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By Madu Obi
President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerian communities to place more emphasis on training in entrepreneurship to make the graduates job creators, instead of job seekers.
Speaking during the 18th convocation ceremony of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, the president, who was represented by the Director of Tertiary Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs. Rakiya Iliyasu, said he was not in doubt that Nigerian universities would find a lasting solution to problems facing the country.
He believed that actualizing his administration's renewed hope agenda requires the cooperation of the universities.
He also appealed for greater transparency in the management of the affairs of the universities and be more committed to research and publications for which government is providing financial and other resources through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETfund, and needs assessment intervention funds.
He stated that the federal government has through the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, inaugurated the Labour Employment Enhancement Programme, LEEP, designed to create 10 million jobs, adding that the programme will create an average of 2.5 millions jobs annually for the next four years.
The programme, he added, aims to train and equip young Nigerians with the necessary tools and opportunities for employment and self - employment through the strategies of digital skills initiative, vocational entrepreneurial skills programme, infrastructure upgrade and the national electronic labour exchange.
The outgoing Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Charles Esimone said that the university graduated 7,733 students during the ceremony.
According to him, of the number, 7,091 were awarded first degrees, while 96 received postgraduate diplomas. Also, 391 received Masters degrees, while 251 obtained doctoral degrees.
He said that with the convocation, all those who completed their academic programmes within his five -year tenure as Vice-Chancellor, have had their convocation ceremonies.
He also said that 494 staff of the university were promoted to the rank of readers and professors during his tenure.
Esimone said: "It is worthy of note that notwithstanding the disruptions in academic and administrative activities of the nation’s universities, Nnamdi Azikiwe University has not allowed the implementation of its new staff conditions of service approved in our administration to suffer, vis-à-vis the welfare and promotion of staff.
The staff appraisal innovations have ensured that deserving staff are promptly promoted. Thus far, 494 staff have been promoted to the rank of Readers and Professors, 240 to senior lecturers and 766 to other ranks in the academic staff career ladder.
For the non-teaching staff, four were appointed into director positions, 78 were promoted to the ranks of deputy positions and 2,291 to other senior non-teaching staff and junior staff positions."
He said that in a determination to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the administration, new cadres were created to provide more opportunities for upward mobility of the staff and provide better service delivery.
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