Twenty-six-year-old son of a plumber
whose mother is also a trader in Iseyin, Oyo State, Mr. Nurudeen
Adegoke, has emerged the overall best graduating student at the 24th
convocation ceremony of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, on
Saturday.
Adegoke, who read
Mathematics, shone
like a star at the occasion as he won other awards and had to shake
hands on different occasions with special guests and other principal
officers of the university to receive his prizes.
He told our correspondent that the road
to his success was rough and challenging as he had to put in personal
efforts to get himself through his degree programme at FUTA.
He said, “I really worked very hard. No
unserious student can survive the rigour at the Mathematical Science
department from where I graduated. I was very prayerful too.
“Right from my first day in FUTA, I was
determined, focused and diligent. I was humble too because humility is
very essential in anything one is doing.
“I was at the Osun State College of
Technology, Esa Oke, for my Ordinary National Diploma in Statistics. I
got direct admission to FUTA, doing everything on my own.
“My dad is a plumber while my mother is a
petty trader. I am really from a humble background. Being the first
child of my family, I made up my mind to be serious and hardworking so
that I could help my parents in taking care of the academic needs of my
younger ones.
“I always had it at the back of my mind
that I must pass very well if I really wanted my certificate to be
useful to me and I was always prayerful and focused.
“I used to get involved in tutorials. I
didn’t play with my academics. I am not sure I had any social life
because I didn’t want any form of distraction,” Adegoke submitted.
He advised students to face their
academics instead of engaging in activities that would not add value to
their main reason of being in the university in the first instance.
The Chancellor of the institution, who
is also the Emir of Lafia, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Isa Mustafa,
described the five-year degree programme at FUTA as stimulating and
intellectually enriching.
He congratulated the graduates for
attending an institution with world-class academic curricular which made
it the best university of technology in Nigeria.
He admonished the graduates to be
entrepreneurial and creative and to tap from the vast natural endowments
and economic resources in the country instead of looking for salary
jobs years after graduation.
He said, “I exhort you to be lawful,
peaceful, and God guided in your pursuits of livelihood. I beseech you
to follow the path of honour, integrity and righteousness at all time.”
The pro-Chancellor, who is also Chairman
of the Governing Council, Brig.-Gen. Raji Rasaki, said FUTA would
remain focused in its determination to contribute towards the
development of quality human capital to meet local and global needs.
He also pledged that the university
would continue to intensify efforts to attract indigenous and foreign
students at both undergraduate and post graduate levels by acquiring
facilities that meet their demands.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adebiyi
Daramola, said 15 out of the 1,960 students that graduated had a first
class degree while 561were in the second class upper division.
He added that 998 graduates were in the
second class lower division; 331 in the third class; while 55 of them
graduated with a pass.
Daramola said the university agreed to
confer honorary degrees on Lt. Gen Theophilus Danjuma and Prof. Daniel
Mireku-Gyimah from Ghana because of their generous contributions to
human capital development.
He reiterated his determination to “take
FUTA to the market place” by focusing on policies and programmes that
would lead the institution to a higher height of global recognition for
excellence.
He said, “We are also going to harness, package and market the great potential of the university to be financially solvent.
“We are starting by focusing on
completing all on-going projects, upgrading our entire infrastructure to
international standards. It is a daunting task that requires a lot of
reforms, system re-engineering and economic utilisation of human and
material resources,” he added.
Daramola also explained that through the
introduction of entrepreneurial training to the students, electrical
and painting jobs that were usually contracted out were now being
handled by the university’s works and services personnel with the active
participation of students, saving the institution, millions of naira.
He commended the Ondo State, Governor,
Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, for his efforts when the university was in the
process of acquiring one of the state’s housing estates near the campus
for its centre for continuing education which is responsible for
pre-degree programmes and short-time certificates.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who was
represented on the occasion by the Executive Secretary, National
Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie, charged the university to
focus more on research which he described as a veritable tool for
development.
Mimiko, who was also represented on the
occasion by his deputy, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, pledged the continuous
support of the state to the institution and provision of an enabling
environment for the members of staff and students at all times.
-Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment