Dreams Beyond the Gutter( Escaping Tomorrow)

In the narrow, noisy alleys of Ajegunle, where the smell of open gutters mixed with frying akara and loud Afrobeat from cracked speakers, Tunde grew up dodging trouble like it was rain. At sixteen, most boys his age already had nicknames from the street—"Sharp Sharp", "Omo Iya Oloja", boys who ran errands for area boys, who smoked weed behind the abandoned mechanic shop, who flashed small wads of naira like they owned tomorrow. They called Tunde "Book Boy" at first to mock him, later with something close to respect, because he never joined them. Not once. His mother sold pure water and recharge cards under a torn umbrella near the bus stop. His father? Long gone before Tunde could remember his face. Every evening Mama would press twenty naira into his palm—"Buy bread, eat, read your book"—before turning back to customers. She never finished secondary school herself, but she believed university was the only ladder tall enough to climb out of this place. Tunde studied under the flickering yellow bulb in their one-room face-me-I-face-you apartment, mathematics textbooks spread on the wooden bench while children screamed outside and generators coughed diesel smoke through the window. When NEPA took light, he used the torchlight from an old Nokia, squinting until his eyes burned. The street tried hard to claim him. One humid night, his childhood friend Skido—now deep in Yahoo Yahoo—slapped a brand-new iPhone into Tunde's hand. "Just hold it for me, bro. One delivery, you chop 50k. No stress." Tunde stared at the phone like it was a snake. His heart pounded—not from greed, but fear. Fear that one "yes" would end every dream he'd protected so fiercely. He pushed the phone back. "I no fit, Skido. I wan go school." Skido laughed, but the laugh cracked at the edges. "School? You go write JAMB, pass, then wetin? Four years, still come back here sell recharge card like your mama? Wake up, guy." Tunde walked away, chest tight. That night he cried silently into his pillow so Mama wouldn't hear—hot, shameful tears because part of him wondered if Skido was right. But every morning he woke up and chose the same thing: the worn WAEC past questions, the dog-eared Chemistry textbook, the dream of walking through those big gates at University of Lagos, wearing a student ID that said he belonged somewhere bigger than these streets. Results day came like judgment. He stood in the long queue at the cyber café, palms sweating, heart slamming against his ribs. When the screen finally loaded, his knees nearly buckled. English – B3 Mathematics – A1 Physics – B2 Chemistry – B3 Biology – C4 Literature – C6 He had made it. The cutoff was close, painfully close—but he cleared it. He ran home through the muddy streets, tears blurring everything, shouting "Mama! Mama!!" like a small child again. She dropped the pure water sachet she was tying and caught him as he crashed into her arms. "My boy… my boy…" she whispered, rocking him while customers st

ared. For the first time in years, she cried openly in public—tears of pride, relief, and something deeper: the fear she'd carried alone that her only son might disappear into the same darkness that swallowed so many others. That evening, Tunde sat on the small veranda, JAMB result printout clutched in his hand like scripture. The street noise felt distant for once. He looked up at the sky turning orange and purple, and whispered to himself, "I did it. I really did it." But admission lists weren't out yet. Money for acceptance fees, accommodation, books—everything still felt like mountains he hadn't climbed. He closed his eyes, breathing in the familiar smell of smoke, garri, and hope. To be continued...

HOW TO EFFECTIVELY USE THE 12 MONTHS NYSC YEAR

This may not be a rule book, but this could serve as a guide to help you utilize the 12 months of NYSC year maximally for your profit. 

Month 1 - NYSC Orientation Exercise

- Use this month to identify the purpose of the service year and the persons that can help you actualize your goals. Making friends with the NYSC officers is key. 

In my time, I had easy access to the NYSC state Secretariat, my ZI, LI and Schedule officers. This relationship was built in the camp where I served as Platoon leader. Most corps members make the mistake here of making friends with the soldiers. The soldiers may not be the best set of persons to offer you help here because apart from the Camp commandant and RSM, the others are rank and file officers. 

