01.01.70

Bello Gusau reports how bridges were built across interests at the recent convocation of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.

THE whole of Sokoto recently stood still when prominent Nigerians and a foreigner were conferred with honourary doctoral degrees by the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) as a reward for their acts of philanthropy and exemplary leadership. But beyond the conferment of the awards, the university provided an avenue to the political figures honoured to deepen the country’s nascent democracy.

The joint convocation ceremony which covered four sessions; namely 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st sessions was unique both in the swollen number of the graduating students which was put at 11,532 as well as in the calibre of the eminent persons honoured by the university.

Among the honourees was the pro-chancellor and chairman UDUS governing board, Alhaji Bilya Sanda. He was honoured with Doctor of Science Degree (honoris causa) for his philanthropy in and outside the university.

Source: Nigerian Tribune

by NNN

Deforestation and climate change may sound like familiar concerns to the modern ear. But a team of French scientists is arguing that even 3,000 years ago, humans may have played a role in transforming the Central African rain forest into the savannas we see today.

As Bantu farmers expanded south and east into the rain forest in search of fertile agricultural land, they may have created savanna “corridors” that cut into the forest and helped turn that lush landscape into drier grassland, according to a study published online this week in the journal Science.

Study leader Germain Bayon, a geochemist at the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, said he and his colleagues weren’t even thinking about humans when they began studying sediment samples from the mouth of the Congo River. All they were trying to do was match rainfall rates over thousands of years with the degree of chemical weathering in minerals to see how the rocky material...

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