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SUN Management Visits Kano State Polytechnic

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The Vice-Chancellor of Skyline University Nigeria (SUN), Professor Ajith Kumar V.V, being accompanied by the Registrar, Mr. Haruna Aliyu and the Head of Corporate Affairs Department, Engr. Bashir Garba has on Monday, 30th August 2021, paid a courtesy visit to the Kano State Polytechnic. The visit was organized to congratulate the newly appointed Rector, Dr. Kabir Bello Dungurawa. During his opening remarks, Prof. Ajith congratulated the newly appointed head of the Kano State Polytechnic. He stated that “Being part of the SUN family for three years, I hope that this visit will improve our cordial relationship to maintain progress at all levels of development”. On behalf of the SUN management and students, the Vice-Chancellor expressed his happiness on the Rector’s appointment. Dr. Kabir in his response, while reeling out his contributions to Skyline University Nigeria in the past, appreciated the Management, Staff and Students of the University for their Congratulatory Messages towards his new appointment. He disclosed that his 7 point agenda was carefully planned to ensure that Kano institutions under Kano state polytechnic remained progressive in academic Programmemes, will roll out plans for collaborations with Skyline University Nigeria. 

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SUN Vice-Chancellor Stresses the Importance of Staff ‘Happy Hour’, Says It’s a Great Morale Booster

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The Vice-Chancellor of Skyline University Nigeria (SUN), Professor Ajith Kumar V.V, during the recently held staff ‘Happy Hour’ of the University, has stressed the importance of the event, stating that it’s a great morale booster for the university’s staff. Prof. Ajith added that the ‘Happy Hour’ is part of team building that can strengthen organizational culture and provide a variety of benefits such as creating a strong bond between employees. He advised the staff to have fun and unwind. The ‘Happy Hour’ which took place on Friday 27th August 2021 was hosted at the University’s campus Recreational Centre and coordinated by the Universities Sports Instructor, Ms. Stella Ekawu. Key attractions of the ‘Happy Hour’ include; food and drinks, music and dance competitions, indoor sports competitions such as foosball, table tennis, video game, snooker, amongst others. Which also acted as a fantastic conversation starter and a humorous way to show appreciation for all the staff who showed up for the occasion. The event is monthly organized in the university to provide an avenue to celebrate staff impact and help them relax and spend some time away from work. Since the inception of the university in 2018, the staff has been a part of the university’s progress story. The event took the staff out of their regular work environment to overcome some non-work challenges that can encourage creative problem solving when they are back at the office. See the event in pictures

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Skyline University Nigeria (SUN) Signs Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Audu Bako College of Agriculture, Danbatta

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The Management Skyline University Nigeria (SUN) and Audu Bako College of Agriculture, Danbatta (ABCOAD), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU signing which took effect on 24th August 2021, will enhance Academic Collaborations in research and teaching services between educators and students of both institutions. Mal. Rabiu Ado Musa, acting on behalf of the College Provost, Prof. M.A Wailare at the MoU signing, expressed his joy over all the areas covered in the MoU “We are ready to put into action the agreement as stated in the official document of this MoU, particularly in research collaboration”, he stated. Dr. Rabiu thanked the management of SUN for the books donated to ABCOAD in recent past. In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of Skyline University Nigeria, Prof. Ajith Kumar V.V stated that the MoU will mutually benefit both institutions. Skyline University Nigeria, he added, had played a credible role in students’ development through MoUs with Institutions and professional bodies alike. Thus, positioning them to operate at a higher level of professionalism that will seamlessly prepare the students of the University for the workplace. The MoU signing was witnessed by other members of Management of both institutions. The Management of ABCOAD present includes the Registrar, Barr. A. A. Hassan, the Chairman ASUP ABCOAD, Dr. Auwalu Abdullahi, the Director of Affiliation and Linkages, Mustapha Mukhtar, the Collage Librarian, Musa Mohammad, the General Secretary ASUP, Musa Garba, the Vice-Chairman ASUP, Shamsuddeen Murtala Faruq, the Treasurer ASUP, Umar Mohammad Rabiu. Members of SUN present include the Registrar, Haruna Aliyu, the Head of Corporate Affairs Department, Engr. Bashir Garba and the University’s Assistant Librarian, Musa Mohammad.

