The InfoStride Forum

PROTOCOLS

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to the 18th Convocation Ceremony of Ekiti State University. May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and remain with you now and always, A Salaamu a laikum.

I want to specially welcome on behalf of the Governing Council our cerebral Governor, His Excellency, Dr Kayode Fayemi who also doubles as our University's Visitor. We cannot thank him enough for his remarkable support and keen interest in our university. Let it be on record that he is the first Governor to ever give our university capital grants since university education came to Ekiti and like the proverbial Oliver Twist, we are still expecting more.

Permit me distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen to welcome our Chancellor, His Excellency, Dr Bamidele Ishola Olumilua and to felicitate and share with him the joy of his recently giving out his beautiful daughter in marriage.

I will also like to welcome the Secretary to government and other members of the Governor's entourage particularly our own Mr. Kehinde Ojo, the Commissioner of Education, Science and Technology who until his elevation was a very active and engaged member of our Governing Council. I welcome all other dignitaries here present particularly our Royal Fathers and representatives of other Universities who have come to rejoice with us.

I will also like to pay compliments to my colleagues in the Governing Council for their dedication, loyalty and comradeship.

Education is the most sought after commodity in Ekiti State. We place much emphasis on the development of our human capital along with our age old emphasis on Agriculture for economy substance. It is common knowledge that Ekiti State is not a rich state. We do not have Oil neither do we have gold or diamond but we can be proud of our people's divine endowment with grey matter without which man cannot develop. What we need to do in our state is the application of our knowledge to the process of development and to the few natural endowment that God has given us. In this regard, it is our policy to build a first class University in Ado – Ekiti. The university as a community of scholars recently engaged in a 2-day workshop of strategic planning with the sole idea of using available resources to research our target of building a university that would change our environment. Since our resources are finite, we are trying to apply whatever resources we get from Ekiti State, from our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to embark on the job of transforming the university into a modern university. A visit to the university would show the amount of work that is going on. We are constructing first class Basic Medical Science Buildings for the departments of Medical Bio-chemistry and Pharmacology. We are also building an Animal house, a Clinical students' hostel in addition to the newly constructed Anatomy and Physiology buildings.

It is not only in the Medical area alone that we are fully engaged, we are also building a new faculty of Agricultural Sciences, a School of Postgraduate Studies and we are re-equipping our Engineering faculty so that our Engineering graduates will be immersed in practical know how. It is our hope and mission to build students hostels so that we can provide a good learning environment for the students not only to go through the portals of this university but for the university to go through them.

We have had to rehabilitate several buildings in the campus that were either poorly constructed or have suffered deterioration because of age. We are determined to make the environment friendly so that our staff can work in pleasant surroundings. In this regard, I will like to commend the maturity of both the Academic and Non-Academic staff who inspite of little disagreements here and there have not embarked on any industrial strike action this academic session. I wish to assure them of our understanding and wi1lingness to meet them at their points of need.

The Vice Chancellor of this university, Professor Oladipo Aina is making remarkable contribution to the development of this university. It is a matter of joy to work with such a remarkable man.

Your Excellencies, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, let me end this brief address by congratulating our new graduands of today for the successful completion of their academic pursuits in Ekiti State University. As Alumni and Alumnae, they will become our window to the world and our ambassadors on whose shoulders will rest the conveyance of our university's image. I commit you all into the arms of the Almighty God as you start a new phase in your journey of life. May God bless your journey and the fruits of your hands. May you continue to be worthy ambassadors of Ekiti State University. May you be Sons and Daughters that your parents can be proud of and may God reward your parents for their labour of love in educating you.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish you all journey merges to your respective destinations, Amen.

 

Via: Ekiti State University