The Vice-Chancellor, KolaDaisi University, Ibadan,  Professor Adeniyi Olatunbosun, SAN, has urged the graduates not to surrender their dreams to negativities and pursue their dreams.

Olatunbosun said this during the fourth convocation ceremony of the university.

He charged the graduates to uphold the core values of resourcefulness, diligence, integrity, modesty, and sense of responsibility that they had been taught in the university.

“You must be guided by the core values of resourcefulness, diligence, integrity, modesty, and sense of responsibility which you have been empowered within the University. Our society is currently in dire need of good leaders, creative problem-solvers and agents of positive transformation – I challenge you to stand in the gap.”

He appealed to them to be the light and a beacon of hope anywhere they found themselves.

“I implore you to be the light, a beacon of hope in the dark scenes of ignoble atrocities pervading the world we live in. Your parents believe in you, and we do too,” Olatunbosun said.

“A lot has been invested in you and a lot more is expected from you. In all you do, remember to maintain the good name of your family and the good name of KolaDaisi University. And the good Lord will continue to be with you.”

Olatunbosun also said a total of 156 undergraduate students graduated, with 20 of them in the First-Class category. The professor stated that 50 of them were in the Second Class Upper Division.

In his lecture,  a  Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin, Toyin Falola, urged Nigerian leaders to address the problems of bad governance, corruption, and ethnic distrust for the country to make progress.

Falola, who was the guest lecturer, spoke on the theme: “Advancing Nigeria’s Future”, saying without values, it would be difficult to move Nigeria forward.

He decried democracy without democrats, government without governance, a country without a compass, saying those contradictions are the challenges in the country.

“To improve the nation’s future, it is essential to understand why there are problems and how to solve them in detail. Issues such as bad governance, corruption, and ethnic distrust are at the root level or base and must be addressed to deal with other ancillary problems,” he said.

“Actual progress can only be achieved through a collective effort. As such, leaders and citizens must be committed to reforming the country and building a unified, prosperous, and just society for all.”

In his remarks, the university’s chairman of the Board of Trustees, Prof. Adeniyi Osuntogun, urged the students to be more courageous, creative, focused, and innovative and be a better version of themselves.

The Pro-chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Remi Babalola, charged them to be resolute and break generational barriers, saying they are change-makers.

The founder and chancellor of the university, Kola Daisi, urged the graduates to take the university to greater heights.