Category: Education

Kidnapped ABU Students Regain Freedom After Family Members Paid Ransom.

After days in captivity, the nine abducted students of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria have been released.

The students, from the Department of French, were travelling to Lagos for a programme at the Nigerian French Language Village (NFLV) in Badagry.

On the 15th of November, it was reported that kidnappers had abducted the nine undergraduates of the French department along the Kaduna-Abuja highway while embarking on a road trip to Lagos for an academic programme. 

Julius Mutum, a brother to one of the victims has now tweeted that his sister and the others have been released.

The kidnappers requested for a million naira as ransom for each victim and after the families of the abducted each paid the ransom, the children were released. 

Ashiru Tijjani Zango, ABU head of security, also confirmed to newsmen Sunday morning that the students have reunited with their families.

“Yes it’s true, I called the head of department and she confirmed to me that the students have been released. She said she will contact the family members before they make it public,” Mr. Zango said.

The head of security however did not confirm if any ransom was paid. 

NUC Dissolves LAUTECH Joint Ownership; Hands Institution To Oyo State.

The Osun State government has ceded the ownership of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology to Oyo State, thereby ending the longtime crisis which had plagued the institution.

As a result of the transfer of ownership, both states have mutually agreed on the terms of settlement while the joint ownership of LAUTECH has been formally dissolved.

However, it was gathered that while the main University ownership was transferred to the Government of Oyo State, the College of Health Sciences, Osogbo was ceded to the Government of Osun State.

The Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, announced the resolution of the impasse during a press conference in Abuja.

Rasheed said the sole ownership of LAUTECH has been formally transferred to Oyo State.

He explained that while the main University ownership was transferred to the Government of Oyo State, the College of Health Sciences, Osogbo is ceded to the Government of Osun State.

“It is gratifying to note that after extensive deliberations, negotiations and consultations, both owner states mutually agreed terms, and the joint ownership of LAUTECH was formally dissolved.” He said.

“The mutually agreed dissolution was formalised through the signing of a memorandum of agreement by the Executive Governors of Oyo and Osun States witnessed by the Attorneys-General of both States, giving legal effect to the transfer of ownership of LAUTECH to the Government of Oyo State and the College of Health Sciences, Osogbo to the Government of Osun State.” He further stated.

LAUTECH was established in 1990 by the old Oyo State with the main campus located in Ogbomoso, while the Teaching Hospital was subsequently established in Osogbo.

When Osun State was carved out of the old Oyo State in 1991, both states became joint owners of the institution.

However, over the years, the joint ownership arrangement became characterised by governance and management challenges, affecting the appointment of the Vice-chancellor and other Principal Officers, as well as the irregular payment of staff salaries.

Chimamanda Adichie Loses Father.

Prof. James Nwoye Adichie, the father to international writer and renowned author, Chimamanda Adichie is dead.

Adichie, a professor of statistics died Wednesday night at Chira Memorial Hospital, Awkuzu Oyi local government of Anambra state.

According to his son, Okey Adichie who spoke to Daily Trust on the telephone on Thursday, Professor Adichie, aged 88, died after a brief illness.

“Our father, Professor J. N. Adichie, Odelora Abba, died late yesterday night, June 10, 2020, at Chira Memorial Hospital, Awkuzu,” he said.

James Nwoye Adichie, a native of Abba in Anambra State, was a retired professor of Statistics and Mathematics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).

Prof James Adichie was born in 1932 and went to Nimo Primary School and later moved to Akwuzu Primary School where he finished standard six.

After primary education, he attended Our Lady’s High School, Onitsha, 1947-48, and Yaba Technical Institute (now College of Technology) Lagos, 1948-50.

He also attended University College, Ibadan, 1957-60, University of California, Berkeley, USA, 1963-66.

He was research Officer, Central Bank of Nigeria, July-September, 1960; Statistician, Federal Office of Statistics, Lagos, September- December, 1960; Lecturer in Mathematics, Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Enugu, January-September, 1961; Assistant Lecturer in Statistics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1961-66; Lecturer, 1966-72; Senior Lecturer, 1972-74; Associate Professor of Statistics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1974-76; appointed Professor of Statistics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, since 1976 and he retired in 1997 from UNN.

RIP Professor Adichie.

ASUU Commences Indefinite Strike.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has begun an indefinite strike starting Monday.

ASUU President, Biodun Ogunyemi, announced this at a press briefing in its National Secretariat in Abuja.

ASUU had on Monday, March 9, 2020, declared a two-week warning strike because of the Federal Government’s inability to pay salaries of lecturers who are not enrolled in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System and the non-implementation of the 2009 agreement, among other issues.

