Education
Source: AllAfrica
In the wake of the recent controversies facing girl-child education in the country, the first female Vice-Chancellor of an African university, Prof. Grace Alele-Williams has stressed the need for quality education for the Nigerian girl.
The Professor of Mathematics, who spoke at the 8th convocation ceremony of Covenant University recently, said that she was very pleased that "many female graduates got prizes for excellence in fields where it was impossible to find women about 30 years ago.
"During that time, there was no way girls could study mathematics because there were no female mathematics teachers, and male teachers weren't allowed to teach female students.
"Today, I am very thankful to those who brought about positive changes, who ended those primitive policies that pushed women behind in the past."
Meanwhile, out of the 1,466 first degrees awarded across the College of Developmental Studies, and the College of Science and Technology, 114 made first class, 76 of which were female; 141 students also graduated from the School of Post-graduate Studies with 111 awarded master's degrees and 30 doctorates.
The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, who was the guest speaker at the ceremony, told the students to take advantage of the quality education they received during their stay at the university.
Speaking on the topic; Transformational leadership and the Quest for global relevance, he said; "Your parents, your lecturers, and God have invested so much in you, go out there and change the nation. Strive to be transformational leaders just like Jesus.
"While a transactional leader motivates followers by appealing to their own self interest, a transformational leader does so by encouraging them to put the group's interest first. Transformational leaders tend to have no personal ego, but they have institutional ego.
"It is therefore obvious that it takes transformational leadership to take responsibilities for others that are less fortunate."
Prof. Nebo also advised the graduates to be careful and diligent in their choices and not let their own plans stand in the way of great opportunities.
Also speaking at the ceremony, the Chancellor of Covenant University, Dr. David Oyedepo said that Nigeria does not just need education but the right kind of education.
In his speech entitled; Living the Covenant University Dream, Our Leadership Mandate, Oyedepo opined that our world is full of "expert analysts of our multi-faceted problems but what we lack is expert solution providers.
"We do not therefore need just education, we need the right kind of education, raising the right kind of leaders, promoting the right kind of values and graduating the right kind of changes that this part of the world desperately requires today."