Author Archives: Helen Special

Just as students of the kaduna polytechnic tunduwada welcome students back to school, its management has begun full implementation of a new dress code to fight indecent dressing on the campus.The dress code which does not necessarily prescribe what should be worn on campus but which frowns at indecent and provocative wears emerged following consensus reached at the management’s meeting upon resumption for the semester recently. The authorities of the Kaduna polytechnic have pledged to enforce a new dress code on students to maintain decency in the institution of which students of the institution are to adhere strictly on the code.Recently, there has been a lot of noise about the controversial issue of Dress Codes on our campus. Yes, I said “controversial” because there are so many varying views on this Dress code issue. However, before I begin to present the very diverse views on the dress code,The Dress Code in tunduwa polytechnic campus is simply a law passed by the authorities of the school in order to ensure that students dress properly and decently. The Dress code committee prohibits certain types of dressing considered to be indecent for the students in the campus. It goes further to specify specific uniform dress for students in some professional courses such as Mass communication,mechanical engineering, SLT and among others. Furthermore, in order to ensure compliance to the dress code law, the school authorities have empowered the school security personnel to turn back any student not properly dressed from the school premises. This was operational here in kadpoly. Where students were checked at the main gate before being allowed into the school.Aside the security, lecturers have also been empowered to send out from lecture halls, students who do not comply with the dress code. In an interview section with one of the dress code committee Mal.Shehu he said,the sudden glamour everywhere for dress code on the campus,such as the deafening din is whether we like it or not we must all agree that the type of dressing on our campuses nowadays can best be described as outrageous, dangerously seductive and flagrantly indecent we learnt from History and anthropology that early human beings were naked wanderers. But as Evolution progressed, Humans became wiser and began to live in houses and to wear clothes. unfortunately, we are now witnessing a backslide or reverse of evolution because it seems that we are going back to the days of early man by the mode of dressing most students wear to the campus all in the name of fashion.” Additionally, it has led to the molestation of so many students by some staff and on the other hand, molestation of staff by students. Having considered some of the problems caused by the indecent dressing here in kadpoly today and against the background of religious teachings as well as the fact that these indecent modes of dressing do not tally with our culture as Nigerians, the need for a dress code to stem the dangerous tide of outrageous dressing, in my opinion is pertinent. The dress code affects both male and female students, the greater part of the brunt is borne by the female students and this is not surprising. We all know that some boys are in the habit of plaiting their hair and wearing ear rings, but by far, girls pose a greater danger to the society by their types of dressing which includes such “wears” as spaghetti tops, body hug, transparent materials, miniskirts and generally, outfits that reveal almost all their natural endowments. One is forced to ponder about the cause of these indecent dressing. Lots of people have rightly pointed fingers at the increasing westernization of all facets of our lives and the gradual but sure erosion of our social values and norms.

The student talks about how African-inspired designs and her quest to promote her designs internationally after completing her two years diploma program.For people who are passionate about fashion designing, getting a certificate or good results in the kaduna polytechnic is now very possible because the school has introduced a course and in recent years seen a significant boom in the fashion designing industry, which means that fashion and design is becoming more competitive.In the department of fashion and designing, students greased the efforts in grooming.Fashion designing has gone beyond stitching fabric together with a sewing machine to a thriving industry of creativity, skill and ideas.In an interview with one of the course lecturers,he said ”As more people recognise the myriads of opportunities the fashion industry presents, the more the demand for knowledge and expertise in the industry increase.he further says away from learning from an apprenticeship,kaduna polytechnic offers fashion designing as a course of study in order to form interested students into becoming successful fashion designers.It is important to be informed and updated on the school trends. This is why some people who are passionate about fashion and design choose to study the course here in kaduna polytechnic. The department carries out various practicals,exams in section,test/Quiz in the school for higher educational knowledge,certificates to graduates from their fashion designing and styling course respectively.Another interview section with one of the students from the fashion and design department mr Steven Attah…

Q:Why attend a fashion design course in the kaduna polytechnic

RESP: It has already been established that fashion designing is ultimately a very lucrative career path considering the astronomical rise and boom of the fashion industry in Nigeria, as well as around the world. More Nigerian fashion designers are taking the world by storm and featuring in exhibitions of international renown around the world so it’s no surprise that higher institutions of learning are already adding fashion designing to their curriculum.In this same way several factors that are contributing to the growth of the field of study in kadpoly is the most important advantages of studying fashion designing which helps to gain a comprehensive knowledge of the fashion industry and what is needed to thrive and be successful as a designer. Just like every other departments, the fashion and design department requires creativity, skill and a large bank of know-how for anyone to be successful in it,this means that anyone aspiring to be a successful fashion designer needs to be armed with sufficient educational and technical knowledge as well as the required know-how and skill to make a difference.

