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COVID-19: UI orders online teaching for rest of second semester

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With the rising cases of COVID-19 and its attendant deaths in the country, the University of Ibadan (UI), has moved teaching and learning, for the rest of the second semester.

The university’s Registrar, Mrs Olubunmi Faluyi, disclosed this in a statement made available in Ibadan by Mr Tunji Oladejo, Director of Public Communications, in the office of the Vice Chancellor.

“It is clear that going fully online or adopting a blended approach to teaching is one of the steps to take to ensure the safety of all staff and students, given the increasing rate of infections being experienced in Nigeria and on our campus.

“Management commends all departments engaging in virtual/blended teaching since the commencement of the 2020/2021 Session.

“All departments are urged to immediately take advantage of existing arrangements and commence virtual/blending teaching.

“The Directorate of Information Technology and Media Services (ITeMS) and the ERTC are on the ground, available to provide technical support,” the registrar said.

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Faluyi said the university had earlier requested faculties to identify courses to be taught online and those to be taught physically, for the rest of the second semester.

“The Emergency Remote Teaching Committee (ERTC), in its proposal to the Committee of Provosts and Deans (CoPD), at a meeting, held on the 11th August, 2021, had noted and recommended thus:

“As more cases of COVID-19 are being announced nationwide. These call for caution and proactive actions, which should take into consideration, in the main, the review of the mode of teaching and learning in the second semester and, as a consequence, provide a safe way to undertake pedagogical activities on Nigerian university campuses.

“With the daily rising cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 and with several cases within the main campus and the College of Medicine/UCH campuses, the ERTC considered a proposal of blended teaching for the second-semester in the university.

“The blended learning model should be officially decided in terms, either of availability of sections of the student population for online or physical encounters or the categorisation of courses as online or physical.

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”This neutralizes the choice of location or keeps all students, in principle, in physical presence within and/or around the campus,” she said.

Faluyi said the proposed platforms and tools to be used, according to the ERTC, include: LMS, Zoom, YouTube Gsuite accounts, Telegram fora, Solution clinics, which should be maintained for use by students and staff in all cases.

“Google meet, which is practically free, should, in addition, be encouraged for lectures, since all academics have access to Gmail accounts.

“Firm decisions and systematicity should be applied on the preference for the operations of blended learning to ensure effectiveness,” she said.

She noted that the management had decried the poor compliance with COVID-19 protocols by the entire university community and emphasised the need to ensure strict compliance through the university’s COVID-19 Committee.

“If the situation worsens on campus, full online engagement should be mounted for all courses as was done in the first semester, exempting only departments and units with special needs, on the condition that evident strict compliance with the protocols will be observed.

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“Bigger Zoom rooms for courses, with more than 1,800 students, should be purchased and added to the existing pool”, Faluyi added.

The registrar enjoined everyone to take personal responsibility for his/her safety by obeying all COVID-19 safety protocols.

“If we do this, there will be no cause for panic on our campus,” she said.

Faluyi also disclosed that arrangements were ongoing to make vaccines available for all staff and students, as soon as possible, the details of which would be provided as more progress is made, she said.

 

 

 

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Education

Oduduwa polytechnic denies extortion story

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The management of Oduduwa Polytechnic, Lagos, has denied media report that a lecturer in the institution was  extorting a female student and withhold her results.

 

According to the report, the student, one Jesulayomi Adedini, allegedly accused a lecturer of the institution, whose name was given as Ogunjana Adeolu of extortion and deliberate attempt to frustrate her graduation from school.

But the school, in a statement, copy of which was sent to The Post, stated: “The attention of the Management of the Oduduwa Polytechnic, Lagos has been drawn to a story published in The Punch of today titled: ‘Osun poly student accuses lecturer of extortion, withholding result.

“Contrary to what was published in The Punch, we wish to state that our institution, Oduduwa Polytechnic had nothing to do with the said story.

“We don’t have any record of both the staff and the student in our database.

 

“We, therefore, implore the members of the public to disregard the said story as it had nothing to do with our institution.”

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Shedding more light on the report, the management of the Oduduwa Polytechnic said, “We believe there is a mix-up somewhere. Our institution, Oduduwa Polytechnic, is located in  Lagos, not in Ife, Osun state, as claimed in the report by The Punch.
“It is surprising that while the report claimed the school involved in the alleged extortion story is in Ife, Osun state, but the photo used in the said story is that of our school, Oduduwa Polytechnic that is located in Lagos.”

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Tinubu signs amended student loan bill into law

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President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday signed the National Students Loan Amendment bill into law.

 

The President signed the bill in a short ceremony at the State House in the presence of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Minister and Minister of State for Education, Hannatu Musawa, the Minister of State for Youth, Ayodele Olawande, the president of the National Association of Nigerian Students, other government officials and aides to the president.