Month 2 - Report to your PPA.

- Volunteer to do beyond your schedule duty at your PPA. 

- If you have flare for the Academics, locate the Tertiary institution in LGA or nearby. Go there and volunteer to work in the Laboratory or help a Lecturer take his/her course. Lecturers and Technologists will always be happy to have you. 

- Get active with your CDS group.

- Start planning your Personal CDS project. 

- Find and Secure a secondary place of Assignment. You need that extra funds. 

Month 3 - Apply for your Personal CDS project.

You apply to the State Coordinator through your LI. Carrying out the simplest of project like sharing sanitary pads to female students is significant in the NYSC and the future. For the future, it counts for a significant community service. 

Month 4 - Skill Acquisition Month

- Start your skill acquisition proper.

- Learn skills that takes two to three months to perfect. 

- Most skill trainers give discount to corps members. 

- Do more of hard skills and little of soft skills. 

- In thr family house, you can do barter skills traning. That is, teach me what you know, I teach you mine. 

Month 5 - Continue Skill Acquisition. Start sorting for funds for your PCDS Project. 

- A bulk of your funds may go in here. don't mind. It will be worth it. 

- Reach you to your religious group, fellow corps members, rich relatives to aid with funds for your project. 

- You must have a ready proposal for this. 

- Use the NYSC fund request letter. This comes with your PCDS approval letter. 

Month 6 - Start a second Skill Acquisition training.

- You are now two months into your first skill. It is time to get into another one.

- This new skill should be Data Analytics (e get why)

- In Six weeks you should perfect the intermediate level proficiency. 

- This can be online. 

Month 7 - Teach Others the skills you gained and make savings from the pay. 

- Organize training for other corps members in the lodges and family houses. 

- Register your skill training with SAED at the NYSC trainer. 

- Become a SAED trainer. 

- Register your enterprise with CAC ( If you want to pursue biz)

- Apply for your transcript (If PG Abroad is your quest)

Month 8 - The Month of Applications

- Use the month to learn how to craft application Cover, CV (professional and Academic)

- Graduate School Docs

- Learn Internet Searching and Exploring skills. 

- Learn how to use Google

Month 9 - Application Month. Go for leadership position in your CDS

- Professionally and in the Academics, past Leadership positions is a plus to your CV. By month 9, you are now a Senior corp member, your batch should be the foremost batch, thus you are now ripe to contest for CDS president, Fellowship president, MSM etc. 

- Don't forget to keep applying and business your businessmanship skills

Month 10 - Conclude your PCDS Project

- Begin to evaluate your options. 

- If you followed the above schedule, there will be very many options by now. 

-Academics, Business, Employment etc should be at your doorsteps

- Seek advice from NYSC officers

Month 11 - Unwind and Look into the Future

- List your alternatives. Count your cost.

- Plan your next steps

- Draw the life's trajectory

- Time to connect and reconnect. 

Month 12 - Welcome to the New You

- Never go to service and come back the same. 

- Make sure something is added to your life and perspective

- Make sure you are seeing life from a new optics

#mosesudoisoh

Moses Udoisoh 

Credit

ASUU STRIKE: NAUS threatens Drastic Action

The National Association of University Students, Osun State chapter has threatened ‘drastic action’ over the persistent strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

In a statement made available to The PUNCH on Monday, and jointly signed by the Chairman, the Secretary-General and the Publicity Secretary; Eruobami Ayobami, Olaniyan Saleem Opeyemi and Lawal Idris Tomiwa, respectively, the student body bemoaned the persistent closure of schools, stating that the feud between the striking lecturers and the Federal Government had remained a hindrance to the academics of Nigerian students.

The statement read in part, “for years and still counting, it has become glaring that the issue of the feud generated through the seemingly unending clash of interests between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, that has desisted to fade away in any bit has undoubtedly become an insurmountable hindrance for the academic proceedings of all affected Nigerian Students, who happen to be the majority.”

