The University of Maiduguri conferred Honourary Doctorate degrees to four distinguished personalities including the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, Shehu of Borno Alhaji Abubakar Garbai Elkanemi, pioneer Registrar of the Institution, Dr Dahiru Bobbo and renown businessman Abdul Samad Rabiu. Photo: Dauda Iliya
President Bola Tinubu has tasked the management of public universities in the country, to come up with innovations to enable them compete favourably with their counterparts globally.
President Tinubu gave the task at the twenty fourth combined convocation ceremony of the University of Maiduguri held at Muhammadu Indimi International Conference Centre.
President Bola Tinubu, stressed the need for Nigerian tertiary institutions to engage in cotton-age research and empower students with the necessary skills that would advance the growth and development of the nation.
Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the President equally challenged academics and researchers to deploy their technical capabilities to solve multitude of problems bedeviling the county. .
“What is given premium nowadays is the pursuit of financial rewards and ranks status, the time is ripe for the Nigerian academia to return to the days when major breakthrough in science, innovation and creativity, and the search to expand the frontiers of knowledge were paramount ” Tinubu explained.
According to the President, the federal government alone cannot fund tertiary education, stressing the need for private sector participation.
“Let’s bear in mind that the demands for funding public education are quite enormous and the Federal government alone cannot do it all, conscious strategies must be employed to galvanise private sector participation and sponsorship of research and development activities”.
He urged Universities management to evolve and encourage the deployment of creative avenue towards making their universities globally competitive.
Vice Chancellor, University of Maiduguri, Professor Aliyu Shugaba said the Convocation is coming at a post insurgency period with over 33 thousand students graduating from four academic sessions.
Borno state Governor Babagana Zulum expressed commitment of his administration to continue to support the institution to bolster academic excellence.
Reporting by Dauda Iliya, editing by Hadiza Abdulrahman and Julian Osamoto