Forty-Four UNN Students Bag 1st Class Honours

Posted by African Examiner education Wednesday, March 26th, 2014

IGNATIUS OKPARA, Enugu

A total of 44 (forty-four) graduating students of the University of Nigeria Nsukka UNN will on Friday smile home with 1st Class Honours of the institution, during its 2014 and 43rd convocation ceremony, Vice Chancellor of the school, Prof. Bartho Okolo has disclosed.

Briefing newsmen Monday at the Enugu campus of the University (UNEC) as part of activities to mark the convocation, the VC, also announced that a total of 7,989 degrees and diplomas of the University would be awarded during the convocation.

A break down of the certificates indicates that a total of 5121 degrees/diplomas and 2868 higher degrees of the University will be awarded during the event”.

Professor Okolo said: “The honourary doctorate degrees of the University would also be conferred on four deserving awardees.

“These are- Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, Doctor of Business Administration, Mr. Samuel Maduka Onyishi, Doctor of Business Administration, Late General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu- Posthumous, Doctor of Law and Chief Innocent Chukwuma, Doctor of Business Administration”, he added.

Okolo further stated that as part of the activities to mark the convocation, a lecture will be delivered on Thursday by “one of the most sought after speakers in the country. He is Most Reverend Mathew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese.

“I can also reveal that the topic of our 43rd convocation lecture is ‘After the Insurgency: Some Thoughts on National Cohesion’.

“The topic is certainly of interest to all Nigerians at this point in time. If you know Most Reverend Mathew Hassan Kukah, then you know what to expect”.

In what seems like his account of stewardship, the Vice Chancellor, whose tenure expires in less than a month time, had listed litany of ongoing and completed projects initiated by his administration.

According to him, the projects, which range from infrastructure to staff and students’ welfare, would go a long way in enhancing scholarship and positioning the University of Nigeria to compete with its peer across the globe in the future.

His word: “The programmes embarked upon by my administration were targeted at the heart of the problems of our University.

“We set out to rebuild our dilapidating infrastructure, create a decent environment for learning and replace our ageing faculty. So much of these have been achieved and many developments are still on-going as we speak.

“When one reviews the state of the University and compares it to what it was about 5 years ago, one can only be filled with optimism. Some of these achievements were unimaginable 5 years ago”

Professor Okolo, piloted affairs of UNN for five years, during which he enmeshed in series of controversies.