Education
MoU: UNILAG set to teach Spanish language in 2023
MoU: UNILAG set to teach Spanish language in 2023
The University of Lagos says plans are at an advanced stage to begin the teaching of Spanish language in the institution in January 2023.
The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, gave the hint during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria, Juan Sell, on Friday in Lagos.
According to him, the MoU is the beginning of many more programmes that are springing up in the university.
He noted that with the development, the institution was moving to the space of ‘universities without borders’.
Ogundipe said that the move would also attract more foreign students and lecturers to the 60-year-old university.
He said that there were about 10 foreign students currently studying in the institution.
“As you know, presently, we teach various foreign languages in this university, such as Chinese, German, French and Russian, and now, we are introducing the study of Spanish.
“At the initial stage, it will be a short programme, but at the end of the day, we are going to run a degree programme on that. And that is why we remain the university of first choice and the nation’s pride.
“This is a cosmopolitan university and I am glad that today, we have three ambassadors who are part of the signing.
“By next yearJanuary, we shall be having voluntary lecturers from Spain, coming to Nigeria to teach our students in the area of Spanish language and I am very excited about this development.
“I also want to state that with this development, we are moving steadily to the space of universities without border,” the don said.
Ogundipe, the outgoing 12th vice chancellor of the university, said that with the development, lecturers from Mexico or Spain or any of the Spanish-speaking countries could also engage the students virtually.
He assured that the university’s virtual platform was in top shape for the purpose.
Ogundipe said that this would enable students from the university spending a year or two at the undergraduate level, to move to either Spain or Mexico, to round off the degree programme.
According to him, with this, such student will have two degree programmes or programmes in two courses.
“So, we are moving to an era where there will be no more boundaries between one university or the other, irrespective of their locations globally, and we run programmes together and even conduct examinations together.
“I believe strongly too that the number of foreign students will soon be on the increase.
I have this conviction because before now, accommodation has always been a great challenge in the institution in particular, and Lagos in general.
“This has constituted a lay back to these students, but with what is currently on ground, which in the next three months we are going to accomplish, it will change the story.
“We are about having a state -of -the -art international students’ hostel attracted to the university by Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“And by the time we open that up, definitely, it is going to attract more of these foreign students, at least in the next one year.
“They will know that this is already provided for and so, they will have nothing to fear,” Ogundipe stated.
The vice chancellor said that the university was also looking at the possibility of having discounted students’ fee for foreign students from West African countries.
On his part, Amb. Sell said that the country was already running some exchange programmes with Nigeria, basically those organised by the European Union, the Spanish Women for Africa Foundation and Learn Africa, among others.
He said that the MoU with the university would enable his country to send lecturers in Spanish language or a Chair in Spanish.
“We are first going to send a professor in Spanish that will work within the university, having signed an MoU on that in the Faculty of Arts, Department of Foreign Language and Integrated Studies.
“That will be the seed for the teaching of Spanish language here. Of course, he will start teaching that from the very moment he lands at the airport.
“This is going to bring the two countries closer together, as well as our universities. All we are striving to do is to bring people of the two nations very much closer together.
“And this is very important. Spanish is not only being owned by Spain and that is why we have the Amb. of Mexico and that of Equatorial Guinea here with me.
“Spanish is spoken all over the world by over 500 million people, across 20 nations. Some of them, just across the Atlantic, kind of your neighbours.
“And so, we want the language to be widely acceptable and learnt even here in Nigeria,” he said.
He said that the signing of the MoU coincided with the celebration of his country’s national day, which comes up on Oct. 15, noting that the two occasions were of great significance to him.
Alfredo Miranda, the Mexican Ambassador to Nigeria, expressed joy over the signing of the MoU with the university, noting that it was also his first visit to the institution.
“It is an important moment for us, I am glad to be here to be part of this auspicious occasion.
“I was invited by my colleague, the Ambassador of Spain, because as he said, Mexico has 120 million Spanish-speaking people, making it the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world.
“Having our lecturers here will open up possibilities to invite more people coming from different Latin American countries and, therefore, benefit from the various academic programmes that will be involved; not only the language, but also our culture and activities.
“It will also provide a platform that would enable them know what we are doing as a people, because the most important thing in the world right now is the fact that people across divides are now seeking to learn and benefit from each other in various aspects,” Miranda said.
MoU: UNILAG set to teach Spanish language in 2023
Final year student dies during abortion in Lokoja
By: Zagazola Makama
A final year student of the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, has died during an abortion procedure in a private clinic.
Zagazola learnt incident occurred on Aug. 26 at Al-Hassan Clinic and Maternity, Sarkin Noma, Lokoja.
The deceased, identified as Omotosho Dorcas, 26, was six months pregnant and had gone to the clinic for termination of the pregnancy.
“In the process of the abortion, she bled to death,” said sources.
The sources said police detectives visited the scene, took photographs, and evacuated the corpse to the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, for preservation.
The sources added that the suspect behind the procedure has been arrested, while the case would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation.
