- FUNAAB graduates 113 First Class students
The Obong of Calabar, Edidem Ekpo Okon, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to restore Management Sciences that were delisted in universities of agriculture across the country three years ago.
The traditional ruler spoke at the convocation of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) in Ogun State.
Okon is the chancellor of the university.
The chancellor called on the president to “magnanimously restore” courses in the College of Management Sciences that were deleted three years ago.
He said: “The establishment of the College of Management Sciences in specialised universities was borne out of diversification of academic programmes in these universities with the assurance to retain agriculture as the flagship programme.
“The purpose of this academic diversification was to allow greater access to higher education by an ever-increasing pool of eligible candidates, who are unable to access higher education due to insufficiency in numbers to care for their admission capacities.”
He pleaded with Buhari to allow the return of the college to continue its contributions towards national development.
The varsity’s Pro-chancellor/Chairman of Governing Council, Dr Aboki Zhawa, also reiterated the call.
Corroborating the chancellor, Zhawa said: “Mr President, I wish to passionately appeal for the restoration of the university’s College of Management Sciences (COLMAS), which has, for two consecutive academic sessions, been delisted from the brochure of Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), thereby dashing the hopes and yearnings of thousands of youths.
“The Governing Council believes that whoever opens the gate of a school closes the door of prison while a nation that toys with education of its citizens is only preparing its posterity for penury.
“I appeal to Mr President to prevail on the agencies and individuals that may be thwarting the efforts of restoring this all-important college to put the future of the teeming youths above all other considerations.”
The school graduated 3,548 students in the ceremony – the first to be conducted by the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Kolawole Salako, since he assumed office last year. The VC described the graduands as “the best”, saying their degrees were “well-deserved”.
Giving a breakdown of the graduands, the VC disclosed that 113 graduates made a First Class, 1,327 Second Class (Upper Division), and 1,533, Second Class (Lower Division). The ceremony also witnessed the award of post-graduate and honorary degrees. Some personalities, including the Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, were conferred with honorary degrees.
The VC explained why the school conferred Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) on Prof Soyinka and a renowned historian, Prof Toyin Falola.
He said: “There is a nexus between science and humanities. We are emphasising this as we confer honorary degree on the men who made their marks on the field of Humanities. Even at this convocation ceremony, Prof Falola, who is our convocation lecturer, demonstrates this scholarship in his lecture titled: Food and us: Poverty, policies and politics. Many people’s lives have been touched by Prof Soyinka’s Ake, the Years of Childhood, and we feel honoured by the Nobel Laureate’s gesture to accept our honorary degree.”
While congratulating graduands, the VC charged them to uphold the university’s core values in academic and moral excellence, saying: “These will distinguish you among your peers and make you very good ambassadors of the university”.
Recalling her academic journey in the school, the Overall Best Graduating Student, Oluwatobiloba Akinyele said: “I knew from the start that it was not going to be easy, considering that I switched from Agricultural Technology to Nutrition and Dietetics through Direct Entry.”
She urged her colleagues to set goals for themselves, and work hard to achieve their dreams.
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