But while most of
the graduating students had cause to rejoice and shed tears of joy, two
of the graduating students and their family members, who managed to
grace the occasion, were grief-stricken. But, first, they story of joy.
At
the carnival-like 11th convocation, 1,359 students were awarded first
degrees. Twenty got postgraduate diplomas, 71 obtained Master’s degrees
in various disciplines while another set of 41 got PhD degrees in
various disciplines.
The cynosure of all eyes were, however, a
20-year-old lady, Omobola Oduyoye, who emerged the best graduating
student after scoring a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.92, and
Nuhu Benjamin, who won the President’s Award for securing the overall
best performances in leadership, academics, community and spiritual
services.
Oduyoye, an indigene of Ilisan-Remo, Ikenne Local
Government Area of the state, was awarded a first class degree in Public
Health, while Nuhu also got a first degree in Christian Religious
Studies.
Speaking with our correspondent after she received the
Senior Vice-President’s Prize as the graduate with the highest overall
CGPA, Oduyoye said commitment, discipline, hard work and focus –
combined with what she called God’s grace – fetched her the award.
“Motivation
from my parents, lecturers and course mates also helped me. Healthy
competition from my course mates such as Akomolafe Damilola, who also
obtained a CGPA of 4.60 , also enhanced my performance.
“I have a
lot of respect for her because she is a mature married woman and a
nurse. In spite of her age, she related well with us and she was very
focused. Each time I looked at her, I felt like I should ask government
to stop admitting fresh secondary school leavers straight into the
university. They should be asked to do the A/Level or ordinary diploma
programme before they enrol at the university,” she said.
Oduyoye,
who aspires to become the nation’s health minister some day, noted that
she would change the face of the nation’s health sector, particularly
child and maternal health if given the chance.
“I’m from this
town. I only lived the first six years of my life in Ghana and since
then I’ve been here and I see a lot of challenges poor women and
children go through daily. I want to make health delivery accessible,
affordable and extremely cheap for our children and women. I will fight
corruption in the health sector and ensure that our children and their
mother don’t die again from preventable diseases,” she added.
This
desire could explain why each time she and her colleagues had to
embark on a field work, Oduyoye always ensured that children and young
mothers were her target.
“Though I don’t have money to give
them, I always organise seminar and workshop to train them on hygiene,
oral health and how to handle preventable diseases. We at times give
them off-the-counter drugs. But if God permits and I become the health
minister, I’ll work hard to ensure better health service delivery for
Nigerians,” she noted.
On how she handled pressure from male
students and lecturers, Oduyoye, who had her primary and secondary
school education at Babcock Primary School and Babcock University High
School, stated that though she had so many male friends, she avoided
getting intimate with them.
“I have a number of friends –
including male students but I always draw a line between friendship for
academic advancement and immoral relationship. I’m not abusive; neither
am I a snub. But I don’t encourage any relationship that will distract
me from my studies. I don’t encourage any action that can suggest to you
that I’m a cheap commodity. I also ensure that I don’t go alone
anywhere or follow anybody to dark corners even if she is a girl like
me.
“It may sound funny to you, I have never kissed anyone in my
life and I have not been kissed by anybody. I thank God for the grace He
gives me to achieve this because I know that some people will say it is
not easy but with God all things are possible,” the 20-year-old fresh
graduate added.
Oduyoye advised young girls to abstain from sex,
face their studies and respect people and honour God. But the lady,
whose father is a lecturer in the Business Administration Department at
Babcock, has a word for the management of the institution.
She
stated, “They should relax the rules. Specifically, I don’t see any
reason why a female student should not keep long hairs. Do you know it
is so bad that security men on campus can stop a student and cut off her
hair? This is not good. After all, undergraduates are no longer in the
secondary school.”
Oduyoye however urged the university to
sustain its dress code, though she wants students to be forced into
engaging in physical activities. This, she said, is based on the result
of a research she did in her final year.
“I did a project on the
effect of physical inactivity among Babcock University students and my
findings revealed that many of us were not physically active and this
has implication for our academics, health and general wellbeing. The
university should therefore invest more in sports and possibly compel
everybody to participate in sports.
