Akwa Ibom State governor, Umo Eno, has said that education is central to the socio -economic development of the country, and charged the graduating 14,866 students at the 28th convocation of the University of Uyo (UNIUYO) to be good ambassadors by deploying their ingenuity into human and societal developments.
Investment in education, he said, remains one of the top priorities of his administration and urged stakeholders in the sector to be in the vanguard of repositioning the system.
The governor, who stated this at the conclusion of the combined 26, 27 and 28 convocation ceremonies of the Institution held, at the TETFund Auditorium of the school’s main campus, Nwaniba, Uyo, the state capital at the weekend, reiterated his continuous support for the institution in its drive to churn out quality manpower for the nation.
He said education is one of the pillars of his administration’s ‘ARISE Agenda’, with government committing huge cash into massive revamping of education at all levels in the state.
Governor Eno, an alumnus of the university, said his administration would continue to support UNIUYO to enhance its pursuit of academic excellence.
He expressed the goodwill of the government and people of the state to the Chief Visitor, President Bola Tinubu; the chancellor, Emir of Hadejia and Chairman Jigawa State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Abubakar Adamu Maje and the management led by the vice chancellor, Professor Nyaudoh Ndaeyo, for sustaining the legacies of the institution as the centre for teaching, research and manpower development.
The chancellor, Alhaji Abubakar Adamu Maje, also felicitated with the graduands and charged them not to see their academic attainment as an end, but a means to an end, and challenged them to think out of the box of white collar jobs, and launch themselves into the present world of innovation, resourcefulness and creativity.
He congratulated Eno, on his emergence as governor, and solicited for stronger collaborations between the federal and state governments to advance education as catalyst for the needed development of Nigeria.
