BY EJIIKE UCHELLA
Tomorrow, February 5th 2011, all road leads to The Michael Okpara University, Umudike, Abia State as it holds its 4th convocation. Activities marking the ceremony began on Monday, January 5th 2011 with a news conference hosted by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ikenna Onyido, FAS. The event was followed by a convocation Thanksgiving service, yesterday, where the University, also known as God’s Own University, was rededicated to God. Today, Friday 4, 2011 at the ETF Hall, one of Nigeria’s finest captains of Industry, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals PLC, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa will deliver the University’s Convocation Lecture titled: University-Industry Relationship: Understanding the Missing Link and Re-negotiating the Symbiosis. During the 4th convocation ceremony, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, the youngest of Nigeria’s Universities of Agriculture, shall formally admit its grandaunts at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels into the convocation. These include graduands for the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 sessions.
The University shall also confer honorary doctorate degrees on some eminent Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in their various fields of endeavour and have contributed immensely to the development of the country. They include a distinguished scientist and power generation expert, Professor Bath Nnaji, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs Farida Waziri, and the First Vice-Chancellor of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Professor Placid C. Njoku. The significance of the convocation is the fact that it is the 4th since the University took off in 1994 and the last under the leadership of Professor Onyido, whose tenure ends on February 28, 2011. The University shall during the ceremony re-launch her endowment fund to support its well-articulated strategic plan which is being hampered by very lean resources. In this regard, public and corporate organisations, spirited individuals as well as Governments of States in the South-East agro-ecological zone are being invited to support the University in its quest for academic excellence and infrastructural development. It is important to remark that in the past five years, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, under the visionary leadership of Professor Onyido, FAS, has been repositioned to make the much needed impact on society. The University has made significant progress in building an institution which is not only a frontline university but one which now contributes visibly and substantially to the improvement of Nigeria’s agricultural sector. In terms of mandate focus, the University has undoubtedly excelled in teaching and training of manpower in agriculture and related disciplines. It now has an institutional research policy and plan which defines and characterises her research focus and operational modalities.
It has also established an Extension Centre to manage her Millennium Development Goal-patterned extension and outreach activities. Communities around the University are now benefiting from these efforts. As Michael Okpara University of Agriculture holds her 4th and solemn convocation, the efforts of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ikenna Onyido in providing excellent leadership and laying a formidable foundation for the total transformation of the university, is highly commendable as he successfully completes his five-year tenure which commenced March 1, 2006. The graduands also deserve to be congratulated for being found worthy in learning and character for the degrees of the University just as they are enjoin to continue to represent the ideals of the University as they integrate into the larger society. Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike commends the Federal Government for its continued support which has enabled it to record outstanding achievements in line with its mandate. However, the University is still face with the challenge of inadequate funding. The 4th convocation ceremony taking place tomorrow will therefore serve as a platform to appeal to well-meaning Nigerians, corporate organisations and governments to partner with the University and contribute to its endowment fund and by so doing write their names in gold in the University’s Hall of Fame.
Source: recorded live from FRCN daily comentary
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