Federal University Lokoja (FUL) will be producing 14 First Class graduates at its forthcoming 5th Convocation Ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi has said.
Speaking at a press conference in Lokoja on Monday to intimate the press on the activities lined up for the ceremony, Akinwumi said 738 will be awarded the first degree in various disciplines, while 66 will bag postgraduate degrees and diplomas in various fields.
A total of 804 students are to be awarded various degrees at the convocation which will began on November 8.
A national conference by the department of history and international studies will hold on Wednesday, November 10, in honour of Prof. Toyin Falola at the university auditorium, Adankolo campus.
The Convocation Lecture, titled, ‘Africa in the Throes of Double Pandemic: The Challenges of Terrorism and COVID-19′ will be delivered by Prof. Toyin Falola of the University of Texas on Thursday.
Convocation ceremony will hold at the Felele campus of the University on Saturday, November 13.
The Vice-Chancellor who stated that paucity of funds has been a major challenge of the university, noted that the institution which has attained has witness tremendous and rapid growth in terms of academic programmes, infrastructural development, research and innovation in last ten years of its establishment.
“Our University is ranked 3rd among the 12 Federal Universities established in 2011, 35 in the country, 122nd in sub Saharan Africa; 221 in Africa and 5024 worldwide.
“I initiated on assumption of office in office in February, 2021, having realised that only two professors had delivered inaugural lectures. We accelerated the process and less than a year, four professors have delivered theirs and many are on the line to perform the academic exercise.
”Also, our bid for knowledge sharing and building strong town-gown relationship, introduced public lecture series and has had profile personalities from within and outside the country making their presentations.
“In our effort to achieve the much needed physical development and programme expansion, the university commenced academic activities at its permanent site (Felele campus) in September 2021 even in the face of challenges and we are calling for the assistance of the federal, the state government and other spirited individuals and organizations.
“The management of this institution will not toy with the security of students and staff of the university. We have seen what happened just recently in some tertiary institutions in the country where Professors and their children were kidnapped in the campuses.
“We have engaged over 60 hunters to and they have mapped out areas where criminals can use as escape route and we will blocked those areas. Until we are satisfied with the security here in the permanent site of the university, we will not move students to the hostels for now,” he said.
He assured parents and guardians that the institution will not move the students to the permanent site until adequate security is guaranteed in the main campus of the university.
