About 62 of the 1,202 graduating students of Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTECH), Okitipupa, Ondo State, made first-class honours and would be honoured on March 4, 2024 during the joint convocation of the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic sessions of the university.
This was disclosed by the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Temi Emmanuel Ologunorisa, during the press conference as part of the activities marking the second convocation of the institution.
Ologunorisa stated that 23 first-class graduates were produced in the 2020–2021 academic session, while 39 first-class graduates were produced in the 2022–2023 academic session.
He stated that the 2021–2022 academic session was cancelled because of the prolonged industrial action undertaken by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The VC said the university has moved from a teaching university to a research institution, having achieved a lot in the area of research, disclosing that some of the university staff had won different international research programmes.
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He hinted that two researchers from the school have won N50 million and N250 million in different research programmes at different times in the last few years.
The highly elated Vice Chancellor asserted that his appointment as substantive VC of the institution had brought tremendous development to the university in the last two years.
While reeling out the achievements of the University under his leadership, Ologunorisa explained that the institution had only three faculties and through hardwork and determination, three other faculties have been added, with assurance that PhD students would graduate in the University in the next few years.
The Vice-Chancellor noted that his leadership had been able to stabilise the academic calendar of the university, having paid all entitlements and dues of the university’s staff, because his leadership was running an efficient system and had blocked all financial leakages.
He said that students at the university were being mobilised for the National Youth Service Corps programme at the right time.
Ologunorisa commended the late governor of the state, Rotimi Akeredolu, over the development in the school, saying his administration has transformed the education sector of the state in the last six years.
He said Akeredolu’s administration met OAUSTECH in a deplorable condition but has been able to change the story of the institution for the better.
He also commended the Niger Delta Development Commission ( NDDC) for providing solar road lights in the institution.
The vice chancellor, therefore, called on the state governor, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, not to abandon the university but to give it maximum attention just like the late governor.
He noted that many projects had been abandoned at the university for over 10 years, but appealed to the state governor, Aiyedatiwa, to visit the university and bring positive transformation to it.
Ologunorisa advocated for a concerted effort towards ensuring that the proposed School of Maritime project sees the light of the day and opined that the School is in tandem with the blue economy initiative of President Bola Tinubu.
He said that the university had signed a Memoranda of Understanding ( MoU) with some institutions abroad in research, student, and staff exchange policy, urging the governor to intervene in the development programmes of the citadel of learning that would bring its dream to reality.
