Former ‘Miss AUN’ Emerges Best Graduating Student
The seventh commencement (graduation) ceremony of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, which held last weekend, was unique in many ways. Aside marking the institution’s 10th anniversary and celebrating women, a former beauty queen emerged the o
Going by the various descriptions of Miss Hephzber Ifunanya Obiorah as the Homecoming Queen, the public speaker, the club president, the student ambassador, the leader, the teacher, and the preacher, it is certain that her involvement in student life did not disrupt her dream of exceling in her academics.
Obiorah was among the 24 first class awardees, out of the 184 students that obtained their bachelor’s degrees at the university. The institution also awarded a total of 19 master’s degrees and seven postgraduate diploma in Management.
Obiorah can be described as a special lady, having tested her abilities in all three schools at AUN- School of Arts and Science; School of Business and Entrepreneurship; and School of Information Technology and Computing- this she attributed to the institution’s flexible system of education.
As a fresh student, she didn’t know what to expect so she changed major three times; she eventually discovered her passion in English Language and Literature.
At the beginning of her academic work, she said she was a shy girl, but that changed within a short time. “Sooner than I expected, I began to make in-class presentations and to head various group meetings. AUN has given me more than an education; it has given a life experience.”
She said the education she received at the institution has transformed her into an intellectual who can proudly stand before people of any calibre to speak intelligently. She said her experience has taught her that there is nothing too hard to achieve if the heart and hands are set upon it, adding that she has been taught by demanding mentors, who would not let her be until they had made the best of her.
Addressing her fellow graduands at the ceremony, she said passion is the secret of success. For her effort, she received the award for academic excellence in English language and Literature, overall best graduating student; Heritage Bank Award for Leadership; Leadway Assurance Award for Academic Excellence; Haruna Musa Award for Academic Excellence; as well as the President’s Award for Leadership.
Obiorah was also described by the Chair of the English Language and Literature Programme, Professor Brian Reed, as a remarkable student. “Not only has she earned top grades in all of my classes and contributed insights in class discussions, but she has done so while being heavily involved in student life.” He added that despite her involvement in student life, she still finds time to write original works of poetry and imaginative fiction.
In her address, the President, Professor Margee Ensign, said “Today we celebrate your many successes; the fruit of all the hard work by everyone in the AUN community, students, faculty, staff, and your families who make this possible. This occasion truly celebrates a triumph for you and your families; a triumph for this university in which you place your trust.”
She said for a region that is beginning to regain hope for peace, security, and development, it is a special triumph for the Nigerian people, a people who have proved to the world that democracy is alive and well and thriving in Nigeria. “Today is called commencement, it marks not only the successful completion of your work with us, but most importantly it marks the start of something new; the start of your life as a university graduate, your life as an educated citizen of a democratic country.
“As Africa’s development university, we have faced the year of great challenges and opportunity. In your courses, you have mastered Information Technology, Economics, and Entrepreneurship. You have chosen majors and…in Business, Petroleum Chemistry, Software Engineering, and International and Comparative Politics. Beyond your courses, you students have been actively engaged in meeting those local challenges.
“Your community service programme, fixing up schools, teaching young people to read and write, teaching their parents to read and write, helping to clean up the environment, and especially feeding the poor and displaced. As a destination for refugees, from the violence that occurred to our north, Yola has been on the frontline. You, we, have been on the front line. And you have changed people’s lives. This is development at work.”
Ensign stressed that development is not just about buying and selling, the rising GNP or increasing foreign investment. “Development is about opening up opportunity. It is about fostering dreams. It is about creating justice for everyone; creating prosperity for everyone. It is about forging a truly sustainable future. And perhaps, above all, it is about giving everyone a voice and hope to the future.
While stating that the recent elections have opened that window of hope for the graduands, she said: “That window of hope has opened wide for you, class of 2015. So now is the time to create a new Nigeria, a new world, a free world. You the class of 2015, graduates of the finest university in Nigeria, are about to enter that world as competent and educated adults.
“Going forth to take your place in Nigeria’s national life in commerce, in education, in science, in politics and any career you choose. You go forth to be citizens and leaders of a free democratic Nigeria. The challenges facing your country, facing Africa, facing the world, are huge. The responsibilities that lay on your shoulders are weighty indeed, but the opportunities to change the world for the better are there, they are all around us. You have seen that for yourself.
“You already have changed the world one person at a time; teaching those children to read, feeding and clothing the hungry and desperate refugees. But now, in a free society, you know you can make a difference. We expect no less of you; the hopes of us here are in your hands and the hands of a new generation taking its place in a democratic Nigeria; a Nigeria whose freedom has given you the opportunity to succeed, to flourish, and to forge a better society and a better world.”
In his remarks, the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, congratulated the graduating students for their achievement, saying, “it is significant, very significant that you are joining the Nigerian community to start your various professions at such a significant period in the nation’s history. You are graduates of change, and you are going to be agents of change.
“I want to specially congratulate the female gender in this university because both the class speaker and the valedictorian are both female. And to cap it all, the representative of the alumni association also turned out to be a female. There must be something special about the chemistry of this university.
Today, I look at you and I don’t see a large crowd of graduands and I listen very carefully to the various specialisations of the best graduands. You do not find a situation where there are 20, 30, 40, 50 with identical qualification, which goes to show and tell quite clearly that this is an institution that is imparting specialised knowledge to very special students’, Oyegun said.