UNILORIN gets Registrar

By Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

The Governing Council of the University of Ilorin has approved the appointment of Mr Mansur Adeleke Alfanla as the University’s Registrar-designate.

Mr Alfanla, who is a Deputy Registrar and current Secretary of the institution’s Postgraduate School, will take over from the current Registrar, Dr Fola M. Olowoleni, when her tenure ends in April.

A statement made available to newsmen in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, at the weekend by the institution’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr Kunle Akogun, disclosed that the appointment was one of the highlights of the 183rd meeting of the Council held on March 23, 2023 and presided over by Prof. Saburi A. Adesanya, the Council’s Acting Chairman.

The development, the statement explained, followed the rigorous consideration of the reports of the Selection Committee earlier constituted by the Council, which evaluated the eligibility of the candidates shortlisted for the interview to fill the soon-to-be-vacant position.

With the appointment, Mr Alfanla is scheduled to become the 7th Registrar and Secretary to the Governing Council of the University and the third occupant of the office who passed through the ranks in the administrative cadre of the University before attaining the pinnacle of his career at the same institution.

An indigene of Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State, Mr Alfanla was born on August 28, 1970 in the city of Ilorin. He attended the famous Ansarul Islam Primary School, Ilorin, where he received his primary education certificate. He was also educated at the Omupo Grammar School, Omupo, from where he earned his West African School Certificate in 1988.

In 1990, the Registrar-designate proceeded to the Bayero University, Kano, for his Bachelor of Arts (Combined Honours) degree in English/Mass Communication, which he earned in 1995. Mr Alfanla also attended the University of Ilorin between 2006 and 2010 for his Bachelor’s degree in Common Law. He followed his LL.B. up with his attendance of the Nigerian Law School, Abuja at the end of which he was called to the Nigerian Bar as a solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2012. He, again, in 2015, enrolled for his Master’s degree in law and completed the programme in 2016.

After offering his mandatory national youth service (NYSC) programme at Girls Commercial School, Nanka, Anambra State from 1995 to 1996, the Registrar-designate joined the services of the University of Ilorin as an Administrative Assistant during the tenure of the 6th Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Shuaibu Oba AbdulRaheem, OFR in 1998. He was promoted to the rank of Administrative Officer in 2001. He became an Assistant Registrar in 2005.

Following his consistent hard work and loyalty to the University, Mr Alfanla was deservedly elevated to the rank of Senior Assistant Registrar in 2009. He became a Principal Assistant Registrar in 2013. This outstanding university administrator was eventually promoted to the rank of Deputy Registrar in 2016.

In the last 25 years of his services to be nation’s most sought-after University, Mr Alfanla has served in various capacities and on several committees either as the Chairman or Secretary. Among the several responsibilities he was saddled with was the University’s Admission Officer, which he competently offered under two different administrations headed by Prof. Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede, OFR, CON and Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali, OON; between 2009 and 2013. He also served as the Deputy Registrar, Academic Support Services.

A thoroughbred administrator and veteran unionist, the Registrar-designate initially served as Secretary and later as the Chairman of the University of Ilorin’s Chapter of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SAANU) from 2004 to 2007 and between 2007 to 2015, respectively. He was also the National Treasurer of the Association between 2015 and 2016.

Mr Alfanla, who has attended many conferences, seminars and symposiums, is also a member of many professional bodies including the Association of Nigerian Universities Professional Administrators (ANUPA), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), among others. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Administrators of Nigeria (ICAN).

Despite his tight schedules, Mr Alfanla found time to serve as the Secretary, Ilorin Emirate Staff Association, University of Ilorin. He was also at a time the Secretary, University of Ilorin Muslim Community as he was the Imam, Senior Staff Quarters’ Mosque, Main Campus, Ilorin, between 2009 and 2021.

Until his new appointment, Mr Alfanla has been a member of the University’s Governing Council, representing the University Congregation.

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KWASU promotes 20 to Professorial Cadre

* As Varsity holds 14th matriculation ceremony

By Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

The Governing Council of Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, has approved the promotion of 20 staff of the University to the professorial cadre.

The ratification, according to a statement by the Acting Director,
University Relations. Dr. Saeedat Aliyu, was given at the 64th
Regular Meeting of the Institution’s Governing Council which held on Thursday February 16, 2023.

