53 Students Graduates With First Class As AAUA Governing Council Members Donates N5m As Loan To Indigents Students

Fifty-Three students of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba- Akoko, AAUA, Ondo state graduated with a first-class division ahead of the institutions 10th and 11th convocation ceremony.

The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof Olugbenga lge said this yesterday at Akungba ahead of the institution’s convocation ceremony.

Prof. Ige said “we are presenting 5,145 graduands at this 10th and 11th Convocation, with the Faculty of Education having 1,415, followed by Faculty of Science – 924, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences – 1061, Faculty of Agriculture -156, Faculty of Arts – 748, Faculty of Law -181, Institute of Education – 307, Institute of Part-Time Programmes – 231, and Diploma – 13.

“There are 356 graduands receiving postgraduate degrees, 25 of whom are in the PhD category, the highest in the history of this University.

“Of these 5,145, 53 made First Class; 1,511 earned Second Class (Upper Division), 2861 bagged Second Class (Lower Division), 667 had Third Class, while 40, are in the Pass category.

On accreditation of courses, the Vice-Chancellor said ” 61 of our academic programmes have been fully accredited by the National Universities Commission.

“One of the upshots of this is that no fewer than six credible higher institutions in Nigeria have subscribed to our programmes through affiliation.

“We are also in contact with a number of local and international institutions in order to explore possible areas of collaboration.

Speaking on honorary awards, he said that a former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria; Mrs Ibukun Awosika will be conferred with Doctor of Business Administration (Honoris Causa) of Adekunle Ajasin University.

Prof lge noted that the management has not abandoned its promises to support students through the Students’ Support Centre, which administers and oversees scholarships and financial aid to a variety of students, including gifted, indigent, and physically challenged students.

“Under the terms of the agreement, the University will cover half of the school expenses for all physically challenged students, while the best students in each Department with a CGPA in the first-class range will get a scholarship at the end of the academic year.

“Indigent students who are unable to pay their school fees can get a loan for around a third of their expenses.

“The institution Governing Council members made a donation of about five million naira to cater for the students in this category.

“We have also recently reintroduced and engaged students for our Student Work-Study Scheme. The programme permits willing students to work for two hours each day on campus while studying and be paid at the conclusion of each semester.

On research and development, he noted that” our Centre for Infectious Diseases Control and Drugs Development which is at the forefront of human capacity development through workshop and training programmes and has consistently been conducting training on Application of Bioinformatics Tools in Drug Design, Discovery and Development, among others.

” Several academic staff have stepped up their games in research as some of them recently won grants that will enable them to proffer solutions to societal problems.

Ige added that ” As a corollary of our research efforts, just recently an assemblage of researchers at AAUA was reported to have reached an advanced stage in producing disease and drought-resistant beans and tomatoes, while another group of researchers is on the verge of producing a potent anti-termite solution from a common local plant.

Source: Vanguard news