No fewer than 226 students of the Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti(ABUAD) out of 1,662 on Monday graduated with First Class honours during the convocation ceremony of the institution.
ABUAD Vice Chancellor, Professor Smaranda Olarinde, in his address during the 12th convocation ceremony and 15th Founder’s Day Event, explained that out of the graduating students, 1,485 bagged Bachelor’s degrees and 177 were postgraduate students.
She said the best graduating students from the department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Omolara Ogundana, graduated with the perfect CGPA of 5.0/5.0 from total of 216 course units.
At the ceremony, the Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN; multi-talented lawyer, Mr. Damian D. Dodo, SAN and the serving overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, were honoured.
The VC explained that the institution has remained consistent in its leadership in the nation’s education sector, innovations and societal contributions.
According to her, the vision of the founder, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, in establishing the university is to produce graduates that would change the course of the country and the world and as well as contribute to the betterment of the society.
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On the students’ loan scheme of the Federal Government, the ABUAD VC described as discriminatory the exclusion of students from private institutions in the country, adding that the government’s decision creates unequal access to education for deserving students.
She lamented the deplorable state of federal roads in Ekiti State, especially the Ado-Ijan road leading to the university, calling on the Federal Government to address the lingering infrastructural deficit in the interest of the citizens.
Speaking, the Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, lauded the contributions of ABUAD to advancement of knowledge and human capital development in the country.
Aiyedatiwa explained that the institution in the last 15 years of its existence has changed the face of education in the country with its quality education evident in the exploits of its graduates across all sectors of the economy.
He lauded the commitment of the ABUAD founder to the development of the nation’s education sector with the establishment of the institution, which he said, has made positive impacts with the quality of learning.
He congratulated Prince Fagbemi, Pastor Bakare and Dodo for the honorary awards bestowed on them by ABUAD, noting that their contributions and commitment to the advancement of humanity and the law profession necessitated the recognition.
According to him, “It is exciting to be part of the 12th convocation ceremony and 15th founder’s day celebration of this great institution. Let me congratulate this institution for this day and also thank God for the founder that he is alive and in good health to witness this day.
“I want to commend our own Aare Afe Babalola for the huge investment he has put into the building of this great citadel of learning. A huge investment that is driven by vision to offer to the world and humanity a world-class and reformative education of great standard.”