Buhari 'Our Universities are failing'

President of Nigeria,Mohammadu Buhari, has expressed his worry for the educational system in the country through Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission,Prof. Julius Okojie.

Okojie, who was in Bauchi at the 19th to 22nd convocation ceremony ofAbubakar Tafawa BalewaUniversity, stated that Nigerian Universities do not make it to the top hundred universities in the world even though the country has lots of talents that excel elsewhere.

He said, “it is worrisome that no Nigerian university is quoted among the top 100 universities in the world.

“We rank below a thousand, if we do not aspire to be among the world class universities, we cannot boast of robust system capable of making the country among the top economies of the world.
“We have abundance of talents who excel elsewhere but appear incapacitated at home. This is unacceptable.
“Whatever makes our abundant talents fail at home and excel abroad must be identified and neutralised for our benefit and that of our future generation,’’ he said.
He added that one of the mainchallengesthe Nigerian institutions are facing is that they keep sabotaging themselves through incessant strike actions.

“The repercussions of strike usually retard the smooth running of academic activities with heavy negative consequences," he said.
He concluded by urging State Government to encourage and support Universities in their states so that they are better able to access and take advantage of much needed talent.

Insubordination! OAU students union leaders banned for years

The three students are reportedly being
punished for verbally assaulting and
threatening a professor, Y. K. Yusuf, in
the institution.

The Students Union leaders at the Obafemi
Awolowo University » have been suspended
for up to 6 semesters for threatening a professor,
PremiumTimes report.
The SUG leaders were reportedly given between
four and six semesters suspensions.
Those suspended are the president, Omotayo
Akande; Secretary General, Oketooto
Oluwaseun and the Public Relations Officer,
Ojedokun Emmanuel.
The three students are reportedly being
punished for verbally assaulting and threatening
a professor of the institution, Prof. Y. K. Yusuf.
According to reports, Emmanuel, who was
supposed to graduate in two months, and some
of his colleagues interrupted an ongoing lecture
where Yusuf was teaching, with the aim of
making an announcement.

Yusuf refused to grant them permission to do
this, causing the students to feel insulted.
Thereafter, they accosted the lecturer and told
him to apologise to the students, or else, they
would parade him around the campus.
When the professor insisted he was not going to
apologise, the SUG president sent an SMS to the
Vice Chancellor of the school, stating that he
cannot guarantee the safety of the professor if he
does not tender an apology for walking the
members of the union out of his class.
A panel set up by the school’s management to
investigate the matter recommended that the
students be suspended for three years.
Mr. Emmanuel confirmed that they had
received the suspension letters, and called on
the management to review its sanction.

“We have received the letters and plead with
notable Nigerians to save Oketooto Oluwaseun,
Omotayo Akande and myself,” Mr. Emmanuel
said, while denying threatening the professor. He
claimed that he was being framed and that the
management is just looking for an excuse to get
rid of him.
Oluwaseun and Emmanuel were suspended for
four semesters respectively, while Akande was
suspended for six semesters.

Source

Lagos court jails Malaysia-based student 24 years for internet scam

A Nigerian student schooling in Malaysia, Hope
Olusegun Aroke, has been jailed 24 years for a
N25 million internet scam.
Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos State High
Court, sitting in Ikeja convicted and sentenced
the 25-year old undergraduate of Kuala
Lumpur Metropolitan University, Malaysia,
based on the information provide to information
from the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC).
Aroke was arraigned before Justice Okunnu on
a two-count charge bordering on obtaining
money by false pretence; cheque cloning, wire
transfer and forgery. Spokesman to the EFCC,
Wilson Uwujaren said the court found him
guilty of the two charges and was sentenced to
twelve years imprisonment on each of the two
counts.The sentence are to run concurrently.
“Troubles came for Aroke when an anonymous
petitioner wrote to the EFCC alleging that the
Kogi state-born undergraduate was involved in
sundry fraudulent activities on the internet.
The EFCC swung into action and investigated
the internet dealings of Aroke. Investigations
showed that he was involved in several
romance scam that fetched him a total sum of
40,000 ringgit ( Malaysian currency). Aroke
admitted sending the money to Nigeria
through one Angela, who later helped him
deposit its naira equivalent, N25 million in a
new generation bank”, Uwujaren said, adding
that two exotic cars were found in his
possession at the time of arrest. They are both
worth N23 million .
Aside his conviction, Aroke is said to still have
two other matters yet undecided before Justice
B. Idris of the Federal High Court Lagos