Buhari’s aide, Tinubu, others bag LASU honorary doctorate | EduCeleb
EduCeleb
17th December 2020
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs) Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Senator Oluremi Tinubu and two other notable personalities were on Thursday by the Lagos State University, LASU, with honorary doctorate degrees.
The other awardees are business mogul, Oba Ayoola Otudeko and Justice Oluwafunmilayo Oke.
This was during the 2018/2019 convocation ceremony of the university on Thursday.
The university said it seemed the quartet to have distinguished themselves in their various areas of endeavour and found them worthy of the awards.
Receiving her Honorary Doctor of Arts (Poverty Alleviation and Technology Incubation) Degree on her at the 24th Convocation Ceremony of LASU, Orelope-Adefulire dedicated the award to youths and women.
The former Lagos State deputy governor who joined the event virtually said this while giving her acceptance speech after the conferment of the degree at the institution’s main campus in Ojo Lagos, Thursday.
She thanked the management of the university for deeming her worthy of the award.
“I accept it on behalf of thousands of unsung heroes, the youth, women and the underprivileged striving to eke out a living amidst excruciating realities and those among you, particularly our graduands, who feel a measure of nervousness about the future,” she said.
Orelope-Adefulire, a LASU alumna also commended the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun for the transformation that has taken place in the institution under his leadership.
While promising that he will continue to support the institution, the presidential aide also appealed to his fellow awardees to rally around the University Management by committing their resources to the academic and infrastructural development of the LASU as a token of their contribution to humanity.
Mrs Tinubu could not physically attend the ceremony as she was represented by the chairperson of Lagos Mainland Local Government, Mrs Omolola Essien.
Her honorary doctorate is in public administration.
For Otudeko, his is a Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) in Economic Development and National Integration.
Justice Oke, a former chief justice of Lagos, however bagged an honorary doctorate of law.
The ceremony also had the investiture of Professor Martin Anetekhai as a distinguished professor.
In her acceptance address, Oke challenged graduates to deploy their skills and learning to harness the opportunities within the country.
She dedicated the award to her late sister who died in June 2019 – a few days to her retirement as the state’s chief judge.
On his part, Otudeko noted that the progress of every nation is largely dependent on Government’s ability to formulate policies in that direction.
He challenged the academia to look into ways of collaborating with government in resolving various societal issues.
The event also witnessed the conferment of masters and doctoral degrees to students deemed to have completed their respective programmes across departments of the university.
Speaking earlier in the ceremony, Vice-Chancellor Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun highlighted the successes achieved in the five years of his administration expiring in January.
He listed gains in his five point agenda in terms of restoration of peace, high-level scholarship and knowledge creation, consolidation of previous gains, conducive environment to attract external funding and making the university a valued partner to government and the international community.
Among prominent dignitaries at the event were the Lagos State governor and visitor to LASU, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his deputy, Mr Obafemi Hamzat; the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr Tokunbo Wahab; vice-chancellors of various invited universities as well as principal officers of LASU who either joined physically or virtually.