Getting a diploma certificate in fashion and designing means that the designer/students will be ready for the fashion industry upon graduation because they have extensively learnt about fashion design history, clothing textiles, sketching and drawing outfits, fashion events, managing a fashion house and so on.

Additionally, aspiring designers get the opportunity to study the history and notable landmarks in the fashion industry. This means that fashion designing graduates have access to materials detailing the past, present and what the future of fashion would look like. This helps fashion designers to have an understanding of past trends, current and possible future trends. It is always imperative for a fashion designer to be informed and up-to-date.

There’s no denying that every departments has movers and shakers who can play very active roles in making a new entry successful in their field of study. This is one of the reasons why getting a fashion designing certificate is advisable for fashion enthusiasts. During the course of obtaining the results, aspiring fashion designers will have an opportunity to meet with key figures within their industry. Studying this course gives the student the right network of people needed to make the right waves in the fashion industry.it is also noted that aspiring fashion designers can also readily build their portfolio as an undergraduate in anticipation for when they receive their certificates. During the course of obtaining the result,most students can create a portfolio of completed works that they’ve executed to further market and promote their brands when the time comes to venture fully into the industry. Bottom line is that studying fashion designing is certainly a life-changing decision for anyone and with the right mindset and attitude to work. Aspiring fashion designers who graduate with this certificate from higher institutions than from unregulated fashion design schools definitely have better chances to make their mark in the glamorous fashion industry.

Ameh Helen Ochanya

Environmental journalism is the collection, verification, production, distribution and exhibition of information regarding current events, trends, and issues associated with the non-human world. To be an environmental journalist, one must have an understanding of scientific language.

Environmental journalists are pivotal to the climate and environmental sustainability movement. With photographs and videos, they can educate people about the severe condition of the environment while utilizing the power of media to bring about positive changes that can improve the quality of life in our communities.

They are to educate people about the serious state of the environment and use the power of the news media to bring about changes to improve the quality of the air, water, wildlife and natural resources. Environmental journalists are expected to be advocates for changes to improve the quality of the environment and planet at large.

But going by the above we will understand that environment journalism is not effective in Nigeria due to the following reasons

The Science of Climate Change and its Jargon

 

The Media as an Environmental Watchdog

 

Challenges of Investigative Environmental Journalism Today

 

Telling a Story using Digital Media

 

Ethics and Confidentiality

Managing Crisis and Risks

 

The Science of Climate Change and its Jargon

Lack of environmental and scientific training. Reporters without specialized training might ignore complicated environmental stories altogether or, if they attempt them, the results might be less than satisfactory for readers, how can u report what you don’t know.

 

Ethics and Confidentiality

Limited access to governmental data on environmental conservation.Must Environmental Journalists find it difficult to get access to useful information due to its confidentiality and secrecy.

 

Challenges of Investigative Environmental Journalism Today

The existence of forest mafias threatens their professional activities as well as their private lives.

Wildlife journalists have to balance the incongruity that comes as a produce of the short attention span that is affecting news consumers in a society that unfolds around consumerism combined with the fact that environmental stories are frequently complex and difficult to report.

Citizens’ experiences of many environmental issues are mediated, in large part, by the interests of governmental agencies as well as the private sector (big corporations). These two spheres continually influence the media’s presentation of environmental issues putting at stake public perceptions.

 

The Media as an Environmental Watchdog

In recent years, it seems as though media interest in the environment has taken a backseat to other issues impacting the international scenario. Environmental journalists have to deal with the priority of other subjects such as terrorism, poverty, economy, politics, and international relations.

Lack of funds for Environmental Journalists 

Environmental Journalists have to face the lack of training, resources or support from news editorials or sponsors, since Environmental journalism is time and resources consuming it will be difficult to cover it without adequate funds.

 

The recognition of these challenges and a solution to them will impact the creation of a collective dialogue and deliberation on environmental issues that are of broad public concern.

 

Therefore, there is need to educate and empower scientists andjournalists to be more effective at communicating about thecomplexities of climate science and the societal and economicimpacts of a warming planet on its population.

