Tag Archives: UNILAG

Detained ‘UNILAG’ student activists regain freedom

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The 14 students? who were detained last week for protesting against the authorities of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, have been freed.

?The students, who were remanded at the Kirikiri prison on Saturday on the order of a court, arrived the mobile court in Oshodi on Thursday morning.

The students arrived in a police convoy, Thursday, chanting solidarity songs.

The 14 students were taken into custody at Kikiri Prison on Saturday, on the orders of the Special Offences Mobile Court, Oshodi, where they were arraigned by the police for “riotous invasion” of Lagos-based Television Continental, TVC.

The management of the station has since denied the allegations, saying the students were peaceful in their conduct.

They had earlier been arrested on the university campus while protesting the suspension of a visually-impaired student and demanding
the reinstatement of all suspended student activists.

The UNILAG authorities had earlier denounced the students saying some of them had been rusticated from the school while others were not students of the institution.

Several groups including the National Association of Nigerian Students and Education Rights Campaign had condemned the detention of the students?.

The counsel to the students, Inibihehe Effiong, said the release was subject to Section 211 of the Nigerian constitutiton.

“The trumped up charges have been struck out and we salute the Lagos State Government for this,” he said.

Aina Tomi, one of the 14 students, disclosed that the students would institute a legal suit against the Lagos state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni.

“We will institute legal action against the commissioner in the next couple of days”, he said.

 

Source: Premium Times

NANS gives ultimatum for release of detained UNILAG students

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A faction of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has given a 24-hour ultimatum to the University of Lagos to release the 13 students detained at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons.

The President of NANS, Chinonso Obasi, who spoke with journalists in Abuja yesterday, condemned the court’s ruling, which remanded them in prison custody.

He threatened to relocate NANS headquarters to the prisons if the students were not released.

He said: “After a painstaking review of the circumstances surrounding the draconian ruling, we have resolved to demand the unconditional release of these students within 24 hours.

“Consequently, we boldly state that if these students are not unconditionally released at the expiration of our ultimatum, the prison authorities should be prepared to expand its facilities to detain all of us.”

Obasi stressed that the offence allegedly committed by the students does not equate the court’s ruling to imprison them because they could be radicalised in the process.

According to the NANS leader, the court could have cautioned them to be of good behaviour since they were first-time offenders.

“In saner climes, what the judge should have done was to certify that the suspects were truly students of the university and release them to the school for appropriate disciplinary action. In the alternative, they could have been warned to change and freed,” he said.

He added that the manner the sentence was done showed that some hidden forces were behind it.

 

Source: The Guardian

Court orders 13 Unilag students’ incarceration in Kirikiri over riot

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The police on Saturday charged 13 students of the University of Lagos before a Special Offences Mobile Court in Oshodi, Lagos, for “unlawful invasion” of TVC television.

The accused are: Femi Adeyeye, Toni Aina, Kodri Yaya, Asimi Oladime, Ismahim Olalekan, Segun Okesola, Abdulazeez Soneye, Idris Abogunloko, and Muyiwa Olaniyi.

Others are; Toheed Oladimeji, Joseph Akanni, Lukumon Olusegun, and Abiodun Agbeniyi.

They are standing trial before Chief Magistrate P.E Nwaka, on two counts of unlawful invasion and disruption of activities.

They were arraigned at about 10.20 a.m. on Saturday.

The students pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Mr. Adeyeye is currently serving a four-semester rustication, handed down by the university last year, over a Facebook post criticising the school’s management.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt the students were protesting the rustication for two semesters of a visually-impaired student, Lawrence Success, for criticising the institution’s management.

They were arrested on Friday and charged to a mobile court on Saturday.

The magistrate ordered their remand at Kirikiri Prison pending their bail application and adjourned the case to April 6, for determination of their bail.

The police prosecuting counsel, Effiong Asuquo, the Officer in Charge, Legal, of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, had told the court that the accused committed the offence on March 31.

He said the accused had engaged in a “riotous invasion” of TVC television station in Lagos, protesting the alleged rustication of one of their students.

According to him, the students also invaded the main campus of the University of Lagos, Akoka, and had disrupted normal activities in the institution.

The prosecutor said the institution’s semester examination is scheduled to begin on April 3 (Monday) adding that the invasion by the students, was simply a ploy to stall the commencement of exams.

He said that the offence contravened the provisions of section 168 (1) (d), and section 2 of the Criminal Law, Laws of Lagos State, 2015?.

 

Source: Premium Times

UNILAG Students: Slaves In Love With Their Chains – By Elias Ozikpu

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In his 1983 book, The Trouble With Nigeria, Professor Chinua Achebe aptly remarked thus:

“Our inaction or cynical action are a serious betrayal of our education, of our historic mission and of succeeding generations who will have no future unless we save it now for them. To be educated is, after all, to develop the questioning habit…”

It is this questioning habit amongst students of the University of Lagos that constrained me to pen this essay. Education, especially at the university level, is not the ability to accept everything that is pushed down one’s throat. It is rather the ability to develop a critical mindset enabling one to question and disagree with certain things. Being educated creates a striking synonym with the principle of gatekeeping in mass communication – accepting and discarding information presented for publication.

On Monday, the 6th day of March, 2017, I joined in solidarity the “Save UNILAG” protest. The protest was aimed at reinstating the eleven students of that university who were unjustly rusticated for advocating for the general welfare of students at the institution. Beyond the reinstatement of the victimised students, we had aimed to achieve a number of other issues in order to create an environment free and conducive enough for learning in an ideal world. Some of these issues include:

1. An immediate end to all anti-students policies at the institution.

2. The restoration of UNILAG’s students’ union, dissolved in April of 2016 after the union had peacefully protested against the deplorable living conditions at the university.

