I wrote a few years ago, noting that the indigenization of key positions in federal universities in Nigeria is the new order. Yes, being a Yoruba man is not enough in University of Ibadan; it has to be an Ibadan man. Being an Igbo man does not cut it in UNN, he must be an Nsukka man. And being a Hausa Fulani cannot qualify unless the man is from Zaria for ABU. Too bad that I am using “man” because yes, in nearly 99% of these races, our female professors are overly marginalized.

Ibadan did this, after Nsukka citizens played the same game (read here). Now, the great Ife people do not want to be left out: “The protesters had threatened to shut down the institution…, accusing the governing council of scheming out an indigene of Ile-Ife, the institution’s host community, from being appointed.” So, it has to be an Ife indigene as a Vice Chancellor or nothing.

Sure, there are many benefits which local communities should get from having federal properties in their domains. But making academic appointments based on indigenization is something Nigeria does not need now. 

But it is not only the appointment of VCs. One of the greatest moments for me as a young man was going back to Prof SOE Ogbogu to personally tell him that I was rejecting the automatic offer to join the faculty of FUTO. That job came with no interview or no application because it was reserved for the best graduating student.

Imagine if they had schemed me out for an Owerri student, I would be eternally offended. But today, it happens. We now have top students being left out due to tribal related issues.

Daily, this nation is dying due to tribalism depriving us the passion to compete globally.

One of the 16 applicants shortlisted for the office out of the 20 that applied, Rufus Adedoyin, a professor of Physiotherapy, had been backed by a group of elders and youth of the community under the umbrella of “Town and Gown.”

They cited examples of the Universities of Ilorin, Jos and also, Ibadan, which have been administered at different times by indigenes of their host communities.

True to the protesters’ threat, for more than 48 hours beginning from Monday, both young and elderly men and women including those clad in traditional attires and even masquerades besieged the university, threatening fire and brimstone.

They demanded the reversal of the governing council’s decision and threatened that there would be no peace until an indigene is appointed the vice-chancellor.

One of the coordinators of the protest, Agbogunleri Oluwaseun, said the only path to peace was the nullification of the appointment of Mr Bamire, the vice-chancellor-designate, “and the announcement of Mr Adedoyin, the preferred candidate of the Ife people.”

He said; “What we want is that the governing council, the university management and the federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari, should consider the indigenous person and declare our candidate (Rufus Adedoyin) as the vice-chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University.”

Have you accepted a LinkedIn connection request, only to find the new connection sending a message, almost immediately, asking for a favor? Yes? Then, you have encountered one of those persons who go about connecting and networking in the wrong manner.

LinkedIn is about building a professional network of people with shared interests, job roles, experiences, and or education. It is a professional community, and the one thing #Linkedin has always been praised for is its ability to connect people into strategic networks that they may not have had on other social platforms.

However, as you go about sending connection requests and trying to build your network on LinkedIn, and maybe offline too, there are practices you could adopt. There are also some tips on what you should avoid so that you do not have your new connection perceiving you to be a user or a leech of some sort.

No one wants to find themselves in a networking situation where they feel taken advantage of, and neither does anyone want to be in that position where his motive of connecting is questioned.

Connect with a purpose

“Hello, Mr. A, I saw your speech on — and I found it insightful. I would like us to connect, as I hope to find other insightful content on your page” or “Hi Ms. B, we met at the event on Saturday (or we attended the same university), and I have looked forward to connecting with you. Nice to meet you here”.

It does not have to take any of these examples, but the whole idea is to state who you are and why you are connecting.

Engage with their content

It is off when you send a connection request to someone and still will not engage with any of the person’s posts or articles. Why? You sent the connection request in the first place because you have some shared interests, so why would you not like, or comment on the page contents. Due to thousands of connections, you could notice after a while that the individual’s posts stop showing in your feeds since you do not engage with them.

The person does not have to be a popular person or a LinkedIn influencer before you engage with his or her content. In addition, you never know when you might need a recommendation. Engaging with the posts keeps your name as a recurring decimal and at some point, some persons might get curious enough to check you out.

Do not bring your advertising banner to the comment section

This is outright bad manners, and some people could delete your comments for this reason. Even if they don’t, you would only have portrayed yourself as desperate and lacking simple courtesy. You do not want to become popular for the wrong reasons. The exception to this could be you commenting about the subject of the post.

Do not rush in asking for favors

You have no idea the number of favors and requests that people get in their inbox, mostly from strangers with whom they have no prior connection. Some of these requests could be tailored to careers, businesses, and some personal. If you will get favorable answers to your requests, you should try to build familiarity with the connection. It could be comments over the person’s works and achievements, or tips on what could be done better. If there are some existing conversations, however brief, it helps put you into the picture.

If, however, you sent a connection request with a direct request, you could just go ahead and state it appropriately so that you are not perceived as sneaky.

Do not shy away from collaborations

Almost every professional recognizes that networking is important, but too often we fail to do it because we aren’t sure what we can offer or we don’t want our intentions to be misconstrued. LinkedIn is a long-term game. Don’t come in with the short-term mindset. Your LinkedIn networks and community should be mutually fulfilling.

Zoom announced on Wednesday that it’s integrating Twitch to help users to livestream meetings straight to the public for emote-based judgment.

The teleconferencing app announced the new update which includes other features such as avatars, the ability to send video messages and enhancement to contact center.

The more popular update – onboarding Twitch – lets users go live on Twitch directly from the Zoom desktop client, linking their accounts on both platforms. While it was certainly possible to stream Zoom meetings to Twitch prior to this update using third-party programs, the in-app integration should make it much easier to do so.

“To help our customers streamline the process of sharing content within their communities and extend their reach, account owners and admins can now allow hosts to livestream their meeting or webinar to Twitch directly rather than manually configuring the stream as a custom livestreaming service,” said Zoom in a blog post.

This, in the face of growing competition in the teleconferencing market, appears to give Zoom and edge. Last month, WhatsApp updated its web feature to support advanced chatting and phone calls via laptops and desktops. The update shoots WhatsApp up to the level of other companies offering teleconferencing services. Zoom has been working to stay ahead in the market by introducing new features that differentiates it from others, integrating Twitch for livestreaming is believed to be another way the company will attract more consumers. But there is a few challenges.

Mashable outlines a few caveats that could hamper the new feature:

Livestreaming Zoom to any platform has previously been considered a paid privilege, and that app’s new Twitch integration is no exception. Zoom’s in-app Twitch connectivity thus isn’t available for free users, only working on paid Pro, Business, Enterprise, or Education accounts, and even then only for licensed users of those accounts. The cheapest is the Pro tier, which will set you back $149.90 per year per license.

Livestreaming direct to Twitch also requires the streamer to use Zoom’s desktop client, so you can’t just start up your web browser and call it a day. Though if you’re paying for Zoom, chances are you’ve downloaded the client at the very least.

While Twitch made its name as a streaming platform for people playing video games, its users have significantly diversified since its inception. Streamers regularly broadcast everything from podcasts to roleplaying sessions to mukbangs, making the ability to stream a video call an attractive prospect to some.

However, unless they’re already making Critical Role-level bank on their Twitch stream, many creators will probably pass on paying for a Zoom account just for this feature.

The new update also supports hands-free peer-to-peer conversations through cloud audio intercom and individual voicemail messages from users phone or client to other users in the same account.