Ugo Aliogo
Babcock University, Ilishan Remo, Ogun State last week produced 62 first class graduates out of a total of 2,405 that graduated from the institution.
A total of 1,926 students were awarded undergraduate degrees; 372 received master’s degrees; while 102 were awarded Doctors of Philosophy (PhD).
Speaking at the 2019 convocation ceremony, the best graduating student from the Department of Business Education with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.97, Miss Edafe Bawa-Dogo thanked the university and the lecturers for the knowledge imparted in her, adding that its academic excellence has also been of immense help to her.
She attributed the secrets of her success to God and her family who were supportive throughout her undergraduate programme.
“I didn’t start taking first position in my early school days, I had some challenges. But during my university days, God turned everything around for me. My course mates were amazing, they didn’t settle for less. We taught each other and inspired ourselves to succeed.
“After now, I am hoping to leverage on the knowledge I have gained to impact and support students of the university to fulfil their God-given potential and destinies.”
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ademola Tayo said the university has remained focused on its core mission of providing the finest undergraduate and graduate education, as well as maintained a research endeavour.
He noted that despite its challenges and drawbacks, the institution has worked in a disciplined and prudent manner to achieve its goal, adding, “the results have been remarkable leading to the smooth drive of the academic calendar which reflected on our graduates.
“Babcock University is recognised as a private university in Nigeria that takes seriously the issues of quality, adherence to ethical practices, and academic programme stipulations guidelines, well as assessment metrics.
“To this extent, 35 of our 38 undergraduate programmes have received the full accreditation of the National Universities Commission (NUC), International Board of Education, USA, and the Adventist Accrediting Association (AAA). The remaining three programmes were recently approved by the NUC to take off and therefore, not mature for accreditation visit.”
In his remarks, the commencement speaker, Professor Toyin Falolo said faith cannot be separated from knowledge in order to produce better citizens, saying that a student can be spiritual and knowledgeable, which is important to the development of the country.
As a way of improving the education system in the country, he stressed the need for more funding and provision of resources, adding that government should focus on supporting private universities.
Falolo advised the graduands to look beyond the knowledge they have acquired by developing themselves and equipping themselves with skills.
“I have had the opportunity of giving convocation lectures on rising unemployment. The days government absorbed everyone has gone. We need to combine acquisition of skills with many of these certificates. There is nothing wrong in combining a degree in English Language and having a skill in plumbing or painting.”
