Quality of our degree programmes is top on the line

The vice chancellor, Joseph Ayo Babalola University, JABU ,Professor Kola Sonaike has restated the commitment of the school to continue to turn out graduates that will add value to the growth of Nigeria’s economy .

Prof. Kola Sonaike, disclosed this on Monday at a press conference to herald the 10th convocation ceremony of 528 graduands from the six colleges on Friday, January 17, 2020.

The vice chancellor also pointed out that the school’s Radio station would soon start operating fully.

He said “Efforts are ongoing to ensure that a Radio Station of Joseph Ayo Babalola University( JABU ) commences operation fully.

I am working with the management team to get necessary license. In fact, they have been working on that before i came. Very soon, we shall get our radio station licensed before we go back to broadcasting.

We already have somebody working with us as a consultant and we shall achieve that and we are all set because in this community ,there are a lot of activities that our radio station will publicise and then even within the church.

Our students will work in this radio station and it will provide them the needed experience. ”

Speaking on the commitment of the tertiary institution to providing quality education, Prof. Soanike said “JABU is committed to high class quality and that has been the commitment of the management of the university from the inception.

Whatever will showcase us as a serious entity and help us grow in this nation and in the world ,we are committed to embarking on it.

If you look at the way to measure the quality of a university’s certificate, the first thing is that every country where university operates, they have accreditation bodies.

The NUC is a very serious organisation .They have visited JABU many occasions and they drilled us and they are professional in discharging their duties.I was very impressed.

So the quality of our degrees is top of the line. The products that we turn out in volumes are one of the best and can compete anywhere in the world.

Many of our products are CEOs because we trained them here. When we say we are entrepreneurial university, we are not saying they can produce soaps and other things alone or they can sew dresses, No.

What we are saying is that our products can add value and they have been adding value ,the same way like Bill Gates and others.

These are people that look at what they can add to what they meet on the ground.

Self sufficiency is what entrepreneurial is emphasising. How to be an employer of labour,rather than an employee. So we teach them how to create employment. That’s what we do here.”

He stressed that technopreneurship, which is a new drive for global development, would complement the entrepreneurship success stories of the institution and help it to maximize its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) objectives.

He revealed that there are “501 First Degrees among whom 19 have secured First Class Honours, 175 Second Class Upper, 225 Second Class Lower and 82 Third Class grades; seven Postgraduate Diplomas and 20 Masters Degrees.

“The Department of Computer Science produced the Best Graduating Student in the university with a CGPA of 4.80. He is Joseph Joshua Temitope.”

The Vice Chancellor mentioned that six eminent Nigerians: the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; Governors of Osun and Oyo states: Adegboyega Oyetola and Seyi Makinde, Speaker of Lagos State Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, would be conferred honourary degrees.

Others are: the Managing Director of Novas Company Ltd, Mrs A. Samson and the Chairman and CEO of Chemstar Group of Companies, Lagos, Mr. Emmanuel Aderemi Awode.

“They have actively engaged themselves in the pursuit of service for the global community and humanity, and have contributed to the development and growth of our country,” he said.

He added that there would be convocation lecture, to be delivered on Thursday by the Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Prof. Dapo Asaju,saying it would be followed by alumni and chancellor receptions.

Prof. Sonaike, who reiterated the management commitment to staff welfare and development, said preliminary work has started on commencement of Bachelor’s Degrees in engineering and music.

“We equally have affiliations with a number of tertiary institutions in the country. There are 204 academic and 380 non-teaching staff in the university who are of various linguistic and ethnic backgrounds.

“The Centre for Distance Learning is in the process of adding more programmes to its current accounting programme. Thus, plans are underway to add computer science, political science, estate management and the MBA programmes.”