Details later


Coronavirus: Lagos Announces Closure Of Schools.

As part of the preventive measures against the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Lagos State Government has announced the closing down of all public and private schools from Monday, March 23, 2020.

According to a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information, Mrs Folashade Adefisayo, the move became necessary to prevent children and their teachers from getting more vulnerable to the pandemic.

“It is important for parents to ensure that their children practise ‘social distancing’ while at home, wash their hands regularly or use hand sanitisers and observe high standards of personal hygiene. Children should be encouraged to remain at home.

“The closure is not intended to create panic but to arrest the spread of the disease, which has become a global threat,” the statement said.

BREAKING: FG Shuts NYSC Camps Nationwide Over Coronavirus Fears.

The Federal Government has ordered the immediate closure of the ongoing National Youth Corps Service orientation camps nationwide over coronavirus fears.

The 2020 Batch A Stream One NYSC members arrived on camp on March 10 and were expected to leave three weeks after.

But the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, on Wednesday, said the NYSC members would be released to resume at their places of primary assignment.

He tweeted that the closure was a precautionary measure on coronavirus.

“Today across the country, the NYSC Orientation camps will be closed and Youth Corpers will be paid and sent to their places of primary assignment.

“This again is a precautionary measure on the part of the government to check the spread of COVID-19. The DG NYSC will provide details,” he tweeted.

When contacted on the telephone, some NYSC members told The PUNCH that they were asked to pack their belongings Tuesday evening.

Some of them said their deployment letters were given to them early Wednesday morning.

Another OAU Lecturer Accused In Fresh Sex-For-Grades Scandal.

A fresh sex-for-grades scandal is currently shaking Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, as a 400-level student of the Department of International Relations, Faculty of Business Administration has accused a lecturer, Olabisi Olaleye, of sexually harassing her.

Motunrayo Afolayan, who has since lodged a complaint at the university’s Centre for Gender and Social Policy Studies, alleged that Mr Olaleye failed her in ‘Diplomacy,’ course code IRS 305.

The lecturer teaches the course alongside a female colleague, Omolara Akinyemi. The allegation comes nearly two years after a widely publicized scandal involving another lecturer in the faculty, Richard Akindele, and a student.

Mr Akindele, a professor of Accounting, was dismissed from the university after he was indicted for demanding sex from a female student to help improve her grades. A federal court later sentenced the disgraced professor to 24 months in prison.

Reliable sources within the university told PREMIUM TIMES that Ms Afolayan first took IRS 305 during the 2017/2018 academic calendar while in 300 Level but was allegedly failed because he refused to sleep with the lecturer (Mr. Olabisi Olaleye).

During the next academic year, the 2018/2019 academic session, the student registered again for the course but received repeated threats from the lecturer that “she would fail again and again if she refuses to sleep with him.”

A senior official in the faculty, who does not want to be named, said the student sought the intervention of another lecturer in the department, Sunday Omotuyi, on the matter. Ms Afolayan, it was gathered, had feared she could fail again since she was still being pestered by the lecturer.

“But Omotuyi declined to intervene. He said he had approached the same lecturer in 2014 on behalf of another student but Olaleye flared up and insulted him. He even walked him out of his office. He said Omotuyi was too “junior” to talk to him on such matter. He even asked the student to go as far as the office of the vice-chancellor to report him, the official said.

The official further stated that when other lecturers got wind of the development, they asked for proof of the allegation against the lecturer, and Ms Afolayan played a recorded voice of Mr Olaleye saying – in Yoruba – that, “I promise you would fail this course three times except you sleep with me.”

The recording was done based on the advice of Ms Afolayan’s friends, who also claimed the lecturer had “tormented” them in a similar manner in the past.

A university source said, “So, she was in Olaleye’s office and just as predicted, Olaleye held her by the hand and began to fondle her. While he was carried away, the lady turned on the voice recording application on her phone and taped all his vulgar words including the threat.”

Ms Afolayan has refused to share the audio record with anyone, saying she was afraid of being subjected to public ridicule.

With officials within her faculty unable to help, she sought outside help, from the Faulty of Law where a female lecturer advised her to report the matter to the university authorities.

As soon as Mr. Olaleye learnt that the matter was being escalated, he reportedly released Ms. Afolayan’s result which had been withheld alongside a few others. The released result showed that the student passed.

In response to the student’s complaint, the university authorities set up a probe panel headed by Yetunde Ajibade, the provost of the university’s postgraduate college. Ms Ajibade, a professor, is the first female provost of the college.

