Educators From Nigeria

"If you check your status and you are already infected, please go for treatment and do not pass on the virus."

"That library project is the most outstanding thing I will remember Prof Angya for."

"Prof Angya also got accreditation for the Faculty of Law and the College of Health Sciences. These are notable achievements that will take the school to the next level."

"I feel Prof Angya is the best of all VCs the university has had so far. We have more development now than we did before."

"Prof Angya has also reduced the number of students with extra years."

"I pray that this award be the wind to my sail and provides the drive needed to reach out to serve God and humanity. Thank you all and good night."

"I thank the Almighty God who makes all things possible and Who has been with me on my life journey. I appreciate my parents for the values they drilled into me."

"Administration of matriculation oath is a covenant between you and the university. The vice chancellor said that the institution matriculated 4,900 students. (NAN)"

"There are more women now going to school and getting an education, but the question is: Why is there no change in terms of their involvement in higher education management?"

"Before now the issue was ‘where are the women’? Now the women are there, the resource is there, but women are not getting in [top positions]. It goes beyond the problem of the women not being qualified."

"Transparency is a major issue in the selection of women leaders, the conference heard. And institutional changes may be needed to transform attitudes before women are selected for the top posts."

"In institutions in some developing nations, while there are more women in some programmes than men, women are still not attaining high positions “and that is because there is a lack of transparency."

"I was contesting with 10 men, and I was the only female. I was going to appear before a senate that was mostly male. I was going to appear before a council that was mostly male."

"Some of the male sympathisers said: ‘Well, we know you are qualified for this position but it is not time yet for a woman to take the leadership of this institution. But I felt it was time."

"In my view, we cannot isolate legal education from the general educational system, and other factors, which impact teaching and learning."

"The legal profession is one that has strong ethics. Besides, it has always been part of the curriculum of the Nigerian Law School."

"The law school provides a common ground for law graduates from the various law faculties to undergo their professional training. It should not be scrapped for uniformity."

"If you do not fear God, you are on a slippery slope, anything goes. But you must believe in something. If you don’t have integrity, if you don’t have character, before you vie for an office, you must know what you are looking for."

"I will like to see a university that is not a respecter of persons, that gives honour to whom honour is due and do things the way it should be done at all times, that everybody will have a sense of belonging, no matter where he or she may come from."

"Being a lecturer was my choice from the word go. I never wanted to practise at the Bar, and the Bench never crossed my mind."

"Politics in the academic environment is not different from politics in the wider polity. When God is with you, no one can be against you. It can be frustrating and mind-boggling. But then you cannot really avoid it. When the chips are down, one must take a stand."

"Age is in the mind. I do not feel 70 at all. I consider this as the end of one phase and the beginning of another one. It is great to be 70; it is a landmark but it is not my bus stop."

"I got to know Professor Agomo for over 23 years and the impression I have about her has never changed. However, recently she added another star to her several stars by being the biblical Deborah of our time."

"No matter who is in power, corruption will still flourish."

"Having said that, I must add that education is at a crossroads, legal education included. There is a paradigm shift, which is beginning to show in the mode of interactions between teacher and students. The difficulty is that the facilities in place in some places do not match the number of intakes. In the days of smaller numbers, and effective tutorial system, it was easy to assess the quality of education. That has since gone, but the virtual learning mode now made imperative by the COVID-19 pandemic, has shown that there are viable alternative modes of legal education."

"The introduction of clinical legal education over more than a decade ago exposed students and lecturers to innovative ways of teaching and learning such that, law students at the point of graduating, would be expected to have acquired some lawyering and other requisite skills. These changes, I believe, are continuing in many law faculties. One area where I have recently expressed some concern is in the area of students’ willingness to engage themselves purposively in acquiring life-long legal knowledge and skills, beyond the acquisition of knowledge for the purpose of passing exams and nothing more. This is a cause for concern."

"My answer to this question has not changed from the view I expressed in 2007 when I was first asked this same question. In my view, we cannot isolate legal education from the general educational system, and other factors, which impact teaching and learning. We cannot separate legal education from governance. We cannot separate it from funding, from competing interests."

"Education is a process. It is not static. It must change with the times. Legal education has come a long way, and it still has a long way to go. Globalisation and the internet have brought in their wake the gradual erosion of internal barriers and hindrances to access to changes across the globe. There are now ample opportunities and avenues to learn from other systems."

"However, there are still things that are needed within borders to improve on what is already on ground. Minimum standards as set by the National Universities Commission (NUC) from time to time should be strictly applied across the board to federal, state and private universities. Government cannot shy away from adequate funding of the system. It is share hypocrisy to give the impression that education in public institutions is free, and yet not fund the institutions adequately so as to provide a conducive learning environment."

