ABUAD to honour, Gov. Zulum, Ooni, others at 9th convocation
The Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), says Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno and the Oni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, among others will be conferred with honorary Doctoral titles.
The conferment will be done at the 9th convocation ceremony of the university, scheduled for Saturday Nov. 20.
Mrs. Smaranda Olarinde, the Institution’s Vice Chancellor, disclosed this at the pre-convocation press conference heralding the 12th anniversary of its establishment and 9th convocation ceremonies in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti, on Monday.
Other traditional rulers to be conferred with honorary doctorate degrees are the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Sulu Gambari, and the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe.
Olarinde said the institution had made giant strides, especially in the area of research with the anti-COVID-19 herbal medicine designed by the university’s experts.
She disclosed that the herbal medicine had been presented to the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for approval.
“The drug had passed through clinical trials. It has even got preliminary certification by NAFDAC and we are now expecting the NAFDAC number for mass production.
“The team of experts that did the research involved our lecturers and students, who were part of the processes and we are sure that the herbal drug will hit the market next year,” she said.
The Vice Chancellor said a total of 125 graduates would bag First Class degrees out of 1,306 that will receive the bachelor’s degrees, while 109 will be decorated with Postgraduate Degrees in various academic fields making an aggregate of 1,415.
Giving the breakdown of the first class graduates, Olarinde clarified that the College of Engineering led the list with 42 first class students, while Law, Medical and Health Sciences, Sciences and Social and Management Sciences recorded 18, 17, 14 and 34 respectively, with Medicine recording none.
She said Governor Zulum will be decorated with Doctor of Letters (LLD), honoris causa, based on his “proven integrity, character and exceptional contributions to the development of the society,” as applicable to other honourees to be decorated by ABUAD.
The Vice Chancellor disclosed that Oba Ogunwusi and the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, will be awarded the Doctor of Letters (Honoris causa), while the Emir of Ilorin, will get prestigious honorary title of Doctor of Laws.
“Since we took off, ABUAD had won national and international awards in teaching, research, academics and had been found outstanding in community development, the recent being our ranking as the first among the private universities operating in the country,” the Vice Chancellor said.