The students argued that, in all the strike actions of ASUU over time, there had always been claims and counterclaims from both the lecturers and the government, arguing that the government seemed to be deriving fun from the unfortunate menace.

“Any ASUU strike that surface over time, the current one inclusive, is always surrounded with several stories and claims from the end of ASUU and corresponding counterclaims from the Federal Government. Regardless, all are still pointers to the fact that our leaders seem to be picking fun in all these disruptions caused to our lives.

“Despite the relentless wailings and yelling from the students whose lives are being toyed with, and our parents whose only retirement plan are us, their children, such issues like this that have us as the bearers of the brunt are noticed to be consistently addressed with the least of readiness and promptness from our leaders,” the students argued.

The students further threatened to take action, stressing that they had been pushed to the wall, and were with no other choice. 

“This has been pushing us and to which adaptation has been our incapacitated response, but now, we are at the wall and we may have no choice than to respond with severe agitations. In the course of this, the leadership of this association is hereby using the responsible medium to call on all necessary offices, emphasis on the Federal Government, to see this as an urgent point of call as it should be and make all necessary provisions and adjustments that will not only fix this current ASUU strike but also for continuous sustainability of our academic system afterwards with immediate effect.

“As agitations through protest are expected to be the last resolution, this is us being so cordial by letting our voice and stand known via this respected medium, we hope the appropriate quarters respond accordingly by doing the needful so as to avert having this followed by a drastic and unwanted decision by the leadership of this association,” the statement read further.

The PUNCH had earlier reported that the striking lecturers, on March 14, declared an extension of its warning strike by eight weeks over the failure of the Federal Government to meet its demands. 

Why JAMB Results Cannot Be Used Beyond One Year – Registrar

The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede has explained that results for the board’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) cannot last beyond one year because it is a ranking and not an achievement test.

He said this in Kano during an interaction with journalists after an assessment tour of the board’s Computer-Based Test (CBT) centre and others within the state as well as the board’s ongoing project.

Explaining the difference between the two, Oloyede said achievement tests’ results can be banked over a period or even for life because they “Are not one-chance examination, they take continuous assessments, they do practical assessments, on-the-spot assessment and a final exam, which is added together” while the ranking test is “A one-chance examination; you cannot use it to accurately judge the capacity of the candidate because it is taken in one sitting and can be affected by several factors.”

Citing an example, he said “Somebody who wants to read medicine last year that scored 230 and this was why he could not do medicine. If you tell the person not to take another one this year but to use the last score, the student will not listen because you are killing the student, because we have to re-rank them for this year.”

Oloyede said the suggestions (for the result to last over a year) were from people that do not know the nature and purpose of the exam, adding that the purpose of the examination determines the duration of the result.

“The purpose (of UTME) is just to rank people who are assumed to be already qualified,” he said.

On whether the post-UTME conducted by tertiary institutions is an indictment on the credibility of JAMB, Oloyede said the board does not have any problem with institutions having a say in how candidates are admitted, saying universities should not be deprived of re-ascertaining the qualities of candidates they want to take.

“If I am sure of the validity of my examination, I will not be afraid of you testing and re-testing the candidates because it will come back to almost the same thing. There were disparities in the past between our examination and the post-UTME, but that cannot be said again,” he said.

Why We’ll Never Encourage Tuition Fees – ASUU

The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said that only genuine increment in budgets for education between 20 and 26 per cent by the federal government as spelt out by the United Nations will be the solution to the current impasse with the university system in Nigeria. In this interview with Daily Trust on Sunday, the president of the union, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, argued that introducing school fees would not solve the current crisis. He noted that while Nigeria’s resources are being mismanaged by government officials, education is being given priority in other countries.     

Will ASUU consider the introduction of school fees in our universities as a solution since all your demands are financially related, so that they can all be met at once?  

ASUU and the travail of Nigerian education

Endless strikes: Why FG, ASUU fail to get it right

We will not encourage tuition fees in whatever guise. The government can meet our demands without tuition fees. What is the minimum wage for Nigerians? It is N30,000. If we start to charge N200,000 to N300,000 how will a parent earning N30,000 pay for two children?  