Five among the 20 staff, according to the statement, attained full professorship, while the 15 others were promoted to Associate Professorship.

The newly promoted Professors, the statement added, are Professor Taibat Moji Yusuf, Agricultural Production and Resource Use; Professor Dupe Olufunke Ogunbosoye, Ruminant Nutrition; Professor Issa Abdulraheem, Business & Human Resource Management & Entrepreneurship; Professor Salih Muhammed Jum’ah Alaso, Arabic Literature & Nigerian Arabic Poetry Criticism; and, Professor Yahya Duro Uthman Hambali, Criminal Justice and Criminology.

The statement said the Associate Professors include Dr. Kayode Ayantoye, Department of Agric Economics and Extension Services;
Dr. Ade Isaac Afe, Department of Crop Production; Dr. Adeshina Fadeyibi, Department of Food & Agricultural Engineering; Dr. Adesina Mutalub Lambe, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Dr. Aminu Nassir Brimah, Department of Business & Entrepreneurship; Dr. Kabiru Mustapha and Dr. Abdulrahman Sikiru Ottan, both of the Department of Material Sciences and Engineering.

Others are Dr. Ayoola Oladunke Aransi, Department of English & Linguistics; Dr. Tajudeen Yusuf, Department of Arabic & French;
Dr. Zekeri Abu, Department of Business & Entrepreneurship; Dr. Lukman Bola Abdulra’uf, Department of Chemistry & Industrial Chemistry; Dr. Jimoh Ajadi, Department of Geology & Mineral Science; Dr. Henry Sawyer, Department of Environmental Health Science; and, Dr. Majekodunmi Rachael Adedayo and Dr. Adeyinka Elizabeth Ajiboye both of the Department of Microbiology.

Meanwhile, 9,800 newly admitted students have been formally absorbed into the University for the 2022/2023 academic session during the 14th Matriculation Ceremony of the Institution which held on Friday February 17, 2023.

In his Matriculation address, the Acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Shaykh-Luqman Jimoh, assured the new students that they would receive world class education in the institution, urging them to make the best of the golden opportunity that the school has given them.

Professor Jimoh admonished the students against involvement in social vices and other civil disturbances, saying the University has zero tolerance for indiscipline.

End

Kwara offers 50% transport fare for students returning home

 

Following the directive of the federal government through the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC) to close all Universities in the country between 22nd February and14th March, 2023, the Kwara State Government has declared a 50 percent transport support to Kwara state students in tertiary institutions across the country.

Commissioner for Tertiary Education Dr. Alabi Afees Abolore, who made this known in a statement in Ilorin by the Ministry’s Press Secretary, Mansurat Amuda-Kannike, said the support would be monetised and transferred to the beneficiaries’ accounts after verifications.

This gesture of 50% transport support for students returning home is coming barely 12 hours after Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s administration announced free bus palliative for students of the University of Ilorin and Kwara State Polytechnic which begins today Monday, 13th February, 2023.

Dr. Abolore explained that the directive to close all Nigerian Universities for that period was to allow all students of voting age to exercise their franchise during the forthcoming general elections across the country.

The Commissioner lauded Governor AbdulRazaq for according utmost priority to the welfare of the students in the state, adding that the 50 percent subsidy was meant to augment transportation fares of students returning to Kwara State.

Dr. Abolore also recalled that the state government recently offered free transportation to students of Kwara state origin who went back to school after the last protracted ASUU strike. Other gestures by the government to the students, he said, included 100 percent increment in their bursary allowances, scholarships for Kwara indigenes in Nigerian Law Schools, as well as sponsorship of Kwara students abroad to further their studies, among others.

End

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Throwing Stones In A Glass House And Melaye Theatrics?

