The Gregory University Uturu (GUU) has stated its commitment to sustaining its contribution to Nigeria’s technological and economic transformation by producing graduates with functional skills to drive innovations.
Vice-chancellor of GUU, Professor Cele Njoku made this known on Friday, December 13 in her address at the 9th convocation ceremony of the institution, saying that GUU prepares its graduates with all relevant skills and knowledge for global competitiveness.
She said that all the 12 Colleges of the institution have embraced the new core curriculum and minimum academic standards(CCMAS) as required by the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), the regulatory body.
“We remain optimistic that this University will continue to equip Nigerian youths with the functional skills and knowledge to weather the storm of associated with numerous national and global challenges,” she said.
According to the VC, equipping graduates with “usable skills” would firmly place the nation “on the path to the diversification of our economy in line with the rest of other world class universities”.
She announced that 16 first class graduates were among the 190 graduates that participated in the 9th convocation with the College of Law topping the chart with seven first class. The overall best graduate, Tarelayefa Clinton Ombeh also came from the College of Law.
Out of the total number of the 2024 set of graduates, 87, representing 45.8 percent bagged second class upper, 86 or 35.3 percent graduates with second class lower division while only one person got third class.
Postgraduate degrees were also awarded to 15 graduands comprising five PhD, seven M.Sc, and three Postgraduate Diploma certificates.
Earlier the Chancellor of GUU, Okechukwu Greg Ibe Jnr, charged the class of 2024 to go out there and reshape the future, noting that their degree certificates represent “tools of empowerment” to accomplish great things.
“You carry the hopes and aspirations of not just yourselves but also this great institution and the communities you come from,” he told the graduands, adding that they should “go forth with courage, determination, and a heart full of dreams”.
In his address the Pro-Chancellor, Professor Augustine Uwakwe, said that in line with the tradition of GUU, the new set of graduates have been handed “tools to shape the future”.
He said that graduation is not the end of a journey but the beginning of a new phase of life hence the 2024 graduates should carry with them the “values of curiosity, integrity, and a passion for life-long learning”.
“The world you are entering is complex, ever-changing, and full of challenges. But it is also full of possibilities,” he said, adding that GUU products and ready to meet these challenges having been made to possess the “knowledge for tomorrow”.
Highlights of the convocation ceremony was the award of Doctor of Engineering, honoris causa to the Chairman of Geometric Power Ltd, Professor Barth Nnaji while Professor Emeritus was conferred on Prof Evatistus Ogechi Anyaehie.
Legal icon and human rights advocate, Professor Mike Ozekhome, who delivered the ninth convocation lecture, was honoured with the naming of the GUU law Auditorium after him. He reciprocated the gesture by instituting six awards in the university, four of them in the College of Law.