Vice Chancellor, FUTA, Prof Adenike Oladiji
At least 240 students of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), will graduate with first class degree at the institution’s coming 36th convocation.
Disclosing this at a press conference heralding the event, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Adenike Oladiji, said that a total of 2,747 students will graduate at the ceremony.
According to her, 1,479 will graduate with second class honours Upper division; 912 students with second class honours (lower division); and 116 with third class.
Akindunbi Aduragbemi Isaac of the Department of Civil Engineering is the Overall Best Graduating Student with Cumulative Grade Point Average (CPGA) of 4.98 out of 5.0.
Oladiji said the university will also confer Postgraduate Diploma on 86 students, Master of Tech degrees on 627 while 154 others will bag Doctoral degrees.
She also said that apart from the 2,747 outgoing undergraduate students that will be awarded bachelor’s degrees, 867 will be awarded postgraduate degrees, with a breakdown of 627 for MTECH, 86 for PGD and 154 for PhD.
Oladiji explained that the outstanding performance of the first-class graduates was a result of consistent effort, discipline, and the conducive learning environment provided by the university.
“The results we are celebrating today show that FUTA continues to maintain its standard as one of Nigeria’s foremost universities of technology,” the don boasted.
She said that despite various challenges the institution is facing, it has continued to maintain its leadership among the universities of technology across the country in the areas of research and academic development.
Her words, “FUTA is firming up its reputation as a leading research-intensive institution and a foremost citadel of excellence in technological education tailored to meet emerging challenges of its society and the global arena. This is more so in the area of climate and space science, agriculture, engineering and computing and digital expertise.
… “The level of awareness by the students is quite low. We are trying to get them to be aware of it. And then the disposition, also, a lot of people think, why should they go to school on credit?
“So many people do not want to take the loan. So if the number is not huge, it’s not necessary because the government is failing. It is because many people are not applying. As we speak, we have over 3,000 students benefiting from the NELFUND scheme. So, they have opened the portal again, and we are encouraging students to apply.
“The level of awareness and the willingness to take on the loan is what I think has kept this number like this, not because the government is not committed to paying the students,” she said.
She said that about 3,000 students from the institution are currently benefiting from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Her words, “Talking about NELFUND, the level of awareness by the students is quite low. We are trying to get them to be aware of it. And then the disposition also, a lot of people think that why should they go to school on credit?
“So many people do not want to take the loan. So if the number is not huge, it’s not because the government is failing, it is because many people are not applying. As we speak, the Bursar says we have over 3,000 students benefiting from the loan scheme.”
She described FUTA as a key player in the global academic arena, noting that the institution is living up to its billing as one of the country’s leading citadels of academic excellence and destination of choice where cutting-edge research and product development tailored to address societal needs have become a culture and the norm.
She said, “In FUTA, members of faculties and students are becoming increasingly relevant in the scheme of things in the global academic arena with participation and involvement in cutting-edge research and product development. FUTA is also pulling its weight in the area of providing solutions to food insecurity in the country.”
