ABIODUN NEJO
Vice Chancellor, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Prof Michael Ajisafe, has said that the institution has given automatic job to its fresh 72 first class graduates. Ajisafe said the jobs is among the mouth-watering offers for the first class graduates and others who performed excellently among the graduates.
The VC, who spoke on Monday at a pre-convovation press briefing heralding activities for the 6th Convocation Ceremonies of the institution, said the automatic jobs and gifts were part of ways to boost the fresh graduates’ morale and commitments in academic pursuit.
Ajisafe said 1,042 students made up of 917 first degree and 125 post-graduate that would officially graduate on Sunday have been fed with “academic, leadership and entrepreneurial training as well as discipline which will stand them in good stead in their new phase of life”.
The VC said ABUAD would also confer Doctor of Letters (LLD) honourary degrees on the former Minister of Agriculture and President African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina and the Chief Executive Officer of Channels Television, Mr John Momoh, to appreciate their contributions to the nation.
Among the 917 bachelor’s degree graduates, 72 bagged first class, 343 second class upper, 366 second class lower and 93 fresh medical doctors.
Ajisafe, hinged the high turnout of first class graduates on excellent, rigorous and qualitative academic prowess already attained by institution.
He said to underscore how serious the management was in terms award of degrees, Ajisafe said the university had put in place stringent measures that would automatically eject lazy and unruly students out of the system.
Ajisafe added: “We have disciplined students here and it has always been the culture of the founder, Aare Afe Babalola, to give automatic jobs to first class students and these 72 will benefit from the gesture.
“Today, ABUAD is the only university in Nigeria that makes its students go to classes between 8am and 3pm and later 7pm to 10pm. There is no room for indolence here. This will automatically frustrate lazy and indolent students.
“Apart from handsome prizes being given to brilliant graduates, which include vehicles and cash gift, the founder used to give all graduates in the Faculty of Agriculture a sum of N250,000 each to empower them to go into farming. Some are even given parcels of land for farming.
“Lazy students can’t cope here in ABUAD. Our objective is to change the phase of university education in Nigeria and that we are pursuing with vigour and we are gradually achieving that, because we are the first university to graduate 43 medical students barely eight years we commence operations”, he said.
The Vice Chancellor added that the culture of self-esteem, self control and exposure to entrepreneurial training would stand their graduates in good stead to be able to operate under any economy across the globe.
Ajisafe stated that the 100 per cent performances scored by the 43 medical students that were graduated in September further complemented the high global and continental rating the Law and Engineering Colleges have enjoyed from National Universities Commission (NUC) and Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE).
“Even most of the new doctors acknowledged the fact that the standard we set here is high and that it will not be difficult for them to pass their professional examinations. This is the stuff we are made of here”, he said
