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The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, has expressed confidence that the postgraduate products of the university have been well equipped to proffer solutions to the multifarious challenges of the country.

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Prof. Adebowale expressed this view on Monday at the 76th Foundation and 2024 Convocation ceremonies of the university in Ibadan, Nigeria.

''The nation needs many like you who can provide feasible and practical solutions to the complexities that it is grappling with.

We are confident, however, that if you could successfully pass through the crucible of doctoral education at the University of Ibadan, you have all it takes to be exemplary in word and deed in the world out there.

The worth of a university degree is in the industry, learning, and character that the holder of the degree displays daily from the moment of obtaining the degree.''

He also appealed to the federal government to grant the university a special status, saying, I passionately appeal to Mr. President for special attention to be given to the University of Ibadan in the form of dedicated reconstruction and rehabilitation funds, as well as increased allocation spread over time." As the oldest university and an academic heritage of all Nigerans, the University of Ibadan should be given a special status that comes with sufficient support and resources to transform it into a world destination for academic and intellectual pilgrimage.

He stressed that power supply was one of the major challenges of the university, adding,We have initiated communication with the Federal Ministry of Power to seek solutions, and I respectfully appeal to all stakeholders to support us in this effort, both through resources and investments.''

President Ahmed Tinubu has called on labor unions in universities in Nigeria to partner with his administration to fashion out a way out of their funding problems.

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President Tinubu, who is the visitor to the University of Ibadan, made this call on Monday at the 76th Foundation Day and 2024 Convocation Ceremonies of the University in Ibadan, Nigeria.

The president, who was represented by the Minister of State of Education, Hadjia Suwaiba Ahmad, also lamented that his administration ''inherited an economy that was struggling to stay afloat across all sectors. We have, however, managed to salvage the country from imminent bankruptcy.''

''I submit that unions should partner with the government to arrive at a funding blueprint for the university system in the country that will take cognizance of local peculiarities and modern realities based on global best practices.''

''Indeed, the incessant industrial actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other unions in the university system always revolve around the issue of adequate funding. I fully understand the situation of the university system in the country and the efforts taken by the unions to draw governmental and public attention to the need for more funding of the system.''

In his address, the Chancellor of the university and the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa'Ad Abubakar, appealed to the Federal Government to increase its funding of higher education in the country, saying, ''Permit me to use this medium to appeal to the government to do more in the provision of adequate and proper funding of tertiary institutions.''

''We are not unaware of the dwindling state of the economies of nations, world over. However, we are optimistic that prioritizing education will raise the standard of the output of our institutions and thereby address some of the ills bedevilling our society.''

We can sometimes harbor romantic illusions about what the Church should be like, a company of saints in shining armor!

But then we meet some local congregation, and we become disillusioned.

It is never a good thing to live with illusions.

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The reality about the Church is much more splendid.

It is among this frail, struggling, sinful community of folk that we find heroes and heroines of the faith who outshine and outshame those whom the world admires for their power, their wealth, and their strength.

The gospel speaks its word of liberation, not through the powerful but through the oppressed. May God make us humble enough to receive it from them. Read Hebrews 11:7

Nigerians have expressed visible worries over the activities of criminals operating in commercial motorcycles, vehicles with tinted glasses, vehicles with foreign plate numbers, and vehicles without number plates.

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They argue that most crimes in different parts of the country are committed through these motorcycles and vehicles and express surprise over the way the criminals beat the scrutiny of law enforcement agents along the road.

Innocent citizens who reside in Lagos, Ibadan, Benin City, Port Harcourt, Warri, Onitsha, Aba, Kaduna, Kano, and Abuja, among others, have continued to recount their tales of woe to whoever cared to listen.

Sadly, the law enforcement agents, saddled with the responsibility of ensuring law and order and the adherence to the road safety rules and regulations, have for long adopted a conspiratorial attitude, mainly because of the benefits that would accrue from aiding and abetting criminals.

Nigerians are now of the opinion that the laws of the land are either no longer functional or  those in charge and the law enforcement agencies are deliberately sabotaging the enforcement of the laws for their self-centered motives. 

A victim of the worrisome state of insecurity in Ibadan, Nigeria, who spoke incognito, reveals his experience.

‘’There is a beer parlor opposite the Iyanganku Magistrate; it is among the several shops that share the same fence with the police barracks. A door inside the beer parlor leads into the barracks. Visit the beer parlor and observe those who patronize the beer parlor, and you will agree that those who break the law have the blessing of the persons whose statutory functions include the protection of lives and property, he stated.

The general feeling is that some criminally minded law enforcement agents make use of criminals as proxies in carrying out their statutory functions, which has resulted in the harassment, intimidation, and arrest of unsuspecting citizens.

Of worry is the adopted official status of lawlessness, indiscipline, and criminality in different parts of the country.

Indeed, illiteracy and ignorance have also contributed significantly to the scheme of things as presently constituted.

The mental psyche of millions of Nigerians has been dehumanized and degraded; this has resulted in unthinkable occurrences.

These occurrences have consumed a sizable chunk of those in charge.

The widespread, uninhibited prevalence of  lawless acts, to millions of Nigerians, is an indication that there is already a failure in leadership; with no visible remedy in sight for now.

Health workers in the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan, Nigeria, have declared that the internally generated revenue of the hospital is insufficient to cater for the monthly astronomical electricity bills brought by the officials of the Ibadan Eelectricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).

The health workers who made this declaration on Tuesday, through the chairman of the Non-Academic Staff Union and Associated Institutions (NASU), Comrade Kehinde Abiona, appealed to the Federal Government to rechannel the gains of the subsidy removal to fund the health sector's challenges.

''Management cannot pay the prohibitive tariffs; even before the increment, the hospital had been grappling to cope with the increasing costs of administration. It is just like a patient that is struggling to survive and the oxygen line is suddnely removed.''

''The Federal Government should rechannel the subsidy it removed on petrol to the power sector. The government should subsidize power consumption. It promised to subsidize electricity in teaching hospitals, but surprisingly this promise has no seen the light of the day.'' Comrade Abiona stated.

He called on well meaning Nigerians to prevail on the government to do the necessary for teaching hospitals in the country,  saying''everyone is a potential patient, we should all be concenred about how the hospitals are run.''