Receives leadership and service award at Babcock varsity convocation

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, yesterday, told Nigerian youths that whatever their position on the Olodo uprising debate, they should make up their mind never to glorify ignorance or a lack of curiosity.

Sanwo-Olu, who gave the charge while delivering the lecture of the 2026 convocation ceremony of Babcock University themed ‘Breaking New Grounds’, said that there is nothing wrong with building an audience on substance.

The governor further said that people and institutions are breaking new grounds, though acting without full knowledge or certainty, but knowing that what matters most is a capacity and willingness to press forward, put the past behind, learn fast, and adapt nimbly.

He recalled that almost 40 years ago, he stood in the same existential spot at the University of Lagos, where he completed an undergraduate degree in Surveying in 1988, saying: “It was a very different world back then. If any of you were taken from the present and dropped into 1988, you would find it near impossible to recognise. No Internet, no mobile phones, no email. The digital screens we knew were mostly television sets and simple calculators — everything else was analogue: print newspapers, wooden billboards, paper posters, analogue clocks and watches.”

The governor congratulated the graduates on their achievements and urged them to uphold the principles of excellence, discipline and integrity instilled in them by the university as they pursue their ambitions.

Sanwo-Olu was, however, honoured at the convocation ceremony with the Leadership and Service Award by the university’s management in recognition of his outstanding performance and excellence in governance in Lagos State.

The governor, while receiving the award, described leadership as a responsibility that demands integrity, accountability and service to humanity.

He commended the university for contributing to higher education, describing it as an institution that has consistently maintained high standards and produced graduates who have excelled in various fields of endeavour.

Meanwhile, Miss Simisola Abore, who spoke on behalf of the graduating students, described their academic journey as challenging but rewarding, expressing gratitude to God for seeing them through to graduation.

Abore urged her fellow graduating students to remain united and uphold the values of the institution as they move into the next phase of their lives.