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Urbanization and environmental impacts in Nigeria: An Overview

Knowledgebase & Articles /

Introduction Rapid urbanization and the growth of large cities in developing countries have been accompanied by the expansion of highly vulnerable urban communities living in informal settlements, many of which are on land exposed to extreme weather (IPCC 2014). Nigerian cities particularly Kano is among the cities in developing countries that experienced such expansion of communities living in an informal settlement and extreme weather, which the temperature reached 40 to 45 in °C between March and May. Concept of Urbanization  Urbanization is a process of population concentration that proceeds through the multiplication of points of concentration and the increase in the size of individual concentration seems quite appropriate (Barry, 1973). Hope and Lekorwe, (2009) defined urbanization as the annual rate of change of the percentage of people living in urban areas, or the difference between the growth rate of urban population and that of the total population. It is the process of transformation that affects geographic regions when they become more urban, and that during the processes of urbanization, a growing share of a region’s land and people become included in cities (Pivo, 1996). Environmental impacts Urbanization causes a lot of environmental impacts, in Nigeria two dimensions of impact can be identified thus; Site impact The wider regional impact Site impact These are negative effects of urbanization that are noticeable within each urban center. They are common to almost all towns and cities in Nigeria, they are;  Air and Noise Pollution Air pollution; Most of the gases and particles that people are subjected to while breathing air, came from combustion (burning) processes. That is the furnace in factories, homes, and office buildings, the engine in automobiles, airplanes and other motor vehicles, and the burning of garbage and trashes are the major sources of pollution from combustion. Pollution from these sources has a wide variety of effects. Noise pollution; Noise is the composite of many different sounds generated by human activities and it’s getting worse by the day. Audiologists reported that urbanization is the major source of noise. Part of this pollution results from population growth as there are more people making noise. In addition, homes and workplaces must be built and food has to be raised for a growing population. People need transportation to travel between home and workplaces. In their leisure time, they enjoy sport most especially watching football in view centers. All these needs and activities are further sources of noise. Solid waste problem Solid waste is probably the most visible form of pollution. People throw-away billions of tons of solid material each year. Much of these wastes end up littering roadsides and collecting in ugly dumps. These problems are most common in populated areas in and near cities. One of the common methods of disposal of solid waste in Nigeria is dumping, in which people simply dumped their wastes on open ground. Wider regional impact Urban regional impact is a reflection of the enormous demand which urban center make on regional resources. These includes; Fuel wood demand, Road construction demand and Building materials demand. Fuel wood is brought into the urban center from the surrounding regions on a daily basis. It is extracted from the farms and dead trees in the forest. Increasingly, live trees are being cutting down daily and their stems are converting into fuel wood. This demand increase with the rise in level of urban poverty and with ever increasing of price of kerosene. Urban road network construction requires laterite, sand and gravels, which are obtained from quarries in the surrounding areas. The quarries are often abandoned later and become gullies or stagnant water ponds. Slumping, collapsed valley and roadsides are also associated with these quarries. Lastly, the bulk of materials needed for construction of building in cities like Kano are derived from the surrounding regions. These materials include sand, gravels, stones and wood. Excavation of sand, gravels, and stones create menacing quarries in the environment. Conclusion It could be concluded that the demand made by urban centers on the resources of their surrounding areas has led to indiscriminate exploitation of these resources and therefore, environmental degradation policies and measures must be spelled out and implemented to guide the behavior of urban dwellers and the exploitation of environmental resources. Recommendations Firstly, Programmeme of education and awareness aimed at bringing about attitude change with regards to environmental sanitation is highly recommended. Secondly, a waste management board and not just an environmental sanitation agency is highly needed for our urban center. Thirdly, land use regulations in the urban centers should be adhered to. When activities are carried out in their proper and district locations, the result is a clean healthy and beautiful environment devoid of conflicts. Reference Berry B. J. L. (1973), Human consequences of urbanization. The University of Chicago Press. Hope K. R. and M. Lekorwe, (2009). Urbanization and the Environment in Southern Africa: Towards a Managed Framework for the Sustainability of Cities. Journ. Environ. Plann. Mgt. 42:6. 837–59. IPCC, (2014), Climate Change 2014: Impacts, adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of working group II to the fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, 1132pp. Pivo, G. (1996). Towards Sustainable Urbanization on Main-street Cascadia Cities. Int. Journ. of Urb. Policy and Plan. 13:5, 1314 – 1319.   Aliyu Mohammed Lawan is a Lecturer II in the Department of Geology in Skyline University Nigeria. He holds a Master’s degree in Applied Geophysics from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. You can join the conversation on Facebook @SkylineUniversityNG and on Twitter @SkylineUNigeria