It should be noted that education is a right, not a privilege, so we will never go for that! If they like, let them sack all of us.  

But in other countries, education is a right only at primary and secondary levels, not at the tertiary level. In fact, some at primary level only. What’s your take on that?  

Is that what our constitution states? Besides, the parents of these students are already paying so much. They pay for accommodation because there are no more hostels in universities, they pay for feeding and transport because they are not staying on campus. They pay for everything, including laboratory usage. So why should they pay for tuition again? Can the country afford it? The answer is yes.  

How best do you think this current crisis can be handled?  

Once the government makes up its mind to prioritise education over other things like other countries in the world, they would fund it. How much is Nigeria trying to borrow to pay for fuel subsidy? It IS $2 billion. You heard it when the minister of finance disclosed it.  

What is the way out?  

That is what I am saying; fuel subsidy is not something we should be talking about because it doesn’t exist. They said they would borrow $2 billion, which is over N1 trillion, to use on fuel subsidy. The amount that can build a refinery!  

We need to amend our laws so that all these oil companies and moribund refineries can be resuscitated, but we want to spend this money on fuel subsidy to feed some prominent people who own oil companies. But we cannot push N200m, which is less than $50 million US on our education. Does it sound right? So, if the leadership of this country prioritises education, we will get it right.  

In Ghana, their budget on education is between 15 to 20 per cent of their total, while Nigeria budgets six per cent. Does it make any sense? Not even in the United States where the minimum wage is high. If they try the introduction of tuition fees, children will rise against every person involved.  

What are the solutions? 

Nigeria should increase her budgetary allocations to what has been recommended by the United Nations Education and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which is 20 to 26 per cent as we have in other countries. Once it is increased to that percentage, it will fund it. That’s all.  

In this country, we are aware that the president, Muhammadu Buhari, was in a conference somewhere outside the country and he said that in 2022 he would increase the education budget by 50 per cent, a year later, he said he would increase it by 100 per cent. We all watched him make that promise.  

So, what happened this year; instead of increasing it as promised you reduced it. Those are the issues.    

How many of your demands have been met out of the ones you listed?  

None has been met fully.  

Which ones have been met partially?  

We want revatilisation of the universities and the government promised that on a yearly basis, as far back as 2013, we shall be receiving N220 billion, which they signed. Since 2014 till today they have only released N70 billion. Between 2014 and today is about eight years.  

The last time we met in 2020 they said they would release N30 billion immediately as a sign of commitment to implementing the agreement. That is the commitment out of the N220 billion, but till now, they have not released anything.  

Also, we agreed to mainstream Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) so that we will not be talking about it again, and they agreed, as if they would mainstream it in 2020 or 2021. 2021 has come and gone and in 2022, it is not in the budget, and they have done nothing!  

They also said they were going to pay our promotion arrears. People were promoted four, five years ago, but till now they just paid few to create the confusion that people have been paid, which is not correct.  

The fourth one is that they said they were going to accept the UTAS as an alternative to the IPPIS. It is about 10 months now and the UTAS has not been accepted. They kept on telling lies. We have done tests with them, which were all positive.  

But they went to the public to tell lies that the UTAS failed integrity tests. We asked if the IPPIS they are using was even tested, and the answer is no. What they are using was never tested; and they don’t want to test it. We have told them to test the two together and see the one that is better, but they said they should not be addressed like that, just because there are some people feeding on the IPPIS.  

All these were said during negotiation. We started this negotiation in 2017. This was an agreement in May 21, 2021; and now, they are telling us that they are going to set up another panel. Does it make sense? Those are the major issues we had in the agreement, and till now, none has been implemented, not even up to 10 per cent. I just pray they can do it within a short period if there is a commitment.  

What is your message to students who are now at home?  