The panel has since met with all the concerned parties including Ms Afolayan; Mr Olaleye; Mr Omotuyi, whom the matter was first reported to; Kehinde Olayode, Head of Department, International Relations, among others.

While Mr Olaleye appeared before the panel in November last year, Mr Omotuyi met the panel on January 9.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Ms Afolayan had appeared before the panel accompanied by other female students in the department who also served as witnesses.

Both the lecturer and the student have confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES. But while Mr Olaleye chose to speak about the incident, Ms Afolayan said she had been advised to keep sealed lips until the university makes its verdict public.

Mr Olaleye said he had earlier submitted a written response to a query from the management, where he denied harassing Ms Afolayan.

He said the student had approached him to alter the examination timetable when the rerun course had clashed with another course she takes at 400 level. “I didn’t know her until the timetable issue came up. She approached me with two other ladies but I told them I could not help. I only advised them to go and write their 400 level course first, and return to join us in the hall for my course.” the lecturer said.

Mr Olaleye said the delay in the release of Ms Afolayan’s result was due to his co-lecturer, who teaches the course with him, being busy with “accreditation issues.”

Asked when he joined the university, Mr Olaleye said he could not recollect. He also couldn’t answer why doesn’t have a doctorate degree after almost 13 years he had reportedly enrolled for it.

Across some closed WhatsApp groups belonging to some sets of graduates of the department, female alumni members narrated similar experiences with the embattled lecturer when he taught them.

According to one of them who currently lives in the United Kingdom, “Mr Olaleye should not escape the wrath of the law this time.”

“That man is savage, I must say. He is [a] drunk and very reckless” one of the WhatsApp messages read.

Others accused some lecturers, especially those they said are close to the lecturer in the faculty, of trying to mount pressure on the panel and secure a soft landing for their colleague.

The university’s public relations officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, said that justice would be done in the matter. He said the precedent created with a similar case in the past should assure the public of the university administration’s commitment to ensuring fairness and justice.

“There is no basis for anybody to nurse any fear about the possible outcome of the probe. We have since gone past that stage at OAU. Nobody told us before a panel was set up, and the gender centre that was created was aimed at creating unfettered access to justice.” He said.

Via: Premium Times.

Another OAU Lecturer Accused In Fresh Sex-For-Grades Scandal.

A fresh sex-for-grades scandal is currently shaking Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, as a 400-level student of the Department of International Relations, Faculty of Business Administration has accused a lecturer, Olabisi Olaleye, of sexually harassing her.

Motunrayo Afolayan, who has since lodged a complaint at the university’s Centre for Gender and Social Policy Studies, alleged that Mr Olaleye failed her in ‘Diplomacy,’ course code IRS 305.

The lecturer teaches the course alongside a female colleague, Omolara Akinyemi. The allegation comes nearly two years after a widely publicized scandal involving another lecturer in the faculty, Richard Akindele, and a student.

Mr Akindele, a professor of Accounting, was dismissed from the university after he was indicted for demanding sex from a female student to help improve her grades. A federal court later sentenced the disgraced professor to 24 months in prison.

Reliable sources within the university told PREMIUM TIMES that Ms Afolayan first took IRS 305 during the 2017/2018 academic calendar while in 300 Level but was allegedly failed because he refused to sleep with the lecturer (Mr. Olabisi Olaleye).

During the next academic year, the 2018/2019 academic session, the student registered again for the course but received repeated threats from the lecturer that “she would fail again and again if she refuses to sleep with him.”

A senior official in the faculty, who does not want to be named, said the student sought the intervention of another lecturer in the department, Sunday Omotuyi, on the matter. Ms Afolayan, it was gathered, had feared she could fail again since she was still being pestered by the lecturer.

“But Omotuyi declined to intervene. He said he had approached the same lecturer in 2014 on behalf of another student but Olaleye flared up and insulted him. He even walked him out of his office. He said Omotuyi was too “junior” to talk to him on such matter. He even asked the student to go as far as the office of the vice-chancellor to report him, the official said.

The official further stated that when other lecturers got wind of the development, they asked for proof of the allegation against the lecturer, and Ms Afolayan played a recorded voice of Mr Olaleye saying – in Yoruba – that, “I promise you would fail this course three times except you sleep with me.”

The recording was done based on the advice of Ms Afolayan’s friends, who also claimed the lecturer had “tormented” them in a similar manner in the past.

A university source said, “So, she was in Olaleye’s office and just as predicted, Olaleye held her by the hand and began to fondle her. While he was carried away, the lady turned on the voice recording application on her phone and taped all his vulgar words including the threat.”

Ms Afolayan has refused to share the audio record with anyone, saying she was afraid of being subjected to public ridicule.

