The July 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey was followed with a massive shake-up in all aspects of the country. The higher education sector was one of the hardest hit in the radical measures taken by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the alleged mastermind of the coup attempt – Fethullah Gülen.

President Erdogan launched a far-reaching clampdown on all academic institutions associated with the Gülen Movement including primary, secondary, and tertiary schools. As of August 2016, it was reported that fifteen universities had been closed and over 1000 secondary schools shut down. The government further arrested a number of academics suspected to have links with the Movement.

The Nigerian students studying in Turkey estimated at 15,000 were also affected by the crackdown. According to reports in the local media, about fifty Nigerian students were detained by the authorities at the Ataturk Airport in October 2016. A huge number of the students were also left stranded after their schools – believed to be associated with the outlawed Gülen Movement – were suddenly shut down.

The Nigerian Academia spoke with Salim Hamza Ringim, the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Turkish Zone, to give a detailed account of the situation of the Nigerian students after the bloody political event in Turkey.

TNA: There were media reports that about fifty Nigerian students were detained in Turkey after the foiled coup attempt, but this was denied by the Turkish embassy in Nigeria. Could you give a true account of what really transpired?

Salim: It is true that fifty students and even more were detained in Turkey. Two months after the coup, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency and made it clear that all those that were associated with the Gülen Movement including foreign nationals will be caught and deported back to their countries. At the time, all educational and non-educational institutions inspired by the Movement were immediately shut down. Most, if not all, the students that either acquired education from the Gülen-inspired schools in Nigeria or on their scholarships were terminated. Their residence permits were also cancelled. According to our contacts in Gaziantep, Turkey’s attitudes towards Nigerians [radically] changed after the coup.

TNA: What were the efforts made by the Nigerian government to secure the release of the students and also ensure the safety of other Nigerian students in Turkey?

Salim: One of the factors that led to the release of the detained students by the Turkish Intelligence could be because the Nigerian embassy in Ankara [swiftly] reacted to the actions of the Turkish government. As far as I could remember, there are also students from other nationalities in the Gülen -inspired schools such as Faith University and Zirve University, but those students were neither detained nor ill-treated like Nigerians were treated. The Turkish Mission in Abuja’s denial of the detention of Nigerian students at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport is nothing but negligence.

TNA: Are you satisfied with the intervention of the Nigerian government in the matter?

Salim: The Nigerian Embassy in Ankara represents our government based on the rule of exterritoriality as encapsulated in international law. They intervened on behalf of our government, insisting that our students be released by the Turkish government. I must say that I appreciate the immediate response of the embassy to the detention of our students, but I am unsatisfied with the efforts regarding our students’ scholarships. Some of our students were almost in their last year, while some were in the middle of their studies. According to our partner union schools, the education data of many of our students were lost. Students’ representatives in various schools addressed the Ministry of Education, hoping that Nigerian students that were in the universities that were shut down could be allowed to complete their education in other universities. Only some of these students were lucky to get a positive response. I believe that if the Nigerian embassy had put in more efforts, the predicament of our students would have been meaningfully resolved.

TNA: We also read that some students were moved to other universities after their previous institutions were alleged to be associated with the Gülen Movement. Were the Nigerian students successfully relocated to new schools and what reactions followed the action?

Salim: Nigerian students in some cities of Turkey such as Gaziantep, Istanbul and Bursa who had concrete financial proofs that their studies are connected to a bilateral agreement have been given access to the finances they deserve on a monthly basis. However, there are still students that are still stuck in the situation of neither being accommodated in the absence of scholarship nor even accepted to further their education.

TNA: What message do you have for the Nigerian government as regards the plight of the students in Turkey?

Salim: We will like our government to be aware of the limitations we are experiencing as the mother body of the students beyond Nigeria, and the security of our students abroad can only be assured if our embassy in Ankara is further pressurised to strengthen ties with the Student Unions. Secondly, there are lapses in the functions of the Embassy in Ankara. We demand accountability and adequate monitoring of the functions of our representatives in Ankara, by the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

http://www.thenigerianacademia.com/2017/02/12/how-nigerian-students-suffered-in-turkey-after-the-failed-coup-attempt-president-nans-turkish-zone/

Nigeria, like many other African societies, is built on patriarchalism, which encourages male dominance in all the major aspects of life.

The dominance of the male gender is very much conspicuous in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields of the Nigerian academia.

Being a specialized field, given its complexity and thoroughness, the Sciences is mostly considered an area exclusive for the men.

According to Rabia Salihu Sa'id, “Nigeria women make up only 17 percent of all science researchers.”

In another report by Adefunke Ekine, it is estimated that “overall, women make up just under 35 percent of students in these science faculties.”

Clearly, the Nigerian society is structured to make the Sciences unattractive to the female gender.

According to Rabia Salihu Sa’id, “Some girls feel more comfortable choosing a shorter course in the arts or social sciences, so they can avoid the pressure of getting married while still studying.”

