Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in Osun State, will graduate 7,209 students at its 44th convocation ceremony coming up between Wednesday December 11 and Saturday December 14, 2019.
At a pre-convocation press briefing, the university’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, disclosed that 124 would be graduating with first class honours. He also disclosed that four eminent Africans would receive the prestigious honorary doctorate degrees the prestigious of the university.
According to him, the awardees are the President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, Nigeria’s finest marketing communications practitioner, Mr. Biodun Olusina Shobanjo, the President of the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK), Dr. Benedict Okey Oramah and the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the First Bank of Nigeria Plc., Mrs. IbukunOluwa Abiodun Awosika.
He stressed that the challenge of unemployment among the Nigerian youths, particularly graduates, had made it imperative for the university to not only ensure quality education but also guarantee good jobs after graduation. The vice chancellor also said the university would train youths through its entrepreneurial programmes to become job creators instead of job seekers. He said: “We have come to a level where we cannot just be graduating numbers but based on what they are able to do. All our faculties have come together to initiate entrepreneur programmes in order to equip all our students, regardless of their courses of choice to equip them with necessary skills to be able create jobs and also become employed.“
