Inaugural Lecture Held By Yala Post Graduate Students' Association With Cross Section Of Yala Students In Cross River University Of Technology And College Of Health Technology Calabar.

INAUGURAL LECTURE HELD BY YALA POST GRADUATE STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION WITH A CROSS SECTION OF YALA STUDENTS IN CROSS RIVER UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (CRUTECH) AND COLLEGE OF HEALTH TECHNOLOGY (COHTECH), CALABAR

A cross section of Yala Post Graduate Students engaged the students of Cross River State University of Technology and College of Health Technology of Calabar in a robust intellectual romance. The lecture we hope will lead to a more cross-cultural and even multi-disciplinary approaches to research, intricacies of course of study, knowledge, pedagogy and publishing which are now the way to the future. The effort here gives us, scholars and practitioners alike, the hope for more interconnections and flow between younger generation in Yala and scholars grounded in various disciplines. The President of Yala Post Graduate Students’ Association (YAPGRASA), Mr Odey Clarence Odey blazed the occasion with a ground-breaking opening remark. He advocated the need to launch students of Yala origin at the centre of educational advancement. He also lamented the dearth of Professors and Practitioners from Yala because of paucity of awareness in all spheres of our endeavour.

Comr. Odey equally bemoan the proliferation of associations which have no real values and impact on human lives other than satisfying selfish ends especially financial gratification and personal aggrandizement. According to him, he didn’t want YAPGRASA to be among such associations. He maintained that Yala people must take their destinies in their hands. Crafting a desired future required conscious and deliberate sacrifices. To cushion the ugly trends in Yala such as educational apathy, teenage pregnancy, cultism, violent communal conflicts among others, the need for public enlightenment campaigns is non-negotiable. To this end, the YAPGRASA has to take the lead even without external financial assistance; this is their little quota to the development of Yala nation.

The President, a Ph.D candidate and lecturer in the University of Calabar, intimated that such events would be organized in five communities in the local government area – Okuku, Aliforkpa, Okpoma, Yahe and Wanakom – for all secondary school students in the adjoining communities.

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words “the reward of a thing well done is to have done it”. Papers were presented by resource persons to right the historic silencing of indigenes of Yala in the Northern Senatorial District. Paul Ekaji Oko’s paper on “The Cognitive Imperative of Unionism in the Socio-political Advancement of Students of Yala Local Government” interrogates the need to marry academics with unionism. The rich blend of education and unionism is a constructive palliative against academic backwardness. Ekaji, (Ph.D in view) holds that unionism brings people from all works of life together.

He stressed that the character component of “in character and learning” phrase is acquired through participation in unionism. He reminded the students that skills such as leadership, confidence, communication and interpersonal relationship skills are acquired through campus unionism. He concluded by reminding them of great Nigerian leaders of today, who started their games back in the university days.

Also in a brief motivational talk, the Director of Social, Postgraduate Students’ Union Government, University of Calabar, Comr. Freeman Ogar stated that education is intricately woven with socialization. To come to term with realities of Nigerian Post Colony, Socialization and Academic should go shoulder to shoulder.

He charged Yala youths to break the socioeconomic barriers that entangled Yala people and launch out for their dreams, which he described as realizable. Comr. Ogar stated that the key ingredient to achieving set goal is confidence. To him, greatness could still be achieved by one who doesn’t have the best of academic brain.

David Omagu who anchored the event as the Master of the Ceremony (MC) advised the students constructively. He advocated the need to be hardworking, diligent, sceptical and above all God fearing. He however called on the President of the association, Odey Clarence Odey to present his paper. The paper entitled “Climbing the Ivory Tower: the 21st century Approach to Academic Success in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions” hammered on the quality expectations of a graduate and the pathways to climbing and successfully descend the ivory tower, which he simply called the tertiary institution. Odey’s paper is instructional. He advised the students to take their studies serious, attend all classes, participate in class discussion, participate in socio-curricular activities and steer away from anti-social activities. He drew the curtain with this insightful comment that “to traverse this mighty ocean successfully, which not all swim across, you must imbibe the Socratic dicta which are “man know thyself “and an unexamined life is not worth living”.
Ogar Patrick Ogar and Oko Jerome Alexander’s paper on “Entrepreneurship and the need for Holistic Education among Yala Students” is a searing and inspirational piece for Yala students. According to them, theoretical knowledge should be backed with practical knowledge. The students are vehemently advised to look outside the box to efficiently and efficiently harness entrepreneurship as a driving force to sustainable education. By so doing, the students will be equipping themselves for the life after school and the future respectively. Saint Stephen Adoga’s sub speech is a corroboration of Ogar Patrick and Oko Jerome’s assertion. He advised the students prepare for themselves a separate time table as a strategy of overcoming academic obstacles. A paper like “Interrogating Yala Post-Colonial Womanhood” did not come to fruition because of the ill health of the author, Odey Josephat Adoga (Ph.D in view).
In the vote of thanks, the World Wide President of National Association of Yala local government students, Comr. John Odey, heartily expressed his gratitude to Yala Postgraduate Students’ Association for the vision. Further expressing the minds of his armed less battalion, the Comr Odey, who is the immediate past NAYLOGS CRUTECH Chapter president, described the event as the first time such an event was organised in all his years as a student. He requested for more of such gatherings.
Post graduates students in attendance include the following;

Odey Clarence Odey
David Omagu
Ekaji Paul Oko
Odey Josephat Adoga.
 Ogar Freeman
Ogar Patrick Ogar
Oko Jerome Alexander
Saint Adoga
The voices of impressively Scholarly younger scholars in Yala will go a long way in shaping the consciousness of Yala Students for a better Yala nation.

 The Eagles Voice Blog
Reporting From Calabar.