Mr. Akpevwe Eghubare, TheNewsGuru pidgin newscaster on Wednesday graduated from the prestigious Lagos State University (LASU) even as Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, has promised to sponsor the best graduating student in his post-graduate programme.
Akpevwe, who graduated with an honour degree in public administration, has anchored the TheNewsGuru pidgin news with an unflinching panache that leaves his audience wowed.
TheNewsGuru publisher, Mr. Mideno Bayagbon, and his amiable wife, Mrs. Christie-Mideno Bayagbon, graced the convocation ceremony of the vibrant public administrator and newscaster that held today at the LASU premises.
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Best graduating student… WAEC and NECO results dotted with F9s
In his speech, Governor Ambode promised to sponsor in his post-graduate programme, and also gifted the sum of N5 million to, Mr. Adetoro Ogunsanya, who emerged the best graduating student from the 2016/2017 session with a Cumulative Grade Point Aggregate (CGPA) of 4.7 from the Department of Business Administration.
Ambode, who said he was impressed by Ogunsanya’s performance at the 22nd Convocation and Award of degrees by the university to its graduating students, noted that the state government had stopped offering scholarships to students, but was only giving them bursaries.
He enthused that his coming to the university on the first day of the convocation was divine.
“There is a divine side to the story of the best graduating student, maybe I choose to come today because of the best graduating student.
“The visitor to the university usually attends the higher degree ceremony of the convocations.
“But I will adopt the best graduating student because his story is too compelling and reflect on my story,” Ambode said.
Ogunsanya, the best graduating student, narrated his first WAEC and NECO examination results were dotted with F9s due to health challenges.
According to him, the health challenge, cataract he inherited from his father, greatly affected his performance in the final examination in secondary school.
He said the cataract, which initially affected one eye, later spread to the other and this affected his academic performance.
“My Parents helped me to seek medical help but the first operation I had was not successful.
“When my first WAEC and NECO came out, it was dotted with F9s, so I left home and went to stay with my uncle and his wife.
“My uncle and his wife also helped me to seek medical treatment at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan and the operation was successful,” he said.
Ogunsanya said following the treatment, he went back to secondary school to rewrite his WAEC and JAMB, after three years of staying at home.
“I was able to make four A’s and three B’s and scored 215 in JAMB to gain admission to LASU,: Ogunsanya recalled.
According to him, he had applied for Accounting at LASU but opted for business administration giving reasons Accounting was not accredited at the time.
Ogunsanya noted that his academic journey was rigorous and herculean, even as he lost his father in 2015.
“But my doggedness and tenacity yielded a good result,” he added, while also requesting that he should be given scholarship for his master’s programme in the United Kingdom.
In response Governor Ambode said “I will personally sponsor him to any university of his choice in the world and as the best graduating student, I am giving him a gift of N5million”.
LASU VC’s remarks
In his remarks, Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun, the Vice-Chancellor, said the graduating students had been well tutored and certified to succeed in the corporate world.
The VC, however, urged the students to be good ambassadors of the institution and give back to their Alma Mata.
Fagbohun said the university graduated 29,710 students for the session, out of which 26 students made First Class division.
He said 21,481 students graduated with first degrees, 201 with diplomas, 7,982 in the Post-graduate cadre and 46 PhDs.