The First Technical University, Ibadan, has offered all its 12 first class graduates automatic employment.
The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Ayobami Salami, disclosed this on Saturday, March 5, during the maiden convocation of the university.
The colourful event saw many top-notch personalities rally round the school management and parents as the 63 youths that Tech-U graduated stepped into the world.
In his address laced with moving reminiscences, Salami said the university had confidence in the graduates it had produced.
He said, “I hereby announce that all the First Class graduands who are interested in academic pursuits are hereby offered automatic employment immediately after their National Youths Service. In addition, I am happy to announce that we have secured the support of our local and international partners to award scholarship to all of those that accept the offer, to enable them have international exposure through Master degree training in the United States of America, and split-site PhD degree programmes.”
The VC noted that the last five years of the citadel had witnessed progress in all areas.
According to him, in terms of infrastructure, it had experienced tremendous growth, saying although it started with two buildings, it now had more than 16, with state-of-the-art equipment.
These, he said, were fruits of Internally Generated Revenue and interventions by the Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND).
Salami said, “In terms of infrastructural contribution, I hereby openly acknowledge the goodness of TETFund. Because it bought into our vision, mission and programmes as a Technical University, TETFund enlisted Tech-U in 2018, just immediately after our take-off. Since the time, it has been funding facilities strategic to the functioning of a practice-based institution like ours.”
He enjoined the graduands to be of good character apart from showing great learning.
“You are the first set, the first fruits of our labour and we are unveiling you today as our trail blazers. While I have no doubt that, by the grace of God you will excel in any sector and part of the world you may find yourself, I enjoin you to realise that you carry the burden of history on your shoulders as Tech-U’s pioneer graduates. This places an enormous responsibility on you as our poster boys and girls. You have been academically, morally, socially and spiritually equipped to be the University’s great ambassadors.
“You should, therefore, let excellence and good character be your watchword. With honesty, resourcefulness, hard work and creativity, you will win the world. Please note that academic education or a university degree must be backed with a high moral standing. Nowadays, the employer or a business partner, as well as clients, place premium on the right attitude. A certificate without the right attitude is, indeed, not worthier than an empty paper. As you thus boldly walk into the proverbial world, you should not just raise your heads high, but you should also ensure your shoulders are kept within the realm of a great moral culture,” he said.
While the programme attracted prominent people from different parts of the world and beyond, the university conferred honorary doctoral awards on five eminent Nigerians.
These are Chief Tunde J Afolabi, who is the Chairman of AMNI Petroluem; Chief Adebayo Akande. Splash FM Chairman; Chief Amal Peple – elder stateswoman and accomplished administrator; Professor Toyin Falola – erudite professor of History; and Segun Agbaje, Guaranty Trust Bank Managing Director.
The Chancellor of the university, Chief Tunde J. Afolabi, also advised the graduands to assert themselves educationally and morally.
Afolabi, who is the Chairman of AMNI Petroleum, said,
“Dear graduands, while I congratulate you for this great achievement of yours, I want to reiterate that the import of the story of the beginning of your citadel where you are graduating from today is that things happen first through idea and are concretised when you focus and implement. The reality of the new world into which you are graduating is that it is extremely competitive and somewhat brutal. You win laurels and defeat the monster with ideas – good ideas about what you really want out of life! If I hazard a guess, it will include but not be limited to comfort, recognition, adding value, making a difference, developing spiritually and aspiring to make heaven, etc.
“Graduating today is a good step towards achieving your aspirations but this is just the beginning. Going forward, you have to be equipped with the spirit of appreciation. Appreciating your parents/guardians or sponsors who denied themselves to pay your bills through school, your teachers and the good people you have come across on your journey through school, your environment and ultimately God, goes a long way to defining your path. Through appreciation you find space in your heart to find role models in any or some of these contacts. You need to find your role models and your dreams. You have to find your passion and whatever you do, you do with passion and with fear of God.
You must be able to plan. You must have daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, short term, medium-term, long-term plans. When you plan, you mitigate failure, when you fail to plan, as they say, you plan to fail. It is important that you plan your life. The fuel of achieving your plans is discipline, hard work, dedication and consistency of purpose.
“As you journey in your new life, you must be prepared to take chances, take risks and not be afraid to fail. If you recall the popular but old IQ test with nine dots, and you are tasked to draw five lines with a pencil within these nine dots without lifting the pencil, you know that the only way out is to draw outside the box. A lot of issues that will confront you will require that you are not afraid to go outside the box. You have to, a lot of the times, think outside the box. You have to have initiative, creativity, boldness, courage and resilience to take risks and to overcome fear. Fear is an albatross. You must learn to defeat fear this early part of this journey.
“My prayer is for all of you to do well and become very successful in life. Our dear pioneer students, all eyes are actually on you. Wherever you go, ensure you justify the learnedness invested in you and the confidence reposed in you. Make your parents, school and country proud by being excellent academically, socially and morally in your sayings and deeds. when you get a job, do it with zeal and resourcefulness. Pay attention to your attitude because that is what will give your brilliance life. And for those of you who will be establishing your own businesses, I encourage you to do so. It is never too early.”
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