A male-dominated space in the field obscures the reality that there are some women, although in the minority, who have excelled tremendously in the areas of STEM in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Academia considers it important to celebrate these unique women who, despite all odds against them, have made excellent achievements just as their male counterparts in various fields of the Sciences.

Grace Alele-Williams

The academic life of Professor Grace Alele Williams defies the traditional thoughts about the place of women in the society. She symbolizes the excellence a woman could achieve, if given the opportunity.

Professor Alele-Williams is a first at different levels of achievements. She is the first Nigerian female to earn a Ph.D. in Mathematics, the first female Professor of Mathematics, and the first female Vice Chancellor of a university in Nigeria.

Professor Alele-Williams received her university education at the University of Ibadan, the University of Vermont and University of Chicago, respectively.

Finding herself in the “space age”, which symbolized the era of stiff competition between the two major powers (the United States and the Soviet Union) over scientific discoveries, Alele-Willimas increasingly developed interest in Mathematics in the US.

Professor Alele-Willaims' interest was further buoyed by her stint at the African Mathematics Program in Newton, Massachusetts, under the mentorship of MIT Professor Ted Martins.

Besides being a former Vice Chancellor, Alele-Willams has held different leadership positions in the development of Science education at local and international levels.

She was Chairman, Curriculum Review Committee in 1973 and a member of the Governing Council of UNESCO Institute of Education.

She held the position of Vice President of the World Organisation for Early Childhood Education and a Regional Vice President for Africa of the Third World Organization for Women in Science.

Alele-Williams received the National Honor of the Order of the Niger in 1987 and was a member of the Vision 2010 Committee.

Francisca Nneka Okeke

Professor Nneka Okeke is by all standards a distinguished scientist who has made tremendous contributions to her field – Physics.

Professor Okeke gained international prominence after winning the highly respected L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science Award worth USD 100, 000 in 2013. The award was in recognition of her notable contributions to the understanding of daily variations of the Ion currents in the upper atmosphere.

Presently a Professor at the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Okeke was the first female Head of the Department and a former Dean of the Faculty of Physical Sciences in her university.

Born in an environment where female education was discouraged, Okeke was motivated to study Physics by her father, a Mathematician, whom she saw as a mentor.

As a young girl, she was very inquisitive and asked intelligent questions about nature and objects around her. She was particularly interested in knowing the wonder behind airplanes and how they fly without falling on the earth.

Professor Okeke is exceedingly passionate about the education and empowerment of women particularly in the Sciences. As HOD and Dean at UNN, she was instrumental to the employment of more women in the faculty.

From her mentorship of young women, one of her Ph.D. products was a recipient of the AU-TWAS young scientist Award in 2010. Professor Okeke has successfully supervised 12 Ph.D. and about 28 MSc students.

Deborah Ajakaiye

Professor Deborah Enilo Ajakaiye is Africa’s first woman to be appointed a Professor of Physics in 1980.

Ajakaiye completed her Ph.D. in Geophysics at the Ahmadu Bello University (A.B.U.), and her Master and Bachelor’s degrees at the University of Birmingham and University of Ibadan, respectively.

She lectured at Ahmadu Bello University and later the University of Jos where she rose to the position of Dean in the Faculty of Natural Sciences.

Her contributions to the field of Geophysics through her works on ‘Geovisualization’ has been significant in Nigeria’s location of its abundant mineral resources.

Professor Ajakaiye has been recognized at local and international forums. She was awarded by the Nigerian Mining and GeoSciences Society. She was also the first black African to be named a Fellow of the Geological Society of London.

Professor Ajakaiye was one of the 50 Women of Distinction awarded by the First Lady, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan in 2010, in celebration of Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary.

Ajakaiye is currently working with the NNPC on its drive for alternative crude oil reserves with the exploration of the inland sedimentary basins in other parts of Nigeria.

For the remaining part, visit http://www.thenigerianacademia.com/2016/10/21/ten-distinguished-nigerian-women-in-science/

Raid On Judges Confirms Research Findings On Judicial Corruption And Electoral Fraud
October 19, 2016 Hakeem Onapajo Comment(0)
The recent revelations concerning incredible cases of corruption in the top echelon of the Nigerian judiciary bring to the spotlight a research paper written in 2014 by Hakeem Onapajo and Ufo Okeke Uzodike.

The study published in the Journal of African Elections argued, with empirical evidence from qualitative interviews, law reports, newspaper reports and party publications, that there is a judicial dimension to the phenomenon of electoral fraud in Nigeria.

Primarily drawn from the doctoral thesis of Onapajo, the study posited that the Nigerian judiciary, despite the existence of the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC), is structured to be dependent on the executive and legislative bodies, making it susceptible to manipulations by the political class.

