By; Mohammed Kawu, Bauchi
University Senate of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (ATBU), Bauchi has approved for the award of Honourary Doctorate degrees to five distinguished Nigerians to honour them on its convoation day slated for this Saturday.
The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Muhammad Ahmad Abdul’Azeez who announced the award approval, however declined to give names of those to be honoured, till convocation day together with the institution’s four sets of graduands.
At a pre-convocation press briefing at the Varsity’s Gubi Main Campus in Bauchi Monday, the Vice Chancellor said, “The Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University is set to conduct its 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th combined convocation ceremony between 22nd February 2024 and the 24th February, 2024”.
He said that the combined convocation ceremony will start on Thursday, 22nd February, 2024 with the commissioning of 19 different projects completed in the last four years, spread in both Gubi and Yelwa campuses of the varsity by some dignitaries that included Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed.
Others to commission the projects included the Governor of Katsina State, Dr. Dikko Umaru Radda, the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, the Minister of Health, Dr Mohammed Ali Pate and all the three Senators representing Bauchi state.
According to the vice Chancellor, there will be a convocation lecture Friday at the 1000 seat capacity lecture theater, Yelwa Campus to be delivered by a Professor of Media Studies, Umar Pate, with the topic, “Education and Nigeria’s National Integration in the Digital Age: Matters Arising”.
He disclosed that the lecture will simultaneously hold along with exhibition from various departments of the University at the same venue to show-case some of its break-through in resarch and fabrication.
“The third day of the ceremony would hold at the convocation square of the institution in Gubi campus. It will feature the graduation of four sets of graduands. It is significant to mention here that we are graduating our first set of 25 medical doctors from this University. We are graduating a combined total number of 19, 252 students.
Prof. Muhammad Abdul’Azeez gave a breakdown of the all graduands as 404 diploma graduands;.15, 460 undergraduates; post graduate diploma has 1, 653; for Masters degree the ATBU has 1, 559, while 176 are to graduate with PhDs.
A breakdown of convocants showed the classes of degrees obtained by the combined graduands as 337 1st Class; 2nd Class Upper has 5489; 2nd Class Lower has 7241; and 1867 of 3rd Class, while 526 got pass in their examinations.
Abdul’Azeez acknowledged the tremendous contributions various media organisations made towards the growth and development of institution over the years, and hailed the laudable cooperation by individual and collective media organizations, hoping that the symbiotic relationship will continue for the development of education in Bauchi state and the country as a whole.
“The success of this exercise will be determined by the cooperation from all stakeholders in the educational sector. The media is one of them. That is why we invited you today to brief you on the activities lined up for the ceremony and to inform Nigerians about it as well as urge you to report these activities for the benefit of humanity”, he concluded. q
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