The 2024 combined convocation of 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st sets at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) spanned from Monday, April 15 to Saturday, April 20, 2024 with a variety of programs that one could call innovative. It started well and ended well but not well with the beloved Danfodites. This is because they did not get what they expected. Some of the disappointed students advised that UDUS should do better.
UDUS, a second republic university situated in the seat of the caliphate, is one of the universities that doesn’t convocate sessionally but quarterly — after four years. In fact, its just concluded convocation was the first and the last one for the incumbent Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Lawal Suleiman Bilbis who succeeded Prof A.A Zuru in 2019.
Before the convocation, the VC briefed the press that “18,644 will receive Bachelor’s degrees, 427 will receive diplomas and certificates, while the remaining 4,288 will receive various certificates of higher degrees and postgraduate diplomas. Among them, 296 will be conferred with Doctoral degrees, 1,322 with Master’s degrees, and 2,670 with postgraduate diplomas in their respective fields.” But the good words were abstract that are good to hear. Throughout the ceremony, no graduate (long-term or recent) was offered a visible certificate, which was not the VC’s promise.
Moreover, in terms of academic achievements for all the four sets, 167 students graduated with first-class honors, 3,486 with second-class upper division, 9,573 with second-class lower division, and 15 with pass degrees. Additionally, 1,199 students are from specialized programs such as Veterinary Medicine, Medicine, and Nursing across various departments, faculties, colleges, and schools of the university. Those figures are numbers that were not given a reason to be remembered. UDUS why?
Despite how difficult it is to bag first-class honor in this citadel of learning, which is glaring from the low number of its achievers (167) across the four academic sessions, none of them got appointment but disappointment. The only recognition that the best-graduating students in each academic session got was that the VC mentioned their names and CGPA. They were not even called onto the stage for proper recognition.
We all thought the convocation’s grand finale would be for celebration of fine brains and presentation of prizes and awards to the best-graduating students. But, it was honorable people that were conferred with honorary degrees. Was that supposed to be the case?
Actually, some staff of the university were awarded in the various categories: Outstanding Researcher (STEM), Outstanding Researcher (Arts and Humanities), Outstanding Female Researcher, Outstanding Early Career Researcher, Best Research Group, and Highest Grant Winner. These are Lecturers who are already threading their paths of success, the students whom they produced supposed to be acknowledged as well.
Indeed, UDUS should do better.
Who are the best-graduating students of the various departments, faculties and the entire university over the years? Who broke the long-standing record of the university? These are the questions gyrating in the mouths of Danfodites like chewing gum. Meanwhile, the management is yet or not willing to provide the required response. Maybe the school is unhappy with their successes — an assumption of a Danfodite.
How can UDUS do better? It’s agreeable that the 2024 was done both sharply and shabbily. So, it’s imperative to provide a way of doing it greatly, maybe it will help the next VC not this one anymore. Firstly, if certificates would not be ready for graduates, it should not be mentioned in the first place. People dubbed it as deficit and it is not among the learning and character propagated by this university.
Moreso, there should be provision to award the best-graduating students if not all the first-class graduates. It is possible! There are national and international NGOs like Mac Arthur foundation who could provide grants to sponsor the convocation because they value education. UDUS can do better by building international networking.
Another way round, several dignitaries graced the convocation ceremony, the likes of Sultan of Sokoto, Governor of Sokoto, Oba of Lagos, Emir of Bichi, uncountable vice chancellors and more. UDUS could present his products to these personalities for honorary gifts. There are people who would donate postgraduate scholarships, monetary awards, NYSC PPA, job appointments and lots more.
On a final note, UDUS could do better by retaining some of the outstanding graduates into the university. It would help to solve the problem of lack/lag of lecturers in some departments and faculties. We want the UDUS that encourages academic excellence, is that too much to ask?
God bless UDUS!
God bless Nigeria!
Sunday, 21st April, 2024
Abdulrasheed Akere
Editor-In-Chief
PEN PRESS UDUS