3. The immediate improvement of students’ welfare on campus.

4. The immediate reversal of all outrageous accommodation fees, including the fee for a fictitious laboratory.

5. To stop the brewing conspiracy aimed at victimising the 40 PhD students who wrote in protest against the hike in accommodation fee, etc.

Prior to the protest, some of our comrades had visited the university campus to sensitise the students ahead of March 6th – the day of the protest. The sensitisation included the distribution of leaflets and other relevant materials. But rather than joining a peaceful protest staged to liberate them from the shackles of oppression and tyranny, oppressed students of the University of Lagos streamed out in their numbers only to look from a distance with arms folded across their chests. But their problems were quite weightier than mere looking. A good number of them were riled, with the risible claim that we had come to disturb them.

For the past one month or thereabouts, we have been on the street telling our oppressors in clear terms that “our mumu don do”. But in what appeared to be a striking contrast, the gullible students of the University of Lagos told us unequivocally that: “our own mumu never do”, leaving the protesters with no alternative but to re-christened the institution “MUMULAG”. It occurred to me at a later time that these gullible students needed a group of well-trained psychologists to subject them under the Augean task of returning their mindsets to normalcy, for it seemed quite obvious that their oppressors had not only robbed them of their fundamental rights as guaranteed by the law, they also disarmed them of their psyche. It is a terrible state to be in, and one must commiserate with these students. I hereby commiserate with them.

A disturbing problem prevalent amongst the current group of students at the University of Lagos is that they often live under the self-delusion that they are a special breed of Nigerian students, studying at the world’s most prestigious institution and as such consider themselves too important to engage in any revolt against anti-students policies on their campus. They are so irritated by protests that they see it as a thing meant for charlatans only.

The result is that their oppressors have capitalised on the deceptive mindset of their victims, and have introduced a myriad of anti-democratic policies to prevent these victims from speaking up when oppressed. The so-called indemnity forms hurriedly accepted and signed by these “special students” is one of such policies.

At this time, reference must be made to Chinua’s remark, which had been used at the start of this essay:

“…To be educated is, after all, to develop the questioning habit.”

From the foregoing, we are left to wonder whether or not a student who hurriedly embraces and signs an indemnity form aimed at silencing him and to robbing him of his fundamental human rights can be said to have developed a questioning habit. We are further left to wonder whether or not a student at the university level who cannot protest in the face of a full-blown oppression can indeed be said to have developed a questioning habit.

It is my sustained argument that if at degree level a student remains ignorant of his inherent rights as a human being, then he CANNOT claim to be more enlightened than the illiterates.

Elias Ozikpu is an activist and author. 

Aborted Foetus Found In Drainage Inside UNILAG Female Hostel (Graphic Photo)

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It is really sad and disheartening the increased rate of unsafe abortions in Nigerian universities. The picture of an aborted baby found in a drainage inside a female hostel in the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has surfaced online.

 

The aborted foetus is said to be about 5 months old.

 

The picture was posted online today by an eyewitness who did a throwback to Tuesday, February 7, 2017 when the foetus was found washed down a drainage.

 

The incident was said to have occurred at Madam Tinubu Hostel in UNILAG.

 

See graphic picture below:

 

Low waist jeans, tight outfits banned as UNILAG releases dress code for students.

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The management of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has issued a dress code notice, expressing displeasure at the fashion of students on campus.

 

In a circular to undergraduates, the university management said, “indecent modes of exposure do not reflect the seriousness, dignity and character-moulding nature of the institution.”

 

The circular, as obtained from an undergraduate of UNILAG
The circular, as obtained from an undergraduate of UNILAG

 

The management warned undergraduates to desist from wearing tight outfits and those that expose sensitive parts of the body.

 

“It has been observed that some male and female students of the University of Lagos dress indecently on campus, even to lectures. Indecent dresses are either too tight, too short or expose sensitive parts of the body.

 

“Students should maintain a clean and well-cared for appearance in all settings on campus. Wearing of tight, strapless and revealing clothes whose length are above the knees are inappropriate,” the circular read.

 

Henceforth, male and female UNILAG students are not allowed to wear the following:

i. All tight-fitting clothes including skirts, trousers and blouses
ii. All clothes, which reveal sensitive parts of the body such as the bust, chest, belly, upper arms and the buttocks. Example of such dresses are transparent clothing, spaghetti tops, tubes and. Skirts and dresses with slits above the knees fall in this category.
iii. Outfits such as knickers and mini-skirts, dresses, which are not at least, knee length.
iv. Inappropriate outfits e.g party-wear, beach wear and bathroom slippers should not be worn to lectures.
v. Outfits such as T-shirts, skirts and jeans, which carry obscene and subliminal messages.
vi. Trousers such as hip-riders and low waist jeans.

For matriculation and graduation ceremonies, the management mandated students to wear academic gowns on a black or grey suit.

 

Lecturers and administrators have also empowered to exclude students from academic activities if they are not properly dressed.

 

Source: The Cable

Arrested ‘Unilag’ students did not attack Vice Chancellor – Witnesses

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Contrary to claims by the police, the two people arrested during a convocation ceremony at the University of Lagos, Tuesday, did not attack or plan to attack the vice chancellor, PREMIUM TIMES can report.

Femi Adeyeye and Dotun Olawoye were arrested inside the convocation hall by security agents and taken away by the police.

The suspects were taken to the Sabo Police Station, and later transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, before they were released.