 

Tinubu initially signed the student loan bill into law back in June 2023, to offer financial assistance to Nigerian students in tertiary institutions.

 

While the bill was signed earlier, its implementation has faced delays due to various issues hindering its rollout.

 

Speaking afterwards, the president said, “ First of all, I must thank members of the National Assembly for their expeditious handling of this bill considering the children of Nigeria, that education is the tool to fight against poverty effectively.”

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“We are determined to ensure that education is given the proper attention necessary for the country including skills development programmes. This is to ensure that no one, no matter how poor their background is, is excluded from quality education and opportunity to build their future.”

 

“We are here because we are all educated and were helped. In the past, we have seen a lot of our children drop out of college and give up the opportunity. That is no more, the standard and the control is there for you to apply no matter who you are as long as you are a Nigerian citizen.”

 

This development came after separate considerations from the two chambers of the National Assembly committees on tertiary institutions and TETFund.

 

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Mohbad: Family faults wife’s petition against Primeboy

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The family of the late singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, has faulted a petition said to have been filed by the deceased’s widow, Omowunmi, against Ibrahim Owodunni, also known as Primeboy.

Primeboy, a close ally of Mohbad, was interrogated during a scheduled visit to the State Criminal Investigation Department on Tuesday, alongside Ayobami Fisayo, aka Spending.

The duo had been instructed to visit the police facility every week since the commencement of the investigation into the circumstances leading to Mohbad’s death.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, however, confirmed that the Afro singer was delayed and questioned during Tuesday’s visit over alleged defamation of character and other allegations cited in a petition filed by Wunmi.

 

Although the singer was released on Tuesday night, he returned to the SCID on Wednesday as police continued their probe of the allegations.

However, the family, in a statement signed by the head of its legal team, Monisola Odumosu, on Wednesday, alleged that the petition bordered on scaring potential witnesses in the unfolding investigative enquiry at the Coroner’s Court.

Mohbad’s family also noted that Primeboy was released from the SCID following the intervention of its legal team.

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The statement read, “It has come to our notice that Wunmi Cynthia Aloba has petitioned the police alleging that Primeboy and four other persons were cyber-bullying and threats to her life and her son Liam Aloba, amongst other allegations.

“As a result, the police detained Primeboy at their Panti office in Lagos and released him on Tuesday evening at about 8.00 pm local time. The legal team was led by Emmanuel Oroko Esq. Primeboy and Spending were at Panti Police Station earlier in the morning of (12/03/2024) to fulfil part of the conditions of their administrative bail which is that they must report to the homicide section of Panti police station every week.

“We are of the strong opinion that the police can only help to get justice in the matter relating to who killed Ilerioluwa Aloba (Mohbad) by vetting spurious petitions that border on scaring potential witnesses in the unfolding investigative enquiry at the Coroner’s Court. The police have shown professionalism and integrity by releasing Primeboy on bail and allowing our legal team access to the petition. Also, Primeboy was told to come back on Wednesday.”

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Odumosu explained further that it was not easy for the duo since they were listed as witnesses for the inquest.

“May we mention that since we listed Spending and Primeboy as witnesses for the inquest at the Coroner Court, it has not been easy for the duo. We have evidence of a sporadic call from a person sympathetic to Wunmi Aloba, and we queried why the person had to call and truncate the call when Primeboy had not picked up the call. Immediately the person switched off his phone and has not called back since then. Barely a week after, Primeboy has been petitioned against and detained.

 

“The petitions against the duo of Spending and Primeboy will not scare them away as witnesses at the next sitting of the Coroner Court. We shall do all within the law not just to protect them but also protect their mental health,” the statement added.

 

During its probe, the police declared Primeboy wanted on October 4, 2023, after which he turned himself in two days later.

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Meanwhile, Mohbad’s father, Joseph Aloba, had filed an application in January at the coroner court sitting in the Ikorodu area of the state, seeking to call more witnesses in the bid to unravel the cause of his son’s death.

The witnesses requested to testify before the court include Primeboy, Spending and Boluwatife Adeyemo aka Darosha; all of whom were alleged to have been with the deceased at the material time.

Mohbad died on September 12 at the age of 27, with circumstances surrounding his death sparking controversies on social media.

Being a former record label signee of Marlian Music owned by Naira Marley, Mohbad left the label in February 2022.

The state police command had on September 18, 2023, inaugurated a 13-man special investigation team to probe the death.

His death also led to the arrest of Naira Marley, and controversial Lagos socialite, Balogun Eletu, aka Sam Larry, amongst others.

The body of Mohbad was on September 21, 2023, exhumed for autopsy to unravel the cause of his death.

 

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