The Vice Chancellor of Kwara State University, Malete, Professor Shaykh-Lukman Jimoh, has tasked new graduates of the institution to convert challenges into stepping-stones in the face of the discouraging rate of employment opportunities in the country.
Jimoh who gave the advice on Saturday at the 12th convocation ceremony of the university urged the students not to see the present challenge of unemployment as limitations but to use it as opportunities to shape their lives and change the world.
He charged the fresh graduates to make use of the knowledge they acquired during their course of studies in the university to make an impact in the society they may find themselves.
“You have been properly equipped to make a difference. So, I urge you to start where you are, use what you have and do what you can to accomplish great things. The education you have received at Kwara State University is your ticket to change the world. You have been tutored on the need for, and rudiments of being self-sustaining.
“The university has shown how and why you must engage with society and the environment with every sense of responsibility, what remains now is for you to set sail into the world and make that difference that will bring glory to you, your family and your Alma Mata.
“I hope your sojourn with Kwara State University has shown you that wealth can and should be measured by the amount of impact you make on the world. Be kind, be impactful, and make that difference however minute. No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
“You are our ambassadors and we look up to you to propagate the values for which your university is known. Convert challenges to stepping-stones, see opportunities where others see limitations, take on new adventures and live lives worthy of emulations, he stated.
A total of 6,891 students comprising 6,374 undergraduates, 468 for Master’s degree programmes while 49 obtained their PhD at the Convocation ceremony.
The Vice-Chancellor said that the University recorded 71 first-class graduates, 1,828 second-class upper division, 3,501 in second-class lower division and 974 in third-class grade.
Jimoh commended the Kwara State Government for its commitment to the growth of the University of Ilorin as he praised the governor, Mallam AbdulRaman AbdulRazaq for being “a great pillar to us, ensuring stability and promoting the credibility of processes of the university.”
He, however, urged the support of the government and the partnership of the private sector to surmount the challenges of road infrastructure and encroachment on the institution’s land and provision of hostel accommodation for students.
In his speech, the state governor, Abdulrazaq, tasked the graduates to be good ambassadors of their Alma Mata and the state as he also charged them to leverage the knowledge and skills they had acquired to make a meaningful impact in society.
AbdulRazaq who was represented by the state commissioner for Tertiary education, Dr Mary Arinde, expressed delight at the taking off of the two other campuses of the university at Osi and Ilesha-Baruba communities respectively.
The governor, while noting that the taking off of the campus showed the commitment of his administration to the growth and development of the university assured that the administration would not fail in the commitment to providing good education and other social infrastructure to the people of the state.
