In this interview with the Communications and Brand Strategy Unit (CBSU), the Coordinator, Student Leadership and Life Success Centre (LSC), Mr. Alex Osagie says that entrepreneurial skills aren’t just a must for students but for everyone in the business of life.
Excerpts:
Our students just finished their exams, what are the ways you think they can develop themselves?
First, congratulations to our students on the successful completion of their exams. It must have been a different and unique experience for them writing exams online, which attests to the fact that things have changed (not changing). Now that they have free time, they can develop themselves in three simple areas, which are commitment to learn, discipline to practice and humility of service.
Commitment to learn: They should engage in reading, watching educational movies, engaging in productive and meaningful conversations and following the right models on social media. All these are part of the learning process.
Discipline to practice: The juice of learning is practice. So as they learn, they should inculcate the discipline of practicing all they learn.
Humility of service: Volunteering gives access to opportunities like nothing else. The humility of service helps in who you are becoming as you serve others.
With happenings in the country, do you sincerely believe the youths are the leaders of tomorrow?
Youths were never the leaders of tomorrow, youths are the leaders of today. I recommend that young people take responsibility for their lives and not wait for the government. You have the power to change the results and outcome of your life, so why not change things instead of waiting to be given opportunity to lead. If every young person takes up the challenge to lead themselves, they will be able to stand up for their rights instead of being used as pawns in the hands of bad leadership.
What is your philosophy of leadership?
My philosophy of leadership is simple, “lead by example”. One must become the change that you wish to see.
Are entrepreneurship skills a must have for students?
Entrepreneurial skills isn’t just a must for students, it is a must for everyone. In today’s world of work especially in third world countries where the take home pay doesn’t take anyone home, the option to be an entrepreneur is non-negotiable. For students it is necessary because it can help them have options and choices for the life they want to live. If COVID didn’t teach any lesson, it taught salary earners a big lesson that will never be forgotten, but for the entrepreneur, he has his destiny in his own hands.
So if you are a student in school or a student at life, you must equip yourself with entrepreneurial skills. Even if you want to be a full career person, there are basic entrepreneurial skills you will need to possess, like selling skills, presentation/public speaking skills, budgeting skills, planning and execution skills etc. In the business of life, it is skills that pay bills.
In this interview with the Communications and Brand Strategy Unit (CBSU), the Dean, Faculty of Sciences, Prof. Osondu Akoma says that the capacity of the youths to think for themselves maybe be terribly hindered by the political system that has made it difficult for them to enjoy school because of the economic hardship in the society.
Excerpts:
Do you think universities give students the privilege to express their feelings and thoughts on issues, be it academic or non-academic?
The concept of university education is hinged on the universality on knowledge. The university is usually described as an ivory tower simply because it is a community that breeds intellectual prowess. It is a specialized environment where creativity, knowledge and experience are allowed to run wide. In other words, the university provides opportunity for the highest level of intellectual expression. You may recall that the first generation universities were the hotbeds for real intellectual discussions and radical change of the society. From the point of engagement in the class room to extracurricular activities within that confined environment, the whole essence is that young people are given the opportunity to express themselves to the extent that they would make positive change. The youths in every society are the vibrant demography, which is where the strength of any society is. If at any point in time that energy is tie fold, the society suffers, so apart from the general society, the university environment promotes excellence and unhindered intellectual activity. The capacity of the youth generally to think for themselves maybe be terribly hindered by the political system that has made it difficult for the young people to enjoy school. This is as a result of the economic hardship that is in the society, which university is not isolated from.
The university system provides fertile ground for intellectual discourse, innovation and betterment of the society. The university environment gives space to young people to develop their skills, intellectually, politically and in other extracurricular activities.
The vibrancy in Nigerian university system still resides in the public university system. Private universities are totally different from secular universities or government owned universities. Benson Idahosa University as a matter of fact is a private Christian University. There is an article of faith and code of conduct that every student must subscribe to for the good governance of the university. Based on the concepts and ideals of the founder of the university, student unionism is totally ruled out but in its place we have student leadership. This student leadership tailors students’ capacity to acquire leadership roles amongst their peers without getting political with strong emphasis on spiritual growth and development from the background of a Christian university.
The faith component of the university put strict regulation and they are not put in place to discriminate against anybody but you subscribe to it at the point of entry.
Student leadership here is not student political leadership unlike we find in public universities but it is geared towards having students develop leadership skills and make positive impact. Our experience is such that those who have excelled in the student leadership program on campus here have gone ahead to be better people and more established in life.
What is the impact of cordial relationship among students and lecturers?