Final year student dies during abortion in Lokoja
Automatic Tuition Aid: Al-Ansar University Offers Scholarships to New Intakes
By Auwal Umar, Gombe
In a remarkable move to reduce the financial burden of higher education, Al-Ansar University, Maiduguri, has announced an Automatic Scholarship Scheme for self-sponsored candidates seeking admission into the university for the 2025/2026 academic session.
The initiative, approved by the Founder and President of the Al-Ansar Foundation, Dr. Mohammed Kyari Dikwa, offers partial tuition fee scholarships to all qualified new students.
According to the university management, this initiative underscores the foundation’s long-standing commitment to educational access and youth empowerment.
This was contained in a press statement signed by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Abubakar Musa made available to Newsmen on Wednesday.
He said that the scholarship is open to candidates applying through UTME, Direct Entry, or those transferring from recognized universities.
The university emphasized that this offer is specifically for fresh applicants, and excludes students applying for the MBBS programme.
To qualify, UTME applicants must have scored at least 150 in the 2025 examination, possess the correct subject combination for their chosen course, and have at least five credit passes at O’ Level, including English Language and Mathematics.
The Direct Entry candidates are expected to hold recognized qualifications such as NCE, ND, or IJMB, along with five O’ Level credits including English and Mathematics.
Transfer candidates must have secured original admission through JAMB from 2022 or later, and are required to confidentially submit their official academic transcript to Al-Ansar University. They must also meet the academic and departmental requirements of their chosen programme.
The scholarship applies to degree programmes in the College of Arts, Social and Management Sciences, the College of Science, Information and Communication Technology, and the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, except for the MBBS programme which is not covered under this scheme.
Interested candidates are encouraged to visit the university’s official website at www.aum.edu.ng, where they can complete the online admission application form and upload all relevant documents.
The university also issued an important reminder about the admission process. All result uploads must be done through JAMB-approved CBT Centres, otherwise, the candidate may not appear on the JAMB CAPS portal for admission recommendation.
The Candidates are urged to check their JAMB CAPS profiles and respond to any offer of admission within four weeks, or risk automatic withdrawal of the offer. Furthermore, JAMB has set a final deadline for admission into private universities, which is the end of November 2025. Any delay beyond this will make it impossible for JAMB to approve such admissions.
Al-Ansar University is calling on all eligible candidates to take advantage of this unique opportunity to pursue their dreams without the full weight of tuition costs. The Automatic Scholarship Scheme is a bold step toward transforming lives through inclusive and quality education.
Automatic Tuition Aid: Al-Ansar University Offers Scholarships to New Intakes
DIGITAL RIGHTS: EU, ASF FRANCE SUPPORT FIGHT AGAINST CYBERBULLING IN NIGERIA
By: Michael Mike
Avocats Sans Frontieres (ASF) France with the support from the European Union (EU) in conjunction with the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), through it e- RIGHTS Protect has called for more strength to fight against cyberbulling and digital rights violation in Nigeria.
This was made known at the grand finale of the national inter-school digital rights competition organized by ASF under it E-RIGHTS platform last Tuesday in Abuja.
After a thorough engagement by various schools across the country, four schools from different States and zone were qualified to the final, namely Kano State, Lagos, Imo and FCT.
In the keenly contested competition, the Sonmori Senior Comprehensive High School, Ifako Ijaiye, Lagos State emerged as the winner, followed by FCT, Imo and Kano respectfully. The winner takes home the sum of one million Naira with support also from the eRights project to empower what they are doing in terms of digital literacy.
ASF France, Nigeria County Director, Angela Uwandu Uzoma, explained that, the competitions is more than celebration of talents, but celebration of courage, consciousness and commitment. She said, the occasion is not just to shaping conversation of the students, but to shaping their future.
She further said “The eRights project aims at promoting digital rights, not just for the adults, but also for the children, ensuring that the children are not left behind in this conversation. So children are themselves today participating in putting out empowering videos, messaging to discourage cyberbullying, to say no to cyberbullying because of the attendant effects and the harms that it can cause”
“The Cybercrimes Act, which was recently revised, amended particularly with Section 24, which was amended in 2024, to ensure that the government addresses some of these issues
“The government needs to do more. And we’re seeing that this Act, which ordinarily should protect citizens, to empower them to create a safe space for engagement, ensure that people are able to express themselves freely as guaranteed by the Constitution, including children” she added.
Also, the EU representative at the event, Program Manager, CSO, Human Rights and Youth, Mrs. Wynyfred Achu-Egbuson, believed that, the competition will bring to the understanding of Yong people that they have a responsibility towards not only protecting their rights but also protect the rights of other people who use the digital space.
She further said, the issues surrounding digital rights in Nigeria and other developed countries of the West is dynamic. Therefore, the issues of legislations and regulation towards digital rights is developing, the situation is dynamic and ever changing
DIGITAL RIGHTS: EU, ASF FRANCE SUPPORT FIGHT AGAINST CYBERBULLING IN NIGERIA
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