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Humanities not only about human welfare, improve lives – KASU VC
The Vice-Chancellor (V-C), Kaduna State University (KASU), Prof. Abdullahi Musa, on Monday said that humanities and social sciences were not only concerned about human welfare, but also improve human lives.
Musa, who said this while declaring open the 3rd International Conference of KASU’s Faculty of Arts, said that humanities were the mothers of all sciences, and their relevance could not be overemphasized.
The conference has as its theme “The humanities, Social Sciences and Education in Africa: Challenges and Prospects in Changing Contexts”.
Musa said the conference was expected to generate new ideas and insights on the role of humanities and social sciences in shaping Africa’s future.
He also said that the conference would provide a platform for scholars to engage with each other and share their research findings, with the ultimate goal of contributing to the development of the continent.
The vice-chancellor urged the participants to engage in fruitful discussions and share their ideas on how to harness the potential of humanities and social sciences to address the challenges facing Africa.
Similarly, Prof. Tanimu Abubakar of the Department of English and Literary Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said that the epistemic and ideological value of the human sciences had always been inspired, provoked or even opposed by the modernisation process.
Abubakar said that this was due to their location at the intersection of the vested interests of Euro-capitalist expansionism and its opposition by the Third World.
His presentation was titled “The humanities and Social Sciences at the Intersections of the Modernization Process and National Development in the Third World”.
Abubakar explained that in this context, the challenge-prospects of the human sciences would, as it had been, be mediated by historical, technological and epistemological changes at national, continental and global levels.
He, however, said that the successes which the humanities and the social sciences in Postcolonial societies made the yearning for sovereign national development and modernisation and its obstruction by imperialism could be replicated by the commitment of scholars.
Abubakar explained that this was with a view to reversing the stagnation of postcolonial societies.
“The task of producing enlightened manpower through the generation and dissemination of transformative knowledge, academic freedom, intellectual activism or the politics of knowledge-production were not and cannot now be natural, neutral and matter-of-fact.
“On the contrary, they have been and will remain outcomes of deliberate efforts by committed scholars who Antonio Gramsci describes in his Hegemony Theory as organic intellectuals’,’ he said.
Abubakar expressed optimism that insights gained at the conference would pave way for the evolution of reformative transdisciplinary humanities and social sciences.\
This, he said, would help in unraveling and combating the complicity of the globalist recolonisation agenda.
“The globalist recolonisation agenda is driven by neoliberalism, corporate capitalism and postmodernism in collaboration with the docile and pliant ruling classes of postcolonial societies,” he also said.
Earlier, the Dean, Faculty of Arts, KASU, Prof. Audee Giwa, said the intellectual contributions of the disciplines in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education with their focus on man and society as subjects of study in Nigeria and Africa were vast.
Giwa added that their impact on the continent has been immense in the face of challenges.
According to him, in the 21st century, the prospects and what role the disciplines will continue to play will be interrogated by the conference.
Also, Prof. A.K. Babajo, KASU’s Provost, College of Humanities, Education and Law, commended the vice-chancellor for his insightful remarks, saying that humanities and social sciences were indeed essential for improving human lives.
He emphasised that the conference would provide a platform for scholars to engage in meaningful discussions and share their research findings, which would contribute to the development of Africa.
Babajo further stressed that humanities and social sciences were not only concerned with human welfare but also play a critical role in shaping Africa’s future.
He encouraged participants to explore the challenges and prospects of humanities and social sciences in Africa, including the impact of colonialism, globalisation, and technology on African cultures and societies.
Babajo expressed optimism that the conference would generate new ideas and insights that would pave the way for the evolution of reformative transdisciplinary humanities and social sciences in Africa.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two-day conference will feature panel discussions and paper presentations on various topics, including the role of humanities in education, sustainable development, among others.(NAN)
Aides, Allies Disown Him, Say You’re a Traitor, We’re not Leaving PDP
Barely two weeks after his defection from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), crisis has enveloped the political camp of a member of the House of Representatives for Obokun/Oriade federal constituency in Osun State, Oluwole Oke.
Indeed, these are not the best of times for him as his defection to the APC is eliciting rejection from his close circles and constituency.
His key allies who he groomed into politics and government positions have rejected his calls on them to join him to defect to the APC.
A source said that in the last few days, key aides and allies of the lawmaker have rejected his movement to the APC, describing it as a political tragedy.
“With the way he betrayed PDP, Oluwole Oke is like the proverbial Leopard that can never change the spots on its body. He will also betray the APC. We are staying back in PDP while severing political links with him”, one of his allies, Bamidele Johnson said.
Some of his allies were said to have openly declared that the defection marks a political waterloo for the 6th term legislator.
For instance, some of Oke’s allies in his Local Government scorned his move as “a decision borne out of greed and selfishness.”
One of them described him as “an ingrate who betrayed a party on whose platform he got married in life as a lawmaker and on whose platform he gained all his material riches.”
The Northern Youths Consultative Forum for Justice (NYCJ) has urged Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in Zamfara State, citing a complete breakdown of governance, law, and order.
In a statement issued on Monday in Kano, NYCJ President Dr Sanusi Rano described the situation in Zamfara as “organised abandonment of duty” by elected officials.
“What we are witnessing in Zamfara is not governance. It is betrayal of the people,” Rano said, pointing to the absence of a functional state House of Assembly and allegations linking officials to criminal activities.
The group highlighted the suspension of 10 lawmakers who spoke out against the deteriorating security situation, arguing that their removal has left Zamfara without a legally recognised legislative body.
“This is a dictatorship of silence,” said Rano, adding that the lack of checks and balances has deepened the state’s crisis.
“The same hands that should protect Zamfara are profiting from its destruction,” Rano stated.
Calling for decisive action, the group demanded the appointment of a non-partisan administrator to rebuild the state’s institutions.
“If this is not done now, Zamfara risks becoming a permanent state of anarchy, which threatens our democracy,” Rano warned.
Justice Nwosu-Iheme of a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, on Monday, sentenced the husband of late gospel singer, Osinachi, Peter Nwachukwu, to death by hanging.
Nwachukwu was found guilty of culpable homicide resulting in the death of the deceased ( his wife) on April 8, 2022.
The judge held that the prosecution had proven the burden of proof placed on it by the law and subsequently found the defendant guilty.
Nwachukwu was arraigned on June 3, 2022 by the Office of Attorney-General of the Federation (OAGF), on behalf of the Federal Government, on a 23-count charge .
The charge was on culpable homicide punishable with death, criminal intimidation, cruelty to children, criminal intimidation of children, spousal battery, among others.
In the course of trial, the prosecution called 17 witnesses, including two children of the late Osinachi, who testified as fourth prosecution and fifth prosecution witnesses, PW4 and PW5 respectively.
The prosecution also tendered 25 documents as exhibits before the court.
The defendant testified for the defence and further called four other witnesses and tendered four exhibits in his defence.
Shortly before sentencing, the defendant, counsel , Reginald Nwali, in his allocutus pleaded with the court to be lenient in its judgment.
Similarly, the prosecution counsel, Mrs Aderonke Imala, urged the court to give force to the law as stipulated.
Justice Nwosu-Iheme subsequently sentenced Nwachukwu to death by hanging on Count 1, while he was sentenced to two years imprisonment each on Counts 2, 3, 8,9, 12, 13, and 18.
The court sentenced the defendant to six months imprisonment on Count 10, three years imprisonment in Count 11, while he was fined the sum of N500,000 and N200,000 respectively on Counts 6 and 7 respectively. (NAN)