We just checked our last data, we exceeded all targets we set for this edition of Tekedia Mini-MBA which begins tomorrow. Our scholarship funds tripped: our fellow citizens at home and diasporas surprised our young Institute. We have never asked any person or entity for funds or even have a donate button anywhere. Yet, people continue to support. I want to THANK everyone who participated.
To our Faculty – extremely amazing people from all domains of life, THANK YOU. Working with mothers who just returned from work, and have to put hours at night to develop our course remains one of the finest moments for me. From these experiences, I can write one thing: Africa can be GREATER if we can have leaders with capacity to galvanize us towards a shared bigger purpose.
Once again, thanks for the partnerships. We thank Youth Up, WeForGood and all the non-profits that have supported us to screen the scholarship recipients.
Registration continues till tomorrow; begin here to register. Let’s meet in the digital classroom tomorrow.
1. The Federal Government of Nigeria wants to inform all those smuggling contraband products and storing them in warehouses in Lagos, Kano and Onitsha that you have two weeks to stop your nefarious activities.
2. Our agency (put name) is informing the general public that we know where all the vagabonds making fake products are located; they are advised to stop the illegality.
How many times have you read this in the newspapers? That is our nation – you have power, and you know where those who are committing crimes are located, and yet you have the boldness to waste taxpayers money to buy a newspaper advert to “warn” them. Let me tell you – they have no incentive to serve and do their work. That is why things are not working in Nigeria: people who have power, are begging for power to lead and do their jobs.
That brings me to the lousy excuse that the FBI put heat on Nigeria as cryptos were used to defraud Americans and Europeans. (Sure, I had noted that the central bank possibly had data which pushed it to execute the ban). Yet, is the scamming news? I am 100% confident that the FBI did not ask our central bank to ban crypto, but rather to improve its KYC/AML (know your customer/anti-money laundering). And to a large extent, follow what you have in the books, and make sure banks know their customers, crypto or no crypto.
I promise you that the FBI Director would be surprised that instead of Nigeria fixing the root cause, it decided to ban a sector. Here in America, there are crypto-related crimes but they are working the processes to fix them. In Nigeria, it is to BAN because we are lazy to think and evolve.
Next time, I would like to read “we have banned the importation of guns into Nigeria because Boko Haram is using them” or perhaps “Nigeria has banned the use of Naira because people launder it and use it to defraud”.
Nigeria must learn how to examine root causes of issues over these juvenile reactions if we hope to advance our nation. We shut down borders to prevent smugglers. Now, we shut down a sector we have no control in the global area because people are scamming people. Why not ask the FBI to give you data, and then get police to arrest and prosecute the criminals? The fact is this: the crypto world did not blink because of this ban in Nigeria. Simply, Nigeria has disconnected its young people from a global (possible) opportunity.
Good People, if you applied for the David Onaolapo Scholarship at Tekedia Institute before 2.30pm today, you must have received a full scholarship from Tekedia Institute to attend Tekedia Mini-MBA which begins tomorrow. David is sponsoring 30 people who lost their jobs in the last 12 months. But I told our team to admit anyone who had emailed us before 2.30pm WAT (Sunday). My understanding is that everyone who applied must have received a login by now. In total, 45 people emailed and we admitted them all; it was a very short-time window of hours.
?Good People, join me to thank David Onaolapo who is sponsoring 30 people on full scholarships to Tekedia Mini-MBA. For this one, we are focusing on only those who lost their jobs during the last 12 months and are looking at getting back to work. Our hope is that our program will deepen their capabilities and prepare them for new opportunities.?
As it stands now, we cannot admit more. However, we have other scholarships on special needs homes, and rural education, strictly adhering to the instructions from the donors. To the recipients, congratulations.
We do have processes now to provide internships via some projects people bring to us. However, most have been technical in nature. We are refining the process to ensure people can get skills that will position them for jobs. I invite everyone to register at hub.tekedia.com as we share such therein.
