Category: Education & Innovation

Immaculate Onyinye Onuigbo of the Department of Petroleum Chemistry, AUN emerged the overall best graduating student of the class of 2017 and received seven awards and different cash prices for each award from corporate sponsors.

Her awards were best graduating student in Petroleum Chemistry,  overall best student of school of arts and sciences,  two cooperate awards with a cash prize of 500,000 Naira each and a fully paid internship in any subsidiary of Afrinvest Limited.

Continue reading Immaculate Onyinye Onuigbo Emerge 2017 AUN Overall Best Graduating Student

With a view to introducing DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) extraction laboratory practical in secondary schools across Africa, an Associate Professor of Virology in the Department of Biological Sciences, Covenant University (CU), Dr. Angela Eni has in conjunction with one of her students, Miss Oluwaseunnlafunmi Oke, developed a rapid and inexpensive DNA isolation kit for secondary schools, using locally available materials.

Stating the motive behind the research, Dr. Eni, who is the Team Leader, of the Covenant University Hub of the West African Virus Epidemiology (WAVE) for root and tuber crops, said she observed that both her undergraduate and postgraduate students struggle with molecular biology concepts and techniques mainly because these were not introduced to the students on time and appropriately. This, she said, has been a reoccurring challenge over the years, hence one of the solution would be to bring DNA or the molecular biology studies home to young people in a practical way that they would understand and early enough to capture their interest.

One of the reasons why both secondary schools and some higher institutions in Nigeria do not teach their students DNA extraction, she revealed, is because the kits required for conducting these “young mind entrancing” laboratory practical are either too expensive and/or unavailable in most schools in Africa including some higher institutions unlike elsewhere around the world, where the knowledge of DNA and the huge potentials locked therein is introduced to youngsters in secondary schools.

Based on this realization, she and her student decided to use locally available materials in Nigeria to develop a kit that would allow them introduce DNA extraction as a science laboratory practical in secondary school. However, because her student was working for a B.Sc. in Microbiology degree, it became important that they included some microbiology in her work.

On her next move on the discovery, Dr. Eni said that there were discussions with the Covenant University Centre for Research, Innovation and Discovery (CUCRID) on the need for patency and also, to demonstrate that DNA isolation kit to secondary school students in Nigeria under the platform of a Science Day Programme.

Covenant University (CU) has been ranked Number One (1) globally in some research endeavours and rated among the top 10 in others, based on the latest computations by Elsevier SciVal, the world acclaimed ready-to-use solution that offers easy access to the research performance of 8,500 research institutions and 220 countries worldwide.

This latest rating is a huge boost to the University’s vision of being one of the top 10 universities in the world by the year 2022.

Over 13 million publications for the period 2011-2015 were extracted from the Scopus database, to form 168,092 clusters. SciVal subsequently identified 53 publication clusters in which Covenant University has a significant presence. The 53 publication clusters were grouped into 16 Competencies for Covenant University.

SciVal classified 4 of the 16 Competencies as Distinctive Competencies of Covenant University because they are significantly large fields, and the institution is leading these fields in terms of publications, highly cited publications, and/or innovation.

Indeed, Covenant University, looking at the data from 2011 to 2015 as calculated by Elsevier, was rated World Number One (1) in research endeavours such as (Wind Power, Wind and Turbine) and (Corrosion, Corrosion Inhibitors, Carbon Steel). World Number Two (2) in (Trade, Remittance, Effect) and (Housing; Residential Satisfaction, Satisfaction).

Twelve other areas of emerging competencies were identified.

Twenty year-old Nigerian-born Diane Isibor, stars with two prestigious awards during the 223rd convocation ceremony of Valdosta State University, United States.

They are the Spring 2017 President’s/Vice Chancellor’s Award for Academic Excellence (for the Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration) and Annie Power Hopper Award.

Diane Isibor graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance with a first class and Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4 over 4, not dropping a point from her first to final year.

The President’s Award for Academic Excellence is presented to the graduating student with the highest grade point average in each of VSU’s five Colleges – College of Arts and Sciences, College of the Arts, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration, and James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education and Human Services.

According to the Institution, Isibor’s commitment to academic and service excellence, resulted in her earning many laurels, including the 2016 VSU President’s Choice Scholarship, 2016 Georgia Gulf Sulfur Scholarship and 2016 Institute of Management Accountants Memorial Education Fund Award.

Dr. Folasade Olajuyigbe, a senior lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), has been named winner of the 2017 Fulbright African Research Scholar Program (ARSP) award for advanced research in the United States of America for 2017/2018 academic year.

Dr. Olajuyigbe, whose area of research interest is enzyme biotechnology and environmental health, will focus on this area during her stint in the prestigious international exchange program in the world.

Mrs. Folasade Olajuyigbe will be affiliated with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The Fulbright African Research Scholar Program (ARSP) offers senior faculty members from top African universities the opportunity to conduct independent research at U.S. institutions.

Mrs. Olajuyigbe was picked from a pool of 700 candidates who initially applied for the fellowship from Nigeria. Sixteen candidates were shortlisted for the interview from where five finalists were picked.

Over 155 countries worldwide, including Nigeria participate in this program. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries.

Fulbright Scholars (Senior Research Program category) are highly motivated academics with strong academic background, professional achievements, high leadership potential, passion for increasing mutual understanding among nations and cultures and serious commitment to completing the program and returning home. Fulbright Scholars serve as cultural ambassadors and are prepared to speak about their countries, cultures and research to academic and community groups.

The Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria has won the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Global Aviation Training (GAT) award 2016.

According to Abdussalami Mohammed, the Rector of NCAT;

“ICAO had identified NCAT as the training institute with the highest number of trained instructors in addition to highest number of ICAO courses.

This recognition puts the Nigerian Aviation Industry on the driving seat of global efforts at ensuring availability of well-trained aviation professionals to effectively establish more efficiency and safety in the industry.

In view of this recognition, GAT office gave NCAT more training allocations to conduct additional courses, which include Government Safety Inspector Airworthiness, Air Operator, and Approved Maintenance Organisation Certification, Government Safety Inspector Operations, Air Operator Certification Course, Government Safety Inspector Personnel Licensing Course and Dangerous Goods Part 1.”

Four Nigerian pupils; Chidiuto Nicole Okorie, Netochukwu Mba Linus, Mgbobukwu Amarachi and Elangwe Oreoluwa, all aged nine years, of St. Leo’s Catholic Private School, Ikeja, Lagos, emerge winners of the 2017 Universal Concept of Mental Arithmetic System (UCMAS) arithmetic competition held in Accra.

The four children who spent only a year on the programme were crowned winners after answering with speed and accuracy, 100 mental arithmetic questions within eight minutes to defeat their counterparts with four years in the system.

According to the UCMAS Nigeria Country Manager, Emmanuel Alade,

“The programme is a novel and path-breaking system of education recognised and practiced in over 60 countries of the world and uses unique methodologies to stimulate and challenge the brain neurons of children.

It is also aimed at developing both the right and left hemispheres of the brain, thereby enhancing their concentration, imagination, logical reasoning, mental arithmetic skills, speed and accuracy, photographic memory, listening skills, comprehension, creativity, visualisation and memorisation skills.”