The Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) is rewarding selfless service to humanity by honouring exemplary personalities who have dedicated their lives in service to the country.
The university is honouring three outstanding personalities, including 86-year-old Imam Abubakar Abdullahi who had saved 262 Christians that would have been killed by Islamist insurgents in northern Nigeria; Catholic Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, Felix Ajakaiye; and an American Septuagenarian, Guy Garguilo, a school principal who had dedicated over 60 years of his life teaching young Nigerians in Akoko, Ondo State.
The week-long Combined Convocation ceremony is the second Convocation ceremony of the institution. It kicks off from August 26 with a press conference where the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof. Kayode Soremekun, will reveal laudable achievements in providing infrastructure and facilities to improve FUOYE’s learning environment.
The Convocation will continues till September 1, and will feature a public lecture titled “Anticipating the Birthday Boy, Options and Possibilities for a Besieged Nation at 60,” to be delivered on August 29 by Professor Tony Afejuku, a Public Affairs analyst and Professor of English at the University of Benin, Edo State. The lecture is a retrospective of Nigeria’s journey since Independence, ahead of the the country’s Diamond anniversary in 2020.
The trio of Imam Abubakar, Bishop Ajakaiye and Garguilo will be garlanded with FUOYE’s Honorary Doctorate Degrees, with PhD in Peace Studies going to Abubakar, while both Ajakaiye and Garguilo will receive the institution’s Honourary PhD in Public Administration.
According to a press statement from the VC’s office, the Convocation ceremony will be spiced in the evening of Thursday, August 29, with a performance of the Convocation play titled “Once Upon a Tower”.
Written by Nigeria’s first Professor of Dance, ex-Abuja Carnival’s CEO/Artistic Director and currently FUOYE’s Dean, School of Post Graduate Studies, Prof. Rasaki Ojo Bakare, “Once Upon a Tower” x-rays the dire consequences of the rot being perpetuated by some bad eggs in the Nigeria’s higher institutions.
FUOYE has gained a reputation for rewarding selfless and exemplary service and sacrifice for national development: The institution, at its maiden Convocation in 2017, had honoured a retired Principal of Queen’s College, Lagos, Mrs Efunjoke Coker, another retired teacher with Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti, Principal in District Commercial Secondary School, Aramoko Ekiti, 92-year old Chief Francis Daramola and retired Principal of Ekiti Parapo College, 102-year-old Chief Adepoju Komolafe with Doctorate degrees in Educational Administration, respectively in recognition of their immense contribution to human capacity development, education, and scholarship in the country.