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| A Welcome Address by the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Emeka Okpara, Ph.D, (Lond) mni (Kuru) on the 3rd Matriculation Ceremony of Renaissance University holding Saturday, 27th, February 2010 |
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Protocol,
Introduction
I wish to warmly welcome all our guests, especially parents, and guardians, who have taken the trouble to come and witness the matriculation of their children. To ‘Matriculate’ means to officially become a student at a University. The importance of this ceremony is that all students who are matriculating today have officially assumed the status of bonafide students of this great institution. It is a period when the university establishes a stamp of legitimacy on every student who has been admitted to the university. No student can lay claim to being a bonafide member of a university community if he/she did not matriculate and sign the matricula. The matriculation period therefore offers the students and their parents or guardians the opportunity for appropriating a status, that is the status of being a student, and for the parents, the status of a claim that their son or daughter is studying in such an institution. Without matriculation, a student is still a JAMBITE hanging around campus, looking for opportunity to legalize himself. This is why matriculation is a very stimulating ceremony, even more stimulation than convocation.
I am highly delighted to welcome eminent personalities here gathered, within this green vegetation of Ugbawka and within the new-look university whose search for intellectual excellence, social and administrative competencies and environmental aesthetics are growing daily with tremendous velocity.
To the young matriculants, we welcome you to the fold of the Renaissance family. Today marks the beginning of your four year or five year academic journey, which hopefully will bring you to the land of academic glory. I particularly congratulate you for choosing to study at Renaissance University. We urge you to work hard, believe in yourself, shun pride and arrogance, make the best use of our facilities and pray always for good health to achieve success. Great Rennites; Great.
A New Face in Higher Education
Renaissance University, established by law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in June, 2005, opened its gates for academic activity in October, 2007. Its vision is to produce the “Total Man” as encapsulated in our Motto: ‘Ut Ominia Potestis’ interpreted ‘You can be what you want to be’. Everyman or woman is capable of discovering himself or herself if provided the enabling environment. Our vision is to be a centre of excellence for teaching, research and community service that empowers the individual to strive to the utmost for the development of humanity. Our effort here is to give a new face to Nigerian University education and to give birth to new Nigerian men and women. We strive here to produce a roundly trained universal man, who is well motivated and poised to accelerate national development using sound knowledge and application of innovations in arts, science and technology. We strive to provide the millennium state-of-the-art facilities and equipment for teaching and learning through full computerization of operations, internet connectivity and provision of information communication technology (ICT).
To this effect, every student in this University must become computer literate before graduating from Renaissance University. Every undergraduate in this University must own a laptop as most assignments and even lectures may now be transmitted electronically. Management of this University in collaboration with Computerize Nigeria Project, and Zinox Computers have made laptops available to all undergraduates and all staff at highly subsidized rates. Parents should please ensure that their children own their own personal laptops, to avoid their becoming intellectual ordinary people.
In other to encourage computer literacy, management set up a committee on ‘Computer Literacy’ which gives free computer training to both staff and students of this University. We welcome outsiders who also may be interested in such programme at a minimal fee.
I wish to use this singular opportunity to applaud the proprietor of this great Institution, the Board of Trustees and the Governing Council, chaired by our one and only Rt. Revd. Emmanuel Olisa Chukwuma, Bishop of Enugu, Anglican Communion, for ensuring that this University stands on this ground. Leadership is about monuments. It is what we leave behind us after this life, that will be used to remember us. This University does not only stand here to produce intellectuals, it also offers job opportunities for hundreds of people from all over Nigeria. It has even a more exacerbating ripple effect, that is by now this community Ugbawka and it environs have placed their names on the international map. Whenever you visit our website, the name Ugbawka stares you in the face.
Some wealthy Nigerians spend their wealth in building Mega Filling Stations from where they quickly make profits. Others stack-away their wealth in far away countries in Europe and America, but here we are today, in the midst of what can be described as a “Bush” a new dimension in education has germinated.
To God be the Glory
We owe volumes of gratitude to the heads and hearts that conceived this dream and brought it to reality. We wish to urge parents and guardians here present and those who hope to come in the future, to stand steadfast in supporting their children’s education in Renaissance University, in spite of the collapse in our economic fortunes as Nigerians. Your investment will not be in vain. I make bold to promise you, that your son or daughter, whose programme is for 4/5 years, will not spend extra day to graduate. We are here for business not for frivolities. No strikes, no student rioting, no cultism.
