lHEGUARDIAN, Thursdal(JuIy 7,20U
Education /51
UNN develops automated dental chair match towards technologicill
From~""'&.eJ
C'CIENTlSTS at
lh~
University
.Jof Nigeria, Nsukk.t. have
recorded a major tKhnoloi,'ial b~akthroogh. nit')' have succ~ed
in designing and
producing an automate(! denral ch.air with locally sourced materials. Delivering the 60 th Inaugural lectUre, t1tled "enhancfng healthy human life through
blOt:ngtneering and rehabllitation medicine" recent,Y. the Dean,
Faculty
of
Heallh
Sciences and Technology, Pro[ Chuba Okoye. 6pbineil that the dental chair was a whol~ body balanced bed, which can
be easily adapted {or norHnv.l· stve Intensfve we monitonng. a device that rrquJres minim.il maimenance If well devel-
0"'"
The don said the dma would be sullable for use in I1lOS[ d~~)oping counn1es of the world, stressing that II
would go also a long way In
enh.1ndng
the
COUnlry's
~
aVil.l~
wrods: -with the dbility of such semkonductor devlc~ with rell"Vi1.J1t speclfla. tions. many simple ~nlc medical deo.icrs an be ~iISIli' fabrtcated or ilSSembled. Desa1blng th~ success of the project as it monumenCll tech· nologlcal brukthrough of th~ 21n c~ntury, the dean pralsM th~ UNN form~r V1c~ Chancellor, Prof Chinedu Nebo, for commissionln~ him and funding the production of the dental chdir iltthe blomed. lcal ~ngineering research ilnd deve.lopmentcelJbt'. CoUege of Medlane, UNN. Apart from th~ denCLI chair, the reseilrch team, led by Okoye, hasdesi~ed and developed Multi.posltlon hydrauJic Vouub le surgical operating table. Solar Energised photothtlilpy units, steam steriliz· er elecak: Kerosene Gas, noncare inVilSivr Inte:nsive Monitoring Bed ford~loplng coumries and se:m<lI others..
The: university don h~r, caUed for tht: t:Stabllshmem of biomedical enginet:ring ~rch and pnxluctiort c~n. O"e: for tJiecountrytoserwas d ragtnatl c solution [0 the nD;tClilbl~ probl~m of health
r,
care
equlpm~nt.
U~ stated that If t:St.lblished, the cenbt' would ensure th~ prOvision of ildequilt~ly [filined manpower for [he design, development and production as wellasullUzation of simple medial ~ulpment. Ihe dVdllablllty of ad~quate number and quality of health care equlpm~m and their 5priII!: pans for errectlve malotenance and repair for illlievels of hearlh care. Okoyt noted that ~ glimpse of what rehabllJQdon 1TIC'didne could contribute to hea lthy human life WilS captured In th~ Story of our famous foolba llt:r, Kanu Nwanlcwo, who WilS diagnosed with a h~art probl~m, hild ope:n heart surgery and WilS rehablJltUm 10 com 1e:t~
functional ca~llity, pointing OUI that medicine hid added years to his ~ to his life while rehabihtation medicine had added Ufe to his years. as he Is still very active physically and menta lly In footba ll. Earlier, the: vlcrchancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Pro[ Bartho Okolo, who WilS r~presented by th~ Deputy Vice: Olancellor, University of Nigeria Enugu Glmpus. Pco[ Mrs. Ifeoma Enemuo, had ~ affirmed the: commitment of the Ivory tower to Invest on rest:arrh work and described Pro[ Chuba Okayt', the: on~ Prof. of Rehabilitation medl' rine In UNN. ilS not only iI p~ to the Instlrution but toAfrica. The evl!nt ilttr.IC(ed the oeam of the: aademia within and outside the: counuy, including the: director, Scientific Equipment Drve.Iopme:nt Institute, SED!, Akwuke Enugu. Pro[ Ou1stian Nwajilgu and Mr. E..M, Onwubuya of the same com-
'.
