Ike Ṅnachi, Abakaliki
Former Governor of Ebonyi State, Martin Elechi and renowned Industrialist, Chief Innocent Chukwuma popularly known as Innoson, would be conferred Honorary Doctorate Degrees by Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Nduf-Alike Ikwo (AE-FUNAI) during the university’s 7th and 8th combined convocation.
Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Sunday Elom disclosed this at a pre-convocation briefing.
He noted that 52 students graduated with 1st class degrees out of 3, 474 of them while 911 got 2nd class upper division.
“It is a moment of great pride and joy for us as an institution, as we prepare to celebrate the achievements of our graduating students, who have worked tirelessly to earn their degrees.
“Over the next few days, we will be honoring the hard work, dedication, and perseverance of our graduating students, as well as the support of their families, friends, and our faculty members. I invite you as members of the 4th estate of the realm to join us as we share in the excitement of this momentous occasion and showcase the academic excellence and achievements of our great university.
“Thursday 23 will be the conferment of Honourary Doctorate Degrees to two eminent Nigerians, for their laudable contributions to the development of the country – HE Chief Martin Elechi, former Governor of Ebonyi State (Doctor of Economics) and Chief Innocent Chukwuma, Founder/CEO, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company ( Doctor of Engineering and Technology).
The VC also said the convocation will also include the award of postgraduate degrees.
“We are turning out 96 postgraduates (9 Ph.Ds, 62 Masters and 24 Postgraduate Diplomas). It is the first time the university is presenting Ph.D. and Masters’ Degree students for convocation.
“We are turning out 3,474 graduates – 1, 357 of them belong to the 2020/2021 set while 2, 117 is of the 2021/2022 academic year. Out of these 3, 474 graduating students, 52 graduated with First Class, 911 with Second Class (Upper Division), 2, 088 with Second Class (Lower Division), 407 with Third Class and 1 with pass.
“In the last 3 years of my administration, the university under my watch has made verifiable progress in many fronts. We have ensured that all our academics programmes were approved and accredited by the National Universities Commission and relevant professional bodies. Consequently, our students graduate on schedule, and are also mobilised to the NYSC programme each year, and in every batch and stream.
“Our university has also gained the reputation as a rapidly emerging citadel of learning, globally recognised for the seriousness of its academic activities. More so, our university, its staff and students are ranked highly by international rating organisations in world universities rankings, research output and debate competitions,” Elom stated.