I have over 14years experience in the private university system and for me because we are a Christian university; we are admonished as staff to be Christ like. Secondly, every staff in this university has the responsibility to take care of the students as locos parentis in the sense that you are not just seeing them as students but as our children, who we have the responsibility to take proper care of them, so that relationship is super cordial.
In Benson Idahosa University, we go all out to seek the interest of our students both in their academics and personal life. Starting from the President of the University to the Vice Chancellor, students have unfettered access; the doors are open on certain days of the week for students to approach Management. From the Proprietor to the Vice Chancellor, to all the principal officers and then at the faculty and departmental levels we pay particular attention to the needs of our students. The present Vice Chancellor has actually taken it a step further by intensifying the fact that the students are actually our customers and we should treat them as customers. From that angle you can be sure that we are expected to listen them, take care of their problems, prioritize their needs, so as to be build excellent student experience.
We treat our students as our customers and at every point in time we want to be sure they are happy and their interest is well catered for and whenever they have any challenges and they come to us, we provide solutions and give them succor
Sir, you double as the ICT Director, Benson Idahosa University. How do you think modern technology can help enhance the easy running of the university system?
The way forward in university system generally is the fact that ICT is the infrastructure on which the university is built. If you have to set up a university today, first and foremost, it has to be on the Web and all you do must be showcased there for the world to see. You set up your website and you set up your eduportal to run the business of the university from admissions to payment of fees, to academic aspect and then graduation. Bearing this in mind, ICT is indispensable. The whole business of the university, there is infrastructure with which it can be run effectively and efficiently, that is ICT. The tools available are such that you can run a university seamlessly if you develop your ICT backbone to the extent where from your account to administration, to academic content, to being in touch with the students, Online Real-Time in a virtual environment through the use of ICT.
In this interview with the Communications and Brand Strategy Unit (CBSU), the Acting Head, Department of Biological Sciences, Dr. Emmanuel Odjadjare says that teaching and learning using online platforms will be a plus for our education system if it complements the conventional learning methods that require physical interaction between teachers and learners in classrooms.
As a Microbiologist, what do you think about COVID-19?
COVID-19 is a viral disease caused by Coronavirus. The disease manifests as a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), with symptoms such as fever, dry cough and tiredness. In severe cases, the symptoms could include difficulty in breathing, chest pain and or loss of speech or movement. The virus sometimes called SARS-Cov-2 is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak in 2003. The disease spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or nasal discharge from infected persons when they cough or sneeze. Most people infected with COVID-19 recover from the disease without requiring special treatment. However, old people and immunocompromised individuals (e.g. persons with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases etc.) could suffer fatalities from the disease due to complications arising from a relatively weak immune system.
It is alleged that Coronavirus originated from a lab in Wuhan. Do you think it is manmade or it originated naturally? Can natural medicine cure the virus?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the coronavirus currently ravaging the world originated from a wet market (i.e. a market where meats of wild animals are sold for human consumption) in the Wuhan Province of China. Although there is a conspiracy theory especially from the United States of America suggesting that the virus emanated from a laboratory in China, there is little evidence to support this claim. Thus, many Scientists across the globe are sticking with the explanation provided by the WHO until proven otherwise. The virus is not manmade in the sense of genetic engineering, rather it was a zoonotic pathogen that somehow crossed from animals to infect man due to man’s carelessness. The COVID-19 pandemic is a wakeup call to all stakeholders (including governments at all levels) in the meat processing industry globally and especially in Nigeria to pay more attention to how meat for human consumption are processed. Many abattoirs and slaughter houses in Nigeria are disasters waiting to happen. A high percentage of the meat we consume in Nigeria comes from abattoirs and slaughter houses with little or no facility to process meat in line with minimum acceptable standards aimed at preserving the public health. Findings from Scientists across the country (including those from our laboratory) suggests that abattoir and slaughter houses are sources of pathogens of potential epidemic significance in our communities. The relevant Ministries and agencies in Nigeria are therefore urged to do the needful to avert another impending public health crisis.
Natural medicine has the potential for management and or treatment of any infectious agents, including viruses. According to the holy bible, “………… the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:2). And the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a poultice upon the boil, and he shall recover” (Isaiah 38:21). Besides, many drugs in the market today are natural products. Thus, natural medicine could be potentially used to manage or treat COVID-19. However, the keyword here is potential. It is left for scientists to discover and deploy these potentials; until that is done, they will remain potentials. So I do not think we should rule out any approach to arresting the scourge of COVID-19. We should explore both orthodox and traditional medicines with adequate scientific input. Pharmacists and traditional medicine practitioners in Africa (especially in Nigeria and South Africa) are already working closely to develop scientifically proven drugs to many common ailments. This synergy should be encouraged and supported by the government and relevant agencies for public good. However, while we welcome anything and everything that will help to manage and arrest the COVID-19 pandemic, the panacea to this scourge is vaccination. This will eliminate the virus from human population as was the case with other viral diseases such as polio, chicken pox, measles etc. that have been confined largely to history books.