While Mr. Adeyeye is a former student of the university who was rusticated last year over a Facebook post criticising the school’s management, Mr. Olawoye, a cameraman with Sahara Reporters, was attending the convocation of his elder brother, Segun.

Mr. Adeyeye, who was a 400 level student in the Department of Building, was rusticated for four semesters.

The state-owned News Agency of Nigeria reported the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, as confirming the arrest of the ‘students’ and added that the leader of the group that planned the attack was also arrested.

“Policemen have been deployed in the institution to ensure that the convocation week went without any hitch,” Mr. Owoseni said.

But multiple witnesses who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES said the two men did not look like they were attacking anyone in the hall.

“Dotun was arrested for bringing a camera into the hall while Femi was arrested for daring to set foot into the university after his rustication,” a student, who preferred not to be named to avoid victimisation from the school, said.

In a video posted online by Sahara TV, Mr. Adeyeye was seen trying to approach the podium but was blocked by the university’s security men and the police.

Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters, was also seen telling the security officers that Mr. Adeyeye was supposed to be among the graduating students but was suspended because of a post on Facebook.

The duo were then manhandled by the security agents.

Segun Olawoye, one of the graduating students, said the Sahara Reporters crew were initially barred from entering the convocation hall.

“I was asking them why are they harassing us? This is graduation and they came for me, so what’s the crime? Did he bring in gun? Is this not a camera?” Asked Mr. Olawoye, who also works for Sahara Reporters.

“It was that annoyance of preventing us to get in that Baba So’ (as Mr. Sowore is fondly called) went in and went to the front, the place they said they reserved for some people that were not even around.

“Femi Adeyeye went to sit with him. They were trying to prevent them at first but the moment they saw we were recording, they left them.”

Mr. Olawoye said after his younger brother, Dotun, and Mr. Adeyeye, were arrested and taken away, he went to Sabo police station to check if they were there but was beaten and detained.

“It was only because I was able to make a call and send a text about what was happening to me that their boss later asked them to release me,” Mr. Olawoye said.

“From there, I went to the Police Commissioner’s office where I saw Dotun and Femi in hand cuffs. Why chain them? What was their offence?”

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that after their release, the duo were directed to return to the State CID on Wednesday by 12 noon.

UNILAG to award first class degrees to 231 graduates

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No fewer than 231 out of 12,617 graduating students of the University of Lagos (Unilag) will be awarded first class division during its 49th convocation scheduled for Jan. 24.

Its Vice-Chancellor, Rahmon Bello, who said this at a news conference on Wednesday in Lagos, added that 46 of them would be from the Faculty of Engineering.

According to him, 6, 900 out of the 12,617 students that would be graduating, representing 54.7 per cent, would receive first degrees and diploma certificates.

He said 5,717 others, representing 45.3 per cent, would receive postgraduate degrees.

“With this output, the institution is maintaining its stance of gradually becoming a postgraduate institution,’’ the V-C said.

Mr. Bello, giving a further breakdown of the categories of the graduating students, said that 1,705 of the students would be passing out in Second Class Upper division.

“We will also be graduating 2,972 students in the Second Class lower division, while 1,372 others will be graduating in the Third Class division.

“Also, 103 students will graduate with ordinary pass degrees, while 517 others will have degrees or diplomas that are not classified,’’ Professor Bello said.

According to him, 5,420 postgraduate students will receive their Masters Degree certificates in various fields during the convocation,

He also said that 95 others would be conferred with the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degrees in various disciplines.

Mr. Bello said the university produced two female students, who came top in the first class category with “perfect scores” Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.00 point in the 2015/2016 academic session.

They are Taiwo Bankole from the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science and Ajoke Omotuyi from the Department of Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering.

 

Source: NAN

2 Unilag graduating students attain 5.0 CGPA as 8,000 matriculate

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Two graduating students of the University of Lagos have recorded 5.00 Cumulative Grade Point Average, CGPA, in 2015/2016 academic session, just like Ayodele Dada recorded same feat in the previous year.

Rahamon Bello, the Vice-Chancellor (V-C) of the institution, who gave the hint during the 2016/2017 matriculation on Friday, named the two female students as Taiwo Bankole and Ajoke Omotuyi.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the V-C had, during the 2014/2015 convocation, described 5.00 CGPA as ‘a perfect score’.

According to Mr. Bello, both students are from the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science and the Department of Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, respectively.

“Both students, females, had also posted a `perfect score’ of 5.00 CGPA, thus matching the record set by Dada in 2014/2015 academic session,’’ he said.

The V-C stressed that such feats were achievable by a dint of hard work and not a myth.

“All it requires is to be focused, disciplined and consistent,’’ the don said.

Giving a breakdown of the number of the matriculating students, the V-C said that 7,882 students, representing 18.69 per cent, met the admissions criteria after a thorough screening.

He explained that 38,140 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) applicants and 4,310 direct entries, totaling 42, 440 applicants, began the selection process.

He said that out of the figure, 25,883 candidates scored 200 and above at the UTME.

Accordingly, 19,732 presented themselves for screening.

“Those offered provisional admissions were 6,506 in the UTME category and 2,238 in the direct entry category, totaling 8,744.

“Today, after a thorough screening exercise, there are 7,882 of you, representing 18.69 per cent of the total number of applicants (UTME and Direct), who have fully scaled the registration procedure.

“You will from this day, become bona-fide students of the University of Lagos,’’ Bello said.

He told the matriculating students that gaining admission into the 54-year-old institution was not only noble, but also glorious.