With officials within her faculty unable to help, she sought outside help, from the Faulty of Law where a female lecturer advised her to report the matter to the university authorities.

As soon as Mr. Olaleye learnt that the matter was being escalated, he reportedly released Ms. Afolayan’s result which had been withheld alongside a few others. The released result showed that the student passed.

In response to the student’s complaint, the university authorities set up a probe panel headed by Yetunde Ajibade, the provost of the university’s postgraduate college. Ms Ajibade, a professor, is the first female provost of the college.

The panel has since met with all the concerned parties including Ms Afolayan; Mr Olaleye; Mr Omotuyi, whom the matter was first reported to; Kehinde Olayode, Head of Department, International Relations, among others.

While Mr Olaleye appeared before the panel in November last year, Mr Omotuyi met the panel on January 9.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Ms Afolayan had appeared before the panel accompanied by other female students in the department who also served as witnesses.

Both the lecturer and the student have confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES. But while Mr Olaleye chose to speak about the incident, Ms Afolayan said she had been advised to keep sealed lips until the university makes its verdict public.

Mr Olaleye said he had earlier submitted a written response to a query from the management, where he denied harassing Ms Afolayan.

He said the student had approached him to alter the examination timetable when the rerun course had clashed with another course she takes at 400 level. “I didn’t know her until the timetable issue came up. She approached me with two other ladies but I told them I could not help. I only advised them to go and write their 400 level course first, and return to join us in the hall for my course.” the lecturer said.

Mr Olaleye said the delay in the release of Ms Afolayan’s result was due to his co-lecturer, who teaches the course with him, being busy with “accreditation issues.”

Asked when he joined the university, Mr Olaleye said he could not recollect. He also couldn’t answer why doesn’t have a doctorate degree after almost 13 years he had reportedly enrolled for it.

Across some closed WhatsApp groups belonging to some sets of graduates of the department, female alumni members narrated similar experiences with the embattled lecturer when he taught them.

According to one of them who currently lives in the United Kingdom, “Mr Olaleye should not escape the wrath of the law this time.”

“That man is savage, I must say. He is [a] drunk and very reckless” one of the WhatsApp messages read.

Others accused some lecturers, especially those they said are close to the lecturer in the faculty, of trying to mount pressure on the panel and secure a soft landing for their colleague.

The university’s public relations officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, said that justice would be done in the matter. He said the precedent created with a similar case in the past should assure the public of the university administration’s commitment to ensuring fairness and justice.

“There is no basis for anybody to nurse any fear about the possible outcome of the probe. We have since gone past that stage at OAU. Nobody told us before a panel was set up, and the gender centre that was created was aimed at creating unfettered access to justice.” He said.

Via: Premium Times.

Another OAU Lecturer Accused In Fresh Sex-For-Grades Scandal.

A fresh sex-for-grades scandal is currently shaking Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, as a 400-level student of the Department of International Relations, Faculty of Business Administration has accused a lecturer, Olabisi Olaleye, of sexually harassing her.

Motunrayo Afolayan, who has since lodged a complaint at the university’s Centre for Gender and Social Policy Studies, alleged that Mr Olaleye failed her in ‘Diplomacy,’ course code IRS 305.

The lecturer teaches the course alongside a female colleague, Omolara Akinyemi. The allegation comes nearly two years after a widely publicized scandal involving another lecturer in the faculty, Richard Akindele, and a student.

Mr Akindele, a professor of Accounting, was dismissed from the university after he was indicted for demanding sex from a female student to help improve her grades. A federal court later sentenced the disgraced professor to 24 months in prison.

Reliable sources within the university told PREMIUM TIMES that Ms Afolayan first took IRS 305 during the 2017/2018 academic calendar while in 300 Level but was allegedly failed because he refused to sleep with the lecturer (Mr. Olabisi Olaleye).

During the next academic year, the 2018/2019 academic session, the student registered again for the course but received repeated threats from the lecturer that “she would fail again and again if she refuses to sleep with him.”

A senior official in the faculty, who does not want to be named, said the student sought the intervention of another lecturer in the department, Sunday Omotuyi, on the matter. Ms Afolayan, it was gathered, had feared she could fail again since she was still being pestered by the lecturer.

“But Omotuyi declined to intervene. He said he had approached the same lecturer in 2014 on behalf of another student but Olaleye flared up and insulted him. He even walked him out of his office. He said Omotuyi was too “junior” to talk to him on such matter. He even asked the student to go as far as the office of the vice-chancellor to report him, the official said.

