• Bags Babcock Good Governance Award
• Rewards best PGD, Masters, Ph.D. graduating students

Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has urged graduating students of Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, to combine professional competence with moral character, saying that the real value of their education would be measured by how they deploy their knowledge in the service of society.

He was, however, honoured with the university’s Good Governance award.

Abiodun gave the charge during the university’s 2026 convocation ceremony, held under the theme, ‘Breaking New Grounds’, where he told the graduating students that the conferment of degrees marked not the end of their educational journey but the beginning of a greater responsibility.

“Today is one of those rare occasions of the confluence of celebration and reflection. This convocation is more than the conclusion of a rewarding journey. It is the beginning of a greater responsibility. It marks your transition from preparation to purpose, from learning within the university to applying that learning in service to God, humanity and society.

“While degrees are being conferred today, responsibilities are equally being entrusted. Your certificates recognise your accomplishments. Your lives will redeem the value of your education,” he said.

The governor said universities must do more than transmit information, saying that education must sharpen minds, strengthen character and prepare graduates to contribute meaningfully to society.

“Knowledge without integrity will produce competence, but competence without character can become unproductive. The true measure of education, therefore, lies not merely in what graduates know, but in how they use that knowledge for the common good,” the governor further stated.

Abiodun, while speaking against the backdrop of rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), biotechnology, quantum computing and digital innovation, warned that technological progress without wisdom and ethical responsibility could create new challenges for humanity.

He, therefore, challenged the graduating students to interpret the convocation theme as a call to reject complacency and expand the frontiers of knowledge, leadership, enterprise and human development.

The governor also highlighted his administration’s investments in education through the Ogun State Education Revitalisation Agenda (OGSERA), including school infrastructure renewal, the recruitment of more than 6,000 teachers, smart classrooms, modern science laboratories and digital technologies.

He said that the state’s Learner Identification Number (LIN) system had also been adopted by the Federal Government as the national learner identification framework.

Meanwhile, as part of his support for academic excellence, Abiodun announced cash rewards of N1.5 million for the overall best Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) student, N2 million for the best Master’s graduate, N2.5 million for the best Ph.D. graduate, and N2.5 million for the overall best graduating student.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Afolarin Olutunde Ojewole, said academic achievement must be accompanied by responsibility, humility and a commitment to service.

Ojewole said: “Earning a doctorate is not simply about accumulating knowledge. It is about developing the discipline to seek truth with integrity, the humility to keep learning and the wisdom to use knowledge for the good of others.”

He said Babcock’s GRACE mandate—globally relevant, research-focused, Adventist-rooted, competent and entrepreneurial—remained central to the university’s vision of producing graduates capable of making meaningful contributions locally and globally.