“They should also reduce the
sale of fatty foods such as hamburger, doughnut, eggroll and meat-pie on
campus. The scriptural and inspirational write ups on billboards in
open spaces on campus are good but they should add educational health
tips too,” she noted.
The former Governor of Cross River State,
Mr. Donald Duke, was honoured with the honoraris causa of the
institution for his distinguished public service works. He gave a
lecture where he advised African leaders to work for the development of
their people.
He also challenged the graduating students never to emulate corrupt leaders but to be passionate and committed to their vision.
Earlier,
Makinde had told the gathering, including the Chancellor, BU, Pastor
Gilbert Wari; the institution’s Pro-Chancellor, Dr. Oyeleke Owolabi;
representative of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; and
vice-chancellors of some Nigerian universities, that as is the tradition
with the citadel, none of the graduating students had Third Class
degree.
It was learnt that students whose CGPA was within the
third class degree were given automatic extra year. According to
Makinde, the institution is committed to its mission to produce
graduates that have competence, character and commitment.
He
told the gathering that all the programmes on offer in the institution
had been accredited by the NUC. He also commended philanthropists,
including Chief Kessignton Adebutu, Dr. Alex Otti and Alhaji Aliko
Dangote, for their contributions towards the development of the
university.
… as another graduating student loses 8 family members
Margaret
Okwuikpo, who graduated with a second class upper degree in Nursing,
was one of the two that could not help shedding bitter tears at the
Babcock’s graduation. The lady had lost eight family members in a road
crash on Friday, two days to her graduation.
It was learnt that
11 people, including Okwuikpo’s parents, brothers and sisters and her
sister-in-law, had an accident shortly after they left Port-Harcourt
for the convocation in Ilisan-Remo.
“Eight of the occupants of
the vehicle, including Okwuikpo’s parents, her brother and his wife
and their eight-month-old baby, died on the spot,” a source close to
the family told our correspondent.
A man, who claimed to be
Okwuikpo’s relations, said he could not talk to the press. The lady
herself was not stable when our correspondent attempted to speak to her.
The
correspondent’s telephone call to the university source, with a view
to speaking with Okwuikpo, yielded no fruit, as she was said to have
left for Port Harcourt on Monday morning.
However, another graduating student, simply identified as Tochi, also lost her father in the same accident.
Another
university source, who claimed that Tochi’s brother works at Babcock,
said he (the brother) was also too devastated to speak on the issue.
In
the course of the ceremony, before it was the turn of the graduating
students of her department to mount the rostrum to shake hands with the
institution’s principal officers, led by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof.
Kayode Makinde, Okwuikpo had controlled her emotions. But she soon
started crying and collapsed on the podium as soon as she walked towards
Makinde, Her friend and course mate, Rabiu Sakirat, who was right
beside her, could only help in wiping off her tears.
Those who did not know what the matter was were confused.
“Why is she weeping?” a woman beside our correspondent asked rhetorically.
“Perhaps,
she remembered her relation who might have been part of those who died
in the ill-fated Dana crash a year ago,” another man, who had come to
celebrate with her niece, said.
But silence fell upon the
hitherto cheerful crowd when it was learnt that the grieving lady had
lost her parents two days to her convocation. The institution’s Sports
Complex, venue of the convocation, suddenly became a temporary hall of
mourning. Parents, students and well wishers shared in the lady’s low
moment, with some putting their hands on their heads while others just
sighed.
Like a pastor, Makinde rose to the occasion, held
Okuikpo’s hands and consoled her. Tochi and her mother were also called
to the rostrum where they were prayed for. But efforts to speak with
the mourning families were unsuccessful as a man who identified himself
as Okuikpo’s relation said they were not in the mood to speak to the
press about the sad incident.
Residents
of Abuja resident woke up Monday morning to see pictures of Gen
Mohammdu Buhari 2015 campaign posters on the platform of the yet to be
registered All Progressive Congress Party (APC) littering strategic
parts of the capital city.
The
Kenyan camp has become depressed that midfielder John Mikel Obi was on
his way to Nairobi after missing the friendly against Mexico in Texas at
the weekend. They actually thought he was not coming for the game.
The
United States made a sensational decision, offering up to $23 million
in rewards to help capture five leaders of militant groups which have
spread terror in Nigeria and West Africa.
