Maryam Umar, a limb difference student, is set to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Gombe State University.

Umar, who successfully completed her Level 400 course work, examinations and project, achieved this feat after overcoming educational and financial challenges.

In an interview on Monday in Gombe, Umar said that the intervention by the Academic Staff Union of the University (ASUU) made her journey to attain university education a reality.

Umar recounted that she started primary education at the age of 11 at Hammadaji Primary School in Gombe metropolis, adding that she could not immediately proceed to secondary school due to challenges.

The foot-writer student later attended Government Day Secondary School, Nasarawo, Gombe, where she obtained a senior school certificate.

“Many people doubted my ability to attend university because of physical and financial challenges.

“Nevertheless; I sat for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), and National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations, and passed both, but could not proceed due to lack of sponsorship.

“Apparently, my predicament widely circulated in the national dailies attracted the attention of the ASUU,” she said.

She said that the union visited her family home, verified her educational credentials, and subsequently offered her scholarship.

Umar said that handwriting proved to be a major obstacle because she writes with her toes during lectures, tests and examinations.

“During my first test, I couldn’t finish within the allocated time and reported the matter to the union.

“The ASUU chairman subsequently wrote to my Head of Department, requesting an additional time for me during tests and examinations. The department granted the request and continued to support me throughout my studies,” she said.

Umar also commended her lecturers for their support and understanding.

She recalled that when a journalist visited the university, and inquired about her academic performances, the records rated her as being more punctual than most of the able-bodied students.

Umar also expressed joy over the successful completion of her degree programme without any academic failure. 

“I am happy that I am about to graduate. I give God the glory because I have had no problem academically.

“Some students who I started schooling together had withdrawn or dropped out,” she said.

While urging people living with disabilities not to allow their conditions to distract  them from pursuing their dreams, Umar enjoined them to shun street begging.

“You should not see begging as the only option. I once begged on the street, but now I am about to achieve my dream of becoming a graduate.” (NAN)

The Cross River State government on Saturday said it had closed down no fewer than 58 schools in Calabar South, Calabar Municipality, Odukpani and Yakurr local government areas of the state.

Commissioner for Education in the state, Professor Stephen Odey, disclosed this in Calabar, the state capital.

According to him, the ministry’s Department of Quality Assurance has intensified crackdown on schools operating without Approval To Operate (ATO) across the state.

He noted that the exercise was part of the state’s ongoing efforts to sanitise the education sector, enforce compliance with established regulations and ensure acceptable standards for teaching and learning.

The commissioner further explained that the exercise was aimed at protecting learners and ensuring that schools operated in safe, conducive and properly regulated environments.

Odey stressed that the government would not compromise the standards required for operating educational institutions in the state.

The commissioner explained that the exercise was not intended to witchhunt school proprietors, but rather, ensure that all schools met the prescribed minimal requirements for establishing and managing educational institutions.

He urged proprietors of unapproved schools to regularise their operations by obtaining the necessary approval, warning that any school sealed by the government and reopened without authorisation would face appropriate sanctions.

According to him, the enforcement exercise will continue across the state’s 18 local government areas, until the objectives of the sector’s ongoing cleanup are achieved.

Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), has called for a renewed commitment to Nigerian-made herbal medicines, urging Nigerians to reduce their dependence on imported traditional medicines from countries such as China and India.

The university said Nigeria’s continued reliance on foreign herbal products, despite its indigenous medicinal resources and growing research capacity, amounted to a form of economic and medical dependence that must be urgently addressed.

ABUAD said the country must build confidence in locally produced medicines, strengthen scientific research into traditional remedies and establish effective marketing strategies to make Nigerian products competitive in the domestic market.

The call was made at the AB Pharmaceuticals Business Summit, organised by ABUAD in collaboration with pharmaceutical marketers. Three pharmaceutical products developed by the university AB Mal, ABUAD Virucidine and AB Health Animation 250mg were presented as part of efforts to expand the reach of its products.

Speaking at the summit, the Deputy Director of AB Pharmaceutical Services, Afolabi Oluwatoyin, said the initiative was driven by the university founder’s vision of ensuring that Nigerians could increasingly rely on medicines developed and produced locally.

Oluwatoyin said the ultimate objective was not merely commercial profit but a broader commitment to local pharmaceutical development, research and national self-reliance.

According to her, Nigeria has continued to patronise imported traditional medicines while locally developed alternatives struggle to secure comparable public acceptance and market penetration.

She argued that the country needed a deliberate shift in attitude towards locally developed medicines, adding that effective marketing partnerships would be essential to achieving this objective.

She said, “The ultimate reason we are here today is to establish a marketing plan that will help us take these products to the Nigerian people.

“We have served the Indians enough, and we have served the Chinese enough. We have embraced different forms of multi-level marketing and imported their traditional medicines, while Nigerians continue to work hard to promote these foreign products.

“It is time for a revolution, and a revolution does not necessarily require a crowd. Sometimes, it takes one determined individual to change the world. We have seen people change the course of history, including in South Africa, and we believe that a similar change can begin here.

“The aim of Aare Afe Babalola in developing ABUAD pharmaceutical products is not money. We all know that money is not his ultimate motivation. His vision is for Nigeria to begin treating its people with medicines produced locally.

“Before the advent of orthodox doctors, our people relied on traditional medicines, including those derived from local resources, and these medicines served them. However, we have yet to embrace our own products with the same enthusiasm with which we promote Chinese medicines and other foreign alternatives.

“If you knew the volume of imported medicines entering Nigeria every day, you would be amazed. A significant amount of our economic resources goes into purchasing foreign products. We must begin to reverse this trend by investing in, producing and marketing medicines developed in Nigeria.”

In her address, the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Smaranda Olarinde, also emphasised the need to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported pharmaceutical products.

She noted that it was high time the country created an ecosystem in which universities, industry, regulators, healthcare professionals, investors and consumers worked together to move promising innovations from the laboratory to the marketplace.

In his response, the Chairman of the Association of Pharmaceutical Products Marketers of Nigeria (APPMAN) in Ekiti State, Peter Ajayi, commended Afe Babalola for his vision across various fields, saying the association would do everything within its capacity to ensure the products reached prospective consumers.