The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has pledged to award a post-graduate scholarship to Miss Jane Adim, the best graduating student of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, FUTO, Imo State.
Managing Director of the Commission, Mr. Nsima Ekere, made the pledge at the 30th convocation ceremony of FUTO, where he was given an honorary doctorate degree in Management Technology (D. M.Tech) honoris causa.
Ekere said that he would not fail to appreciate excellence in the university, while commending Miss Adim for scoring 4.76 CGPA and blazing the trail for other students.
He said the beneficiary, who is of the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Technology, would be awarded NDDC post-graduate scholarship to study anywhere in the world.
According to him, “This is the kind of student that we must encourage so that she will stand out as a beacon for others not just in the Niger Delta but in Nigeria at large.
“We are tired of youths being involved in militancy and causing a lot of problems for the oil communities and instigating instability in the region.
“I believe that if we support education properly, we can use it to fight cultism, militancy and unemployment in the Niger Delta region.”
Ekere also assured that NDDC would not relent in its efforts to fast-track development in the Niger Delta region, and promised to execute more development projects for the university.
“Several roads were completed within the university community for the benefit of both staff and students. And we are not done yet with the provision of facilities in the university, we shall continue to do more for FUTO.
“We shall sit with the university authorities to find out the areas of need so that we can focus on those. Subject to the approval of the university, we intend to build another auditorium for the students. However, the final decision on this will depend on what projects the university authorities considered to be more pressing.”
In his address at the convocation ceremony, the Vice Chancellor of FUTO, Prof. Francis Eze, said that 2,325 students got first degrees, while 438 post-graduate degrees and diplomas were conferred on deserving students.
The Vice Chancellor gave the summary of the class of degrees for the undergraduate students as: 36 First Class, 914 Second Class Upper, 1,170 Second Class Lower, 49 Third Class and 22 Unclassified Degree.
Similarly, for the post graduate degrees, 46 were awarded Ph.D, 250 M.Sc/M.Eng, MPH, M.Tech, MBA and 142 Post graduate diplomas.
FUTO also awarded honorary doctorate degrees on the Chief Executive Officer of Orange Drugs Ltd, Sir Tony Ezenna, as well as the General Manager, Exploration, Esso Exploration Production Ltd., Engr. Andrew Ejayeriese, amongst others.
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