AAUA has Zero Tolerance for Crime, Misconduct, VC Tells New Students … As Varsity Holds Orientation Programme

AAUA has Zero Tolerance for Crime, Misconduct, VC Tells New Students

… As Varsity Holds Orientation Programme

The Vice Chancellor, Adekunle University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, on Monday, March 9, 2015, told the newly-admitted students that the Institution’s intolerance for all forms of crime and misconduct still subsists.

Prof. Ajibefun, who stated this at the Opening Ceremony of a three-day orientation programme organized by the University for the new students, also counseled the new intakes to look for persons that are successful in their careers for mentorship.

The VC said, “I implore you to shun illicit conduct that may fracture your dreams and hamper your academic pursuit in this University. Let me make it clear that Adekunle Ajasin University has zero tolerance for all forms of crime and misconduct that may bring its hard-earned reputation to disrepute.

The Vice Chancellor, who counseled the students on personal success, advised them to get mentors in their professional lives.

He said, “I advise you to get a mentor, a successful person in your career line or life that you want to be like, approach the person and make request for mentorship.”  

He said the orientation programme was organized to officially integrate the new students into the life and workings of the University to make them functional members of the University community.

The VC congratulated the 4,465 out of the 16,826 candidates (about 26 per cent) that applied to the University, saying, “I congratulate you on your admission to AAUA, the reigning Best State University in Nigeria and a budding 21st Century University, properly called!, an institution programmed to produce globally competitive graduates trained to transform the world. Your admission to this University whose admission is strictly on merit-driven is proof that you are among the brightest of the best among students offered admission to this University this year.”

Prof. Ajibefun advised them to be determined to achieve academic excellence, which is the hallmark of the University.

He stressed the need for the students to maintain the peace in the University community in order to sustain the five years of unbroken academic calendar in the Institution.

While acknowledging the deliberate commitment of the Ondo State Government to providing quality education in the State, the VC said, “Your parents and guardians do not need to spend millions of foreign currency to make you get quality education at record time abroad. Neither do they need to spend fortune to send you to private universities to achieve the same purpose. What others look for in those academic expensive institutions is available at the cheapest rate and at record time in this University.”

He thanked all members of staff of the Student Affairs Division under the Deanship of Dr. Olujide Ajidahun for organizing a befitting orientation programme for the fresh students.

He appreciated the resource persons for accepting to impact the new students.

In his Opening address, Dr. Ajidahun, thanked the University Management for putting in place, necessary machineries that would make the students’ stay remarkable. He urged the students to always make use of the Student Affairs Division and the Security Unit whenever the need arises.

Principal and senior officers of the University took the new students through topics that are central to the University life – academic and non-academic.

The programme also featured presentation by the ENACTUS, and excursion to the Ikogosi Warm Spring and Resort. 

Caption:

A Cross-section of newly admitted students of AAUA at the Opening Ceremony of a three-day orientation programme organized by the University… Monday, March 11, 2015.

Inset: AAUA VC, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, addressing the students. Photo: IPPRU. 

AAUA VC Receives FUTA SAAT Ambassador Award

AAUA VC Receives FUTA SAAT Ambassador Award

The Vice Chancellor, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, on Thursday, March 19, 2015, was honoured with an Ambassador Award by the School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, SAAT, of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA.

Prof. Ajibefun received the award during the 8^th FUTA-Agric Conference, entitled, Food Security and Climate Change: The Way Forward”.

According to SAAT, Prof. Ajibefun was honoured for his outstanding achievements and being a worthy ambassador of SAAT/FUTA.

Other awardees are the Vice Chancellor, FUTA, Prof. Adebiyi Daramola; FUTA Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Adedayo Fasakin; VC, Elizade University, Ilara, Prof. Valentine Alector; VC, Salem University, Lokoja, Prof. J.O. Fawape; Deputy Provost, College of Education, Ikere, Dr. Oluyede Atunramu; Chief Executive Officer, Wokkman ICT Venture, Dr. Deji Fasuyi; Dean, College of Agric, Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Dr. Adio Folayan; and the National Coordinator, WAAP, Nigeria, Prof. D.O. Chukwuwendu.

Responding on behalf of awardees, Prof. Ajibefun thanked SAAT for the honour done on them.

Prof. Ajibefun, a First-Class-Honours graduate of FUTA, acknowledged that the University had impacted all the awardees either as alumni or members of staff, stressing the need to give back to the institution.

He assured SAAT and FUTA of the awardees’ continuous contributions. 

AAUA Governing Council Member Counsels Nigerians on Science, Religion Benefits

AAUA Governing Council Member Counsels Nigerians on Science, Religion Benefits    

A don and member of the Governing Council, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria, Prof. Jacob Olupona, on Tuesday, March 17, 2015, advised Nigerians to strike a balance between science and religion in order to enhance national development.

Olupona, a Professor of African and African American Studies, Faculty of Arts and Science, and Professor of African Religious Tradition at Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University, gave the advice while delivering the Foundation Day lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA, entitled, “God Is in the Laboratory: Religion, Science, and the Search for Knowledge in Nigeria”.

He said, “Events in Nigeria today require that we begin to make a shift in focus on religion as a position of faith to a greater emphasis on religion as an ethical engagement.  If we can embrace the intellectual foundations of our faith traditions, particularly their quest for deep knowledge, we will bring progress to our nation and contribute to the success of our social development.”

The Guest Lecturer explained further, “Basically, there is connection between science and religion and in the search for knowledge, the two are involved. And we also need to know the limitations of each one. And if we are able to do that as Nigerians we will be able to achieve quite a lot.”

Prof. Olupona added that scholars must work together to deconstruct the colonial and imperialistic history of science and religion, and seek to understand how the society constructed and perceived local knowledge in the past, and how local knowledge and experiences can be revived to save the nation from crisis.  

Noting that God is in the laboratory, the Professor of African Religious Tradition said, “The scientist and engineer are co-creating with the Creator in the awe-inspiring inventions that have allowed people to live longer. God’s miraculous ability to heal the body occurs not only through prayer but also through those who first identified what a cancer cell looked like, those who designed mammogram machines, and those who invented chemotherapy.”

Prof. Olupona lamented the serious religious crisis facing Nigeria and attributed them to “overdependence on faith alone, the dissociation of faith from reason, and the promotion of irrational faith traditions. The solution lies in recognizing that faith and reason complement each other and that religious knowledge or practice without scientific reasoning is incomplete.”

He said that the written records of the nation’s history, the indigenous medical knowledge that healed us for centuries, the history of our own scientists, doctors and great thinkers were reservoir of sacred knowledge that must be collected and preserved.

The Foundation Day lecture was attended by many Nigerian university administrators, including the AAUA Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, His Excellency, Ambassador Oladele Akadiri, OON, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun; royal fathers and religious leaders.

Caption:

AAUA Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, His Excellency, Ambassador Oladele Akadiri, OON (2^nd Right); AAUA VC, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun (1^st Right); Guest Lecturer of FUTA Foundation Day Lecture and member of AAUA Governing Council, Prof. Jacob Olupona (2^nd Left); and FUTA VC, Prof. Adebiyi Daramola, in a group photograph after the FUTA Foundation Day Lecture… on Tuesday last week. Photo: IPPRU