Nigeria Universities Updates

THE Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, has posted results of its week-long Post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) on its website.

The results were released at 11:30pm, a few hours after the conclusion of the last paper on Saturday, August 7.

A statement by the Public Relations Officer of the university, Mrs Anthonia Oyeniji said the exercise which had 26,000 admission seekers participating, was a huge success.

Of the 26,000, 300 candidates were involved in examination malpractices and their results were cancelled.

A candidate for Law made the highest score of 92 per cent.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Authorities of the Imo State University (IMSU) now Evan Enwerem University have moved to clear up the recent crisis which arose when thousands of post UTME candidates who turned up for the advertised tests were rejected on grounds that they made IMSU their second choice.

The teeming students had arrived for the screening tests fixed for various faculties between July 21 and 23 2010, but most of them were turned back at the gate on the grounds that they were second choice candidates.

This left many deeply regretful, even as they rained invectives on the university authorities for allegedly luring them to buy online forms and secure expensive JAMB original results, only to reject them at the gate.

Investigations revealed that IMSU advertised the sale of Post UTME forms on its website and two other newspapers. The public notice read; “All candidates who chose Evan Enwerem University, Owerri, as their first or second choice university in the 2010 JAMB examination and scored 180 and above in the said examination are herby invited to a Post-UME Screening Exercise…”

The newly-appointed public relations officer of the university however argued that the same notice had noted that candidates who made IMSU their first choice would be given preference, adding that he expected candidates to understand this to mean they would be screened later. He further explained that the university had not received from JAMB the list and scores of second choice candidates.

Meanwhile, this argument has sparked off fresh debates as candidates and their parents insist it was wrong for the same university to turn back second choice candidates on such grounds. “They should have tested every genuine candidate who came with the credentials they asked fro and saved the results for admission whether for first or second-choice candidates”, a parent fumed.

Another parent from Bayelsa who accompanied his daughter to IMSU for the screening tests told newsmen that he spent a fortune to lodge in a hotel for days, only for his child to be turned back. He accused the university authorities of enticing candidates to purchase the N1.500 online forms, even when they had no intention of screening and admitting second=choice candidates through that test.

The PRO said that IMSU would arrange another screening exercise in the next few weeks and urged candidates to stay glued to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) for announcements to that effect. NigeriaUniversitiesUpdates.com will also keep track of this event and alert interested candidates on this website when announced.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates who chose Osun State University as their 1st and /or 2nd choice and all other interested applicants in the 2010 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) with a minimum score of 180 for programmes in Education and 200 for all other programmes, to a screening exercise on Tuesday, 3rd of August, 2010 at 11.00a.m

Please, note that sales of Registration and Access cards end on Tuesday, August 3, 2010.

STEP 1:
Purchase a registration scratch card from the branches of First Bank Nigeria Plc OR WEMA Bank Nigeria Plc as stated in the advertisement.

STEP 2:
Select an option as may be applicable to you on the first page.

STEP 3:
Be careful to enter your UTME Registration Number correctly at the login page.

STEP 4:
Fill out your information correctly in the subsequent forms presented and submit as appropriate. You will be required to upload a passport photograph image of yourself which should not me more than 50 Kilobyte in file size and the Width and Height is between 150 and 300 Pixels.

STEP 5:
On completion of the registration form, print your registration slip to be brought with you on the day of the screening exercise.

If you run into any hitch filling out your form, please send an email to utme@uniosun.edu.ng or call the following numbers:
08163006731, 08135939399

Popularity: 2% [?]

Six universities from across the country have been given a total sum of N24 million financial support by Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL) as its University Partnering Programme (UPP) enters the third year.

The beneficiary universities include Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Delta State University, Abraka and the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, University of Benin; University of Calabar and University of Ibadan.

The UPP dates back to 2006 when EEPNL partnered Dr D. O. Lambert_Aikhionbare, an expert in geology to conduct a fact_finding survey in the Geosciences faculties of 12 Nigerian Universities. The six universities were selected based on need, curriculum, staff to student ration, among others.

The purpose was to recommend a programme that EEPNL, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and partner of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), could fund to enhance the quality of geosciences candidates graduating from the universities, and to determine which universities would be in the best position to partner with the company.