The official further stated that when other lecturers got wind of the development, they asked for proof of the allegation against the lecturer, and Ms Afolayan played a recorded voice of Mr Olaleye saying – in Yoruba – that, “I promise you would fail this course three times except you sleep with me.”

The recording was done based on the advice of Ms Afolayan’s friends, who also claimed the lecturer had “tormented” them in a similar manner in the past.

A university source said, “So, she was in Olaleye’s office and just as predicted, Olaleye held her by the hand and began to fondle her. While he was carried away, the lady turned on the voice recording application on her phone and taped all his vulgar words including the threat.”

Ms Afolayan has refused to share the audio record with anyone, saying she was afraid of being subjected to public ridicule.

With officials within her faculty unable to help, she sought outside help, from the Faulty of Law where a female lecturer advised her to report the matter to the university authorities.

As soon as Mr. Olaleye learnt that the matter was being escalated, he reportedly released Ms. Afolayan’s result which had been withheld alongside a few others. The released result showed that the student passed.

In response to the student’s complaint, the university authorities set up a probe panel headed by Yetunde Ajibade, the provost of the university’s postgraduate college. Ms Ajibade, a professor, is the first female provost of the college.

The panel has since met with all the concerned parties including Ms Afolayan; Mr Olaleye; Mr Omotuyi, whom the matter was first reported to; Kehinde Olayode, Head of Department, International Relations, among others.

While Mr Olaleye appeared before the panel in November last year, Mr Omotuyi met the panel on January 9.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Ms Afolayan had appeared before the panel accompanied by other female students in the department who also served as witnesses.

Both the lecturer and the student have confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES. But while Mr Olaleye chose to speak about the incident, Ms Afolayan said she had been advised to keep sealed lips until the university makes its verdict public.

Mr Olaleye said he had earlier submitted a written response to a query from the management, where he denied harassing Ms Afolayan.

He said the student had approached him to alter the examination timetable when the rerun course had clashed with another course she takes at 400 level. “I didn’t know her until the timetable issue came up. She approached me with two other ladies but I told them I could not help. I only advised them to go and write their 400 level course first, and return to join us in the hall for my course.” the lecturer said.

Mr Olaleye said the delay in the release of Ms Afolayan’s result was due to his co-lecturer, who teaches the course with him, being busy with “accreditation issues.”

Asked when he joined the university, Mr Olaleye said he could not recollect. He also couldn’t answer why doesn’t have a doctorate degree after almost 13 years he had reportedly enrolled for it.

Across some closed WhatsApp groups belonging to some sets of graduates of the department, female alumni members narrated similar experiences with the embattled lecturer when he taught them.

According to one of them who currently lives in the United Kingdom, “Mr Olaleye should not escape the wrath of the law this time.”

“That man is savage, I must say. He is [a] drunk and very reckless” one of the WhatsApp messages read.

Others accused some lecturers, especially those they said are close to the lecturer in the faculty, of trying to mount pressure on the panel and secure a soft landing for their colleague.

The university’s public relations officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, said that justice would be done in the matter. He said the precedent created with a similar case in the past should assure the public of the university administration’s commitment to ensuring fairness and justice.

“There is no basis for anybody to nurse any fear about the possible outcome of the probe. We have since gone past that stage at OAU. Nobody told us before a panel was set up, and the gender centre that was created was aimed at creating unfettered access to justice.” He said.

Via: Premium Times.

Blow Jobs Are Abnormal – Babcock VC Explains Why Student In The Sex Tape Got Expelled.

Prof. Ademola Tayo, the Vice-Chancellor of Babcock University, Ogun State, has revealed why the institution expelled a female student in the hospital sex video that recently went viral, TheNation reports.

The boy was said to have been expelled before the incident, while the girl was expelled as a result of the video which they made while the school was on vacation.

Speaking on Sunday, Prof. Tayo said: “We had to take that decision in order to protect this institution and to protect its alumni. Because anywhere they go they say the University where they are all prostitutes.

They said the girls are always swallowing 
and all kinds of ridicule. If we keep mute, in the public opinion they would think that anything goes in the institution. We had to make a statement to show discipline.

But I need to tell you that I signed it off with tears in my eyes as a responsible father. But we are not leaving this young lady to her doom. The pastor called me last week and I prayed with the family.

The father called me and said pray with your daughter. I said she is still my daughter. Sometimes discipline is therapeutic. It is when you go that you realise that this is not right what I have done and then you go back to yourself.

I look forward to a time when this young girl would graduate and be celebrated. It may not be here; I don’t know where but we are not throwing the baby out with the bath water.

It is not normal for a young woman to take the manhood of the man and be swallowing. That is a very dirty thing which supposed not to be heard.”