Covenant varsity churns out 82 first class, 35 Ph.Ds

Covenant University, Ota, has churned out 82 first class graduates 35 PhD holders during her 9th convocation ceremony. There were a total of 1,334 graduands with 82 bagging first class honours; 594 had second class honours (Upper Division); 531 with second class honours (Lower division) and 127 obtaining third class honours.

Meanwhile, 35 persons including the Registrar of the institution, Dr. Olumuyiwa Oludayo bagged a PhD in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management.

Delivering the keynote address entitled, Rethinking the Concept of National Transformation: Roles of Higher Education Institutions, Dr. Sarah Alade, Deputy Governor (Economic Policy), Central Bank of Nigeria, ethused that the role of higher education institutions is indeed appropriate and contemporary at this point in the country’s national development.

She said the quest to transform Nigeria into a leading economy requires ownership and borders on the concept of organism, where everyone including those in tertiary institutions, has a synergistic and vital role to play. Alade noted that the search for economic prosperity by all and sundry should reflect the belief that transformation and its corresponding reforms must be participatory and inclusive.

Alade ethused: “Seeing that the country’s national transformation agenda enunciated by the Administration of President Jonathan, through a blueprint of policies, programmes and projects as focused on priority areas including infrastructure (comprising power, transportation), human capital development (i.e. education, health etc.), job creation, poverty reduction, institutional organisation, value re-orientation etc., is not driven by government alone, nor undertaken singularly by any individual or group; rather, it should be assumed collectively by strong, healthy and efficient institutions in order to ensure sustainability.”

In his address entitled, Towards the Way Out for a Nation under Trial, Chancellor and Chairman, Board of Regents, CU, Dr. David Oyedepo believes that university education should go beyond certification and must seek application in real life context for the lot of humanity by proffering solutions to societal problems through engagement in relevant topical research.

He averred that government should urgently begin partnering with varsities in searching out answers to bugging issues such as the Boko Haram insurgency which is warming up the country as a breeding ground for potential, religious and ethnic war.

Calling for a concrete varsity-industry, as well as varsity- NUC partnerships, Prof. Chiedu Mafianah, Director, Quality Assurance, NUC, who represented the Executive Secretary, NUC, Prof. Julius Okojie, said.

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