who will not know about our purpose?
When you find your purpose, you find your why, but when you find your why you must find your purpose.
The final question I asked, “Who are you? To answer these questions, I need you to focus on the inmate quality you are blessed with as opposed to what people think about you. What people think about you is your reputation, but who you are is your character. Some people associate titles to who they are. I think that’s the wrong interpretation. One might be a doctor, lawyer, Chief Operating Officer, professor, or even the governor or president, but that doesn’t make them good people with good traits, qualities, values and charismatic inmate abilities.
To lead one must have empathy, compassion, and heart of service. It is through these traits; one can see who a person really is and not the cloth of title they are showing the world.
So, to find one’s calling, here’s my sample suggestion, ask your creator (God), inquire what makes you happy, what you love to do, what do people compliment you more about you, what do you do with relative ease if you are woken from sleep? What is one thing you can do for free?
In conclusion, finding one’s calling is the best thing that can happen to anyone, the day you find your calling is the day one will begin to live their best life because you will begin to bless the world with their calling.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer, and author of Design Your Destiny- Actualizing Your Birthright to Success, Unleash Your Destiny, and The Six Pillars of Success. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Dele Momodu, has said no political permutation will save President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, insisting that widespread hunger and hardship will determine the outcome.
Momodu stated this on Thursday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, anchored by Seun Okinbaloye.
According to him, Nigerians across all regions and ethnic lines are united by economic hardship, which no amount of money or political calculation can overcome.
“The common factor now is the hunger in the land. No permutation can beat hunger. The Yorubas are suffering, the Hausas are suffering, the Igbos are suffering, everybody is suffering,” he said.
He argued that President Tinubu cannot buy the entire country, even if he was able to deploy money effectively in Lagos State politics in the past.
“Tinubu believes he can buy the whole of Nigeria, but my personal belief is that if he could buy the whole of Lagos, I doubt if he can use money to buy the whole of Nigeria,” Momodu stated.
The Ovation Publisher said Nigerians had become wiser and would collect any money offered to them during elections but still vote according to their conscience.
He cited the Osun State governorship election as a case study, noting that, despite the huge funds allegedly deployed, the people voted for Governor Ademola Adeleke.
“And a lot of people will take the money like they took it in Osun State. People’s eyes are wide open now. They brought a lot of money to Osun State, but they still lost the election to Ademola Adeleke,” he said.
Momodu also recalled that Tinubu lost Lagos State to Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, which he said proves that incumbency and financial muscle do not guarantee victory.
He maintained that President Tinubu would not win in 2027, claiming that many Nigerians could not imagine a second term for the administration.
“If you ask an average Nigerian today, do you trust Tinubu to conduct a free and fair election? 90 per cent will say no. Nobody trusts Tinubu, including his own supporters,” Momodu said.
On the detention of former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Momodu described him as a “prisoner of conscience” who is being persecuted because of his political influence.
“Nasir El-Rufai is a lion. They caged him because he is a lion. Even when a lion is caged, it is still a lion. They want him locked up until after 2027 because they fear his influence,” he said.
He disclosed that El-Rufai’s appointment as Deputy Chairman of the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Council was in honour of his sacrifice and resilience.
“It is a way of honouring his sacrifice because his travails are quite political in nature. That is why Nasir has become a prisoner of conscience. He is in the hands of a government that he helped to midwife,” Momodu added.
He said the 2027 election would be a referendum on hunger, hardship and governance, and not on political permutations.
Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital Communications, Engagement and New Media Strategy, O’tega Ogra, has faulted Momodu’s comments.
Reacting to the interview, Ogra accused the opposition of embracing “perpetual negativity” and opposing government policies without objective assessment.
He said Momodu’s assertion ignored ongoing reforms and improvements recorded in key economic indicators, including foreign reserves, power generation and inflation management.
Ogra urged opposition figures to offer constructive criticism rather than painting a picture of total failure, stressing that President Tinubu would ultimately be judged by his reforms and track record.
The Tribune
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has denied asking Nigerians living in the United Kingdom to abandon relatives who depend on them for financial support, saying his message about hardship in Nigeria was distorted by political opponents.
Obi said he appreciates Nigerians in the Diaspora who make sacrifices to support their families at home, stressing that his concern is the country’s dependence on remittances to meet basic needs.
In a statement titled; “My Message Has Been Twisted”, posted on X on Tuesday, the former Governor of Anambra State clarified that he never asked Nigerians abroad to stop supporting their loved ones.
“I deeply appreciate Nigerians in the diaspora who work tirelessly and make enormous sacrifices to support their families back home,” he said.
“Their remittances pay for school fees, hospital bills, rent, and feeding expenses. Their patriotism and sacrifices deserve our profound respect. I never asked them to abandon their loved ones.”
Obi said his message was aimed at drawing attention to the economic conditions forcing millions of Nigerians to rely on relatives abroad for their survival.
“My concern is that Nigeria should not remain a country where millions depend on relatives abroad for basic survival,” he said.
“Our goal must be to build a nation that provides jobs, affordable healthcare, quality education, and economic opportunities for its citizens.”
He accused political opponents of misrepresenting his comments, insisting that his position is about addressing the causes of hardship rather than discouraging financial assistance to families.
“Political opponents may twist my message, but the truth remains clear: I am not asking Nigerians abroad to abandon their families. I am advocating for a Nigeria that will no longer abandon its own people,” he said.
The clarification followed backlash over comments Obi made during a town hall meeting with Diaspora supporters in Manchester on Sunday.
In a video that went viral, Obi urged Nigerians in the UK to think twice before giving money to relatives and others at home who ask them for financial assistance, arguing that such support could ease hardship without addressing its underlying causes.
“You have people at home in Nigeria today who are begging you for money. Tell them no!” he said.
Obi attributed the country’s economic difficulties to poor leadership, urging Nigerians abroad to encourage their relatives and friends at home to vote for leaders who would prioritise productivity and economic opportunities.
