University of Ibadan churns out 3,614 higher degrees students

By Gbenro Adesina

The University of Ibadan (UI) has graduated 3,614 higher degrees students from various disciplines in the apex institution.

The Vice Chancellor of the school, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka, speaking at the event, charged Nigerians, especially, the youths not to lose hope and faith in Nigeria, admonishing that all hands should be on deck to make the nation work.

Olayinka gave a breakdown of the graduates, saying that, “3,290 received academic Master’s Degrees, 136 Professional Masters’ Degrees, 160 Post Graduate Diploma and 28 received MPhil.”

He said, “I charged you all 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 and will never be ‘a failed state’. Our diversity, if only appropriately channeled, 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. In these respect, the society places its hope on postgraduate education to continue to play pivotal roles”.

Continuing, he said: “Therefore, the University of Ibadan has remained resolute in the pursuit of her policy to focus more on postgraduate studies. With well over 450 professors, as well as other cadre in the academic, the University of Ibadan has continued to be the star and forerunner of postgraduate education in Nigeria, responsible for the training of high quality lecturers to meet the ever growing demands of tertiary institutions within and outside our nation. This is unequivocally demonstrated by the rise in the number of graduands, who will be admitted into Degrees of Ph.D on Monday 18, 2019, when compared with the number in previous years”.

“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 with a view to stimulating national transformation. It is in recognition of this vision that University of Ibadan remains totally committed to excellence in the continuous development of teaching, learning and research programmes that would provide the required skills and platforms for an enduring development process, while also serving as catalyst for the political, social and economic prosperity of the nation.”