The V-C added that completing the matriculation process was not the end of their journey to obtain tertiary education.

“It is the first step of a journey that will determine your future.

“It, therefore, requires you all to be determined, diligent, focus and resilient.

“You must show the zeal to acquire academic excellence for which this university is reputed.

“Shun cultism, indecent and immoral behaviours and other vices that can mar or abruptly end your sojourn here; as all forms of misconduct and misbehaviours will not be condoned,’’ Bello warned.

He urged the students to work hard to distinguish themselves in their academics as the university had a motivational package for scholars.

NAN reports that the high point of the event was a breakfast meeting between the management of the university and the students.

The university registrar, thereafter, administered the matriculation oath on the students on faculty basis.

The students had early in the week, taken on a familiarisation tour of the university as part of the orientation.

UNILAG Shut Over Students’ Protest

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The authorities of University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, have ordered the closure of the gates of the main campus at Akoka due to protest by students.

The aggrieved students were said to be protesting against the rustication of some members of the students’ union.

The rusticated students were leaders of the students body that led a protest in April over poor electricity and water supply in the community, and the difficulty faced by a large number of students living off campus to attend classes as a result of the fuel crisis.

Members of the suspended University of Lagos Students Union (ULSU) executive had earlier in the month protested what they described as an “unjust rustication” of the union members.

The aggrieved students gathered at the school’s Senate building to demand thorough investigation of the suspensions of the students’ leaders, ranging from two to four semesters, for their role in a protest that led to the closure of the university in April.

UNILAG Final-Year Student Shot By Suspected Cultists

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Unknown gunmen on Wednesday shot a final-year student of the Economics Education department, University of Lagos (UNILAG).

 

The student, simply identified as Bayo was reportedly shot around 8:46pm on Wednesday in front Biobaku Hostel near the school gate. The perpetrators were said to have escaped in a tinted-glass car.

 

Some sources confirmed that the gunman were from a rival cult group, who came for a reprisal attack. According to eyewitnesses, the victim displayed alertness to avoid being shot dead. A student, who craved anonymity, said the attackers aimed for the victim’s head, but hit his neck. Bayo has since been transferred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) from the schools’ medical centre.

 

“Although it was not clear whether he (Bayo) is a member of any cult group, but one of his course mates, who was at the scene said there was a rift between cult groups who are not students but come around to have fun,” he said.

 

He said Bayo engaged in a discussion he had no business in. Bayo’s action, according to him, infuriated the aggrieved group, who had come for their target.

 

“Some residents of the hall have been embroiled in fear of further attacks as they said some suspected cultists are hell bent on attacking more of their targets who are non-student residents in the hall,” a student said.

 

UNILAG Vice-Chancellor Prof Rahamon Bello, said the university was investigating the incident.

 

“I heard about it and we suspect it was cultism-related. We are fighting it. The security unit and the police are investigating. The boy survived. He was rushed to LUTH (Lagos University Teaching Hospital). The cultists went for his head, luckily the bullet only scrapped his head,” he said.

UNILAG Final Year Student Shot In Hostel

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A final-year student of Economics Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Lagos (UNILAG), was shot by an unknown gunman around 8:46pm on Wednesday.

The student, simply identified as Bayo was reportedly shot in front Biobaku hostel near the school gate.

Bayo was said to be resident in the hostel.

The perpetrators were said to have escaped in a tainted-glass car.

But, some sources confirmed they were from rival cult group, who came for a reprisal attack.

According to eyewitnesses, the victim displayed smartness to avoid being shot dead.

A student, who craved anonymity, said the victim was aimed in the head, but hit in the neck.

Bayo has been transferred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) from the schools’ medical centre.

“Although it was not clear whether he (Bayo) is a member of any cult group, but one of his course mates, who was at the scene said there was a rift between cult groups who are not students but come around to have fun,” he said.

He said Bayo was only being too forward in delving into a discussion that does not concern him.

Bayo’s action, according to him, infuriated the aggrieved group, who had come for their target.

Some students said more crises may be looming with that attack as he (Bayo) is being described as “warlord” in the hostel.

“Some residents of the hall have been embroiled in fear of further attacks as they said some suspected cultists are hell bent of attacking more of their targets who are non-student residents in the hall,” a student said.

UNILAG Vice-Chancellor Prof Rahamon Bello, said the university was investigating the incident.

Read More:

UNILAG final-year student shot in hostel

UNILAG To Screen Candidates Despite List Withdrawal By JAMB

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The University of Lagos on Monday says it will go ahead with its screening of prospective candidates for admission into the 2016/2017 academic session as scheduled.

The institution’s Deputy Registrar, (Information), Mr. Toyin Adebule, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

Adebule gave the university’s position against the backdrop of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board withdrawing the list of recommended candidates for admission, earlier sent to the various universities.

JAMB, in the statement signed by its Head of Media and Information, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, stated that the withdrawal was to ensure that the senate of each of the universities performed its statutory functions.

NAN reports that UNILAG had, last month, announced that it would begin screening candidates, who chose the institution as their first choice with a cut-off point of 200 and above, between Wednesday Aug. 3, 2016 and Aug. 24, 2016.

“We want to inform the public that our screening, for candidates that will be admitted for the 2016/17 academic session, will still hold as scheduled from Aug. 3, 2016 to Aug. 24, 2016. It is true that JAMB had sent a list to us, which it had considered as those who met our cut-off point. It is this same list that it withdrew to allow the universities to carry out their admission process as required by the law setting up their senates.