"I was asked this question in 2005, one year into my deanship of the Law Faculty of the University of Lagos. My response then was “Yes.” Eighteen years down the line, my thinking has remained largely unchanged. However, I have come to realise, that maturity is not necessarily a function of age. There are some young people with wisdom and maturity beyond their years, while there are adults who behave like immature babies."

"What is needed to sustain the quality of students admitted immediately after secondary school education is a thorough screening process as is currently the case, which uses a three-tier structure. Furthermore, the increasing popularity of the school of foundation studies, which prepares students for the Joint Universities Preparatory Examinations Board (JUPEB), has provided a further maturing period for intending students."

"The Revised Guidelines for Group Life Insurance Policy for Employees 2020, jointly issued by the National Insurance Commission and National Pension Commission, provides in paragraph 7.3 that where an employer failed to carry out a Group Life Insurance on behalf of the employees and death occurs in active service, such employer is liable to pay the 300 per cent of the gross emolument for Group Life Insurance Policy to the beneficiaries of the deceased employee in line with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act 2014."

"According to paragraph 7.4 of the Guidelines, an employer who fails to insure its employees for up to the 300 per cent of their gross emoluments, is liable to pay the difference to the beneficiary of the deceased employee. Gross emolument for this purpose means the annual total remuneration of the employee before any deductions."

"The treatment of contract staff by employers runs counter to International Labour Organisation (ILO’s) concept of decent work, which advocates fair remuneration, social protection and social dialogue, among others. The only effective way out is through unionisation. It is only collective labour that can fight for the rights of its members. Individual employees are powerless to fight for themselves."

"Corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of the society. It is now obvious that it has continued unabated under the present administration. It merely goes to show that no matter who is in power, corruption will still flourish unless or until people have a change in values."

"Integrity, transparency, merit, and a sense of social responsibility must be enthroned. Again, there must be the political will to sanction offenders appropriately, no matter whose ox is gored. Selective treatment demoralizes people and encourages others to continue to engage in corrupt practices."

"I do not know the state of the bill. I know that I was sent a draft for my comment some months ago. I did not comment because this matter has dragged on for years. I recollect that I was one of those co-opted into the Committee that revised the Insurance Act, 2003. It was a thorough exercise under the chairmanship of Professor Joe Irukwu. This was around 2009. I am not sure of the exact year. That we should still be dealing with the same matter in 2021 leaves a lot to be desired. The potential of the Insurance Industry to drive the economy has not been fully explored. It is sad."

"As I said during my exaugural lecture, it has been a fruitful and deeply satisfying journey. It has been a journey reflecting the invisible hand of God guiding me through the highs and lows. He blessed me with destiny helpers. There were challenges. It was not an easy journey, but God saw me through each stage. To Him alone is the glory."

"I must not fail to add that the Faculty of Law of the University of Lagos is a family. There are great people within its walls. There are men and women of impeccable integrity. The Faculty is a home away from home. It was a great privilege to have spent my entire working years in the University of Lagos."

"You should note that FUGA is not a dumping ground for admission seekers but a place where all students would be judged based on the quality of our programmes and their performance"

"I therefore urge you to work hard and avoid any act that is not in conformity with the university’s rules and regulations as well as societal norms, because anyone found guilty shall be made to face the wrath of the law"

"Collaborate. Go outside your comfort zone occasionally and choose your collaborators carefully. Your chances of obtaining competitive research grants are higher and your research and publication productivity will increase, too."

"Success will come easier and faster as a young scientist if you are confident about your abilities, are not afraid to step out of your comfort zone, seek out a mentor, and collaborate on projects. This will improve the likelihood of obtaining competitive funding, and increasing research and publication productivity."

"Unconscious bias that women are less qualified than men to study or teach STEM disciplines still exists."

"I loved mathematics and science-related subjects."

"Several people, including members of my family, tried to dissuade me from studying geology because women were not supposed to be out in the bush or field as a profession."

"The women who persevere go on to achieve great successes in their STEM careers."

"I am truly honored to have this exciting opportunity to serve the students, faculty, staff and alumni of our college."

"My advice is to stay true to her passion while being open-minded to a variety of opportunities. Paleontology has proven to be a key player in the puzzle we know today as planet Earth, especially as fossils were among the first clues used for plate tectonics."

"Ask for help when she needs to. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. Instead, it is a chance to learn and advance. Also, she should be proud of every contribution she makes in life and should not allow others to define her success."