314 GRADUATE AS RUN FIRST SET

The first set of three hundred and fourteen (314) graduates,  the Redeemer’s University, known as the Redeemer’s Ambassadors, received their certificates on Saturday October 3, 2009 at the RCCG Youth Centre. Speaking at the occasion, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Oyewale Tomori noted that the stories of the 314 who graduated and the remaining 159, who were unable to make it were the stories of our country Nigeria. In his words, “it is the story of the country we are releasing these graduates into” He said further that “it is the story of how we, their parents and elders, will help them to achieve the vision and the mission of turning Nigeria into a country we are all proud of”.

Professor Tomori disclosed that out of the 159 who missed graduation ceremony: 25 were expelled, 47 left for reasons such as inability to pay fees, relocation to another country while 85 were repeating classes at various levels. He further disclosed that apart from only two students all others were born and bred in Nigeria. He was critical of the situation in present day Nigeria as compared with what obtained in the country in the past. As he put it,” in years gone bye, there were people called Nigerians. They lived in homes where honesty was the foundation of living. Our parents served us a bowl of integrity for breakfast, loyalty was on the lunch mean. We had a meal of decency for dinner. We drank from the stream of uprightness and breathe the air of truthfulness”.

Professor Tomori however said the story of present day Nigeria was different as we now lived in a country filled with people in the throes of decadence, a nation in the turmoil of corruption. A nation where vice is victory, where nasty is nice, where sadism is sweetness, where stealing is saintly, where brutality is basic, where malice is magnificent, where arson is acceptable and where looting is our first love.” He noted that no segment of the Nigeria society was tree from corruption. He condemned the current face-off between the Federal Government and ASUU. He said that our government and ASUU were waging war against their common enemy, the education system of Nigeria.
The  314 graduates received degrees in the following divisions:

1. Twenty-four (24) graduates were in the first class category.
2. One hundred and twenty four (124) graduates were in the second class upper division
3. On hundred and thirty seven (137) were in second class lower division
4. Twenty-nine (29) graduates were in third class category.