“There are statutory functions meant for all university senates, among which admissions is part one. It is only after selecting the candidates for admission that the senate refers the list to JAMB for confirmation in line with the admission criteria of merit, catchment and educationally disadvantaged states. And so, it is only proper for JAMB to have taken this step, realising that it had taken over the job of the universities’ senates,’’ he said.

Adebule, however, added that the withdrawal of the list did not interfere with UNILAG’s proposed plan to screen its candidates. He added that candidates would be screened based on the authenticity of their results and their course combinations.

Credit: Punch

Male UNILAG Graduate Becomes A Woman After Surgery

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Another Nigerian who was born as a man, Habeeb Babatunde Lawal, has joined the likes of Miss SaHhara and Stephanie Rose, two of the most popular transgenders, by undergoing a surgery to become a woman.

 

Lawal who was a top entertainment journalist in Nigeria before travelling to the United States of America for further studies, now goes by name Noni Salma Lawal after his successful surgery. Lawal, a graduate of the University of Lagos, with Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts, studied Film Making at the New York Film Academy, New York, where he went under the knife to become a lady.

 

This is a short biography of her culled from her IMBd account:

 

“Noni Salma Lawal is a transgender film-maker, writer and avid film enthusiast whose passion and interest in film was inspired by her growing up experiences in the ever colorful city that is Lagos.

 

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Lagos, Nigeria and majored in Theatre Arts. She subsequently studied Film making at the New York Film Academy, New York majoring in Directing and Obtaining a Diploma from it.

 

Noni won the Treasure Coast International Film Festival ‘1st Place Student Film Competition’ Award for her NYFA thesis ‘Morning after mid-night’ and has gone on to produce and direct the riveting short documentary ‘Veil Of Silence’ which premiered at the BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival in London, United Kingdom in March 2014 and subsequently screened in several film festivals including Queer Screen Film Festival, CineHomo film festival, Valladoid, Spain in April 2015, where it won the 2nd place, Best short documentary as valorated by the audience.”

 

“Veil Of Silence has also screened in the United Nations, , Egale Canada, Foreign office in Germany amongst others.

 

Her new thriller short ‘Alibi’ just won ‘Best Crime Mystery’ at the Manhattan film festival 2016.”

Family Of Electrocuted UNILAG Student Gets N45m Compensation

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The family of Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level student of Accounting in the University of Lagos, who was electrocuted by a live wire on the school premises, has been paid N45m as compensation.

A source said that the money was paid after the Eko Electricity Distribution Company reached a non-disclosure agreement with the victim’s family.

Oluchi, a first class student of UNILAG, was electrocuted at about 7pm in September 2015, while returning from an evening mass with her younger sister.

Oluchi had reportedly entered the Eni Njoku Hall to buy an item and was walking out of the hostel when a high-tension wire fell on her.

The remains of the Igbo-Etiti, Enugu State indigene, were buried shortly after.

The Federal Government also set up a panel to investigate the death.

A Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, reportedly took up the case and wrote EKEDC, asking that the firm compensate the family or risk litigation.

It was gathered that after series of meetings, the power firm buckled and settled with the family.

A credible source told our correspondent that the firm paid N45m to the family.

He said, “They agreed and paid N45m in a non-disclosure agreement. This means the agreement is not to be disclosed to the public. It is supposed to be a private arrangement between the company and the girl’s family.

“The reasoning is that if it is publicised, it could encourage people who have similar grievances to insist on monetary settlements. That might not augur well for the company. The victim’s younger sister has also been flown abroad for treatment for the injuries she sustained in the incident.”

When contacted, Oluchi’s father, Chief Basil Anekwe, refused to confirm if any money was paid to his family, saying instead that the victim’s younger sister was abandoned in an American hospital.

He said, “Which money are you talking about? Where did you get the information? Well, I don’t have an idea of what you are talking about; I am in Enugu right now.”

When PUNCH Metro probed further if the family had received any payment, he said, “Do not ask me because I do not know you. You cannot hear anything from me. Go and confirm from the person that gave you the information. Write that I said I have nothing to say about it.

“I stopped the negotiation process because my daughter was abandoned in an American hospital and I had to go and get her.”

Falana, whose chamber reportedly mediated in the process, could not be reached for comment despite efforts by our correspondent.

But the General Manager, Corporate Communications, EKEDC, Idemudia Godwin, confirmed that there was a settlement, adding that it was not for the public.

He said, “We have settled out of court. We don’t have any issue with the family again.

“I think we want it private; we don’t want it publicised and the family also does not want it published.”

Godwin, however, expressed surprise at the allegation that the company abandoned Oluchi’s sister in an American hospital, saying he was not aware of such.

 

Credit: Punch

NEMA Confirms 1 Death In UNILAG Guest House Fire

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One person has been confirmed dead in a fire outbreak that gutted a section of the University of Lagos Guest House in the early hours of Thursday in Lagos.

The victim, said to be a guest who came for the ongoing 2014/2015 convocation of the institution, was said to have died of suffocation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the fire started around 2.00 a.m.

The victim, who accompanied a prominent traditional ruler to the convocation, was said to be lodging in room A12, where he suffocated to death due to impact of the fire.

The spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the incident in a text message sent to the NAN.

 Farinloye quoted the Zonal Coordinator of NEMA for Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states, Alhaji Suleiman Yakubu, as saying that four rooms – A12, A13, A14 and A15 – were affected by the fire.

“The deceased will be flown to Maiduguri for burial today,’’ the text message read in part.

Effort to speak with officials of the university, about the incident yielded no result as everyone claimed to be busy with the convocation events and could not talk to the press.

