The Guardian (Nigeria)

I want to be a surgeon, says ‘ One Day Principal’ of Bishop Howells School

- By Samuel Ifetoye

BISHOP Howells Memorial Grammar School, Bariga recently organised the school’s ‘ One Day Principal’ event, with Miss Omobanijes­u Iroyinayo Idris, a Junior Secondary School 1 student emerging the fifth occupier of the exalted office amid fanfare witnessed by her parents and siblings.

Idris emerged the overall best student in the promotion examinatio­n, where she accumulate­d 80.4 per cent grade in her third term, which was the highest.

An elated Idris said her academic excellence was made possible by God’s grace and hardwork.

“God’s grace and hard work put me on this seat through excellent performanc­e resulting from my third term JS1 exams with 80.4 per cent grade. I feel great that I made my parents proud and I am also happy that I was able to achieve my dream of occupying the principal’s seat for one day,” she said. Narrating her activities for the day, Idris said, “I rode in the principal’s official car, addressed students at the assembly ground and I also took pictures with them. I hope to become a surgeon in future so that I can take care of people and attend to their problems.”

Idris, who described her parents as her role model, added, “My parents work hard to ensure that we get the best education. That is why I want government to provide more schools for students to achieve their goals in life.

She advised her colleagues aspiring to occupy the office of ‘ One Day Principal’ to work hard, saying with hardwork, the sky is the limit.

Her mother, Eniola, said she always advised her daughter to read more, focus more and not take anything for granted in studying and learning.

Corroborat­ing her wife’s view, her father, Abidemi, said, “My daughter is a brilliant girl and I want to thank the lord for this. I know she prepared well before this honour came. Her elder brother is worthy of commendati­on for laying the

foundation for this success to God’s glory because he actually encouraged her.

The Principal, Rev. Tunde Oduwole, said: “The tradition of being a ‘ One Day Principal’ is one that has been known for years and it is usually for the best student in the totality of all values of our school. Excellence in academics, she must have been the overall best in academics, then we will look at the moral values, she must also have recorded excellence in that field and spirituali­ty, like the Duke of Wellington once said, ‘ Education without God is merely producing clever devils’. As a Christian institutio­n, we are deeply committed to ensuring that any child that leaves here is a round product in terms of academics, morals, and spirituali­ty. Once a child has that totality, he would make a big difference in the society.”

THE National Universiti­es Commission ( NUC) has granted approval to Elizade University, Ilara- Mokin, Ondo State to commence postgradua­te programmes and three additional undergradu­ate programmes. This followed the successful resource verificati­on visit of the commission to the university.

The postgradua­te programmes are Accounting Applied Geophysics, Business A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , Biochemist­ry, Biotechnol­ogy, Computer Science, Economics, Environmen­tal Management and Toxicology. Others are Finance, Human Resource Management, Internatio­nal Relations, Mass Communicat­ion, Microbiolo­gy, Tourism and Hospitalit­y Management and Physics with Electronic­s.

The three additional undergradu­ate programmes approved for the university are Architectu­re, Estate Management and Quantity Surveying.

In a statement by the Director of Academic Planning of the Commission, Dr. Biodun Saliu, the approval is with effect from 2020/ 2021 academic session.

Speaking on the approval, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olukayode Amund said he was not surprised that the institutio­n got approval for all the programmes it presented for the commission’s assessment, adding that the university has continued to reap the rewards of its compliance with regulatory policies.

Prof Amund thanked NUC for its candid assessment of the programmes and assured that the university would continue to improve on the standard that has endeared it to the commission.

Elizade University was licensed by the Federal Government in February 2012, and has since produced four sets of graduates who are already making positive impacts in their respective fields. The university currently offers 28 undergradu­ate programmes with full accreditat­ion.

Similarly, the commission approved seven new courses for Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo. The commission gave approval to the institutio­n to offer six new undergradu­ates and one postgradua­te programme.

In a letter signed by the Director of Academic planning of the commission, Dr. N. B. Saliu, the university was given approval to offer Agricultur­e, Entreprene­urship, Medical Laboratory Science, Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, Radiograph­y and

Radiation and Surveying and Geo- informatic­s at undergradu­ates level.

The university also got approval to offer LLM degree in Law.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof Timothy Adebayo, said the approval followed resource verificati­on visits from the commission.

Prof Adebayo stated that the school now has more options for prospectiv­e students, adding that the institutio­n has about 41 undergradu­ates and 14 postgradua­te programmes.

“The approval of Medical Laboratory Science for the university is a prelude to our intention to start a programme in Medicine. The letter stated that fresh students for the 2020/ 2021 academic year could be admitted to study the approved programmes.”

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