Muslim Students Organise Academic Seminar

As part of efforts to help students excel in their academic performance, the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) University of Lagos Chapter has organised the 7th edition of its annual Academic Counselling Seminar.


The seminar, with the theme Effects Of Stress Management On The Performance Of Students In Higher Institutions Of Learning was held recently at the school's Main Auditorium.

In his opening speech, the president of the society, Mr. Sulaiman Abdulraheem, said the programme is organised to channel the efforts of stakeholders of the Nigerian educational sector to the milestone of academic excellence.

He said: “We observed that most of our students do more of Islamic propagation with little or no time for their academics, which is the primary aim of being on campus. So, there is need to counsel them on the need to give much attention to their studies as they do with propagating Islam.

Speaking on the theme, former Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences, Professor Olaiwola Olurode, stated some distinctive features of a university that can cause stress, while emphasising the impact of classroom infrastructure and stressful conditions on the performance of students.  

According to Prof. Olurode, “our universities, especially the government owned, are not well funded. No adequate learning facilities for students to excel and this explains why they have a lot of traumatic experiences on campus,”

He, however, noted that if our universities are well funded and government increases the budgetary allocation of education from 6.11% to about 27%, it will reduce the stress being faced by students.

The Professor of Sociology also called on non-government organisation to complement government efforts in order to reduce stress among students.

“Government alone cannot do it, I think individual, cooperate organisations have a social responsibility to make sure that our students live decent and meaningful lives,” he said

Prof. Olurode urged the university authority to use the little internal generate revenue to develop the institution, adding that, “this will also reduce stress that students go through.”

The high-point of the event was the presentation of awards to distinguished students that have excelled in their various academic pursuits.