OAU Receives N3.5b from Corporate, Individual Donors - VC
Prof. Michael Faborode, the Vice Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, said the university had received N3.5 billion, as donations from corporate and individual donors. Faborode said this in Ile- Ife in a presentation entitled ''Telling the OAU Story'' at the inauguration of the newly constituted students Central Executive Council (CEC) of the institution.

The VC expressed gratitude to all the donors and supporters of the university, especially members of the institution alumni, whom he said, donated materials, equipment and scholarships recently. He said if not for the support from the private sector and alumni, the university would have been in a serious financial and material crises. Faborode said the annual grant from the Federal Government was not enough for sustenance of the university.

The VC said he had just been informed that the Federal Government would give the university N114 million for capital expenditure in 2009, an amount he said, was too small for a university with 30,000 students. Faborode said the university management would welcome constructive criticism from the students union and willing to dialogue constantly with the new students Central Executive Council (CEC).

''There is nothing that cannot be resolved through dialogue such that there will absolutely be no need for recourse to the trenches or to violence,'' Faborode said. Speaking, the newly sworn in President of the nine- man students CEC, Mr Adejuwon Olaniran said the union was ready to work in unison with the authorities to move the university forward.

Olaniran, however, said the independence of the students union would never be compromised in its quest for peace, unity and justice on campus. He called for the unconditional reinstatement of those students suspended by the authorities in the wake of the struggle that led to the ban placed on union activities. Reports say that the university authorities had two years ago banned students union activities in the institution..


Beggars Attack Lagos Train Passengers
Beggars at the Agege train station, Lagos, Friday went on rampage throwing missiles at passengers of a Lagosbound train from Ijoko, in Ogun State. Many passengers were injured following the attack, including a man who received a deep cut on his head from a broken bottle. The man, who was drenched in his own blood, later alighted at the Mushin station for treatment.

Trouble had started when a passenger collided with one of the beggars as he was trying to come down from the train. Passengers and beggars later engaged in a free-forall, an action that led to the shattering of many of the train's windows. This is not the first time beggars have attacked passengers along the route. Reports say that activities of beggars at the station have constituted a nuisance, making it difficult for passengers to board or alight from trains, as they have almost taken over the tracks.

The beggars not only cook along the tracks but they also defecate, leaving the area untidy and unhealthy. An official of the Nigeria Railway Corporation who was in the train told newsmen that the corporation had attempted several times to evacuate the beggars from the tracks. The official, who did not want to be named, said that the NRC management would deliberate on the latest incidence..


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