The president of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, once again acknowledged the country’s current challenges over the weekend but assured Nigerians that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government would leave behind a lasting legacy that would guarantee a better future.
Akpabio, a law graduate of the University of Calabar, made the remarks in Calabar at the UNICAL ‘87 Law Class Re-Union 2024.
Addressing his audience, which included his old classmates, senators who accompanied him, UNICAL management staff, and students, Akpabio said Nigerians’ current difficulties resulted from past maladministration in the country.
The Senate President said, “The difficulties we are witnessing in our nation today were not caused by the present administration. They result from years of maladministration.
“Any country that does not have backbone infrastructure doesn’t have something to develop; you don’t save for the rainy day. When there is economic malaise, such as what we are witnessing in the world today, such a country is bound to be affected.
“The good news is that under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we have hope today, that there is light at the end of the tunnel. The things that we are trying to do now, we are doing it for posterity. Not for ourselves. Be assured that this administration will leave behind lasting legacies that will guarantee a better future,” he said.
Earlier, Akpabio led his old classmates to pay separate courtesy visits to the Governor of Cross River State, Prince Bassey Otu, and the vice chancellor of UNICAL, Professor Florence Obi, who later narrated a legion of challenges currently facing the institution, particularly in the area of infrastructure.
Akpabio told the university management that the ‘87 Law Class decided to congregate at the institution primarily to evaluate the state of affairs of their alma mater and see how best they could assist the institution that nurtured them.
Akpabio announced, on behalf of the ‘87 Law Class, the donation of two Coaster buses for the Faculty of Law and UNICAL Student Union Government (SUG).
Governor Otu, also a UNICAL graduate, assured the ‘87 Law Class that visited him that the government of Cross River State would partner with them on whatever they planned to do for the institution.
“We want to look at what you will do, and Cross River State will also partner with you and add to whatever you are going to do,” Governor Otu said.
Also speaking at the reunion, the Patron of the ‘87 Law Class, Justice Okon Abang of the Court of Appeal, observed that the journey of his former classmates to the level they are now had not been without challenges.
“As I reflect on the accomplishment of this class, I am overwhelmed by how much we have collectively contributed to the legal profession and the progress of our great nation and the entire commonwealth of nations,” Justice Abang said.
Other highlights of the three-day events included a Re-Union Lecture delivered by the Director General, Government Business, Akwa Ibom State, Ambassador Assam Assam (SAN); thanksgiving service at the UNICAL Chapel of Redemption, unveiling and presentation of law books to the UNICAL Faculty of law by the ‘87 Law Class and presentation of plaques to the Senate president, UNICAL vice chancellor, dean of Law Faculty and four other distinguished members of the class.
In addition, the University management also made Akpabio’s bust statue and presented it to him by the vice-chancellor in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the growth of his alma mater.