Credit: NAN

UNILAG Was Apparently Never Shut Down, Lectures Continue After Protest

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he reported protest carried out by UNILAG students over the death of 300 level Accounting female student, Oluchi Anekwe, by electrocution apparently did not shut down UNILAG as reported…well, this new development is what The Sun claims.

According to The Sun’s report, normalcy has returned to the University of Lagos.

Speaking on the matter, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Prof Duro Oni, said:

Unilag is not shut. We are in our offices and have attended various meetings. Lectures are ongoing and the campus is peaceful.

A lecturer at the Political Science Department who decided to remain anonymous confirmed to The Sun that students did protest but reiterated saying: “The university was never shut and that calm has returned to the institution.”

Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Dr. Laja Odukoya, also said the information that the university was shut because of the protest was false and that his members have been lecturing the students.

Female UNILAG Student Electrocuted At Campus Hostel

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A female University of Lagos student was electrocuted yesterday Sept. 8th after a high tension cable fell on her in front of the Sodeinde hall of residence in the campus. According to reports, the young lady was immediately rushed to the Lagos state Teaching Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. Sad! May her soul rest in peace, Amen.

Unilag Releases Post UTME Results

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The University of Lagos said a total of 17, 935 candidates of the 31,955 that sat for its 2015 Post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) recently, passed the screening exercise.

This is contained in a statement signed by the institution’s Deputy Registrar, Information, Mr Olagoke Oke in Lagos.

It would be recalled that 31,955 candidates who scored 200 marks and chose the university as their school of first choice participated at the recent 2015 JAMB-organised UTME.

The statement explained that 26, 732 of the candidates registered for the post UTME screening for admissions into University of Lagos for the 2015/2016 session.

“A total of 17,935 candidates passed the screening test with a minimum score of 40 per cent…”

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UNILAG Sets Up Panel Over Lecturer’s Rape Scandal

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Authorities of the University of Lagos have set up a four-man investigative team to look into the alleged rape scandal rocking the institution.

The Head of the Information Unit of the university, Mr. Olagoke Oke, made this known to our correspondent on Tuesday.

According to him, the Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. G.O. Babawale, is the head of the panel, while the Secretary is O. Olasunmade of the Quality Assurance & Servicom Unit of the university.

Other members are an Associate Prof. of Law, Dr. A. Sanni, and a lecturer in the Department of Creative Arts, Dr. A. Layiowola.

The terms of reference of the panel, Oke said, included investigating the remote and immediate causes of the matter and the involvement of the Faculty of Business Administration/Distance Learning Institute.

The panel, according to him, has three weeks to complete its assignment.

A 42-year-old lecturer, Dr. Akin Baruwa, reportedly raped an 18-year-old admission seeker (name withheld) in the school on July 23, 2015.

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UNILAG Disowns Lecturer who Raped Admission Seeker

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Authorities of the University of Lagos on Sunday have disowned the randy lecturer, Dr. Akin Baruwa, who allegedly raped an 18-year-old admission seeker.

Baruwa allegedly raped the young girl (name withheld), who is seeking admission to the university, in his office on July 23, 2015.

The lecturer, currently in detention at the Kirikiri Prison, was arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, on Thursday.

But speaking with PUNCH on Sunday, the Head, Information Unit of the university, Mr. Olagoke Oke, said Baruwa was not an employee of the institution.

According to him, no such name exists on the university’s employee list whether teaching or non-
teaching.

He added:

 “The said Dr. Baruwa is a not a member of staff of the university, whether teaching or non-teaching. He also does not belong to the part-time or full-time teaching staff of the school. His name is not on the master list of workers of the university. I have checked the staff list using his full name and initials and could not come up with any such name as of Friday, August 6, 2015.

I have also checked the list of office accommodation given to members of staff of the university and his name is not there. There is no office allocation attached to such a name. How he reportedly entered the said office where the crime took place is what we are looking into as an institution.

While we sympathise with the alleged victim, we are ready to cooperate with every agency of government to get to the root of the matter as soon as possible. As an institution, we do not support any act of violence, not even against women. Therefore, we will help to ensure that the case comes to a logical conclusion.”

Meanwhile, as the authorities disowned the lecturer, some students, in the Faculty of Business Administration, who craved anonymity for fear of victimisation, claimed that the suspect was a part-time lecturer of the accounting department of the university.

One of them said:

 “I know him as a part-time lecturer in the accounting department. I wonder what the university wants to achieve now by trying to disown him.”

The Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, Prof. Rasheed Ojikutu, could not be reached as of 6pm on Sunday.

Baruwa, who the police in Lagos arrested on August 3, reportedly confessed to the act but claimed that the sex was by mutual consent.

Lecturer Rapes 18- Year-Old Female Seeking Admission In Unilag

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A part-time lecturer at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Afeez Baruwa, has been arrested by the police in Lagos for allegedly raping an 18-year-old girl, identified as Caroline (not her real name).
It was learnt that the victim, who was reportedly raped inside a study room, was seeking admission into the University.
Baruwa who was arrested by the Surulere Police Division on Monday, August 3 told the police in his statement that the sexual intercourse was by mutual consent, insisting that he did not rape the victim.

Caroline got to know the lecturer through her Dad because they both belonged to the same landlords’ association in the Abesan, Ipaja area.
It was gathered that the victim’s father had allowed her daughter to follow the lecturer on July 23, to UNILAG for an admission process.
According to reports, Baruwa allegedly took the girl inside one of the study halls, bolted the door, and raped her.
After the incident, Caroline, who told her parents about the rape, was taken to a non-governmental organisation, Mirabel Centre, where she was tested and the medical result reportedly confirmed that the teenager had been raped.
After the confirmation, Caroline was taken to the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender, where the matter was reported at the police station. Baruwa was subsequently arrested.
A police source in Surulere said:

“The suspect is actually a friend of the father of the girl. The girl had written the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, and she needed assistance with the post-UTME.