How Federal Poly, Mubi will become degree-awarding, by Barau from EnunuII AndI, Voll
'T1iE Rector of th e Federill .l Polytechnic, Mubi, Ada.mawa Slate, Or. Mustapha M. Barau, has said thilt his dream Is to hilv~ the Polyelc.hn ic upgraded 10 iI deg~ aWilrdrng school. 1henaortoldTIit!Gu.m1im In iln interview at the weekend In Mubl that h~ had made some efforu to revlvt and strength~n the Infrasuuc· tur~ of th~ Institution, which, according to him, had comple:rely collil psM before hiS ilmval as the hedd of the: iflsti. tutlon in 2007. -Wehavefocusedonfour~ areas: sraff dtve1opmt:nt, inJij. SU\lcrur~ deve)opme:nt, skilled manpowe:r ~nd co mmunity service", he stated. Ba.rau, who pointed out that withoutsklUed manpower; no Institution or co un try ca n ilChkve: its goal also noted tl¥1t his deciSIon to employ more staff was In line his with vision expand th e Mubl to Polytechnk to enable II fulfill the purpose of its t:Stablishment. ~Ie staled: -cornln$ from an International recogmzed Insti· tutlon li ke the Federal rolytC'ChniC, !Cadunil, I was
ashamed to caUed the Federal Polytechnic, Mubl iI federal Institution, because there was nothing on ground to JUStIN the name'. Hee:xplalnedthatatthetime he took over, therewereonlyT7 prognmmes, tlu"ee schoolS, a srudent population of 3,500 and one lecture haiL -Myflrsuask,whichpllched me agiLlllSl some individuals. was cl\anging completdy the dCildemk: envirorunent of the institution fnlmagloriDedsec. ondary school. to a modem PolytKhnic.; he said. The Rector, who malntained that no counhy In the world couldachieveitslkllelop~ tal ta~et without tecbnlc.tl education, also pointed out thalNlgertacouJdonJyacJueve its technologica l ilge:nda, Ir Polytechnics in the country w~re properly funded, to e:nable them,perform their roles of trillning professlona1s. Baraufurtheid&losedthat, to ensure that his dreams was achieved In iI short time. h~ recruited 900 staff ilnd increased the students' enrolment from 3,500 10 IS 000
'~JbIyw.:hnk"wastslabIWIed In 19?9. I re5llJTrd YoUk hereasll'llllrin2007arodteSiil'
dents population was ),500 andw~ntlrenumberofstaff
was 78L From this record, it was dear to me thai the Instl· rutlonc.tnnotgrowunl ess th~ manpower improve", he said. To achieve this, he said thilt his administrillion recruited 1061Juniormo;7SJsenlor3Cil. demlc staff and 490 se nior non..ac.ttlemlc Sfilf[ On his race-olf with Ihe National Presldt:Ol of Academic staff union of polytechnic (ASUP) Mr. Mohammed Kabiru. who Is oil IKturer In the schoo1, he saki that tile crisis WilS Iliggered when Kilbiru WilS ~ as the head of Departmt:nt or Computtr. Barnu, whoWilSsandwkhed by some top manilgement staff during the: illl~ told The Gwtdlan thatWhenstaffWffer«ruited, he removed th~ less qwlified staff from import.lnt positions. Ht: poImedoul d~t hisded· slon 10 make some cha ngt:S was 10 encourage hard work ilnd disdptJn~ among staff. -Kablru has only iI slngl~ degree. for over 10 yeilrs . He was glven scholarship and up till tOday, he c.tnnot produce
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the certimcare of his Master's de£ree:. How can iI first degree holder be the boss of thosw with Master's degree In an iIGdemic environment? Kilbiru is a Junior lecturer, so It Is wrong for him to Heild a Department. We were mallilgIng him because there were no qu.1lifed lect1Jfr:rs to head some depamnenu and that was lilt: main re:ason that propeUed me to ~mbark on massive recruilTTlent e:xerdse. BUolu, who challenged the National Pres~nt of ASUP [0 pnxluce his Mastet's d~ certlfate. said that his vision WilS to develop the: Instirudoo ~nd nO(to engagftl in a battle of words with individuals.. When The Gu.udidlJ contact· ed the- Nadonal Presklent of ASUP (Kilbiru) on his cmifi. ate §CUldal aUe:gadons. he said that the ReaorWilS fi~ht. ing iI penooal war with him lie could not, hOlW'l/er, establish whether he was iI holder of a Mas[er's de:grtt OC' not. 11le Guardian:r Investigations revealed ma[ two panels from Federal Ministry of Educ.ttion visited the school twice on InVl'Stigoation of allegations leveled" agillnst the Rector by Kilbiru, bur tile two panels give Barau a cleiln bill
Lead-Fone Gate holds an exhibition 'T'7'tGCED 'An Altack' with the .lWmt';'KeepingAn@Hean 10 enhancr cre,uiVIty', j)iIreflES who visiled Ihis year's open house of ledd fon~ G.lle School were thrilled by the level ol creativity diSplayed by th~ students through th~(r design and dlt work. The open Howe Is an annual tvent poised to opening the mind of the children lOWilrds iI focused topic, where both the children and their teachers are giving topics to work on ibrough research, practical and theorit:S On the s.ikI topic. M.cording to th~ An teacher M[ Samson Okomayln he said th~ topic art ilttack WilS launched to aprutt the minds of peoplt: at first sight dOd CO\'m; artS In different anglt:S stan·
How to improve agric sector; by Okoronkwo By .........." A FTF.M.seriesolinlensivesrudy /"lon the ~ humm and' animal waste utilization prac. tices In JOSand Barlcln--Udi dn!aS ol PlattdU Stal~ the: Deputy VIce Chancdlor..-.ademics, of National Open University of i eria (NGJN~ rrofessor Mba reke Okoronkwo, has led on govemmelllto duce human and aninldl waste utlllz.alion scheme in tile COUOtry's a~cultural sector. This, Tle said has become necessary following the scarcity of chemical fertlllz· ers and lh~ rising need ilntI demand for veg~table ilnd Salad crops In Nfgeriol, which can all~mativelybe produced with this recommended Mt· ural resources. Professor o f Environmental Parasitology, who delJ~red a Ie:ctu re: titled "'The Public Health Slgnlncance of Human ilnd Animal Wasl6 Uti lization In Agricullure- at th~ rK~ntly held malden lnaugul'dl lectur~ of NOUN, after series or research dnd findings on the discourse, wilnlS government 10 rully Integra te rht: sch eme m to natiollill, state ilnd local goy~ rnm~ nt strdt~gic resource plannmg. This.-h~ added cannot be done without first consld~r Ing appropriilte heillih protection measures whi ch h~ listed as WdSl ~wil lerlex cre t.. treiltment; crop restrictions;
~
mero.
