UNN Produces 168 First Class Graduands at 55th Convocation

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Enugu

It was a bumper harvest for the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), following the graduation of 12,895 students in first degree, diploma and postgraduate programmes, with 168 earning First Class.

Speaking at the 55th convocation ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Simon Ortuanya, stated that 10,641 bagged first degrees and diploma certificates, while 2,994 received higher degree certificates.

In the postgraduate category, the VC said that 1,390 earned PhDs; 1,340 Master’s degrees; while 214 graduands received postgraduate diplomas.

He said that the graduands’ exceptional achievements testify to the enduring culture of academic excellence that defines the university.

Ortuanya said that though he was faced with decades of infrastructural decay upon assuming office, he faced it headlong.

“We resolved from the very first day that we would neither romanticise our challenges nor become prisoners of them. We resolved instead to confront them honestly, guided by the conviction that every genuine renaissance begins with the courage to acknowledge what must be rebuilt,” he said.

To roll back the decades of decay, Ortuanya stated that his administration has embarked on a rebuilding process, which was not merely a call to reconstruct physical infrastructure.

“It was a summons to renew institutional confidence, strengthen academic excellence, expand the frontiers of research, embrace innovation and restore the ‘lion’s den’ to even greater heights of global relevance,” the VC said.

He highlighted his administration’s achievements 11 months after inception, saying that it has initiated over 100 strategic projects across Nsukka, Enugu and Ituku-Ozalla Campuses of the institution.

The three campuses have become living construction sites as almost all the internal roads have undergone comprehensive reconstruction, complete with modern drainage systems and pedestrian walkways, according to him.

Ortuanya also mentioned that existing hostels were being rehabilitated and the building of new ones were ongoing, including the 40-room Nursing and Pharmacy students at the College of Medicine, Ituku-Ozalla, adding that work has restarted on the long-delayed construction of the Senate Building.

He also announced that significant progress had been made in strengthening the quality, relevance and competitiveness of programmes, noting that UNN recorded a rise in admission quota for Medicine from 180 to 400 students and Dentistry from 15 to 60, following rigorous inspection by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

He further stated that the National Universities Commission (NUC) had approved the unbundling of the Department of Mass Communication into five specialised degree programmes.

Also, four new programmes (Agribusiness, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Industrial Arts, and Criminology and Security Studies) all received full accreditation.

Ortuanya noted that his administration has placed staff welfare among its priority areas, saying that 1,984 deserving members of staff have been promoted across various cadres, including 25 distinguished scholars who attained the rank of professor.

He said that UNN has been reaching out across the world by entering into partnerships with higher institutions in Sweden, Taiwan, China, Belarus, the United States, and South Africa, for research collaborations and student exchange programmes.

Ortuanya stated that his administration is committed to the transformation and restoration of UNN to take its deserved place among leading higher institutions in Africa.

He however, acknowledged that his administration will not achieve the set goal alone hence, he called on alumni, development partners, governments and friends of the university to support the institution’s ongoing transformation.