35 students graduated with first class as UNIOSUN holds virtual convocation. 

Months after holding online matriculation for fresh students, the Osun State University (UNIOSUN) on Monday held a virtual convocation for 1946 graduates.

At the Osun State-owned university’s 9th convocation ceremony held via zoom, the first online convocation by a Nigerian public tertiary institution, 35 students graduated with a First Class.

“The university set a new record by holding the first virtual convocation in public institutions in Nigeria,” the Vice-Chancellor, Labode Popoola, said.

Also, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council of the university, Yusuf Ali, urged the government to adequately fund Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development in schools.

“For us as a university, it was as if we saw this current pandemic in a crystal ball. Serious effort in the last two years had gone into the development of our ICT infrastructure on all the campuses and this act of foresightedness had made it possible for the University to conduct the first ever virtual Uniosun 9th Convocation, the first of its kind among all the higher institutions in Nigeria.”

In his speech, the visitor to the school, Governor Gboyega Oyetola, challenged universities in the country to lead the society out of the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the entire world.

“The accompanying new normal presented by Covid-19 is an invitation to the graduands to look inward and put to use the entrepreneurial skills and competencies which the University has imbued in them to be job creators and employers of labour.

“The graduands are products and ambassadors of innovation and entrepreneurship which the university stands for in a world in need of thinkers as a solution to its myriad problems. I challenge the graduands to take up the challenge with courage and be solutions to the unemployment quagmire the nation and the world are grappling with.

“At this critical time when the whole world is moving from physical to virtual engagement, the university must continue to bear the creativity and innovation torch for the industry and the society,” the governor said.

Source: Premium times