Looking at the increase in the number of cases every day, do you agree that the government is doing enough to curb the spread or are they down playing?
In my sincere opinion I think the Federal Government is doing her utmost in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic considering the limited resources at her disposal; coupled with the the severe lack of public health infrastructure bedevilling our beloved country. The lockdown and various measures (such as hand washing, wearing of face mask, use of sanitizers and others) imposed by the Federal Government has been helpful in mitigating an otherwise very serious public health crisis. However, there are important lapses that have been observed in the fight against COVID-19 thus far.
The government and relevant stakeholders are not doing very well with regards to testing. According to the NCDC as of 29 June, 2020 only about one hundred and thirty two thousand (132,000) persons out of a population of over two hundred million (200,000,000) people (representing 0.066%) have been tested for COVID-19 since the last three months. This is grossly inadequate. It is not rocket science to test for this virus; government can partner with public and private institutions to ramp up testing. I know of several institutions with PCR machines including ours that are not being utilized. All that is needed is training of personnel on how to collect and handle samples from individuals suspected to be carrying the virus; provide reagents and primers for the PCR assay and a few operational facilities; and the laboratory is good to go.
Most schools have now moved to teaching students online, will this affect our educational system negatively?
With regards to online platforms for teaching and learning in this period of COVID-19 pandemic; I think it is a welcome development. We are in the digital age; and as such application of digital technology in teaching and learning was inevitably coming upon us one way or the other. A number of institutions (including ours) have started deploying digital technology even prior to COVID-19 with the installation of smart classrooms. However, the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic fast-tracked the process in ways unimaginable just six months ago. That said, it is important to point out that teaching and learning using online platforms can only complement the traditional method that requires physical interaction between teachers and learners in classrooms. The classroom could be made smarter by using technology; but online teaching platforms cannot at this time replace the more effective traditional approach. Hence, while the online platforms are used as a stop-gap to facilitate teaching and learning at this time of crisis, we are expected to return to the traditional classroom sooner than later. This notwithstanding, the skills, processes and experiences gained at this time shall be of immense value to improving the quality of teaching, learning and research when things normalize. Therefore, online teaching will be a plus for our education system if it complements the conventional learning methods.
Is it advisable for schools to resume?
On whether it is advisable for schools to resume; the answer to that question will depend on whether the proper risk analysis involved in reopening schools have been done. What is the infection/fatality rate of the virus? Are there measures that can be put in place to effectively manage the disease? If vaccination is the panacea to arresting the pandemic, how long before a vaccine is available to Nigerians? Can we keep the economy locked down until such a time when the vaccine becomes available to Nigerians? When the vaccine eventually becomes available, will it be affordable and accessible to Nigerians? Proper analysis of answers to the questions posed above will tell you whether or not we need to reopen our schools. In my candid opinion, Nigerian schools and indeed the economy should reopen as long as the the measures put in place by the NCDC are strictly adhered to.
It is important to note that beside poverty, there are a number of more devastating diseases than COVID-19 in the context of Nigeria. Without trying to downplay the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic, I think the incidence/fatality rate of the virus in Nigeria (not considering other climes) is far lower than some of the common diseases (Malaria, Cholera, Ebola, etc.) that we have grappled with over the years without shutting down the economy. For example, according to the WHO World Malaria Report of 2019, about sixty million cases of malaria and over eighty thousand deaths were reported in Nigeria in 2018. This implies that malaria could be a bigger killer compared to COVID-19 in the context of Nigeria. If the polity was not shut down over the more fatal malaria, why should it be locked down because of COVID-19? Continuous lockdown of the polity will result in more devastating consequence compared to COVID-19. It will increase poverty in a country already labelled as the poverty headquarters of the world. Poverty breeds hunger and hunger is a bigger killer than COVID-19. A persistent lockdown will destroy an already bad economy to the extent that it could take up to 10 years of hard work to achieve economic recovery. All the government need to do in reopening schools is to ensure strict compliance to the guidelines put in place by the NCDC. Schools that comply and continue to comply with the NCDC guidelines could be allowed to reopen and remain open. Those who do not meet the requirements of the NCDC guideline should remain closed until they do the needful.
Lockdown alone without doing the needful will solve little or nothing. The solution is does not necessarily lie in lockdown, but what you do while the lockdown is in place. Lockdown should be considered as a temporary stop-gap to allow Government and other stakeholders put appropriate measures in place to arrest the pandemic. Once such measures are in place, the polity including schools should open without delay.