Being a guest speaker...

 

I have had a more manic week than I’ve had in a long time! I've been on holiday for over three months so I have probably lost touch with life as a working person, hehehehehe. 

A friend of mine who lectures at Institut National des Sciences Appliquées in Strasbourg (INSA) asked me to be a guest speaker in her class. Little did I know what I was getting myself into! One of her courses is conversational, so her students are required to have conversations in English. She asked me to speak about something cultural in Nigeria which I was glad to do. After giving some quick facts about Nigeria, I went on to speak a bit about my state of origin, Benue. 

Lest I forget, I got some funny answers when I asked what the capital of Nigeria was. I'm chuckling as I remember...I even got Bamako! 

Twenty first century young adults

Over the last year and a half, I have been volunteering to work with young adults from teenage to early twenties. It has been very interesting, shocking and I have learnt so much.

It has been interesting because I have met some truly driven people who inspire me.

Shocking, at the level of ignorance considering that this generation has everything at their disposal to learn. The effects social media has on these children is saddening as it is mostly negative. The selective reading tilts more to gossip and entertainment but little about things that could help to build them up.

But I have also met some extremely intelligent and super driven ones who impress me each time we speak. I learn from all of them.

Last weekend, the topic we were discussing was 'my big picture'. It was a topic we discussed for a period of time. We took turns, with each person having to talk about their plans and goals, and it was inevitable to present such a topic without giving some practical examples including personal ones. I talked about one goal I hoped to achieve which I have already started working towards.

EducationNGR

I visited one of the oldest federal universities in Nigeria recently. To put things in context, this university was founded in the sixties. Once upon a time, when people studied at this university, they would be looked at like they went to one of the finest universities in Nigeria but I dare say that today, it lives on past glory, sadly. 

I was curious about certain things and I spoke to two people whose opinions I believe would mirror that of many others. One, a student and another, a professor.

The student is studying Graphic Design/Arts. Being a second year student, I asked how school was going and what challenges this student might be facing. The student narrated different things to me but there was one incident that I think is worth mentioning. A classmate, who had done a diploma in the same field in another country joined them late in the semester, and knowing most universities, hard work is something that is not out of place. Anyway, there was an assignment which some of them had spent sleepless nights doing. In honesty, my friend mentioned that the new student’s final product was not particularly great. In any case, this new student was given a D for her work and challenged the lecturer. She thought she deserved better and her ‘hard work’ was not rewarded. That was the beginning of her problems in the department. Many Nigerians who studied in our universities know this all too well. She was made to apologise and beg the lecturer every day for the entire year as he had made it clear that she would fail his course. The lecturer in question told his colleagues about this student and that is usually not good. When a lecturer involves his colleagues, there is a tendency that the student might be ganged up against. 

NgREN

I wrote this report in 2010 when I still had some of the 'techie'ness (as my colleagues at the time liked to say) left in me.  My report

I may not have followed up completely with the Nigerian Research and Education Network but following up on this report, work is still being done and efforts are being made, more clusters have been formed but how involved is the community in this effort?

Nigeria is a large country with diversity as large and on so many occassions, agreement wanders far off. 
Eko-Konnect, SokREN and OsunREN are the clusters in Nigeria that are currently up and running. The idea behind the clusters is to get the Higher Institutions in different regions to collaborate and at some point, they can all come together to form the National Research and Education Network (REN).

Well, I'll let you read more about this yourself but I have to warn you that it is somewhat 'technical' :-) See these links for yourself please Nigerian Research and Education Network and Ekokonnect (one of the many clusters).

What do you think of the NgREN?

Paper VS Screen

Do you prefer to watch a movie or surf the internet instead of reading?

I asked a few people this question and most of the people I asked prefer a screen to paper.

There was a lengthy discussion on this topic which I happened to listen to.

The virtual (online) world has such a strong presence and most people have willingly embraced it. Some people tend to be more active in the virtual space especially social media than they are in reality. Their social lives and things happen for them in the virtual space. On the other hand, in reality, some of these people will not participate physically in social activities.

During events, take a look around, when people get bored; phones are easy alternatives to get rid of the boredom.

Am I doing the right course?

I decided to do another Masters progamme which has brought me all the way to Malta. I have got mixed reactions from this statement like...aren't you tired of school? How much knowledge do you want to acquire? I know, I know but what can I say? No knowledge is useless, besides I love this course I am doing which by the way is; Contemporary Diplomacy.

This is a truly beautiful place, I love the view from my room. So far, I have not been able to see the city because we have classes from 9 A.M to 9 P.M, it has been an interesting marathon. The time has flown so fast, we have one more day to go. The courses so far have been great, engaging. I wake up these days looking forward to having classes, a sign that I made the right choice.