The Mass Communications Students’ Association (MACOSA) of Fourah Bay College (FBC) is the recent beneficiary of a brand new DSTV donated to the association by Adonis Aboud.
Speaking at the official handing over ceremony of the DSTV at the Mass Comm. building, the president of the association Ismael Koroma said they had indeed manifested that they were the pride of the university as they had achieved what others were striving for.
He added that for the past years they had produced up to seven students with first class degrees and the best student trophy was won by them at the university’s first annual awards.
“We are even proud winners of the 2006 moot court competition and the winners represented the country in Arusha. This is a clear sign that we are the new breed of mass communicators,” he said.
Mr Koroma echoed that when his executive took up office, the association was not functioning effectively but that they had been able to resurrect it and made several links with NGOs and other institutions to solicit funding for their organization, and so they decided to meet Mr Aboud who agreed to answer their call.
The MACOSA prexy explained that when he first promised the students that they would get a DSTV many were skeptical but when the proposal was forwarded to Adonis Aboud “and he called us to his office most of the other executive members refused to go with me except some other students. After the discussion the only statement Mr Aboud said was ‘congratulations Ismael consider it done.’ And indeed it has been done.”
So he went on “as we have received this decoder form Mr Aboud we plead to use it judiciously and we also commit to continue to lift the standards of the institution.”
The director of the Institute of Library and Communications Studies (INSLICS), Mrs Bernadette Cole, commended the executive for the bold steps taken as “this is a step in the right direction.”
Addressing the students, Mrs Cole said she was glad that they [students] left the campus to solicit funding outside and that the decoder was a valuable resource which would be suitable for learning purposes.
He further urged staff of the department to use the facility for teaching purposes as there were certain channels that were very important for the students.
In handing over the DSTV the Consul for Serbia, Adonis Aboud, said the first satellite dish was installed at the college 17 years ago and that it had only five channels and during that time FBC was the first college in West Africa to have such a facility.
The MACOSA DSTV, he went on, “is about 80 cm with 210 channels free”.
Explaining the reasons behind his gesture Mr Aboud said, “this is just my little kindness to a country that has hosted me for 25 years, so what else can I give them in return? So I have to give education for the country that has about 70% illiteracy rate.”
He averred that for this reason he had introduced distance learning for seven schools including the Prince of Wales, Saint Edwards, Annie Walsh and Government Secondary technical school.
Mr Aboud disclosed that the system at the Mary Kingsley auditorium, which was first installed, would be updated. “And I will also ensure that the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) receive a complete set of DSTV as this will enable their work,” he disclosed.
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