The Vice-Chancellor, University Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Prof. Charles Igwe, has claimed that the university produced close to 60 generations of alumni since the inception of the institution.
Igwe stated this during a media briefing to mark the 63rd Founders’ Day Celebration of the UNN at the Main Hall of UNN, Enugu Campus, on Tuesday.
The event was attended by Deputy Vice Chancellor (DVC), Administration, Prof Pat Okpoko, DVC Academics, Prof. Johnson Uramah, DVC, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Prof. Daniel Nwachukwu, Registrar, Celine Ngozi Nebedum, and other members of the university.
The vice chancellor said: “It is on record that the University of Nigeria has produced close to 60 generations of alumni and from our matriculation number, the exact number of graduates produced so far by the university is over 200,000.”
According to him, the 63rd Founders’ Day celebration became necessary as the school was founded on the eve of Nigeria’s independence in 1960.
He described the founders’ day celebration as an annual event held in commemoration of the founding of the university, Nigeria’s first indigenous university.
“We should be celebrating not only the birth of the UNN, but also the historical milestone of the birth of university education as a whole.
“This will be marked with elaborate and weeklong activity during which staff, students and alumni will come together to honour our founders and forebears and it is also a time to reflect on our past, celebrate our achievements and strategise on our future,” he said.
Announcing the programme for the celebration, Igwe said Abia State Governor Alex Otti, would speak on the topic. “Petroleum Subsidy Removal: Dealing with the Challenges, Harnessing the Opportunities”.
He said Otti is a renowned and celebrated economist with a remarkable career as a banker who rose to become the Executive Director of First Bank PLC and later, the Group Managing Director of the defunct Diamond Bank PLC, before venturing into politics.
He noted the university had continued to re-invent itself, retaining and improving its place in the league of universities in Nigeria, Africa and the world in general.
Igwe added that the school had remained competitive in spite of some very peculiar challenges facing it, stressing that in terms of academic output, the staff had been quite productive, not only in the form of conference attendance, research publications, but also in inventions and patents.
“Today’s press briefing is also an opportunity to share some of the recent developments taking place in the University,” the VC said.
Highlighting some of the achievements recorded by the university, the vice chancellor said a good number of the staff had emerged the proud recipients and winners of many local and international research grants.
“A case in point is a World Bank grant for research in sustainable power and energy development valued at US$6 million.
“This is one of the biggest grants ever won here at the University of Nigeria and Centre for Translation and Implementation Research (CTAIR) in the College of Medicine has also won a number of grants collectively valued at about US$1 million,” he said.
He explained that in addition to maintaining all the existing partnerships, the university had entered into a number of new international collaborations with reputable universities across the world.
He pointed out that in the last one year, the university had signed a good number of MoUs with several universities, including those in very distant countries like Australia, Japan and Russia.
“As a result, our university has continued to retain and enjoy its reputation as a growing 21st century university.
“We have also continued to address the unique challenges of infrastructure deficit which we face across our campuses and as a first generation, multi-campus and rapidly growing institution, some of these challenges are simply peculiar to UNN,” he said.
Igwe further said that the institution had a total of at least 20 TETFund projects which were currently at various stages of completion.
“These developments and achievements are the main reasons for these celebrations, because in their absence there would be nothing to celebrate.
“I am grateful to our forebears, especially former Vice-Chancellors, principal officers and staff who laid the foundation on which we have recorded these incremental achievements,” he said.