The girl child is a biological female offspring from birth to eighteen years, she is dependent on the people that she models her behavior through observation, repetition and imitation. In Nigeria girls are discriminated against access to educational opportunity, food and nutrition, they are married off at early ages which interferes with their educationOn 11th October this year, UN women joined other UN agencies, civil society and girls around the world to celebrate International Day of the Girl Child under the theme “Digital Generation, Our Generation”They are calling for equal access to the internet and digital devices for girls and targeted investment to facilitate opportunities for girls to simplify and meaningfully access, use, lead and design technology.

Nigeria is one of the countries in the world that has been faced with terrorism attacks. In recent times, many has been kidnapped by bandits and other terrorist that fights against the peace, unity and progress of the Nation. These are the report so far on Kidnapping from the six geo- political zones all through 2015-2021.

In 2015, North-Central had 25, 2016 it was 42, 2017 was 46, 2018 was 51, 2019 it increased to 228, 2020 it became 613 and 2021 from January to June it was 942 person’s that were kidnapped. For North-East, in 2015 it was 515, 2016 was 38, 2017 it moved to 172, 2018 was 313, 2019 became 180, 2020 was 392 and 2021 was 211 between January and June. For North-West, 2015 was 6, 2016 was 68, 2017 was 40, 2018 it became 383, 2019 it moved to 597, 2020 was 1449 and 2021 is 1405 kidnapped persons. In South-East, 2015 was 16, 2016 was 8, 2017 was 9, 2018 was 17, 2019 it moved to 25, 2020 it became 86 and 2021 was 77 persons between January and June. Moving to South-South, 2015 was 68, 2016 was 134, 2017 was 149, 2018 it increased to 161, 2019 it became 271, 2020 was 201 and 2021 was 140 between January and June. For South-West, 2015 it began with 27 persons, 2016 was 57, 2017 moved to 68, 2018 was 61, 2019 it became 85, 2020 it increased to 119 and 2021 was 169 from January to June. This data shows that the South-Eastern part has low number of kidnapped persons and the North-Western region has the highest number. It also reveals that the rate of kidnapping has increased from January to June of this year which is alarming and calls for government intervention to this issue.

Nigeria our beloved country which is tagged “The giant of Africa” has been going through economic situations that has led to borrowing of which the debt has been on the increase. This happen to be one of the reasons why Nigerian naira has lost its strength. From 1999-2007, former president Olusegun Obansanjo was the first to borrow money to run the country, the total amount he borrowed was 2.42trillion naira and at that time naira was 116.8 to 1dollar. Next was the former president late Umaru Musa Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan from 2007-2011. The amount borrowed was 6.17trillion naira. Yar’adua died and could not complete his tenure then Goodluck Jonathan who was his vice took over till the end of the tenure. During that time, naira was 156.7 to 1dollar. From 2011-2015, former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan came in to power and he borrowed about 12.12 trillion naira which also increased the exchange rate as naira was 196.96 to 1dollar. Finally from 2015-2021, president Muhammadu Bihari who is the recent president has borrowed 26.9trillion naira which has drastically increased the exchange rate as 381.0 naira is equal to 1dollar. Presently, the price of things are not friendly and if the exchange rate continue to increase, it will cause havoc in the Nation’s economy.

Kaduna Polytechnic is one of the earliest polytechnics in Nigeria, located at Tudun Wada area of Kaduna South local government of Kaduna state, North-Western Nigeria.it’s Vision is to provide best-value, as a first-choice Polytechnic offering signature programmes that prepare students for the changing needs of the workplace’s.On Wednesday 29th of September, the Kaduna Polytechnic held a program courtesy of Creative Writers and Performance forum ( CWAPF ) on Sexual and Gender Based Violence ( SGBV ) at the Civil engineering theater of which dignitaries and a large number of students were present as it is said to be one of it’s kind in the institution.Taking the event further, the resident doctor who was the guest speaker on SGBV shared more light by explaining what it is, the causes and how to address the issue if one is faced with such.Other students and members of the forum also lightened the program with spoken words, poetry and Drama in relation to sexual and gender based violence.The creative writers held their first event on 29th September, 2021 which was on Sexual and Gender Based violence at the civil engineering theatre which had a large number of dignitaries and students in attendance. The residents doctor who was also the guest speaker on SGBV shared more lights and gave solutions incase a person is faced with such situation. The event became more colorful with different performances like spoken words, poetry and drama.

