The Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof Idowu Olayinka, has charged postgraduate students of the institution not to lose faith in Nigeria, but to explore the endless opportunities and invaluable potentials of the country.
Olayinka gave the charge at the university’s 2019 convocation and award of postgraduate degrees in Ibadan, on Thursday.
He said: “I believe you are well equipped to make your own ground-breaking contributions towards solving the innumerable socioeconomic challenges threatening the fabric of our society.
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“I charge you not to lose faith in our dear country, Nigeria, but instead, all hands must be on deck to explore and project our endless opportunities and invaluable potentials.
“Nigeria is not ‘a failed state’, our diversity, if only appropriately channelled, will lift our society to unprecedented enviable heights.
“With every sense of duty, all of us must not only preach but also practice unity in diversity.
“Together, we are stronger, wiser, richer and better; we must make our large population count for something admirable,’’
Olayinka said the society placed hope on postgraduate education to continue to play pivotal roles, and the University of Ibadan remained resolute in the pursuit of its policy to focus more on the area.
He said that with over 450 professors and other cadres, UI continued to be a forerunner in postgraduate education in Nigeria.
“UI is responsible for the training of high-quality lecturers to meet the ever-growing demand of tertiary institutions within and outside our nation.
“The vision of the university is derived solely from the pursuit of the national goals of unity and development through innovation, knowledge creation and dissemination to stimulate national transformation.
“It is in recognition of this vision that the University of Ibadan remains committed to excellence in the continuous development of teaching, learning and research programmes.
“These would provide the required skills and platforms for an unending development, while also serving as a catalyst for the political, social and economic prosperity of the nation,’’ the VC said.
NAN reports that a 25-year-old student of Botany Department, Habibat Olayinka, made a cumulative grade point average of 7.0 for her master’s degree.
According to her, hard work pays.
“I owe everything to Almighty Allah and my mentor Prof A. Egunyomi.
“I scored 70 marks and above in all my courses; through discipline and hard work I got what I desired,’’ she said.
NAN also reports that 28 candidates received Mphil, 3290 earned Academic Masters Degrees, 136 Professional Masters Degrees and 160 Postgraduate Diploma from faculties of the institution.
NAN
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