In return for the funding, the universities are to visibly increase the quality of their graduates and prepare a map of areas of the country close to them. The maps would be of high quality to be published by the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA).

The N24 million field work logistics support, which covers students’ transportation, feeding and accommodation during the field mapping exercise, is part of the funding earmarked for the third year of the pilot scheme.

During the course of the year, the universities will receive field allowance for supervising lecturers, 27 KVA diesel generators, 10 KVA inverter, digital cameras while provision of insurance cover has also been made for students and lecturers.

To enhance the quality of graduates produced by Nigerian Universities, EEPNL, has donated a total sum of N24 million to six Nigerian universities.

According to Susan Eshett, EEPNL’s Major Projects Manager, “It is no secret that Universities lack the funds to facilitate proper knowledge transfer to students in areas such as mapping and geology; despite their willingness.

Inadequate exposure of students, as a result of lack of equipment and even personnel, results in what the outside world would refer to as half-baked graduates.

We believe the University Partnering Programme, which we have undertaken to fund, would empower benefitting students to contribute their quota and perform excellently in their area of endeavour, which is geological sciences” she said.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiary universities, Idowu Olayinka, Head, Geology department, University of Ibadan, expressed their gratitude to Esso for its financial support. He also promised that the schools would strive very hard to meet the objectives of the programme.

Since the inception of the programme in 2007, with a standardisation workshop held in Benin City, Edo State, the programme has recorded several landmark achievements.

These include the purchase of field mapping equipment such as 60 global positioning systems; 360 geologic hammers, 42 Brunton compasses, 300 Silva compasses, 10 sledge hammers and 360 hand lenses. The funding of the UPP has also enabled the purchase of six new mini-buses for the schools.

The UPP has further facilitated the publication of the book of proceedings of the standardization workshop. The funding has further aided collaboration with the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency to map parts of the country while students have been trained by experts in the area of field mapping.

Specifically, students of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria produced an unedited draft map of Gombe as a result of their Geologic field mapping exercises.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; University of Ibadan (UI), Ibadan; Ladoke Akintola University, (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, and eight other Nigerian universities have made the list of top 100 universities and colleges in Africa for 2010.

According to the latest ranking of the African tertiary institutions by the International Colleges and Universities, Rome, Italy, LAUTECH is among the 11 Nigerian universities, out of 104 approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC), that made the list.

OAU is number 25, leading the Nigerian universities on the list, while the UI, University of Lagos (UNILAG), University of Ilorin, University of Port Harcourt made numbers 32, 51, 54 and 62 respectively.

Others are University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, number 73; Federal University of Technology, Akure, number 75, and LAUTECH, number 76.

Lagos State University (LASU), is number 83; University of Benin (UNIBEN), number 86, and Ahmadu Bello University(ABU), Zaria, is number 99.

Cairo University, Egypt, is leading the pack, with University of Cape Town, South Africa, taking second position.

LAUTECH, established in 1990, is the first state university to make the list, marking the institution out as the best state university among the 27 in its category across the country.

Popularity: 11% [?]

No fewer than nine students of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, are in the net of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Officials of the agency stormed the institution’s campus, and arrested the students suspected to be internet fraudsters.

Nine exotic cars and other valuables, including an unspecified amount of money, were also seized from the suspects.

The action of the EFCC, sources hinted, was sequel to myriads of petitions forwarded to it on the increasing rate of internet fraud among some students of the institution.

The Nation

gathered that the extravagant lifestyles of some students have been a source of concern to residents of the town.

“You need to see the criminal extravagance of these students. What is worrisome is that these prodigal students are from down-trodden families. They ride exotic cars that professors cannot afford, and they live in houses difficult for lecturers to cope. What then are their sources of income? So, the arrest by EFCC is a welcome and long expected development,” a resident stated.

The Nation

further learnt of one undergraduate from a poor background, who, within six months of being admitted into the university, bought a jeep and a car, as well as operated a fat account in one of the third generation banks.

During EFCC operation which lasted about two hours, amid tight security, scores of unsuspecting students, sources informed, were interrogated, while those whose responses were found questionable and unsatisfactory were whisked away.

When contacted, the university’s Deputy Registrar, Information and Protocol, Mr. Yomi Akintunde, confirmed the arrests of the students, but said the management did not intervene.

Popularity: 4% [?]