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SUN IT Students Implement Expert Systems in Artificial Intelligence

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300 level students of the Information Technology Department of Skyline University Nigeria (SUN) have implemented an expert systems Programme, an area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that is geared to listen, understand, and respond to various inquiries. The Expert System is a computer application developed to emulate the decision-making ability of a human expert to solve complex problems by reasoning through bodies of knowledge, represented mainly as if-then rules rather than through conventional procedural code. The Expert Systems Programmeme was presented by the students at the recent project presentation exercise of the IT Department, held on 6th August 2021 at the Computer Laboratory of the university. The project presentation was especially important to showcase the uniqueness of the students’ projects to the members of the university management as well as others in the field of IT that will be of greater impact to the society. While speaking on the importance of the project, Dr. Zahraddeen Sufyanu, a Lecturer in the IT department of the university stated that, the project is designed to develop the students’ practical skills and involvement in solving societal issues. It also seeks to explore areas of artificial intelligence and encourage students to participate in developing more Programmes. He challenged the students to constantly set goals and be accountable to such goals, which he said had become a global hallmark of every successful individual. Dr. Sufyanu thanked the management, as well as other staff of the University for supporting the students to learn and develop new skills. Other faculty members of the univesity who participated in facilitating the Expert Systems Programme were Dr. Vijay Apaturaj, Mr. Saheed Tunde, and Mr. Bello Austin who believed it’s a welcome development.

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The Global Emergence of Yoga

