TELL Magazine

Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, on Saturday counseled graduates of the state-owned Delta State University, Abraka, to put to good use the academic knowledge and life lessons garnered during their sojourn in the institution, even as he announced automatic employment for the overall best graduating student, Ilebe Joshua of the Faculty of Pharmacy with a 4.83 cumulative grade point average (CGPA).

In his address as Visitor to the university during its 16th Convocation for the 2022/2023 academic session, Governor Oborevwori challenged alumni of the University not to think only of getting paid jobs, but to be entrepreneurial in their approach to life.

While congratulating the graduands who had been found worthy in character and learning for the award of various degrees, Governor Oborevwori said; “as you launch out into the world today, it is my earnest expectation that you will put to good use the academic knowledge and life lessons you have garnered during your sojourn here.

“Do not think only of getting a paid job. I challenge you to be entrepreneurial in your approach to life. Money is a reward for creating value. One of the things a quality university education does for you is that it makes you see challenges as part of life.

While commending the university’s Governing Council and management for the impressive growth recorded over the years, the governor expressed his administration’s is also commitment “to sustaining timely and predictable delivery of academic programmes in the state’s tertiary institutions”.

Governor Oborevwori had on arrival, inaugurated the faculty of Science Extension and Microbiology Laboratory Complex executed by the university.

Welcoming guests earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Andy Egwunyenga, said 4,776 students were graduated from the 2022/2023 academic session, with total of 730 post-graduate degrees, comprising 99 Doctors of Philosophy, 522 master’s Degrees, and 109 Post-graduate Diplomas.

The graduands, according to him, included 3,611 first degrees, comprising 54 first class, 1,207 second class honours, (upper division) 380 second class honours, (lower division) and 380 third class honours. He said the university had attained 100 percent accreditation of all its programmes, adding that it was recently ranked 22nd position out of 133 Nigerian universities with presence in Scopus; 10th position among the best state-owned universities in the country, and best university in the South-South Region by the 2024SciVal Ranking of Nigerian Universities.

The Vice-Chancellor commended Governor Oborevwori, for his commitment to the growth and development of the university.

At the ceremony, Professor Chukwuemeke Peter Aloamaka was decorated as a Professor Emeritus of the university in recognition of his outstanding accomplishments as an academic scholar and administrator, while former Minister of Information, Professor Sam Oyovbaire, was formally conferred with the Honorary Doctor of Letters.

The valedictorian, Ilebe Joshua of the Faculty of Pharmacy with a 4.83 CGPA score, thanked God for their success and appreciated the Vice-Chancellor, management and staff of the University for instituting the Students’ Work and Scholarship Schemes, which enabled indigent students to sustain their academic pursuits.

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