The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe has charged staff of the institution to show interest in the future of the system and contribute towards its development at all times.  

Ogundipe said this at a ceremony organised by the university to honour  59 members who served the university for 35 years and more and are about to retire.

He said they needed to be recognised and appreciated for their support, contributions, and sacrifices made to the system, explaining the event was meant to motivate the retirees and let those still in service know that they too would be recognised, celebrated and rewarded accordingly.

The event was the climax of a series of activities marking the 52nd convocation of the university.

In his remarks, the chairman of the occasion and immediate-past vice-chancellor of the institution, Prof. Rahamon Bello, assured the retirees that life after retirement is not as difficult as they imagined.​

Bello said the event would motivate staff in the system to put in their best, knowing that they would also be honoured one day.

One of the awardees, Prof. Winifred Makanjuola, retiring after 40 years from the Department of Zoology, stressed the importance of hard work and determination.

She said she feels fulfilled, having garnered a lot of experience in service and graduated many students, some of whom are professors.

Prof. Duro Oni, who will retire from the Department of Creative Arts after 45 years, commended the University for organising the long service award.

The high point of the event was the presentation of gifts to the outgoing staff members.

Governor Aminu Tambuwal has approved the appointment of Prof. Malami Umar Tambuwal as the first vice-chancellor of the newly established Shehu Shagari University of Education, Sokoto.

Umar Tambuwal, was a registrar of the state’s defunct college of education now upgraded to a varsity.

Prior to his appointment, he was a dean in the Faculty of Education at the Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto (UDUS).​

The governor also appointed Prof. Muhammad Aminu Mode and Prof. Nasiru Mukhtar Gatawa as vice-chancellors in charge of academics and administration, respectively.

Both were also former staff of Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto (UDUS).

While Prof. Mode once headed UDUS Department of the Modern and European Languages, Prof. Gatawa worked at the university’s Economics Department, where he rose through the ranks from graduate assistant to a professor.

Other management and principal officers appointed by Tambuwal are Amina Yusuf Garba as registrar and Sulaiman Dikko as the librarian.

Garba, who had a stint at UDUS as an assistant registrar and deputy registrar, was the immediate past registrar of Sokoto state University before her appointment.

Meanwhile, the governor has directed that the remaining management positions of the university’s bursar and director of works and physical planning should be provided by the finance and works ministries, respectively

Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, on Tuesday said Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, would commence full academic activities before the end of February, 2022.

Okowa disclosed this while fielding questions from news men shortly after inspecting the ongoing projects in the new university as well as the offices and residential apartments of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and the Chief of Staff, under construction.

He stated that all the courses of the university presented for the first year programme had  been accredited by National Universities Commission (NUC), adding that no fewer than 500 students had already been offered admission to study various courses as accredited for the university.

According to him, more students who meet the admission requirements for the accredited courses in the university would be offerred admission by the institution.

The Governor, who inspected the Administrative Building, Vice Chancellor’s Lodge, Faculty of Environmental Science, Faculty of Agriculture and the university’s gate house, expressed satisfaction with the level of work so far executed by the contractors.

While saying that the administrative building and the Vice-Chancellor’s lodge would be completed in  March, 2022, he stated that Faculty of Environmental Science which was nearing completion would be ready in February.

On Faculty of Agriculture, Okowa described it as “the star project’’ and said that it would be completed in October, 2022 and that construction of the roads connecting various faculties in the university were on course.

He also inspected the university’s gate under construction and affirmed that the Anwai/Ugbolu road would be expanded and beautified to link Ugbolu and give colour to the university and the Leisure Park and Film Village being built by his administration.

Okowa added that the Faculty of Agricultural Science would accommodate a 500-seater auditorium and two 250-sitting-capacity auditoriums, including the Faculty’s building.

“I am quite satisfied with the level of works done in the various projects at the Dennis Osadebay University.

“A lot has been done. We are happy with the progress of work recorded in the university and l do hope that at the beginning of April, there will be a change in that campus. For now it is no longer looking like a glorified primary school,” he added.

The governor pledged his administration’s commitment to completing all ongoing projects in line with contractual agreement.

Lagos State Government has stressed that quality education is crucial to the state’s progress and growth in this 21st century.

Executive Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board’s, LASUBEB, Wahab Alawiye-King, made the remarks at the commemoration of year 2022 International Day of Education, themed: ‘Changing Course, Transforming Education,” held in Ikeja.

Alawiye-King, therefore, promised not to relent in its efforts towards improving primary education in the state.

Recall that EKOEXCEL was launched in 2019 by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to provide quality education and up-skill teachers leveraging technology

Alawiye-King, commenting on this year’s celebration and EKOEXCEL’s strides,  said good education is the foundation for the better future the present administration wants for all Lagos state pupils.

While, highlighting the achievements of EKOEXCEL in just two years of existence, he said it would not relent in up-scaling the skills of teachers and improving pupils’ learning environment.

“The recently released EKOEXCEL 2020-2021 Endline Fluency and Numeracy Evaluation that showed EKOEXCEL pupils are making remarkable progress in oral reading fluency and foundational numeracy compared to their performance before the initiative’s commencement, is a challenge to us to up our game and we shall do just that so that by the next evaluation, we will have more progress to report”, Alawiye-King said

The Permanent Board Member of LASUBEB and oversight chair of the EKOEXCEL programme, Adebayo Adefuye, in his remark, disclosed that the initiative has big ambitions this year, with the total transformation of basic education the overarching goal.

According to him; “Just like the theme of this year’s International Day of Education ‘Changing Course, Transforming Education’, we at EKOEXCEL won’t relent until we completely change the course of public education in Lagos for the better. A total transformation of public primary education is our goal and we are happy we are on course”, Adefuye said.

He further stated, “EKOEXCEL has commenced a robust public awareness campaign which include driving enrolment and reducing the number of out of school children in alignment with the government’s ‘Leave No Child Behind Policy’ and boosting academic excellence from a foundational level in Lagos public schools.

“The others include engaging parents and communities on the need and importance of education and connecting citizens to the government’s economic growth agenda through the transformation of education. “

The Benue State Chairman of Social Democratic Party, SDP, John Enemari has appealed to the Benue state government to name the Benue State University, BSU, after the second civilian Governor of the state and founder of the institution, the late Reverend Father Moses Adasu.

The later cleric was elected governor of the state between January 1992 and November 1993 on the platform of the Social Democratic party..

Addressing the media on Tuesday in Makurdi, Enemari urged the state government to honour the memory of the former Governor by naming the state owned university after him.

He said: “I appeal to the state government to emulate what the Federal Government did with the former Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi which has been renamed Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, JOSTUM, to honour the legendary JS Tarka of blessed memory.”