Moreover, the paper interrogated the powers of the judiciary to determine winners in a contested election because this is mostly treated in other democracies as a “political question” that is not justiciable.

Following this, the paper showed several instances of corruption in the judiciary and how they affect the quality of elections in Nigeria.

According to the authors, “elections which cannot be legitimately won at the polls may be won in the courts with the aid of some manipulation of the judicial process.”

http://www.thenigerianacademia.com/2016/10/19/raid-on-judges-confirms-research-findings-on-judicial-corruption-and-electoral-fraud/

Philip Alabi, a graduate student at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, poses with a collection of donated textbooks. He plans to donate the textbooks to a university in his home country of Nigeria. He is seeking donations to fund the shipment.

EDWARDSVILLE — When Philip Alabi saw his chemistry professors giving away nearly new textbooks at the end of the spring semester, he could hardly believe his eyes.

“I kept passing by and saw they were just giving away these books,” said Alabi, a 30-year-old chemistry student pursuing his master’s degree at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. “I looked at the books and I saw they were still relevant. I was like, ‘Really?’”

Alabi began his studies at Tai Solarin University of Education in Ijebu-Ode, a city in southwest Nigeria. He said books like the ones the SIUE professors were giving away are a rarity at the Nigerian university, where he finished his bachelor’s degree in chemistry. Textbooks at SIUE, Alabi said, are more varied and in-depth in subject, and are also more current.

“I started thinking I should do my best to get them together and begin to ship them (to Nigeria), seeing as they’re giving the books away anyway,” Alabi said.

He started off by collecting about 50 books in June. Five months later, Alabi has collected more than 900 college text books on topics from chemistry to psychology. On his fundraiser website, Alabi says the books will be used to provide “access to relevant information and textbooks that are needed for advancing [Nigerians’] careers, education, and lives.” His challenge now is to ship the books, weighing thousands of pounds, more than 6,000 miles to Nigeria.

Alabi says he has managed to secure space in part of a shipping container going to Ghana. Now, he’s arranging transport for the final leg of the journey to Nigeria. He says he hopes to raise enough money to send them out by the end of the month. From the time the books leave Edwardsville, it will take five weeks to get to Ghana. They could reach Nigeria by the end of the year.

Read more: http://www.thenigerianacademia.com/2016/10/19/student-in-us-scavenges-for-books-to-donate-in-nigeria-the-telegraph/

Late Chinua Achebe was undoubtedly one of the major scholars who used literature to produce Africa’s anti-colonial ideologies.

Achebe’s groundbreaking work, Things Fall Apart, is popularly accepted as one of the first African literature to debunk the idea of a colonial and western civilization of Africa.

His other works No Longer At Ease and The Arrow of God tell stories that further demonstrate his thoughts against colonialism.

However, a study published in the latest edition of African Affairs by Bruce Giller, a Professor of Political Science and Director of Graduate Programs in Public Policy in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University, presented a new Achebe that extolled colonialism.

In the research paper, Gilley argued that “a careful study of his (Achebe) writings and comments from 1958 until his death in 2013 shows that Achebe was never the simple anti-colonial figure that most assumed.”

Gilley’s paper pointed to areas in his final work where “Achebe made a clear statement about the positive legacies of colonialism, praising the British project of state formation and nation building in the lower Niger basin.”

For more, visit: http://www.thenigerianacademia.com/2016/10/19/chinua-achebe-died-as-an-apologist-of-colonialism/

It was indeed a pleasure to have Dr. J. Shola Omotola open up on his tremendous achievements in relatively short years in the academia. I find his story particularly inspiring and that which the younger generation of scholars will definitely benefit from. A few years ago, a reputed professor in an informal discussion with me in South Africa, remarked with all sense of confidence, that “Shola is a phenomenon!...Many professors with long years of service in the university do not possess what he has in publication record.” Interestingly, Dr. Omotola is a thoroughbred Nigeria-made academic, having completed his BSc. (Hons.), MSc. and Ph.D. at University of Ilorin and University of Ibadan, respectively, which debunks the theory that one must leave Nigeria to acquire a foreign qualification to be successful.

I consider him the most published scholar in the social sciences amongst the new generation of Nigerian scholars, which he disclaims out of his very humble nature. But this goes beyond exaggeration, it is a matter of fact. My conclusion is based on a content analysis of contributions in reputable publications (not predatory ones) of the Nigerian social sciences scholars who got their PhDs in the 2000s. Clearly, a simple search on Google Scholar would confirm that Shola Omotola, with over one hundred pieces of quality writings and 843 Google Scholar citations, has been the most visible in that category of scholars both at home and abroad. His writings cover different areas in the political sciences including African politics, elections and democratisation, oil and environmental politics in the Niger Delta, conflict and terrorism, foreign policy analysis, academic corruption, and development question in Nigeria.

Interview by Hakeem Onapajo

Read interview here: http://www.nigerianacademia.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=3766&action=edit