Foundation, MUSON graduate fourth set of music scholars "J"WENIY-NlNE brilliant but .1 Indigent students, who have a dleam of pursuing a rewarding career In music,
were among the founh set of the MTN Found.tion (MlNF)
'Muson Music Scholilrs' who graduilled with Diploma In Musi c in Lilgos rK~mJy. They oiI~ 10 t:njoyth~ foun~ don's sponsorship for the next Dve
,.,....
Tht: til'St sel of the MUSON Dlplomil in Music programme, aboUi 21 srudents, gradualed In June 2008. The second se t of 24 sllldems grildualed In July 2009 ilnd In June 2010, anmi1er batch o f 29 stud ems successfully completed their course. To doue, ilbout 103 ,...IlNF Music Scholilrs hilve so rar benefited from the programme. The Chillrmiln, Board of DirKfOrs, MTN Nigeria Found,nion, Amb. Hamz.u Ahmadu ilcknowledged thilt ther~ has betn a musical ~n aissanc~ In Ihe co untrywhlch is ~vklem In the number of youths ITliIkifl$, a living from th ~lr musical ralent.
WIth so many ilchih'ing 10CiI1 ilnd international stilr· dom, he notm that Nigeriil's music has becom~ popular ilCfOSS th e AfriCiin connnent ilnd be:yond.
h~~if:l!"~~o~e~:~f
ta lent become:s In~erent ilS many brUliant an d glfltd Nigerian youths Iilck the: wherewithal to nurture and earn a living from music. HidlUghting lhe: impact of the "frNF InitiatiV!' on SOCiety ilS some of the gradu.:mds h~ said: - three of the first set o f st udenlS, Olufeml Ojtebule, Ezeuko Anuli ana rilu l Ogunboye, who graduatm In 200S, Iater secured ildmlsslon to Ih~ Depamnent of Music, University of Dayton, Ohio, United Stilles of America where they graduated wilh honours and- th~ firsr set of Afrlcdns to graduilte with honours from the depart· me:nt of Music from Ihe unlve:rslry-. T'heMusicSodetyofNigeria (MUSON) orren tillented young peaple: from different backgrounds the opportunity to acquire qwlir.nivr musk tducadon leading to the:
award or Di plo ma in Music. The Diploma plogrilmm~ , which co mm ~nced in Se pl~mber 2006 graduated tht: third set of be:neficlaries rrcenlly. 29 students out of iI totill of 74 have compl~tetl their respect.lv~ courses. Exclled ilbout Ihe achievem~nt a nd the glory It hilS brought not onlyloth~ mUSK school to Nige:na ilS well, he e:x pressed the h~ that more b~ne:lcld rles Will tilke the oppon\lIlity thill t he rrogramm ~ o ffers to exce In lh ~lr chosen end~ilvour. -It isourjoyro lend a hand and a1sln In improving Ihe quallty of life of ilS many pc-opl~aspossible:inourcommil'
nities through SlrUctured corporate social Investment Inl· tlativessuchilSlhls.Currelllly MTN Foundation has ov~r292 projects In36stares across the country Including Ihe Fer, Abujah~ said. Investing in talenlS like these he conflnned has been parr of tilt: focus of the foon· dadon sinCe It was creiltm In 2004. Through the: Education portrollo or MTNF,th~ foundation has been ilble to Id~mlry )'OlIng talented pea-
r.le and nurture: talents. The oundation has the bench· markforwide:lmpact,protect based social in~ent and Its beneficiaries conti nu~ [0 grow exponentiallY-. Director, MUSON School of Music, Mrs Edna 51yannwo In h er report of the sc hools ilctMdt:S and th~ pannershlp wilh the MIN foundarion said the young graduands who have so car benefited from the r,ro&r.lmme: sponsored by t I~ MTN Foundadon (MTNF) provides nude:nlS with iI scholarship thill covers tuition, books alloWilnc~ and transpon subsidy. COnvi nce:d that the [rain· Ing offered by the school met:ts ups with the mndilrd required for the students to exce! In th eir career, she described the bene:fldarles as young lil.lented NI~erlans who hilve had the priVilege of being put through MUSON'S rigorou s tr.lining In illl ilSpectS of music, ranging rrom singing, music composf. elon to actuill playing of musl· cal instrumenU. In his address, the Guest: Speaker, Chief Femi Adenlyl· WIlliams praised th~ ~ ffort of