The struggle is about the Nigerian university system. It is about the future of our students. The government is muting the idea of paying school fees, N1 million per student, then all of them will leave the school.  

They should know that what we are fighting for is about them. If we ‘leather our guide’ they will introduce school fees of N1m per student. And you know the implication. How many Nigerian students would be able to afford N1m as school fees?  

JAMB AND WAEC REGISTRATION ENDS

SenGinEduco consultancy Our journey so far

*BRIEF HISTORY OF SENGINEDUCO CONSULTANCY SERVICE ‼️🔥🔥*
         _THE JOURNEY SO FAR 💕_

In 2014 I work with Nice pick Cafe business center, as the means to learn more, I began to learn how the Nigeria Educational system works and the challenges student and parents face, after two years of experience with Later Mr. Lekan my boss, I joined a Facebook Platforms where I was the moderator and help Students in jamb filling, WAEC filling, etc, I was exploited by the owner of the forum close to one year. I left in 2017 and joined Femi, Idowu, Akin, and Musa in creating Nigerian students Educational solutions after some misunderstanding that tore the forum, everyone left and move on with other business, I picked up the broken 💔 pieces of my life and the exploitation I went through and decided to take full responsibility of my ideas and right there I created Smash Jamb & Post-time Platforms in the year 2018 after proper paperwork and experience I have gotten from Late Mr. Lekan I decided to rebrand the name to National Association of Jambite and Nigerian students  (NAJANS).

After the various Assistance I have rendered to various Aspirants across the country without seeing any of the students, in January 2019 I became the only social media Educational consultant with over 23.6k followers on Facebook. In December 2019 my people recommend that I change the name to something more catchy and attractive and after Serious thinking and praying I decided to choose SenGinEduco consultancy services which the meaning of SENGINEDUCO ; *Succeeding Excellently in National educational Growth and International Education*. I went ahead to make my Motto Education is not Privilege but right because everyone is entitled to good and quality Education, our Education should be cheap nor expensive but affordable for all citizens.

In 2020 January 18, I officially flag off the name, and in January 20_2020 I officially lunch the social media platforms and everything else and change the Najans to SenGinEduco Consultancy service.
Today SenGinEduco consultancy services have reached out to thousands of Nigerian students both home and away, we have inspired lives positively and many have gotten admission through our Consultancy from 2019 till date and we are still growing stronger.

SenGinEduco consultancy is in three (3) Unit which are
1. SenGinEduco Media and  Advertising Unit: The Advertising Unit is where we advertise various products for our students at a subsidized rate and also connect them to the right customer and also our media platforms are where we break the news happening in the Educational sectors both home and away.

2. SenGinEduco Outreach Foundation: This is where we give back to society and students to support them in their academic activities and also encourage them to keep pushing and never give up. No organization who benefit from the masses should be far away from her people and giving back.

3. SenGinEduco consultancy services: this is the main body of the organization and this unit comprises of professional Educational consultant, those who are really into Education and our work is to help you check the Institution, courses, subject combination and Logistics and planning on what to expect.

In Oct 2020 we clock 2800+ on our Facebook page and got the federal government agency small scale business code and also got the well structured Educational consultant service and in February to March, we had a lot of sponsors such as Spectranet, MTN, and some individuals who appreciate our good work. Today SenGinEduco consultancy services are covering Ghana and 🇬🇭Benin republic 🇲🇱 as we have established a small branch to help our Nigerian students who are interested in schooling outside and by God's grace, we will secure more west African and east Africa countries.

On Dec 20 we went ahead to publish our first ever notebook to appreciate our customers and parents and also by God grace we will release our face Cap 🧢 notebook and t-shirt to everyone to purchase at a low price, our 021 projects are gonna be extremely big as we have started to sign a deal with big firms that will sponsor our SenGinEduco Students to come this year internationally and national Exam. Today SenGinEduco has 12 teams both the technical team and designer team currently working with her.

This is just the little story of how we started
Thank you ☺️❤️❤️ All for staying with us 💕.
We appreciate you 😊.