83 ABUAD students bag first class as varsity holds 5th convocation

NO fewer than 83 students of the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) will graduate with first class degrees as the university holds its fifth convocation this week.

As part of the activities marking the 5th convocation ceremonies, the institution has also instituted a free medical care for 2,000 people in the state for different types of ailments as part of its corporate social responsibilities to the society.

Vice Chancellor of ABUAD, Professor Michael Ajisafe, who addressed newsmen on the convocation, said the institution  at its convocation ceremonies slated for Saturday, October 21, will graduate 83 first class out of 869 graduands to be conferred with bachelor degrees in various courses by the institution .

Ajisafe justified the high number of fist class graduates churned out by the university, saying it confirmed the quality education being offered by the university, which he said was a function of uninterrupted power supply and full-residential policy for all students adopted by the founder, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN).

Speaking at a per-convocation press conference held at ABUAD on Monday, the Vice Chancellor, revealed that intending patients for the free health services will be treated by experts from Europe, Asia and Nigeria.

“The experts will treat any patient free and they will perform surgery if it is required on any patient and this is on the bill of ABUAD and it is going to be on first come, first serve,” he said.

Ajisafe said the university will commission the 400-bed ABUAD Teaching Hospital built by Chief Babalola to offer quality health services to Nigerians.

He said the university will confer honorary degrees on the President and Chief Executive Officer of project CURE, Dr Douglas Jackson and on the former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Peter Okebukola for their contributions to humanity.

“Since we began, ABUAD has proved to be a trail-blazer. In order to add international flavour to the nation’s healthcare delivery, the 400-bed hospital built on 60 hectares of land has entered into partnership with some reputable players in the global health industry such as Abbot laboratories, Aster hospital, Dubai, Project CURE, USA.

“Others include, Narula foundation, India, JNC international, Trigness, India, Protech Gas, Adler of England, College of Pharmacy, Howard University, USA and Bridge of Life, USA as well as care4you Association in Denmark”, he revealed.

Ajisafe revealed that the university has received half of the funds promised by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to fast-track development in the institution.

He said the degrees being awarded by ABUAD can compete favourably with those from Howard and Harvard universities, saying “certificates being offered here are scrutinized by external bodies and institutions within and outside the country, so our degrees command global respect.”

The Vice Chancellor promised that the institution will continue to strive hard until it realizes the dream of becoming one of the 100 best universities globally.