THE Joseph Ayo Babalola University, (JABU) Ikeji Arakeji, Osun state, is set to graduate 566 students from the various departments during the 8th Convocation ceremony slated for Friday 19th January 2017.
The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Sola Fajana, who disclosed this during a press conference to herald the Convocation ceremony, said 23 of the students graduated with First Class Honours, 222 bagged Second Class Honours (upper division) 244 earned Second Class (lower division) while 55 had Third Class Honours.
He said, “In the postgraduate category, 17 bagged Masters degree while five students bagged Postgraduate Diploma.”
According to Fajana, the Visitor of the institution and the President of the Christ Apostolic Church Worldwide, Pastor Abraham Akinosun, will be conferred with Honorary Degrees, in recognition to his contribution to education, youth development and quality of life in the country.
He listed other activities lined up for the ceremony to include, Convocation lecture, with the title “Optimal Functionality of Agents of Socialisation: Decisive Ingredient for a Better Tomorrow” to be delivered by Corps Marshall, Federal Road Safety Commission, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi on Thursday.
The Vice-Chancellor stated that the school has been able to set the pace in the field of entrepreneurial programme saying “we are partnering with the Federal government not state government and MDA in Nigeria through our capacity building programme in entrepreneurship.”
He said about 50 non-militant Niger Delta indigenes have been enrolled in the university for training programme by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in Entrepreneurship in building related skills, such as block making, bricklaying, tiling, plumbing, interlocks and landscaping
Fajana said the school is committed to equipping students with entrepreneurial skills to empower them economically after learning in the institution.
According to him, the aim is to produce students who will be self-employed and ultimately become employers of labour, noting that other tertiary institutions have started emulating JABU in the area of entrepreneurial training.
He said, ” the story has been a wonderful one, our students have been doing great in the various field, like hairdressing, photography, and so many other areas and the feedback from them has spurned us to give entrepreneurial programme more attention.”
Prof. Fajana, however, advocated the inclusion of private universities in the country in the disbursement of the fund from platforms as Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).
He noted that giving only public universities such fund will not help the growth of the nation’s tertiary educational system.
He called on the government to look into the volume of infrastructural development in the private institutions, the year of existence and the demonstration of seriousness on the part of the institutions in awarding the fund to the schools rather than shutting them out completely.
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