Deputy Governor of Lagos state, Obafemi Hamzat, has charged the management of the University of Ibadan to harness the alumni for the development of the institution.
He gave the charge during a courtesy visit to the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kayode Adebowale in his office on Wednesday.
The deputy governor was at the UI as the special guest of honour/keynote speaker at the induction ceremony into graduate membership of the Nigerian Society of Engineers for the 2021/2022 graduates of the Engineering Department.
Hamzat noted that the government alone cannot fund tertiary education, adding that in developed countries, the alumni provide support for the development of their alma maters.
He said it was the responsibility of the alumni to ensure the continued existence of the university for future generations.
He recalled with nostalgia that he never knew any place where the passion for teaching was as vibrant as it was with his lecturers at UI.
He noted that he received the most fantastic education at the University of Ibadan and described UI as undoubtedly the greatest university in Nigeria and Africa.
Hamzat, therefore, commended the present and past management for keeping the University standing.
Education Roadmap reports that Hamzat obtained his first and second degrees in Agricultural Engineering from UI in 1986 and 1988, respectively.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kayode Adebowale said the University greatly appreciates its alumni and would certainly leverage them for its development.
He informed the deputy governor about the celebration of the University’s 75th anniversary this year, promising that Hamzat would shortly be decorated as a UI@75 ambassador.
Professor Adebowale said the Lagos deputy governor is one of the Alumni that the UI@75 committee had identified as worthy ambassadors and management had approved his decoration.
In his remarks, the chairman of the UI@75 committee, Professor Peter Olapegba, said the deputy governor had certainly exhibited the UI core value of excellence and would be duly celebrated.
The acting Head of the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Mobolaji Omobowale recalled that the deputy governor donated a solar-powered inverter to the department to alleviate power shortage in 2014.
The deputy governor’s keynote address to the inductees was titled “Developing innovative strategies for Building a sustainable career as a Young Engineer in the 21st Century.”
He noted that the future belongs to those who are ready and willing to adopt or adapt to technology development as a way of life.
Hamzat also charged the inductees to never stop learning, and believe that nothing is impossible to bear in mind that if they can dream it, they can
