By Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
Ten students have been awarded first class degrees from various disciplines even as 109 graduate from Veritas University, a faith-based university owned by the Catholic Church under the Nigerian Bishops and Catholic conference.
The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Rev. Fr. Prof. Hyacinth Ichoko who disclosed this at the school’s premises in Bwari Area Council of the FCT, during the seventh pre-convocation press conference, said amongst those graduating are 32 post graduate students, and 46 undergraduates who have been awarded with second class upper degrees.
He said the school which has over 150 academic staff and had fulfilled, as well as submitted all the demands of the National Universities Commission in preparation to commence new courses, had 13 more programmes to introduce, beginning with Law, billed to begin by September, 2019. Other programmes are Theology and Basic Health Sciences among others.
While revealing that the 2019 convocation theme lecture is ‘Softening the skills of university graduates for competitiveness and excellence’, and which will be delivered by the Arch Bishop of Benin, and President, Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria, Most Rev. Dr. Augustine Akubeze, said the school which sits on a 200 hectares of land, presently had over 2000 students an still expanding.
Eulogising the cardinal principles of the institution which he said was beyond achieving qualification but includes the moulding of character and personality, the vice chancellor disclosed that N500,000 tuition per session had been subsidised by N1.2 million per student by the Bishops conference in order to make the institution accessible to all.
He said, ”109 undergraduate students are graduating and 10 have first class degrees while 46 have second class upper degrees. We also have 32 post graduate students.
“The school is developing new faculties and colleges as well as programmes that will start by next session. Law as a programme is set to be established next session as one of the new courses. Several brains have already been contacted to assist in the formation of the programme.
“We started also going to start in Computer Sciences too, so that our students are not left behind. Another is Theatre and Field Arts as a lot of young people are interested in that field. Others are Computer Engineering and Electronic Engineering. Faculty of Medicine will also be established and we have a group of professors helping us and there are international groups as well.”
