The President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, who is also the Visitor to Bowen University, Iwo, Rev. David Idowu, on Saturday urged youths in the country to beware of the dangers of distraction, citing the breakdown of societal values.
Idowu spoke in Iwo, Osun State, at the 21st convocation of Bowen University, where 1,443 graduands, comprising 1,345 undergraduates and 98 postgraduate students, received various degrees.
He charged the youths to embrace hard work and dedication to good causes.
The clergyman, who also challenged them not to wait any longer before taking up leadership responsibilities, said he became a pastor at the age of 21.
He also urged them to draw inspiration from Nigerian independence leaders such as the late Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa; the former Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello; and the former Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who assumed leadership positions in their youthful years.
“My challenge to our youths in this generation is for them to remain focused. We live in a very noisy world, a world that is totally distracted. You see distractions everywhere, you see confusion everywhere, and it must be said that our society is not helping matters.
“Because we live in a society where the value system has totally broken down. We live in a society where teenagers are now going into money rituals and their parents are happy to collect such money from such teenagers. I like to beg our youths because they are not just the leaders of tomorrow.
“I have always said repeatedly that the youth are the leaders of today. I became pastor of a church at the age of 21. So for anyone to say youths are the leaders of tomorrow, maybe such a person is living in the past. I always try to make reference to our independence leaders, people like Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa and Baba Obafemi Awolowo.
“They became leaders in their 30s. I want to beg our youths to remain focused and be purposeful in life. Not to be distracted, and to do what is right. Hard work pays. They may look foolish now, but hard work pays. They should remain prayerful and they should take their moral life seriously,” Idowu said.
Earlier in his sermon, Idowu encouraged the graduands to face the future with focus, purpose and perseverance, emphasising the importance of prayer in achieving their goals.
Addressing the gathering, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Jonathan Babalola, reeled out the achievements of the management in the outgoing academic session and announced that all eight academic programmes presented for accreditation by the university had secured full accreditation status.
“These programmes are Surveying and Geoinformatics, Biochemistry, Industrial Chemistry, Pure and Applied Biology, Religious Studies, Architecture, Medical Laboratory Science and Doctor of Physiotherapy.
“For us, this achievement is more than regulatory compliance. It affirms the quality of our academic offerings, the competence of our faculty and the university’s sustained investment in facilities, learning resources and institutional standards,” he said.
He added that, following a professional accreditation exercise conducted by the Council of Legal Education, the admission quota for the university’s Bachelor of Laws programme was increased by 100 per cent, representing a significant advancement in its capacity to provide quality legal education.
The VC also said 218 graduating students bagged First Class degrees, 657 obtained Second Class Upper Division degrees, while 315 would receive Second Class Lower Division degrees.
He also disclosed that 86 students would graduate with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degrees.
At the event, which was attended by parents and guardians of the graduands, the overall best graduating student, Bankole Oyindamola Naomi, was rewarded with N1m, while the second-best graduating student, Taiwo-Adigboluja Ayobami Benedict, received N700,000.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the Vice-Chancellor of Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, Prof. Jonathan Babalola, described as unfair the Federal Government’s decision not to extend the benefits of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to students and researchers in privately owned universities.
Babalola, who spoke in Iwo, Osun State, while addressing journalists ahead of activities marking the university’s 21st convocation, said the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Registrars of Private Universities had made efforts to convince the Federal Government to extend TETFund and NELFUND support to researchers and students of private universities, respectively.
He, however, said the efforts had not yielded the desired results, urging the Federal Government to recognise the contributions of researchers in private universities to nation-building and provide the necessary support.
