Four years ago Ibrahim Ayoola Olatunde, was in the crowd when Fatimot Titilope Ajagbe was celebrated as the best graduand of Crescent University, Abeokuta. It was on that day – as a 100-Level student – that he decided he too would win the prize.
That desire was fulfilled last week when Olatunde led 247 others as the best graduating student for the 2013/2014 academic session.
The 23-year old graduated with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.76 from the Computer Science Department, College of Information and Communication Sciences (CICOT) of the university.
“I became determined to take the prize when I witnessed the 2010 Best Graduating Student, Fatimot Titilope Ajagbe. I told myself that if a female student could bag the award, then I could also develop myself to achieve the same feat,” he said while explaining his success.
Olatunde added that getting permission to leave the campus only three times in a month helped him to manage his resources and afforded him more time to study.
In making his good grades, Olatunde said he never read at night as he preferred reading in a well-ventilated place during the day.
Despite devoting a lot of time to his studies, Olatunde said it did not stop him from serving God and helping others.
“My relationship with other people was so good that I think I consider other people before myself once it’s not going to cost me anything. I abided by Allah’s injunctions and performed my prayers five times daily,” he said.
In terms of character education, Olatunde said the Proprietor of the university, Prince Bola Ajibola, has designed a template that stands the school apart from others.
He said: “Although we may be comparing Crescent University with others in terms of education, we can never do such when it comes to character.”
He appealed to the Federal Government to recognise the role that private universities play in human capital development and allow them benefit from the Tertiary Education Tax Fund (TETFUND), especially as contributions to the fund come from the private sector.
At the event, the university honoured the Erelu Kuti IV of Lagos, Erelu Abiola-Dosunmu, and the Emir of Gummi, Justice Lawal Hassan Gummi with Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) in Business Administration; and Dr Haci Kutlu from Turkey with Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) in Political Science and International Relations.
In his speech, Judge Ajibola underscored the importance of character education In complementing academic qualifications.
“Students in our institution may repeat a level not only because of academic failure but because they fail in their moral and spiritual disposition,” he said, adding that the university has built character education into a compulsory course titled: Global Citizenship.
He continued: “Part of the team of the National Universities Commission (NUC) that visited us for the second time commended the good behaviour of our students. The accreditation panel members acknowledged the cool-headedness and polite greetings from our students wherever the NUC officials met them on campus,” he said.
In his speech, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Hassan Okeleye, said the university has a virile entrepreneurial centre where all students get trained in different vocations, in line with NUC directive that students gain entrepreneurial training in addition to their certificates.
Okeleye also announced that the university plans to start a College Medical and Health Sciences to address the dearth of Muslims in the medical and health professions.
At the event, the Proprietor’s prize for the best behaved male and female went to Mudathir Akintunde Akinsanya and Baydau Yetunde Musbaudeen, while the vice-chancellor’s prize for the Overall Best Graduating Student went to Olatunde.