“So, the father sent her to meet and discuss with the lecturer.

“But, it turned out that on July 23 when the girl visited the suspect, he raped the girl in the study room.

“The suspect confessed to the act, but his claim is that the sex was by mutual consent.”

The Director of the Office of the Public Defender, Mrs. Omotola Rotimi, said the OPD would write a letter to the UNILAG Vice-Chancellor on the incident, so as to ensure that such did not happen again to anyone.
She said,

“The victim’s father wanted the lecturer to assist with his daughter’s admission. On the fateful day, the girl left with the lecturer as early as 5.30am, and they got to the school at about 7am.

“No one had arrived at the hall except a woman. While the exams had yet to start, he raped her. She went home, and the father found out that her daughter had been raped. He took her to the Mirabel Centre, which then informed the OPD.

“The centre also contacted the police at the Surulere and Isokoko divisions, and the suspect was arrested.

“We are going to defend the girl, and we are writing the VC. The suspect is said to be in the Department of Accounting. He claimed the sex was consensual, but that is not a defence.”

Baruwa, who is currently in custody, will be charged to court on today, Thursday, Aug 6th.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Patricia Amadin, confirmed the arrest.
She said:

“The suspect claims to be a part-time lecturer, but not an employee of the University of Lagos.

“He has confessed to the crime and the medical result proved same.”

Source: Punch

Admission Cut Off Marks: SERAP Sues JAMB, UNILAG

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Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project(SERAP) has dragged the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and the University of Lagos to court over “outrageous cut-off marks decisions”.

The organization is seeking an order stopping JAMB, UNILAG and others from implementing the decision. The suit number FHC/L/CS/1139/2015 filed today at the Federal High Court By Adetokunbo Mumuni on behalf of SERAP and three applicants affected by the cut-off marks decision, the Applicants contend that “the provisions of Section 5(1)(c)(iii) of the JAMB Act are very clear and unambiguous. The letter and spirit of the provisions is to ensure that the preferences of candidates in terms of the university they choose to attend are sacrosanct. Even a contrary or adverse decision by individual university cannot override decision made pursuant to the provisions of Section (5)1)(c)
(iii).”

The three other applicants are: Adeola Hammed Ayobami; Abass Ololade; andAbass Ajibola. The Respondents in the suit apart from JAMB and UNILAG are: the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice and the Permanent Secretary,Ministry of Education. The suit reads in part: “Given that the 2nd-4th Applicants and several other candidates across the country are children striving to pursue their education, it is argued that the interpretation of Section 5(1)(c)(iii)warrants an assessment of the principle of the best interests of the candidates affected and this principle should be taken as a primary consideration when different interests are being considered in order to reach a decision whether to change the preferences of the candidates. There should be a guarantee that the preferences of the candidates will be respected.” “If a legal provision such as Section 5(1)(c)(iii) is open to more than one interpretation, the interpretation which most effectively serves the child’s best interests should be chosen and that in this case will be to fully respect their preferences of universities. The failure of the Respondents to consider the possible negative impact of the decision on the 2nd-4th Applicants and several other

candidates across the country amounts to a breach of Section 5(1)(c)(iii) of the JAMB Act.” “In Meyer v Nebraska, the court held that human dignity denotes the right of the individual to acquire knowledge, engage in the common occupations of life, marry, establish a home and generally enjoy those privileges long recognized as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness. This means that several candidates across the country are entitled to choose appropriate academic environment they consider conductive, to, in the words of the court in the Meyer case just cited, “acquire knowledge”. Denying them this fundamental right amounts to a blatant violation of Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.” “The Applicants urged the court “to that the decision by the Respondents Individually and/or collectively violates the provisions of the Constitution in that it has caused several candidates across the country unnecessary mental suffering, severe enough to be considered inhumane treatment.” “As the court correctly said in R. v Devon CC ex p. George “… a decision that elicits the exclamation ‘my goodness, that is certainly wrong!’” Therefore, the decision by JAMB, UNILAG and others should receive the ‘most anxious scrutiny’ of the courts because the decision is so outrageous and in its defiance of logic or of accepted moral standards that no sensible person who had applied his mind to the issue at stake could have arrived at it.” “Recognising a right to dignity is an acknowledgement of the intrinsic worth of human beings: human beings are entitled to be treated as worthy of respect and concern. The Applicants further submits that where treatment humiliates or debases an individual showing a lack of respect for, or diminishing, his or her human dignity or arouses feelings of fear, anguish, as it is the case here, the Honorable