Both academics and professionals are expected to contribute to the containment and management of Covid-19. Academic leaders are among the critical leaders needed for a proper understanding of the disease in terms of its interaction with human and non-living things. This is expected to be done through researches and community outreach. According to our analyst, the outreach is usually planned and executed within the outcomes of the researches.
Since 2019, academic researchers in the medical and non-medical fields have been conducting researches on various issues around the disease. In most cases, attention has been paid to the discovery of vaccines by the clinical or medical researchers. Researchers in the social science field have equally contributed publications that could help stakeholders in containing and managing the disease. This has largely been done from the awareness, attitude and behaviour perspectives.
In all these situations, like their counterparts in the public higher education sector, private universities in Nigeria have also contributed to the global conversation on Covid-19 using their research resources, especially publications in national and international journals, books, monographs and clinical trial reports.
Nigerian Private Universities Contribute 156 Publications to Global Covid-19 Research in 14 Months
In the previous analysis, our analyst reported that institutions in Nigeria contributed 1,634 publications to the global publications of over 300,000 from 196 countries between December 6, 2019 and February 7, 2021. Out of 1,634 publications from Nigeria, analysis indicates that private universities had 156 publications, representing 9.54%.
In 14 months and 7 days of the global publications, it emerged that Covenant University led other private universities in Nigeria with 20.51% of the 156 publications from the universities. With 8.97% of the publications, the Landmark University followed Covenant University.
According to our analysis, these universities are the only universities that occupied first and second positions conveniently during the period of the publications. Though, Joseph Ayo Babalola University and Afe Babalola University had 5.77% and 3.85% of the publications, which made them distinctive among others, they failed to occupy the first three positions. Bowen University appears on the research table twice. It appears as an academic institution and also as a hospital institution [see Exhibit 1].
Exhibit 1: Institutions and Publications [Frequency and Percent]
Our check further reveals that Covenant University’s researchers explored different aspects of the diseases in their researches. This is also applicable to the researchers at the Landmark University. Our analyst found that academics from the Computer Science, Agriculture, and Biochemistry, Medicinal Biochemistry, Infectious Diseases, Nanomedicine & Toxicology Departments contributed to the University’s publications. Analysis also reveals that Ajayi Crowther University, Obong University, Renaissance University, Godfrey Okoye University, Wellspring University, Al-Qalam University Katsina, Paul University, Western Delta University, Caleb University, Bells University of Technology and Igbinedion University had one publication each, making them to occupy the last position [see Exhibit 2].
In our analysis of the research competition, Covenant, Landmark, Joseph Ayo Babalola and Afe Babalola Universities edged out the others from occupying the first, second, fourth and sixth positions and pushed them to third, fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth positions. Redeemer’s University and Nile University of Nigeria jointly occupied the third position.
Babcock University and Adeleke University occupied fifth position, while Fountain University and Lead City University slugged it out and both retained the seventh position. The eighth position was jointly occupied by Pan-Atlantic University, Bowen University Teaching Hospital and Bingham University. McPherson University, Crescent University, Salem University and Bowen University occupied the ninth position. With the contribution of two publications each, Novena University, Caritas University, Elizade University, Baze University and Al-Hikmah University occupied tenth position.
Good People, join me to thank David Onaolapo who is sponsoring 30 people on full scholarships to Tekedia Mini-MBA. For this one, we are focusing on only those who lost their jobs during the last 12 months and are looking at getting back to work. Our hope is that our program will deepen their capabilities and prepare them for new opportunities.
If in this group, click and send an email to our team; we will not be using the NGOs which usually do the vetting since there is no time: program begins 12 noon WAT on Monday. Be honest and let us help only those who need it.
As that happens, we still have funds to support people working in orphanages, special needs homes and teachers in rural areas. We have offered full scholarships with the restriction that each entity can send a maximum of two employees.
Last year, we offered hundreds of scholarships through the kindness of many global citizens and our own internal funds. And we have established one thing: Nigerians and Africans are very generous.
Once again, thanks David and all the donors who continue to pay money into our accounts. This is a community service and I want to thank our global Faculty for making this mission possible.
