Nation
Chancellor Urges UNN Graduates, Awardees To Be Good Ambassadors
His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife and Chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), has urged graduates and those conferred with honorary degrees to be good ambassadors of the institution.
The Ooni said this in Nsukka on Saturday, during the 51st Convocation Ceremony of the UNN for the award of Postgraduate degrees, Diplomas and conferment of honorary degrees.
He urged them not to relent as the ambassadors of the university in sustaining the good reputations the university had earned over the years.
“I urge all the graduates and honorary awardees never to relent in being good ambassadors of this great university wherever they found themselves.
“UNN as the first university in the country, our graduates are expected to live up to our name and reputation in restoring the dignity of man.
“To the honorary awardees, the recognition given to you today by the university should spur you to greater heights to do more to the university as well as render more selfless service to humanity”, he said.
The Chancellor urged Nigerians to see the task of uniting the country as everybody’s responsibility.
“It worries me and other patriotic Nigerians that our country can be said to be less united as it was at independence.
“From recent developments across the country, I wish to remind us that we are failing in our attempt to build a truly united nation.
“As graduates we are proud to have been in a school like this where you have classmates, roommates, and friends from different parts of the country and the world.
“You have a duty to teach others that we are the same people irrespective of the tiny differences in our culture, religious or mother tongue”, he said
He commended Prof. Charles Igwe, the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the UNN, and the management for their commitment and dedication in ensuring that they sustained the dreams and visions of the founding fathers of the university and urged them to keep it up.
Speaking, Igwe said this convocation ceremony was dedicated to the award of Postgraduate degrees and honorary degrees, which, according to him, marked the grand finale of the 51st convocation ceremony of the institution.
“Some 1,548 postgraduate degrees and Diplomas were awarded at the convocation.
“This is made up of 519 degrees, 934 Master’s degrees and 95 Postgraduate diplomas.
“I congratulate the graduates for earning the postgraduate degree or diploma of this great university, which have elevated you to the elite club of alumni who hold a postgraduate qualification of the University. It is an achievement that you should be proud of”, he said.
The VC, who used the ceremony to share some of the recent developments at the University, noted that the institution had remained competitive and had continued to re-invent itself in spite of the challenges of inadequate and ageing infrastructures facing the first generation university.
“We have continued to strive to retain the reputation of excellence for which we have been known over years. Our staff have been quite productive, not only in teaching, research and innovation, but also in community service.
“Our university is also a beneficiary of a good number of projects from capital allocation, NEEDS assessment and TETFund intervention.
“In spite of all these, UNN is in dire need of support from friends and alumni as the university is worse hit by the prevailing economic conditions in the country,” he said.
According to the VC, the Doctor of Public Administration degree would be conferred on Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, former Inspector General of Police, while Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, would be awarded the Doctor of Business Administration degree
Igwe also said that Prof Virginia Dike, Prof. Eunice Okeke of the Faculty of Education, Prof. Martin Aghaji of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Prof. Daniel Obikeze, Prof. Azuka Dike, Prof. Timothy Nwala, and Prof Emmanuel Chinwokwu of the Faculty of The Social Sciences were elevated to the status of Professor Emeritus of UNN.
The Chairman of Malumfashi Local Government Council of Katsina State, Maharazu Dayi, has been impeached.
Maharazu Dayi was impeached yesterday by 11 out of 12 councillors, barely two days before the local government elections in the State.
The councillors reportedly took action following allegations of misconduct and poor governance against the chairman after a dispute over the distribution of the council’s Paris Club funds.
The development has sent shock waves across the local government area, especially as the impeached chairman is among those who failed to secure the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest in the forthcoming election.
The Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association, Mile 1, Port Harcourt, has urged the state government to utilise the available spaces within the area to build phase 3 of the Rumuwoji Market in order to solve the ever increasing needs of traders.
The association, which said this at a media briefing in Port Harcourt, also described as a welcomed development the decision by the state Governor to open the phase 2 of the market for business.
According to the association, “We consider it as an answer to the various cries of the people, because he is a man on a mission who is out to place the interest of Rivers people first. It is a dream come true for the first time for the market to be dully allocated and open for business”
Chairman of the association, Hon Godspower Wobo, who briefed the press shortly after a meeting of the association in Port Harcourt, also urged the public to disregard the activities of some persons whose stock in trade is to cause disaffection in the market.
He said the attention of the association was drawn to the activities of some strange fellows who went about misforming the people about situation in the market, stressing that apart from his association, no other group exists in the market except subdiary unions.
Wobo also tasked the reallocation committee to tread with caution so as to avoid being deceived by any group.
According to him, time has come for the state government to engage in robust discussion with aggrieved shop owners who went to court and those who paid monies to the state coffers and issued with allocation certificates for the overall interest of peace.
He also advised the public to deal directly with his association, stressing that the meeting was to review activities for the last year as well as unveil their new Constitution.
Also speaking, former Chairman of the association, Deacon Kenneth Eze urged the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara to open the phase 2 of the market, as it is long overdue.
Eze who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the association also urged the public to do business with only the Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association as it is the only union recognised by the traders.
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, has debunked reports linking him with the race for Nigeria’s presidency in 2027.
Reacting to the report on his X handle yesterday, following a recent interview with Arise TV, the AfDB boss said his quotes were misrepresented and misinterpreted in several Nigerian media reports.
However, the AfDB president denied the media reports, stating that he never said that he wanted to contest for President.
“A segment of my recent interview on @Arise TV has been both misinterpreted and misrepresented in several Nigerian media outlets. What I said was, “I will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere, including my own country.”
“A listen to the substantive and robust interview, which is available online, will show this to be the case. For clarity and for the record, I did not say that I am running for the office of President of Nigeria,” Adesina said.