Matriculants during the ceremony
By Millicent Ifeanyichukwu
The Trinity University, Yaba, Lagos State, on Thursday formally admitted 565 students, charging them to remain focused on their academic pursuit.
The event was the seventh matriculation ceremony of the private university.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Clement Kolawole, charged the students to avoid distractions, careless and negligence that could hinder their academic pursuit.
According to Kolawole, no students makes first class grade by accident but by determination and focus.
“The grade you want to make begins from the first day of lectures.
“Do not be too comfortable to forget why you are in the university. I challenge you to be focused, set your goals alright, pursue them with singleness of mind and work hard,” he said.
He said that distractions had caused some students to fail to register for courses, attend lectures and prepare adequately for examinations.
“They have been shown the way out of the system due to abysmal performance or inability to meet set target; so, set target to remain in the system.
“In Trinity University, we provide opportunities for students to engage in skill acquisition programmes to help them to become job providers after graduation,” he said.
The vice-chancellor warned the students against peer pressure, violation of university regulations, alcoholism, and drug abuse and peddling.
“Experience has shown these few foxes spoil the vine and lead to many students missing their goals in life.
“It is those who mind their business, who focus their attention on what is noble and desirable and who operate within the acceptable standard of behaviour, that end up being celebrated,” he said.
In a matriculation lecture she delivered, Prof. Adenike Oladiji, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, charged the students to devote their time to studies.
She spoke on: “The Central Place of University Education in Personal and National Development’.
Oladiji said that the lecture was vital to the students as the current economic crisis seemed to get youths disillusioned about the importance of education.
“That development has birthed the expression, ‘School nah scam’.
“Let me state emphatically here that school is not a scam.
“The university system is ideally an environment committed to excellence. Excellence is not a destination, it is a continuous journey that never ends,” she said.
Oladiji also charged the students on personal development, self awareness, self improvement, goal setting, mindfulness and wellbeing, as well as career development and emotional intelligence.
“It is true that knowledge is not acquired only in the school, but a sure place to acquire knowledge is school.
“Undoubtedly, the effects produced in various field of human endeavour today are products of knowledge, most of it from high-level research endeavours in universities,” she said.
Mr Samuel Olatunji, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Trinity University, gave the assurance that the institution would its best to empower and transform the students to become excellent.
“Our university is committed to providing a holistic education that goes beyond academics.
“It will prepare you adequately for the challenges of an increasingly unpredictable and uncertain world,” Olatunji said.