The Ajayi Crowther University has conferred honorary doctorate degrees on the governors of Oyo, Rivers and Lagos states, Messrs Nyesom Wike, Seyi Makinde and Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The conferees were honoured at the 14th convocation of the institution held at its Oyo State campus yesterday.
Makinde was conferred with the honorary doctor of science degree in engineering, while Wike and Sanwo-Olu were conferred with honorary doctors of laws and public administration respectively.
The university also awarded various categories of degrees to its graduates.
According to the vice chancellor, Prof Timothy Adebayo, 1,547 graduates were awarded bachelors of science degrees, 583 bagged postgraduate degrees while 34 who earned doctorate degrees.
He also announced that 41 students graduated with first class honours.
Speaking on behalf of his colleague governors, Makinde expressed his appreciation to the university for its contribution to the development of the state.
“Let me say that this university has contributed immensely to the development of our state. The chairman of the road maintenance agency is an alumnus of this university. Before he came on board, they were abusing me that we weren’t paying attention to the inner roads. Since he came, the abuse has stopped,” he said.
Addressing the graduates, the governor said: “I came in as an ordinary engineer. Now, my colleagues and I are going out with doctorate degrees. I want to use this opportunity to congratulate the graduates of today and yesterday. Today is majorly for PhD graduates. What you have is the peak of academic qualification.
“So, for most of you it’s a journey to taking a very big leap because some of you are not going to come back to school, you will join us in the real world. Because in the controlled environment here, you can basically predict how things will go but when you come out there, it is a different ballgame.
“You should be ready to take on further responsibilities. Whatever your plans are, this university has done its part to give you the necessary academic and moral training. So as you leave, you will always remember where you’re coming from,” he said
He urged the graduates to be totally self-reliant and not to stop learning as knowledge is a continuous adventure.
“From this moment, begin to practicalise the knowledge that you have acquired in Ajayi Crowther University, through constant learning and self-development. Albert Einstein, the celebrated German Physicist, once said that, ‘education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.’
“We, therefore, charge you to keep updating and upgrading yourselves to meet up with the completions and opportunities in our ever-changing world. We recognize the fact that you have made significant contributions to global scholarships,” he said.
In his remarks, Adebayo explained that the management of the institution decided to confer the awards on the three governors based on recognition of their distinguished commitment to human capital development improvement.
the vice chancellor announced that the school had got the approval of the National Universities Commission (NUC) to run nursing degree programme.
He said the gesture was a step toward having more courses on offer in the faculty of basic medical sciences, which according to him, would eventually give birth to the college of medicine.