Court should hold that a violation of constitutional rights have occurred.” “The Applicants submits that the decision by the Respondent to increase the cut-off point as narrated above is arbitrary, unreasonable, unfair and unjust having being made without any consultation whatsoever and after the 2nd-4th Applicants and several other candidates have been made to believe that the cut-off point would be 180. We further submit that the increase of the cut-off point imposes excessive burdens on the candidates concerned.” “The Respondents in reaching their decision to increase the cut-off points have not struck a proper balance between competing interests, and the decision is therefore unreasonable as it has brought considerable damage and suffering to the candidates across the country, and we urge the Honorable Court to rule.” The Organization is seeking the following reliefs: A DECLARATION that the decision by the Respondents individually and/or

collectively to increase the cut-off point to 250 after stating publicly that it would be 180 interferes with the choices and preferences of the 2nd-4th Applicants and several other candidates across the country and therefore directly violates Section 5(1)(c)(iii) of the JAMB Act Cap 193 of the Laws of the Federation DECLARATION that the cut-off point of 180 set by the 1st Respondent cannot be varied by any university in the country including the 4th Respondent herein was to do so would offend the provisions of Section 5(1)(c)(iii) of the JAMB Act Cap 193 of the Laws of the Federation A DECLARATION that the decision by the Respondents individually and/or collectively to increase the cut-off point to 250 after stating publicly that it would be 180 interferes with the choices and preferences of the 2nd-4th Applicants and several other candidates across the country and therefore directly violates Sections 34 and 39 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)which

respectively guarantee to everyone the right to the dignity of human person and the right to receive and impart ideas A DECLARATION that the decision by the Respondents individually and/or collectively to increase the cut-off point to 250 after stating publicly that it would be 180 interferes with the choices and preferences of the 2nd-4th Applicants and several other candidates across the country and therefore directly violates Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights as contained in the Laws of the Federation A DECLARATION that the decision by the Respondents individually and/or collectively to increase the cut-off point to 250 after stating publicly that it would be 180 interferes with the choices and preferences of the 2nd-4th Applicants and several other candidates across the country and therefore unreasonable, unfair and unjust as it failed to take into account the best interest of the Applicants and several

other candidates, as children AN ORDER directing the Respondents individually and/or collectively to reverse the decision to increase the cut-off point to 250 after stating publicly that it would be 180 and to fully and effectively implement the publicly announced 180 cut-off point AN ORDER restraining the Respondents individually and/or collectively from going ahead to implement the decision to increase the cut-off point to 250 instead of the publicly announced 180 cut-off point FURTHER OR OTHER RELIEFS as the Honorable Court deems fit in the circumstance No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit. Signed Adetokunbo Mumuni SERAP executive director Lagos, Nigeria

Public Appeal To University Of Lagos Mgt : ”Please Allow Us Graduate From Your Masters Program After 4 Years”- Unilag MSc Student

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A Student of the University of Lagos Post Graduate studies, names withheld reached out to us (www.omojuwa.com) about an issue with his academics that he and students in his class, had with the authorities of Unilag since 2012 and is seeking public help, to reach relevant authorities, to intervene and help them find a possibility of ending this age long school ordeal read his story below.
I resumed for MSc at the department of geosciences, University of Lagos as one of the pioneer student for the department’s first academic post graduate studies, that was in october 2011. Being the pioneer set, there was no existing structure on ground even as regards tuition, we paid the same rate part time students from other departments paid but those didn’t cause any issue because we had the will and we were all willing to commit ourselves so that in the coming years we would be back for our PhDs.
By october 2012, we had finished all the exams (first and second semesters)we had our fieldwork in december of the same year and started our research work. The research work took us more than a year due to the nature of data acquisition and the selfishness of our supervisors. A number of my classmates spent close to 300000 naira (Especially those with geology options) to send samples from the field to canada and Germany since their supervisors discredited sample analysis from Nigeria (Some of these thesis are already being used to write papers in the supervisors name already)
By the second year (2013), we were asked to pay an additional 91000 when we had already paid in excess of 100000 than any other full time student in the university, at this junction, we had to write letters to the dean of students and the dean of postgraduate school this was when the dean of postgraduate school told us we cannot graduate with the numbers of courses we enrolled for and the department was asked to do something about it. And because of this, many of us have been targets by some of the senior lectures in the department.
We were finally able to do our seminar and defense by october 2014 and we were dead certain that we would be presented for graduation but unfortunately our names did not feature in the convocation list as our results were not yet approved. We realized that our results have not even been uploaded for pg school to approve, all efforts to ensure that this issue is solved has been futile as the course adviser who is to do the upload has refused to answer his phone since yesterday after all the efforts that have been put in place by members of my class to liaise with the officer in charge of result uploading and IT in pg school.
We are the first set from this department ( previous postgraduate degrees have been professional degrees), there is at least 2 set on ground now and not one person is been presented for graduation. As much as we desire the anonymity of our message, we want our voices heard loud and clear. This injustice must stop, we should not be made to pay for the failures of others.

UNILAG’s Best Student Scores 4.96 CGPA

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The  Vice-Chancellor of the  University of  Lagos, Prof. Rahamon Bello, on Friday said that  125 of  its  10,600 graduating students for the 2014 session had finished in the First Class Division.

Bello said at the convocation media briefing in Lagos that the event for the award of degrees, higher degrees, Diploma, certificates and prizes, would hold from April 27 to April 30.

He said that 1,664 of the students bagged the Second Class Upper Division while  2,827 were  in the Second Class Lower Division.

Bello said that 963 others would be graduating in the Third Class Division; 90 with Pass degrees while 167 others would be under the unclassified degrees in Medicine and Pharmacy.

“I am also proud to announce Mr Korede Akinpelu of the Department of Chemical Engineering as the best graduating student of the university with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.96.

“Mr Sedan Shittu of the Department of Finance  is the second best graduating student with a CGPA of 4.91,” he said.

Bello said the institution would also be graduating 103 Doctors of Philosophy (Ph.Ds.), 4,330 with Masters’ degrees  and 331 with Postgraduate Diplomas from its School of Postgraduate Studies.

He said that Dr Isaac Akpan, with the thesis entitled: “ Processing and Characterisation of Selected Biodegradable Fibre-PLA Composites,’’  emerged the best Doctorate student.

Read More: vanguardngr