Human capital is the wealth of nations. Any one who invests in Education makes an everlasting investment. May I therefore invite our parents and guests to join us in developing this University. A foundation has been laid, let us pursue vigorously its growth and development. To this end, I will urge our parents to be part of our endowment prgramme as a source of generating internal funds to enable us accelerate the development of this Institution. Soon we shall be writing all parents and friends to express areas of support, financially or materially. In the next few weeks also, the National Universities Commission (NUC) will be sending a team of assessors to accredit some of the programmes. We are optimistic that we will score full accreditation in all our matured programmes. However, we still need support, to ensure that everything goes well. Any support that is available to us will be publicly appreciated and documented. I am happy to announce that the Methodist Bishop of Agbani Rt. Revd. B.L. Onugha has requested a piece of land on campus for the construction of a chaplain’s house and a chapel in future. We thank our Lord Bishop, for encouraging our spiritual growth.
Our guests will also be interested to know that this young University has established linkages with some foreign European and American Universities to mount programmes which will enable Nigerian students to spend one year in Renaissance University and then travel abroad to complete their studies. This University has signed the memorandum of understanding with these universities and the first batch of these students are already in residence in this campus. If you are interested in your child studying abroad, you can send her to Renaissance for the foundation year programme after which she will travel abroad for completion. Teaching for the programme is done by the joint staff of Renaissance and the foreign universities. Renaissance University has been applauded by NUC for being the first university to undertake this foreign foundation programme. Also we have a memorandum of understanding with the University of Nigeria, in respect of academic, research and staff development. A diploma programme for students who may have some basic deficiencies in their school certificate results has been established. By enrolling in our diploma, they can be given direct admission on completion of the diploma programme instead of becoming professional JAMB takers.
Distinguished guests, let me try to end this address by calling on the Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency, Barrister Sullivan Chime, who has done so much to transform Enugu metropolis to a New Dubai, to also remember that those of us who are in this bush, should benefit from the dividends of Democracy because we are also involved. To this end I wish to plead with the Governor of Enugu State to take advantage of the existence of two universities in Nkanu - ESUT and Renaissance, and complete the dual carriage way from four corner to Agbani Town. This will reduce the carnage on this road which happens to the youths of Enugu State and other states populating these institutions. We will also appreciate His Excellency’s support in equipping our library, our science and computer laboratories.
Nigeria remains largely the only country where education is virtually funded by governments. Nigerians have been deluded into believing that all they needed to do was to sit at home, produce children and donate these children to government for food, education and healthcare. This delusion may have started to clear up, as most parents now send their children to private institutions where high moral discipline and academic excellence prevail. In Renaissance we do not only teach efficiently, we also inculcate a sense of discipline in our students. Parents must support us in this direction. Do not buy unnecessary expensive dresses for your children. Do not buy them fridges or cookers, expensive gold chains, and high heel shoes. We do not need these things here. Our accommodation here is about one of the bests in Nigeria – two students in a room, ensuit. All you do for them is to buy them recommended books, laptops, and sufficient money to feed well. By March, 8, our first Semester examination will kick off. By April, your sons and daughters will be home on holiday. There are universities that have not begun 2009/2010 session.
Our students here gain entrepreneurial experiences through our experimental farms. We have poultry, snailry, and plant some vegetables. Parents who wish to buy eggs can see our Farm Manager to pick up some crates before they leave. By Easter, we will have some chickens to sell. We encourage our students to take some parcels of land and plant something.
This university has made arrangements to introduce two new courses by 2012. These are Medicine and Law. We pray God to give us the enablement to pursue these goals successfully.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I wish to once again thank all of you for being such wonderful guests and for gracing this occasion with your esteemed presence. May the Almighty God grant you safe departure and arrival to your different destinations in Jesus Name. Amen.
God bless Renaissance University, God bless Enugu State, God bless Nigeria.
PROF. EMEKA OKPARA Ph.D (Lond) mni
Uri-Nede-Nka
Vice-Chancellor