By Steve Oni, Ilorin
The Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed has charged residents of the state to reciprocate state government’s infrastructural drive by paying their taxes willingly.
Governor Ahmed represented by the State Head of Service, Mrs. Susan Modupe Oluwole, gave the charge today while speaking at the sixth Convocation ceremony of the Kwara State University, Malete.
The Governor, who noted that his administration had embarked on laudable infrastructural projects through remodeled Kwara State Internal Revenue Service which shore up the state revenue based, reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to continue to invest in education sector as it is the bedrock of national development and economic empowerment.
He said the establishment of the University in Malete in 2009 had transformed the rural community to semi Urban community, thus reducing rural-urban drift.
Governor Ahmed said the Ekiti Campus of the University had reached ninety five percent completion stage, while that of Ilesa Baruba baggingo in advanced stage and work on the Post graduate school in Ilorin is also in progress.
The Governor commended the management, staff and students of the institution for ensuring stable academic stability in the institution.
He however charged the youths to shun social vices such as hooliganism, cultism, thuggery, examination malpractices, and intimidation among others.
In his address, the Chancellor of the University, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, explained that the University has not only satisfied some of the indices of a world class university through teaching, research and community services but has also gone far in establishing collaboration with renowned world class institutions.
Professor Gambari charged the graduands to use the certificates issued to them based on character and learning to go into the world and distinguish themselves.
As 2019 draws nearby, he asked them not to be allowed to be used by anybody either as thugs or for manipulation during elections. Rather, he admonished, they should be more interested in who governs them and how the leaders are elected in the country.
Professor Gambari appealed to the federal government to empower the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a free and fair election next year and beyond, while insisting a permanent end to impunity and zero tolerance for thuggery and manipulation of elections.
The Kwara State University on Saturday graduated one thousand, one hundred and twenty six students in its 2017/2018 academic session with 30 of them bagging first class..
Giving the breakdown of the graduated students at the sixth Convocation ceremony of the University, its Vice Chancellor, Professor AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, disclosed that five hundred and twenty two students came out with second class upper degree, five hundred and eight students bagged second class lower degree division, while sixty students graduated with third class.
Professor Na’Allah added that as part of the epoch making occasion, the University also conferred Doctoral degree on four students in three programmes in Political Science, Computer Science and Islamic Studies, noting that the University’s tripartite mandate of teaching, research and community development continued to improve greatly as the University continues to play emphasis on academic excellence and set world standard, thus making the University a reference point in its academic stability and progress.
On research, Professor Na’Allah noted as a research-intensive University, it had carried out high impact research to solve societal problems, adding that the Institution had committed over six hundred million naira on Solar farm to power the university in the night.
The Vice Chancellor sought further collaboration from industries, organisations and individuals to assist in lightening the burden of the university through partnership and congratulated the graduating students with a charge to them to be employers of labour rather than job seekers.
In his remarks, the Acting Pro Chancellor of the University, Alhaji Kola Yusuf said funding had been a great challenge to the University since the cessation of subvention from government occasioned by economy downtown.
According to him, the University is also confronted with the problem of poor road network from Shao to the University, water problem as it largely depends on water from boreholes and tanker services and funding.
Alhaji Yusuf, therefore noted that the IGR the university depended upon alone could not ameliorate the huge gap of meeting up with its obligations and commitments, appealing to the state government to look into the problems facing the university with a view to addressing them expeditiously.
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