OAU Graduates 6,255; 109 With First Class - Ife City Blog

A total of 6,255 students were on Friday graduated by the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State with 109 of them on first class.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, disclosed this in his address at the institution's 45th Convocation ceremony held at the Oduduwa Hall of the institution.

Ogunbodede while congratulating parents and guardians and the graduands on the occasion which also coincides with the activities marking the University's 60th anniversary, charged the graduands to positively impact the various sectors of the Nigerian economy and help in resolving the challenges facing the nation as they step to the next phase in their lives and careers.

The Vice Chancellor urged the graduands to be conscious of the fact that they were not trained only for Nigerian market but graduates that are well equipped to compete effectively anywhere in the world as ambassadors of ”Great Ife”.

According to him, 4,643 graduands bagged Bachelor's Degrees (classified) from 13 faculties while 561 were confered with unclassified Bachelor's Degrees, adding that 903 bagged post graduate degrees and 146 non-degree diplomas.

Prof. Ogunbodede further stated that the university had achieved rapid growth and development particularly in the areas of academic programmes, research, infrastructural and human resources development.

The Vice Chancellor reiterated OAU's stand as a leading ICT institution as it proudly hosts the Africa Centre of Excellence in Software Engineering.

“The first iLab in Africa, South of Sahara was developed and established in OAU in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Transcript Processing Software are also part of good success story of the university.

“The university has developed a robust entrepreneurship programme supported by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to improve the employability and ability of the graduates to contribute effectively to national development,” Ogunbodede stated.

The VC further added that collaborations are ongoing with relevant government agencies and corporate organisations to construct an airstrip that would be capable of serving as a training ground for the newly established Aeronautical Engineering Programme.

Ogunbodede however lamented that poor funding has been a major challenge to the university, saying that government subvention had been grossly inadequate for its running and this according to him has been responsible for the slow pace in its developmental projects.

He commended TETFund, the university alumni association and friends who had been of great assistance and support to the instruction in its various projects and programmes.

Ogunbodede further maintained that the University will continue to harness and prioritise modern technologies in the implementation of the university’s laudable objectives.

News Agency of Nigeria reports that Ohanekwu Favour Ebuka, a student of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, emerged as the best overall student of 2018/2019 set with 4.89 GPA and got nine prizes.

The Grand-Finale of the convocation, according to the report, will commence on Saturday, 11th of December.