Newly elected President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Emeritus Professor Abubakar Sani Sambo will on Thursday, December 12, 2024, deliver ‘Convocation Lecture’ at the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete as part of the activities marking the institution’s 12th convocation ceremony.
The 12th Convocation Lecture is titled ‘The Optimum Utilization of Nigeria’s Energy Resources for the Sustainable Growth and Development of the Nation’
Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Shaykh-Luqman Jimoh, disclosed this during the press conference he presided over in Malete, Kwara State, on Tuesday, which was attended by journalists including Team@orientactualmags.com.
He also gave details of the activities and programmes for the institution’s 12th convocation ceremony.
‘The convocation activities officially begin today, Tuesday, December 10, 2024, with this Press Conference. Immediately after this news conference, I will declare the Convocation Exhibition open at this same venue. Also today, there will be a football match between the academic and non-teaching staff of the University. This is to foster greater comradeship among the staff.
On Thursday, December 12, 2024, at 11 am, Emeritus Professor Abubakar Sani Sambo, OON, FAS, will deliver the 12th Convocation Lecture. Emeritus Professor Sambo is the President-elect of the Nigerian Academy of Science.
His lecture is titled ‘The Optimum Utilization of Nigeria’s Energy Resources for the Sustainable Growth and Development of the Nation’. Later that same day at 3 pm, the Department of Performing Arts and Film Studies will stage the Convocation Play titled ‘Mojagbe’, at the newly completed Ultra-modern Performing Arts Building.
The convocation play was written by Ahmed Yerima.
Award of First and Postgraduate Degrees will take place at the Ultra-modern Performing Arts building on Saturday, December 14, 2024. After this event is the Convocation Luncheon at 2.30 pm when the University will be presenting the ‘Best Researcher Award’ and ‘Best Non-teaching Staff Award’ to staff. These are awards designed to encourage research and service excellence’ he said.
Professor Shaykh-Luqman Jimoh also noted that a total of 6,374 students would be graduating from the university while 71 among them would be graduating with first class honours.
Also, the total number of Higher Degrees to be awarded at the 12th convocation ceremony of the university is 517, out of this figure, 468 are of master’s degree category while 49 PhD students would also be graduating from the university.
The Vice-Chancellor also disclosed that the university would be offering 10 new courses; B.Sc. Geography and Remote Sensing, B.Sc. Urban and Regional Planning, B.Sc. Estate Management, B.Sc. Anatomy, B.Sc. Physiology, B. Eng. Mining Engineering, B.Sc. Marketing, B.Sc. Sociology, B.Sc. Cyber Security, and B.Sc. Criminology and Security Studies while adding that the institution has set the wheels in motion to ensure that this becomes a reality by taking necessary steps and only waiting to get the go-ahead from the National University Commission (NUC).
He noted that the proposed 10 new courses, if approved, will increase the number of courses offered at the institution to 80.
The Vice-Chancellor also asserted that the university has prioritized the well-being of staff and students citing steps taken to promote disability inclusion, fee reductions for biological children of staff and regular promotions of workers at the institution.
He also made reference to the establishment of the Disability Support Office and gave reasons for coming up with such an initiative.
‘KWASU annually joins the world to celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities with a series of events and public enlightenment. Worthy of note is the fact that we instituted financial support that allows disabled students to enjoy N100,000 fee reduction. This is to encourage persons with disabilities to seek admission to KWASU and be valuable members of society. 24 students are on the beneficiary list. Our staff with disabilities equally receive a N50,000 monthly stipend to augment any possible extra expenses. There are 9 among our dynamic, hardworking staff receiving this allowance. We are working on making our campus much more friendly and accessible to all to ease the integration of all persons in the daily activities of the institution.
On staff training, the University constantly provides support for the academic and non-teaching staff to go on training. Also, between the last Convocation and now, a greater number of our staff have completed their PhD programme while many have reached the peak of their careers. Precisely, 6 of our staff were promoted to full chair while 11 were promoted to associate professors. We have completed the promotion exercise for this year for cadres that do not require external assessment, while we hope to announce the promotion of more professors and associate professors in a few months’ time. All these we instituted to motivate our staff to give more. We know that with quality staff in a well-structured environment, we will be able to stand tall among peers’ he added.
Professor Shaykh-Luqman Jimoh, who noted that academic activity taking wing at the Osi and Ilesha Baruba Campuses of the university ‘is the attainment of the dreams of the founding fathers of KWASU’, specially thanked Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for the total support and the encouragement given to the university.
Noting that the student population is growing which has resulted in increased demand for transport, the Vice-Chancellor also submitted that there are plans to meet this in a sustainable way.
While taking steps to increase the number of student hostels in order to make more students stay on campus, the university will also be taking delivery of 25 new buses soon.
Reacting to the warning issued by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that the Federal Government should not replace TETFUND with NELFUND, Professor Shaykh-Luqman Jimoh allayed public fears noting that the Federal Government had since clarified that such a proposal was never on the table.
He also disclosed that students at the university will soon benefit from the Federal Government’s Student Loan scheme-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
