How not to teach Nigerian students

BY ISMA’IL ADAMU ISHAJOBI
THE day was Thursday, March 4. Time was 10pm. That was when Bimbo Aduke, 100 level student of the department of Human Nutrition, University of Ibadan, realised she was lying on a sick bed and was actually on drip at the University College Hospital, UCH.
She had fainted while receiving a Chemistry lecture, CHE 157, which was supposed to last for an hour from 5 to 6pm.
From an eyewitness account, Bimbo stood in front of the dais because she could not secure a sit.
Suddenly, she started feeling dizzy and as she tried to excuse herself from the pool of students, she fainted and was rushed to Jaja Clinic from where she was transferred to UCH.
Four days later, a similar incident also occurred at the Agric Large Lecture Theatre, when Ife, another 100 level student of Forestry, fainted while receiving a lecture, Mathematics for Agric and Forestry (AGE 112).
CBN is a lecture theater situated between Faculty of Science Lecture Theatre and department of Computer Science at the premier university.
A structure built from a Central Bank of Nigeria grant of N30 million and commissioned on October 31, 2003 by the then governor of Oyo State, Senator Rasheed Ladoja.
Seven years later, it does not look it. The facilities and furniture are in their end time. The reason is not farfetched. From its inception, it has always housed more than its capacity.
Bimbo and Ife’s stories are just the tip of the iceberg of how hostile some lecture theatres could be when student converge for lectures.
The irony of the whole issue is that those responsible cannot claim they do not know how the lecture theaters are always overstretched beyond their capacity.
Prior to Bimbo’s incident, Prof. Adebowale, Dean of the Faculty of Science, had made several attempts to split the 100 level students receiving lectures in CBN into groups for conveniences, but this is yet to be realized.
After Bimbo’s incident, Dr. Babalola, a lecturer from Chemistry department came to make the same announcement. The question then is; why wait until a casualty is recorded before taking a pragmatic step. After all it is lecturers who come to lecture in this same lecture theater and they see students packed like canned fish when they are supposed to sit comfortably as undergraduates.
CBN is a true reflection of how the educational system in Nigeria has dwindled over time.
In a situation where a student leaves his/her hall of residence as early as 6am for a class starting at 9am not because he or she wants to read but to secure a comfortable sit in the acclaimed ‘First and Best’ university is a tragedy.
niyas1985@yahoo.co.uk



Lords of campus on the prowl
By Opeyemi Dibua
NIGHTLIFE on campus begins at sunset. In a way, the night fits into some people’s lifestyle such as attending shows and night parties, visiting female hostels, etc. It is the time when lectures are on hold and another life begins.
These days, students don’t wait for the Student Union Government (SUG) to organise shows before they catch their fun. They hits the clubs every night, while those who do not fancy going outside the campus at night organise small hostel parties, which is always fun too. For the churchgoers, there is always a programme to attend every evening.
At the dawn of late evening, different types of cars in different shapes and sizes invade the campus. As always, the owners have come to see their loved ones.
Cars are parked at every dark corner, especially those close to female hostels daily between 7 and 11pm such that any day cars are not sighted, it is always glaring.
Just recently, the student’s vigilante committee caught a man coming out of a lady’s room long after the deadline for male visitors. He claimed to have spent the night in his car and had only seen her host off to her room.
According to the leader of the vigilante committee, Mr. Femi Ishola, “what he was doing at that time of the day in a lady’s room is better imagined than said.”
Another incident occurred when a guy beat his girlfriend after she disappeared for two days. He asked where she was coming from and the lady said she was coming from her uncle’s place. “Oh, so that was your uncle who brought you back and kissed you for three minutes?” Before she could say anything else, a slap had landed on her face.
During examination period, you are sure to observe a different chain of activities at night. These include suya and toasted bread joint, just to mention a few. There is also an astronomical increase in students’ population, also is the upsurge in joint and couple tutorials. Many others take delight in burning the midnight candle in the quest for academic excellence. They read until the night turns to day (TDB). Bukateria and cafeteria operators also join in the TDB, as kola nut sellers hawk till daybreak.
Of special mention is the change in student’s appetite. Rice, which most males claim to be bird’s food because of its inability to quench hunger, becomes the number one staple for everybody, while heavy but sleep-inducing foods like bread, beans and yam records low demand. Those in the habit of eating eba twice a day re-adjust their diet, as all is at stake to scale the exam hurdle.
Nightlife on campus is something that everybody looks forward to at the end of the day.
magodoboy@yahoo.com




Winners emerge on Zain Africa Challenge
BY TOPE TEMPLER OLAIYA
ZAIN Nigeria has announced the first batch winners in the Home Viewers Game segment in the on-going pan African television quiz show, Zain Africa Challenge.
The segment is a feedback platform created to allow viewers test their intellectual aptitude during the quiz contest, also affording them an opportunity to win fantastic prizes such as high-end phones, Internet data card and airtime.
According to Head, Corporate Communications of the company, Emeka Oparah, nine winners emerged from the first episode after providing the correct answer to a singular question asked during the show, adding that the answers were sent as SMS (Short Message Service) to the short code: 35056.
While commending the winners for the feat, Oparah said the initiative is designed to excite Nigerians as well as give customers an opportunity to win big in the academic competition, stressing that his company will always look for opportunities to reward Nigerians in the contest.
The winners from the first episode were: Oluwadamilare Sadiq, Shodipo Lekan, Dayo Adebayo, Stanley Okeke and Yeni Ajayi. Others include Ubani Michael, Olubiyi Sunbi, Nnabuife Ikechukwu and Adebimpe Obadan.
The fourth season of the Challenge is televised every Monday on STV by 8pm; Wednesdays on NTA by 8:30 pm and Thursdays on AIT by 7:30 pm. The contest is also broadcast across the whole of Africa on the DSTV satellite platform on Magic World on Monday at 7:30 pm; on Africa Magic Plus on Tuesdays at 9:20 am and 6:20 pm, and Wednesdays at 12:30am.