In~ f':Om sculpture:, .dmvlng, pamnng. lemle de:si.gn. craft milldng dnd montagt!. According to the: he:ad tmcher; Mrs. OluWolfurunilayo Solilde: the es.sena of the open house is to expose the chiltmn to th~ \vorld ilt ~ In order not to be: Umlted to the four walls of classrooITL Sh~explained that the students need to be: ~ too~ ilreas and ilcuvlties that can h~lp lhem develop their Interts( 10 a partfcu1arvoc.ation ilnd build themselves on it. She added that the school Is commlned 10 providing excel>' donal qUdlities and comprehensive educadon with good Christian moral stilnci.ud usin~ Montessori system of le:olrtUng..
som~ highly respected Nigerian who In their quest to set: th~ Q,uaJity of music dnd musIc educa tion Improved and mainlillned In exce ll ~ nce speil rheaded [he esrilblishm~ot o f the music school ACcording 10 him, the dream to make high qUdlity music t:ducation available to all and sundry regardless of race, soclo-economlc sta tuS ilOd even religion hilS brought about the g.nhering 10 wirness anotherharwst of gtdd udnds resul[i ng from rh~ s~ of thilt d reilm. He reiterated thai the stu· tlents have b~en ~ucated ilnd equipped not Just with iln underst"andlng of th eir major Ins trume nts but iI broad understanding or music a.s It r~lates to ot her Instruments, music appred'}. tion, ge neral mUSicianship as w~lI . as composition. Adenlyi-WlUldms also COffio m~nded the efrort of th e teachers. Applauding the MTN founddlion for their continued partnership with the school, assuring the m that the:ir financia l su pport Is being put to very good use.
ilppropriate methods of ilpplymg the wastes to th~ crops; and human exposu~ connot He said, -Fede:ral and State governments are encouraged to be nexible In choosing suit· ilble prou·celon measures thereby allowing themselves to be guided by ou rlocal economic, agricultural, soclCKUI· tural, health related an(.l inm tut;onill conditions. All'the four options mentioned above require continuous ildmlnistrillivll!' and insritu· tional effortS and Glpadtie:s ilSwellas the political wilJilnd nec.esSilry legal back·up fT?m vanous gove:rnment mstllud ons involvtd-. In ilddition. is need for Intensive: and prolonged communiciltions betwe:en users and Implem~ming ilg~ncy, a task which Non· Governmenta.i Organizations NGOs) are often bene:r suited \ or tha n govt"rnment agen· d .... lie contin ued, ihis is Impe:rative because after discovering that extensive human and animal waste: uti· lizatlon was going on in some pam of riareau state: In the country, In response to the Increasmg Cost and less avaiJ.. ilbility olchemical feniliurs as well as high demand for vegetable ilnd salad crops. I discovered also in the coum of our research that theappll· cation o f these human and ilnimal waste to land hild som e potemiill health hal' ilrdS espeda.lly paraslric Infec· tlons-. The uncontrolled use of Un[fealed human ilnd animal wastes, OkoronL"Wo added, -COin po5ea serious health rtsk to fa rm worke:rs. WilSIe-han. dl~rs and consumers of some edible cro ps beciluse raw wastewate:r fre:quently co n· tains hlsl! numbrr of human Incestlnill nematode ~ggs.. Markfi vege:ta bles are often conta minal·e d with human intesti na l ne:miltode: e:ggs, wh~re night soil or wastewater re-uses is practiced., and both crop consumers and ilgrlcuitufOll workers hav~ bee n Identified ilS being at
-mut
~ft~e~sk
from f~!~:~~ He nOted that according to Iheir lindings, significant correliltions be:twun par.lsitic Inf« tlons dnd :rmproms were: observed, iln dlilrrhea ilnd abdominill pains were th e man common symptoms observed. H~ howevtr, warned thal adequate precautions are prerequisite in the use of animal ilOO human waste: for agricul· tural purposes so as to safdy protect the heillth or lh~ £armers and Nigerian public iI[ lilrge.