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Thursday, March 31, 2011

THE FIGHT FOR LIBYA CONTINUES

Libyan Foriegn Minister, Moussa Koussa has resigned his position and fled to Britain on Wednesday, seeking assylum in any country.

    Aljazeera reports that obviously "Gaddafi's regime is fragmented and crumbling from within."

    British Foreign Secretary, William Hague has called on other supporters of Gadgafi's regime to have a rethink.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi has gained military advances as pro-democracy fighters have continuosly retreated as a result of resumed hot chase from Gadgafi's supporters.

In the meantime, NATO has assumed military operations in Libya, protecting civilians, enforcing the No-fly zone and the embargo on the importation of arms.

The question on the lips of many people both within and outside Libya is who is next to defect from the camp of Gaddafi?

    

MASS COMM UNIMAID: FLYING HIGH

Some Unimaid Mass Comm Lectures.
From left: Dr Mohammed Gujbawu, Dr Danjuma Gambo,
Mr Nuhu Gapsiso and Mr Joseph wilson


The achievements of Mass Communication Department, University of Maiduguri are enormous. To exhaustively discuss these achievements, one needs to write a voluminous book. But, as much as possible, some key achievements are recorded here as a means of unveiling the department to the world like never before.

It might interest you to know that the language of people in the academia is "publish or perish." In line with global standards which require lecturers to contribute to knowledge through research and writing of working resource requirements for courses, Mass Communication lecturers, University of Maiduguri have been doing their best possible. The department has contributed to knowledge in the field of Mass Communication in various aspects. For instance, in 2002 the department published an epoch-making book of readings- Introduction to Specialized Reporting- to solve the problem of the narrow scope of journalism in Nigeria.

According to late Professor Jubril Bala Mohammed, former head of the department, the book is meant to "facilitate the effort to lend journalism in this and other African countries, some degree of depth."

Similarly, the department over the years has helped in transforming the ugly face of journalism in Nigeria through constructive researches published both in foreign and local journals. These researches are well vetted before they are deemed to have met international standard before they are published. The current head of the department, Dr. Umaru Pate (a reader) has edited and co-edited several books of reading including Mass Media and Society in Nigeria which he co-edited with Professor Lai Oso, a seasoned communication scholar.

Another achievement of this department is the hosting of the national conference of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE) two times in history. This is no small achievement. There are some Mass Communication Departments in Nigeria who cannot boast of hosting this unique annual conference even once. According to Dr. Danjuma Gambo, a former head of the department, the 2009 ACCE conference held in University of Maiduguri was as a result of the immeasurable contributions of this department in Nigeria.

In addition, note that lecturers from this department are holding key positions in ACCE and other Professional Mass Communication-related bodies. For instance, Dr Danjuma Gambo is the current Vice President of the ACCE. In a speech during the 2009 ACCE conference in University of Maiduguri, Professor Des Wilson, the Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Uyo emphatically praised Dr Gambo for organizing one of the best ACCE conference in history. Mohammed Murtala, also a lecturer at the department, is the current Secretary-General of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Borno Chapter. Not too long, Mallam Nassir Abbah Aji, another lecturer at the department was appointed as the commissioner of religious affairs in Borno State. And to crown it all, Dr. Abubakar Mu'azu was also appointed as the director of the Remedial Arts Programme of the University of Maiduguri.

In the area of teaching facilities, the department is not doing bad. It is regrettable that Mass Communication which is a social science course is classified as an Art course in University of Maiduguri. In spite this limitation, the department has done well compared to other Mass Communication departments elsewhere.

Before now, the department used to have a single studio which served as both television and radio studios, but now the story has changed. Apart from having a newly constructed standard television studio, more pieces of equipment have been acquired to replace the obsolete ones. Few years ago, the old studio was burgled but the department has been able to replace all the items stolen.

Since inception, the department has been battling with dearth of offices and class rooms for her lecturers and students. This is because the department has been sharing a block of building with the department of Arabic and Islamic Studies Department. This has made expansion practically impossible. Fortunately, a new Mass Communication complex is currently nearing completion.

When completed, the complex will have a photojournalism lab, standard studios, computer lab, newspaper and magazine lab, public relations lab, advertising lab, offices, class rooms, conference room and a mini theatre for stage rehearsals and performances. This is far more than what anybody ever anticipated. There are indications that on completion of the complex, the department will diversify its degree programme to include specialisation in the fields of Advertising, Public Relations and Photojournalism just like University of Nigeria, Nsukka and University of Lagos.

To crown it up, an FM station for the department is also nearing completion. Globally, it is widely accepted that the apex achievement of a Mass Communication department is the running of a campus FM. In Nigeria currently, only a few universities can boast of a campus FM. When completed, the FM will aid the students of the department to practice what they are being taught in class rooms.

The department also publishes an annual newspaper called Tambari. This initiative which is rare in other Mass Communication Departments across Nigeria is aimed at exposing students to the practical aspect of newspaper production and how the press operates.

Known for setting high standards, the department expects every student to publish a good feature in a national newspaper. Though it appears impossible, this academic requirement for students to pass a course in Feature writing has exposed students to the basic secrets of writing good Features.

In sum, as indicated earlier, the achievements of this department are enormous. To do justice to it is to write a book. But the focus of this work is to summarise these achievements as much as possible for the world to see.

Akunyili: “I was only a card-carrying member of the PDP.”

Former Director-General of NAFDAC and former Honourable Minister of Information and Communication, Professor Dora Nken Akunyili has said that she never joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) out of her own volition.

Speaking in an exclusive interview on the Rhythm Fm (95.7 Awka) on March 30, 2011 Akunyili said that some northern political women got the PDP membership card for her which she could not turn down.

She also revealed that she had earlier turned down the request of northern political women for her to run for the presidency.

Akunyili is the APGA senatorial flag bearer for the Anambra senatorial zone battling for the position aloneside ACN candidate Dr Chris Ngige, Accord candidate Senator Annie Okonkwo and other candidates fron various political parties.

CHIDOKA GIVES REASONS FOR MASS FAILURE IN NECO

Honourable Obinna Chidoka, the PDP flag bearer for the Federal House of Representative in Idemili North and South Constituency in Anambra State has attributed the mass failure of students recorded in the just released results of the 2010 Novermber/December NECO to poor teaching tools and poor conditions of learning environment.

In an interview with the Rhythm 95.7 Awka on March 31, 2011, Chidoka, an astute business man in his mid-thirties has promised that when voted into the National Assembly he would revamp the dwindling educational standard in his constituency.

As a youth-oriented person, Chidoka promised to leave no stone unturned in order to solve the problem of unemployment which is a major issue in his constituency.

Chidoka, an indigene of Oboso, Idemili Local Government Area of Anambra state is a Sociologist from the University of Lagos.

It could be recalled that Chidoka spent thirteen months in the National Assembly before a court order brought his stay to an unexpected abrupt end.

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