Knowledgebase & Articles /

Yoga is a physical, emotional, and spiritual discipline that has been practiced in India for over 5,000 years [1]. Yoga was first included in the Holy Scriptures called the Veda. The Vedas are a set of four ancient Sanskrit scriptures. Breathing strategies and stretches work together to tone the body and ease tension. Gym work can cause exhaustion and hunger, whereas yoga revitalizes and helps to build stamina. More and more people are getting conscious about their health, and the number of yoga practitioners is increasing with each passing year. The Sanskrit term “yoga” means “to merge or combine,” symbolizing the unity between body and mind. Yoga’s main goal is to promote physical and emotional balance. Yoga sometimes has been associated with Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism in the past, but it is not affiliated with any faith today. The practitioners are not expected to practice a certain religion or to conduct religious ceremonies like baptisms or bar mitzvahs [2]. Yoga is quickly gaining prominence across the world [3]. Following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014, the International Day of Yoga, as proposed by India’s Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, has been formally observed annually on June 21st since 2015. In the Northern Hemisphere, the 21st of June is the longest day of the year, and it has particular importance in several areas of the world [4]. Asana is an integral part of yoga. An asana is a sitting meditation posture that was initially and is now referred to as a general term. Asanas may be standing, sitting, arm-balances, turns, inversions, forward bends, backbends, or reclining in prone or supine positions, while several of the oldest listed asanas are indeed seated postures for meditation. Competing yoga schools have assigned the asanas a number of English names. While the standard number of asanas is 84, various texts describe different choices, often merely mentioning their names without explaining them [5]. Scientific findings have shown that:  Yoga increases stamina, posture, and endurance  Yoga helps with back pain recovery  Yoga can relieve arthritis symptoms  Yoga benefits cardiac health  Yoga relaxes you, allowing you to sleep calmly Yoga can mean more energy and lighter moods  Yoga helps you handle stress Yoga connects you with a supportive community Mindfulness is a psychological strategy that includes concentrating one’s attention on the current moment while peacefully recognizing and embracing one’s emotions, perceptions, and bodily sensations. More is understood regarding the effects of yoga and mindfulness, but what happens when these two are merged, a different form of yoga named “Mindful Yoga” emerges. Traditional Buddhist mindfulness teaches the physical practice of yoga, as well as broader insights into the mind and a truly transformative approach [6]. Sixth-graders in a new MIT analysis on the results of an eight-week mindfulness Programme (which included breathing techniques and yoga) indicated becoming less stressed and experiencing fewer unpleasant feelings during the Programme. Their amygdala, the part of the brain that processes anxiety, was shown to be less active in brain scans [7]. Source: Yoga Asana Directory. https://www.wellnesshaven.com/yoga-asana-directory/ With the epidemic of Covid-19, the need for yoga workouts grew as governments in several countries imposed lockdowns to prevent the spread of the disease, and citizens wanted to keep fit by exercising at home. Yoga was one of the most common workouts during the lockdown since it can be done in small spaces. As yoga workrooms closed and people wanted the advice and experience of coaches and consultants to do yogic workouts and mediation methods, online yoga courses exploded. According to Allied Market Research’s survey, the yoga industry produced $37.46 billion in 2019 and is projected to produce $66.22 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 9.6% between 2021 and 2027 [8]. Yoga is now one of the world’s biggest ten wellness activities. The widespread dissemination of knowledge and market prospects is the primary explanation for yoga’s increasing success. However, as the industry parameters drive yoga to become a mass-market, major compromises on the classic component of this method are being made. Yoga asanas are not acrobatic movements, and those who perform them cannot be gymnasts who leap from one asana to the next while denying yoga’s true sense as a sacred activity [9]. As quality control has become an obstacle, the mushrooming of yoga clinics around the world has blurred the core concept of yoga. In the future, we may see a refined type of yoga that is not difficult to practice, maintains the core principles, and is still marketable. References: UN news. Culture and Education. 21 June 2020. https://tinyurl.com/s835rawh Ferretti A. Yoga as a religion. Yoga Journal. March 1, 2012. https://tinyurl.com/2vpyywup Kabul marks international Yoga Day. Africanews. 22 June 2020. https://tinyurl.com/5x3fh59f International Day of Yoga. https://tinyurl.com/38rhd9aw List of asanas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asanas Ribeiro M. What is Mindful Yoga? https://tinyurl.com/sa394cc7 Trafton A. Two studies reveal benefits of mindfulness for middle school students. MIT News August 26, 2019. https://tinyurl.com/4ca39j4s Yoga market to reach $66.22 Bn, globally, by 2027 at 9.6% CAGR: Allied Market Research. GlobeNewswire. October 20, 2020. https://tinyurl.com/fd6hpek4 Kausthub D. The future of yoga. Ann Yoga Phys Ther. 2016; 1(1): 1001.     Dr. Sanjoy Kumar Pal is a Professor of Biology in Skyline University Nigeria. He has a PhD. in Animal Genetics from Indian Veterinary Research Institute, India. You can join the conversation on Facebook @SkylineUniversityNG and on Twitter @SkylineUNigeria

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SUN Students Reached Top Ten in Wadwani Foundation NextGen Activate Programmeme

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Students of Skyline University Nigeria (SUN) have qualified to represent the university in the Global Competition Award of the Wadwani Foundation NextGen Activate Programmeme. SUN sealed her qualification ticket as she emerged 8th position Milestone 4 (M4) and 2nd position in the transformative award category for her renewable idea “Alternative Power Nigeria – Changing life With Light”, an entry submitted by a 200 level student of Economics, Mr. Haruna Lawan Baffa and a 100 level student of Software Engineering Ms. Juwairiyya Ahmad Lamido. The students were mentored by Ms. Jyoti Rajwar, a Lecturer II in the Department of Microbiology. The competition which took place recently, was a 10 weeks online learning Programmeme (29th March – 5th June 2021) that was focused on creating potential real ventures, validation and practice implementation. The competition featured 29 teams from different parts of the world, who demonstrated experiential and immersive digital learning Programmeme under the banner of the cohort of Latin America & West Africa. Evaluation of the competition was done based on four milestones covered by the teams throughout the competition. The milestone includes exploring, discovering, a market survey and activation. After every milestone, the teams were asked to give a pitch, venture website and business model related to their practice venture which was evaluated by Ambassadors, successful entrepreneurs and CEOs around the world. The Wadhwani Foundation is a not-for-profit with the primary mission of accelerating economic development in emerging markets by driving the creation of 10 million jobs by 2030, through large-scale initiatives in entrepreneurship, small business growth, innovation, and upskilling a new generation of students into entrepreneurs.  Next-Generation Fellowship Programme has been designed to inspire and educate young high-school and university students to become rising entrepreneurs focused on social and environmental transformation, driving job creation and economic growth across the world, leveraging the power of new technologies and digitalization.

