President Muhammadu Buhari on
Friday in Akure said universities in the country are pivotal in boosting
national development.
Buhari spoke during the combined
29th and 30th convocation of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA)
in which 5,402 diploma and degree students and 1,238 Postgraduate diploma,
Masters and Doctorate students graduated.
Represented by Mr Abiodun Sanni,
the Director of Administration of the National Universities Commission, Buhari
said his administration would ensure improved access and quality of the
educational system.
He also said efforts would continue
toward ensuring improved infrastructural development and increased funding of
universities.
“In this age of ICT, we believe
that our Universities of Technologies are pivotal to the actualisation of
national development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the
United Nations,’’ he said.
The president further implored
all FUTA staff to always perform their duties with dedication and selflessness.
Buhari also congratulated the
graduating students, saying they had been sufficiently equipped with the
knowledge required to meet the challenges of contributing to the socio-economic
and political environment of the nation.
“With the quality of specialised and rigorous
training received, there is no doubt that you already have what it takes to
surmount any obstacle on your path to a life of fulfilment and great
achievement,” he said.
He also appealed to Nigerians to eschew
violence as the country prepared for the forthcoming 2019 general elections,
saying there should be politics of decorum and ideas as against hate and
violence.
“We must not light the fire of
religious bigotry and ethnicity which will be difficult to put out after
elections have been won and lost.
“Peace and peaceful coexistence
are very essential for individual and national progress, and we must all work
to attain peace in our nation,” he said.
Earlier, Gov. Oluwarotimi
Akeredolu of Ondo State had expressed his administration’s readiness to
continue to partner with the institution to fast-track its development
technologically.
He said the present
administration in collaboration with FUTA had set up a Tech-Hub to create an
avenue for the promotion of technological innovation and for the exchange of ideas
for business start-up and expansion for youths.
The governor commended the
management of FUTA for the technological advancements and innovations made
through its training of young men and women in ICT and related fields.
Akeredolu expressed optimism that
all users of the hub will utilise its facilities to create innovative ideas and
products that would further make FUTA and Ondo State an ICT destination centre
in Nigeria.
Prof. Joseph Fuwape, the Vice
Chancellor of the university, had in his speech congratulated the graduating
students on the successful completion of their studies and enjoined them to be
good ambassadors..
He further praised the academic
staff for sustaining and advancing the frontiers of research to meet
world-class benchmarks.
“The efforts of the research
activities have yielded positive results, particularly in the area of renewable
energy with the launch of a solar powered generator, zero energy building,
design and fabrication of machines and value addition to agricultural and phyto-medical
products,” he said.
He added that the university, in
its efforts to improve its staff welfare, promoted a total of 242 academic and
584 non-teaching staff since the last convocation.
Newsmen report that Mr Akinwunmi
Odumakinde, Mr Lawrence Aina and Oba Olufemi Olutoye, the Alani of Ido-Ani,
were all conferred with the university’s honorary doctorate degrees.
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