By: Ade Adeleke
….To honour Ibukun AWOSIKA
The Ondo State-owned Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, AAUA, has rolled out activities to mark its 10th and 11th Convocation Ceremony for combined two graduating sets of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 academic sessions.
At a press conference held on the campus, the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Olugbenga Ige said out of 5,145 graduands, 53 made First Class; 1,511 earned Second Class (Upper Division), 2861 bagged Second Class (Lower Division), 667 had Third Class, while 40, are in the Pass category.
Prof Ige explained that “activities for this Convocation Ceremony started on Friday, December 3, with Jumat Service, where prayers were offered for the success and development of the University. We had a keep-fit exercise on Saturday.
“By tomorrow (Tuesday), we will have a fair on our research, development and innovation showcasing our modest contribution to finding solutions to societal issues; the Convocation Lecture, titled, Nature of State, National Ideology and Modelling of Higher Education for Sustaining Development holds on Thursday, December 9, and it will be delivered by a distinguished renowned and a world-class professor, a multiple award winner, Professor Francis Oisaghaede Egbokhare, FNAL, FSOW, FDA, from the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, University of Ibadan.
“Professor, Egbokhare, is a celebrated author, editor, writer, academic leader, organizer, teacher, and a visionary of extraordinary grace, talent and accomplishments. He is a Fellow, Linguistic Association of Nigeria, Fellow of Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung University of Hamburg, Germany, Fellow, Institute of Development Administration of Nigeria; Fellow, Institute of Social Work of Nigeria, Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters and Member, West African Linguistic Society, among other awards and recognitions. Professor Egbokhare is the current President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters.
The Vice Chancellor said, “On Friday, we shall confer First Degree on graduands in Faculty of Education, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Institute of Education and Institute of Part-Time Programmes. The grand-finale comes up on Saturday, December 11 when we shall confer First Degrees on graduands in the Faculties of Agriculture, Arts, Law and Science. There will also be conferment of Higher Degrees and Postgraduate Diplomas; Honorary Degree; and Presentation of Prizes. I, hereby, request your presence in all these programmes and give them a wider publicity.
“In the aggregate, distinguished gentlemen of the press, we are presenting 5,145 graduands at this 10th and 11th Convocation, with the Faculty of Education having 1,415, followed by Faculty of Science – 924, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences – 1061, Faculty of Agriculture -156, Faculty of Arts – 748, Faculty of Law -181, Institute of Education – 307, Institute of Part-Time Programmes – 231, and Diploma – 13. There are 356 graduands receiving postgraduate degrees, 25 of whom are in the Ph.D. category, the highest in the history of this University.
“Honorary Award: A distinguished Nigerian will receive our cherished and noble honorary degree. She is a former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria; a business magnet and entrepreneur; a role model and philanthropist. Mrs. Ibukun AWOSIKA will be conferred with Doctor of Business Administration (Honoris Causa) of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko,” the VC said.
On the recent students’ unrest at the university, Prof Ige noted that the school fees arrangements remain one of the cheapest among the public universities in the country, adding that the institution had made payment of tuition very flexible to enable parents cope with the payment.