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SUN, Approved Teaching Centre for Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality

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Kano’s first International private university, Skyline University Nigeria (SUN) in its mission to train new and existing industry professionals in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry, is now the approved teaching centre for the Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality (CTH) Programmemes. The CTH is a United Kingdom (UK’s) leading professional awarding body for qualifications in the specialist growing commercial sector worldwide, delivering relevant-industry CTH qualifications to thousands of new students each year. Like any professional teaching centre, the SUN CTH centre is focused on purely Hospitality, Culinary and Tourism, which encouraged efficient teaching methodologies in the most practical way that provides for an effective academic progression route. It as well enables students to develop relevant skills that can be applied in the workplace. Furthermore, to enhance the learning experience of our students, we have a number of courses including CTH Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism. The CTH is for those wanting to gain industry-relevant skills and for people looking to develop already existing skills in training Programmemes and opportunities for Airlines, Cruise lines, Hotel and Resorts, Travel and Tours Companies, Government Tourism, Departments, Hospitality Industry, Event Planning, & Executives, Airport Staff Cargo & Logistics Reservation and Ticketing Agents, Group Staff Basic Load Controlling amongst others. Other benefits include giving students a platform to revise and expand their skills whilst studying CTH. For our graduates, the member’s site provides a way to look for the latest jobs to increase your career prospects. This will give you access to a worldwide community of professionals in the industry – allowing you to attend meetings and events that provide excellent networking, internship and job opportunities in currency exchange, retail travel, tourist boards and tour operators. 

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Expert, Suggests Ways to Eliminate Hepatitis as a Public Health Threat

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An expert, Prof. G. Choudhuri MD, during the recently held 4th Guest Lecture webinar organized by Skyline University Nigeria (SUN) has called on the public to tie up to eliminate the threat of Chronic Viral Hepatitis. The webinar with the theme “Chronic Viral Hepatitis: Present Status and Future Challenges” was held to mark World Hepatitis Day (WHD), observed each year to raise awareness of viral hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver that causes severe liver disease. Prof. Choundhuri who made this call amongst others on Wednesday, 28th July, 2021 stated that a Hepatitis-Free future is possible when the world leaders come together to fight the disease. “While the process to eliminate the threat of hepatitis is in the pipeline, education and enlightenment campaigns should be promoted all over the world to equip people with the knowledge of the disease and how they can act”, he said. According to him, Viral Hepatitis is among the top four global infectious disease killers alongside tuberculosis, malaria and HIV. He added that the World Health Organization (WHO), has recorded over 354 million people worldwide living with chronic hepatitis. Over 8000 new infections of hepatitis B and C occur every day and more than one million deaths from advanced liver disease and liver cancer occur every year. Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of SUN, Professor Ajith Kumar V.V. while making his remarks, stated that creating awareness on viral hepatitis is a good initiative. He enjoined the participants to take special care to create more awareness about the disease to reach out to the immediate community. He thanked the Guest speaker for taking time to speak to the students of the university about the danger posed by the disease. The event which was jointly organized by Dr. Sanjoy Kumar Pal, a Professor of Biology & Micro-Biology in SUN, Ms. Nafisa Inuwa, the University’s Event Coordinator and Mr. Saka Shehu, the Corporate Affairs Supervisor, was attended by over 280 participants, including students, members of the university community, and people who joined the event from an online platform.

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