By: Inuwa Bwala
There is this anecdote, from my old teacher at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, which I am very fond of.
He once told us of the relationship between two neighbours: one a farmer who maintains a lush garden in the backyard and a shepherd, who rears sheep, also in his backyard.
Very often, the sheep would invade the neighbours garden and devour his plants. Several entreaties for the sheep owner to restrict his animals fell on deaf ears.
One day, the gardener decided to change his vocation, so he went and imported two hefty hounds, which he kept in the place he used to have the garden.
As usual, the neighbour’s sheep steered into the garden, unknowingly into the waiting jaws of the dogs.
Not happy with his neighbour for letting his dogs eat up the sheep, the shepherd reported the matter to the authorities.
After listening to the stories of the two neighbours’experiences, the attorney ruled that, each one of them is entitled to keep what they like in their individual backyards.
At the end of the day, the shepherd: turn dog keeper had the day.
Having been in power for sixteen years, devouring everything from the national commonwealth, the Peoples Democratic party, qualifies as the sheep owner.
So blinded by its seeming advantage over other political parties, the PDP, felt no power can ever challenge her. Like the sheep keeper the PDP in her delusion, believed, it was destined to hold on to power for sixty years unchallenged, untill the coalition that propped up the APC.
Again like the the anecdotal shepherd, the PDP started crying foul, when she discovered that her neighbour now keeps hounds in the place of a garden. But the jury knows that, her neighbour has equal right to rear what she likes.
For some time, I have not deemed it necessary to comment on national politics, especially on the ongoing campaigns and the manner some politicians have tended to lower the bar of decency in marketing their preferred candidates in the forthcoming elections.
I however feel that allowing the vituperation of Dino Melaye in particular, spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party. PDP, concerning my boss and compatriot, Kashim Shettima; Vice Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to go unchecked, is a great disservice to Nigeria’s quest for democratic excellence.
Many Nigerians who are conversant with Dino Melaye’s antecedents in politics, will tend to agree that, Dino Melaye’s sojourn in politics is perhaps one of the most disatrous chapter of Nigeria’s democratic history.
Here is a man who trivializes every serious issue in life, including matters of National importance: even as he dramatizes every aspect of what should constitute national duty.
Calling Kashim Shettima names, can never change Dino Melaye’s estimation in the eyes of right thinking Nigerians, neither demonizing a man who is high and above him in intellect and candour diminish Kashim Shettima’s hopes of becoming Nigeria’s next Vice President.
I dare say, that Dino Melaye’s stage clowning in Damaturu, which he hoped will demarket Senators Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Kashim Shettima, turned out to be a huge plus for the ticket.
Apparently seeing that, the PDP could not match APC’s gathering, Dino Melaye resorted to some theatrics, finding faults where none exists and attributing sins to a comparatively decent fellow.
Place Kashim Shettima and Dino Melaye on the Shelf, or indeed Kashim Shettima and Melayes paymasters, Nigerians know who to pick. If you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones.

Kwara: Association commences payment of students’ NECO fees

By Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

The Lade District Development Association (LADDA) in Patigi local government area of Kwara state has begun processes for the payment of NECO examination fees for senior secondary school students in the local government.

The association, which is carrying out the gesture alongside some other self-help projects for the area, has flagged off registration and screening of students for the philanthropic programme.

Speaking at the flag-off ceremony, the President of the LADDA, Deacon Moses Dele Ake, noted that education remains the bedrock of social, political and economic development of any society.

Ake, who was represented by the Chairman of the Education Committee of the Association, Hon. Peter Tsado Ekati, said one of the cardinal objectives of the association is to ensure that the indigenes of the area have access to qualitative education which is the best legacy one can hand over to the future generations.

He said the association embarked upon the programme in addition with the procurement of the solar street lights distributed recently to the communities in the area from the dues received from Lithium dealers in the district.

Ake also disclosed that plans are under way to procure computers for the schools in the area, as well as dig boreholes in some villages in the district.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiary public and private schools in the area, the Principal of Lade community secondary school, Mallam Mohammed Shaaba and the Principal of Zamad secondary school, Mallam Mohammed Abubakar, described the gesture of the association as timely and laudable, assuring that the opportunity would be utilised to ensure that the students perform well in their examinations.

Also contributing, Mallam Mustapha Abdulkadir Lima of senior secondary school Rifun and Jibril Abubakar Nman of Community secondary school Tankpafu in kpada district in Patigi local government area, said the support by LADDA is a good step in a right direction, which effect, they said, would last long.

Parents of the students who spoke on the occasion appreciated LADDA for the gesture, saying it would save them the burden of sourcing for the NECO examination fee of their children and prayed God to strengthen the association and move the entire Patigi Local government forward.

Also speaking, some of the students acknowledged the support of the association for taking the bull by the horn in assisting them towards shaping their future.

Ends.