THE 2024 graduating students of Vanguards Academy, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, have been charged to prepare spiritually, morally and intellectually for life outside secondary education and be cautious about the use of social media.
The Dean of the Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Lagos, Professor Abdul-Hameed Sulaimon, gave this charge on Saturday in Ijebu-Ode at the 18th graduation ceremony of the academy.
Professor Sulaimon said preparing for new realities would make the graduates thrive in the future which he said is characterised by uncertainties.
Muslim News gathered the two-day ceremony began Friday last week with a special Juma’ah service led by Dr Razaq Ogunmoye from the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye.
It was followed by a valedictory night which had Dr Hassan Banjo speaking on As We Sail On, focusing on life in tertiary institutions and its ups and downs.
The event was attended by the graduands, academic and non-academic staff of the school and executives of the Vanguards Academy Old Students Association (VAOSA) led by the president, Mr Dhikrullahi Sulayman Adeyemi.
Family and friends who came from far and near thronged the schools playground to honour the 63 graduating students.
Six graduands who completed the memorisation of the Qur’an and five memorisers of the 40 Hadith from the collection of Imam Nabawi also had their Haflah.
The event culminated in the presentation of VAOSA G-80 Outstanding Leadership Award to Yusuf Abubakr and Atitebi Lubaabah; VAOSA G-80 Award of Excellence in Qur’an Memorisation to Ahmad Luqman and Mikail Khawlah and Comrade Tirmidhi Abdullah Prize of Excellence in the Business Department to Adekoya Khadijah. The awards were presented by VAOSA president, Mr Dhikrullahi Adeyemi.
Speaking on dreaming for greatness at the event, Professor Sulaimon emphasised the need for the graduates to dream big and make remarkable achievements in life.
According to him, graduates need spiritual, moral, intellectual and other forms of preparedness to thrive through the future which is characterised by uncertainties.
He likened the outside to a beast that is ready to devour them, saying the situation is every man for himself.
According to him, there are many distractions, especially that of social media, hence, the need to prepare for the new realities that are about to unfold.
The don said, “One great challenge facing the society today is the ambivalent social media, with both good and despoiling contents. They must be careful with it. They should not let it take away their precious time or rob them of pristine Islamic values.
“They need to be prepared to battle the challenge. If they have to use social media, it should be to their advantage. This is where, as parents, guardians and teachers, we have roles to play in ensuring that children get the best quality education.”
The chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Abdul Hafeez Matemilola, whose daughter, Maryam, was among the graduating students, said, “I feel elated that my daughter is also graduating. I am delighted. I am happy two folds because her JAMB result was good and she cleared all her papers in WAEC. I am hopeful she will get into a notable university before the end of the year.
Matemilola said children might fall victim to the vices propagated by social media due to their inexperience and therefore advocated the need for them to be guided by their parents.
He said, In the society today, social media dictates the way people lead their lives, especially the younger generation. So, parents and caregivers need to be wary of the contents consumed by their wards. They are inexperienced in life, so, it is easy for them to fall victim to the vices propagated by social media.
“So, parents, as experienced adults, should guide them on the right content to feed their minds with.
“As parents, we need to guide them since we know the pros and cons of social media. The evil of social media is becoming rampant and it’s probably due to parents not paying attention to what their kids are doing on social media.
“It’s not a case of invasion of privacy, rather trying to guide them on the use of social media. We need to build that foundation till they can learn how to control themselves on social media.
The special guest of honour, Honourable Luqman Olajide Atobatele who is the Deputy Minority Leader, Ogun State House of Assembly, called on the graduates to imbibe the lessons learnt from the school and be good ambassadors as they move on in life.
The lawmaker commended the school’s management for putting together a memorable valedictory event, urging it to maintain the standards for which it is known.
The Chief Executive Officer of the School, Dr Zafaran Adeniyi, congratulated the graduates for their accomplishments, wishing them success for the future.
He said, Every year is about content. Every ‘G’ – graduating set – is content and the content is what they are meant to achieve academically and otherwise. This year, we are proud to produce 63 graduating students.
“We have several parameters put in place to bring out the best in them. Moreover, in terms of behaviour and morality, the G63 underwent rigorous drills. Alhamdulillah, their moral rectitude was sustained. In short, they are doing fine.
“We have about six memorisers of the Quran, five memorisers of Hadith Nabawi. We were challenged last year when we realised that the number of Hufaadh dropped. We were very keen on getting maximum output this year. We monitored them very closely, and Alhamdulillah, here we are today. We are very hopeful that we will have a better output next year.”
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