Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, in Kwara State, has conferred an honorary doctorate in public administration on the speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen.
Abbas was earlier awarded the degree on January 7 at the 14th convocation lecture of the institution.
However, the Special Adviser to the Speaker on Media and Publicity, Musa Krishi, said the lawmaker was formally decorated on Thursday in his office by the university’s founder, Alhaji Abdulraheem Oladimeji, and the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Noah Yusuf.
Speaker Abbas, on December 30, 2024, delivered the 14th Convocation Lecture of the Al-Hikmah University titled, ‘Beyond Oil: Exploring Alternative Revenue Potentials for Economic Growth and Sustainable Development in Nigeria.’
On a thank-you’ visit, the Al-Hikmah University team in the Speaker’s Office also robbed him of his new doctorate.
The vice chancellor announced that Abbas was lauded by academics and economists worldwide for his lecture at the university’s 14th Convocation Lecture.
“Until today, the lecture has received positive reactions from the global academic community, relevant stakeholders of the national economy and the public,” he said.
Yusuf noted that the visit was “mainly to appreciate your distinguished personality for the honour done to our University, in particular, and Kwara State, in general, by your physical presence in Ilorin exactly a month ago.”
The Vice-Chancellor said the lecture delivery by Speaker Abbas was “meticulously done to the admiration of the audience,” adding that “the quality of the Convocation Lecture has been judged by scholars and researchers alike as rich and first rated.
“These records shall be preserved in our university for several years,” he added.
The vice chancellor also proposed a roundtable beyond oil to Speaker Abbas, saying, “The theme of the 14th Convocation Lecture aptly addressed the current economic situation in our country and its future direction.
“Consequently, it throws a serious challenge to all stakeholders in the Nigeria project to take the issue further beyond the university campus to the public space through a roundtable which relevant government functionaries would anchor, policymakers, experts in Economics and Public Finance as well as academia.”
The Founder of Al-Hikmah University, Oladimeji, also expressed his gratitude to Abbas for delivering the Convocation Lecture despite not meeting him before.
“If everybody is like you, Nigeria will be 100 per cent better,” he said, after which he prayed for the Speaker.
Responding, the Speaker hailed the founder for establishing a university despite not having higher education.
He said: “Indeed, today is a day of joy; it is a day of happiness that I have been found worthy by an illustrious and distinguished university like Al-Hikmah, which has a rich history of academic excellence… to have found me worthy of an honorary doctorate in Public Administration.
“This is something that I appreciate wholeheartedly, and I thank Almighty Allah for giving the university the wisdom to choose me from among millions of Nigerians.
“I want to categorically say, just as I said earlier during the university’s convocation lecture, that this honour has made me one of Al-Hikmah’s stakeholders for life.
“I want to thank my father (varsity’s founder), who has been a pillar of inspiration for many Nigerians. A man who has not been to a university but has been able to build a university that has graduated many professors in different fields.
“He is one exceptional human being that I know in this country, and I believe that Almighty God will continue to bless him, reward him, exalt him, and make him more prosperous to continue to serve humanity.”
