As calls for self reliance continue to pour in, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye over the weekend joined other stakeholders in the education sector to urge Nigerian graduates not to wait for job, but endeavour to create jobs and be employers of labour.
Adeboye who is a visitor to Redeemer’s University (RUN) during their 4th convocation ceremony where 24 graduands made first class said; “You have graduated into a world of uncertainty, don’t wait for ready-made job, create one.”
The clergyman charged unemployed graduates to be bold enough to start their own businesses instead of waiting for unavailable jobs. He prayed that within three months, if they hold on to the wisdom of God, they will succeed in their aspirations.
Moreover, Adeboye noted that for parents who think the Redeemer’s University is a reformatory school where people who are not willing to do God’s will could be revolutionised if admitted, will be disappointed, stressing that he, as a pastor, is not ready to influence the institution’s policy if a student does anything wrong that warrants his rustication.
He said; “It pains me as a pastor to find a 300-level student rusticated for violating the university’s policy, adding, “The vice-chancellor of any institution should have a free hand to run the university as it should be run without interference. Tell your children that this university does not stand for nonsense.”
On his part, the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT), RUN, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN noted that the realistic questions to ask given the state of the nation today are; “what hope is there for a young person leaving school today? Where will we work? How will we pay for a post-graduate degree?”
In answering these questions, Osinbajo said that the problem with taking opportunities is how we use our time, adding that many young people do not use their time very profitably as many are addicted to chatting on the social media networks at the expense of the opportunities that exist today.
According to him, there are more free on-line courses for self-improvement in a variety of disciplines than are available in most universities, urging them that their priority before and during their service year should be self-improvement. His words; “Read useful materials on the economy, local and international politics and finance. Many useful magazines such as The Economist, Time and Newsweek are available free on-line.
Many opportunities now come globally and you can take advantage of them without even stepping out of Nigeria. Today, many foreign companies are outsourcing their work. Good engineers, architects, well spoken graduates who write well are getting high paying international jobs while still resident in their own countries. This is the way of the future. But the future belongs to those who are prepared for the incredible opportunities available.
One other useful way of preparing yourself is to improve your written and spoken English. English still remains the most important language for communication and presentations commercially and socially. You must deliberately improve your capacity to express yourself clearly orally and in writing.”
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Debo Adeyewa stated that out of a total of 489 graduating students, 24 graduands made first class, 156 graduated with second class upper division while 238 graduated with second class lower division as about 71 graduands fell into other categories.
The Vice-Chancellor while justifying the numbers of first class graduates produced this year, explained that Redeemer’s University students are doing pretty well academically due to the school’s conducive learning environment with qualified lecturers and professors in charge of each department and state-of-the-art labouratory equipment the institution possesses.
According to him, all the 14 academic programmes the university presented to the National Universities Commission (NUC) in March 2012 were granted full accreditation.
The programmes are: Accounting, Banking and Finance, Business Administration, Marketing, Insurance, Biochemistry, Industrial Chemistry, Industrial Mathematics, Computer Science, Statistics, Economics, Political Science, Sociology and Social Works. Others include: English, History and International Relations, Theatre Arts, Psychology, Actuarial Science, Mass Communication, Microbiology, Physics with Electronics.
He said some of the programmes have gained recognition and endorsement from some professional bodies such as Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, and Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, adding, “In the international fora, RUN has been recognised for excellence by becoming member of Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Association of African Universities (AAU).
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