MOUAU Graduates 4,958 with 98 First Class, Marks Silver Jubilee

Emmanuel Ugwu It was a memorable occasion for staff and students of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), as well as graduating students, their families, friends and well-wishers as the institution marked its 25th anniversary with a record 98 first class graduates.

The 98 were among the 4,958 students that graduated at the 8th convocation ceremony cum silver jubilee of MOUAU, out of which 1,497 bagged second class (upper division); 2,111 made second class (lower division); 1,276 made third class; while 36 ended their programme with pass grades.

Among the first class graduands, Charles Chinedu Nwosu stood out with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.91 to emerge the overall best graduating student. He studied Statistics, and for his reward, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Francis Otunta announced automatic employment for him.

In remarks, Otunta, who assumed duties as VC on March 1, 2016, said his administration, which is barely 19 months was yet “to record much in infrastructural development due to lack of funds.”

He said he met on ground 45 projects that were all tied to needs assessment fund, adding that only 20 of the projects are completed, while 25 are ongoing and in various levels of completion.

The VC stated that he has succeeded in bringing the contractors handling the projects back to site following the release of the second tranche of the 2013/14 needs assessment fund amounting to N2,166,963,212.89 or 40 per cent of the total sum.

“Based on the challenges of financial inadequacy, this administration is working hard to strengthen its internally generated revenue base,” he said, adding that some eggheads have been constituted into committees “to reinvigorate the productive capacities of revenue yielding units.”

On the status of the academic programmes, Otunta said 20 out of the 21 programmes have been granted accreditation by the National Universities Commission (NUC).