The resources available to various terror rings is enough to destabilise the country, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i said yesterday.He believes the nature of terrorism in the Northwest is far more vicious than the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast.The governor spoke at the weekly Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Media Team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.He said preliminary investigations revealed that some security operatives were working for terrorists.According to him, while 937 were killed and 1,972 kidnapped by bandits in Kaduna in 2020, a total of 1,192 were killed and 3,348 kidnapped last year.The governor reiterated that the only answer to ending terrorism in all its forms is by total elimination.He said terrorists, especially those involved in banditry and kidnapping, have adapted their crime forms into a business, with a financial turnover, their original trades in cattle breeding could not generate.El-Rufai said the effort to tackle the menace had been uncoordinated.He said some governors thought negotiating with the criminals would solve the problem but realised that it was a mistake.On whether the terrorists collude with security agents, El-Rufai said: “Yes, we are concerned and it is not impossible to have infiltrators.“The preliminary report of Boko Haram financing also showed some links to bandits and pointed to some police and military officers in service as having some communication or connection with the bandits.“So, there’s always that risk. In any system you have traitors and we’re concerned about that. But to date, we don’t have any firm evidence of that. I think a lot more work needs to be done.“We need to pursue the financing and logistics chain of banditry as well because the amount of money these bandits are making is enough to destabilise this country. It is a lot of money.“We only have an idea of what it is because those that make the payments don’t tell us the truth all the time, but we hear from the legal intercepts of the conversations about how much money they are asking for, how much they have received and so on.“The numbers are mind-boggling. It’s a major source of national insecurity and it will grow unless it is decisively dealt with. So, yeah I am concerned.”

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres has announced 20 million dollars for humanitarian support in Ukraine, saying protecting civilians must be ‘Priority Number One’ in supporting the people.Guterres also urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring his troops back to his country, adding that he should not begin what may be the most devastating war since the start of the century.One of our correspondence reports that President Putin had launched military action in Ukraine on Thursday. Putin had listed three conditions to put an end to the standoff, advising Kyiv to renounce its bid to join NATO, to partially demilitarize and to recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

But, Ukraine rejected Putin’s demands.“Today, I’m announcing that we will immediately allocate 20 million dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund to meet urgent needs,” Guterres told journalists in New York on Thursday.Guterres reiterated that the UN and its humanitarian partners are “committed to staying and delivering, to support people in Ukraine in their time of need.”According to him, Russian military operations inside the sovereign territory of Ukraine “on a scale that Europe has not seen in decades, conflict directly with the United Nations Charter.”In spite of a sustained UN-led and international diplomatic push to avert military action in Ukraine, President Putin did just that, triggering a barrage of reactions, beginning with the UN chief condemning the move and appealing for peace.“All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations,” Guterres said, quoting the Charter.The UN chief underscored that the use of force by one country against another is “the repudiation of the principles that every country has committed to uphold,” which he stated applies to the present military offensive.It’s wrong. It’s against the Charter. It’s unacceptable. But it’s not irreversible,” Guterres said.As deaths rise and images of fear, anguish and terror in every corner of Ukraine are pervasive, Guterres reminded that “people – every day innocent people – always pay the highest price.”“In line with the Charter, it’s not too late to save this generation from the scourge of war,” Guterres said, “we need peace.”The top UN official described what happened as the “saddest moment” in his tenure as UN Secretary-General.In light of this development, Guterres said: “I must change my address and say: In the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia.“In the name of humanity, don’t start in what may be the most devastating war since the start of the century,” Guterres appealed to Putin.

By:Helenspecial

Terrorists of a splinter of Boko Haram, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) on Thursday attacked Nigerian Army troops positions in Doron Baga, Borno, in the far north-east of Nigeria.POLITICS NIGERIA learnt that the insurgents wounded some soldiers and completely burnt two Hilux vehicles.Full details of the attack remain sketchy but this newspaper can report that an alarm was raised about an impending attack on the military in Kukawa, Borno state.ISWAP, a branch of ISIL (ISIS), mainly targets the Nigerian military. It has grown in influence and power in recent years, with an estimated 3,500-5,000 fighters overshadowing the 1,500-2,000 in the late Abubakar Shekau-led Boko Haram faction, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).More than 40,000 people have died in Nigeria’s conflict and about two million more people have been displaced from their homes by insurgency-linked violence.Efforts by this newspaper to get comments on the latest terrorists’ attack from Brigadier-General Onyema Nwachukwu, the Director Army Public Relations, was unsuccessful.