The Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan (UI), Professor Kayode Adebowale has encouraged the newly admitted students of the nation’s Premier University to stand on the shoulders of giants like Professors Wole Soyinka, China Achebe, Tunde Bajah, Adetowun Ogunsheye, who have passed through the institution.
Adebowale stated this today at the institution’s 2021/2022 Matriculation Ceremony, where he confirmed that 4, 255 students were offered admission out of 63, 791, who applied for admission for 2021/2022.
His words, “You probably have heard the saying, “If it is from UI, it is of the best quality possible”. It is a true statement based on the track record of excellence for which our university has become known. That track record of excellence is the past that we treasure so much. All of you here will be walking on the walkways that Wole Soyinka once walked; some will receive lectures on the exact spot where Chinua Achebe penned the first sketches of Things Fall Apart, when he was a student here; you will eat in the cafeteria once used by S. Tunde Bajah, whose Chemistry books you most probably would have read; and take up space in the library once used by Adetowun Ogunsheye, the first female professor in Nigeria.”
He continued, “In the University of Ibadan, even the dew drips history, and every square foot on which you step brings you in contact with the giants of old too numerous to be listed here. Giants who modelled academic excellence, devotion to humanistic values, and service to the nation and humanity. From this University, have emerged leaders of thoughts, leaders in business, the best of professionals, inventors and founders and leaders of charities. So, you have both a unique opportunity as well as a challenge ahead of you. Opportunity because you have giants on whose shoulders you can stand…In some places, may be there is a scarcity of giants on whose shoulders people can stand; in the University of Ibadan, however, there is an abundance of giants.”
Adebowale pointed out to the matriculants that the challenge they have to confront is that the bar in the University is very high, stressing that “each succeeding set of giants raised the bar significantly: bar of academic excellence, morality and proper conduct, and service to humanity. They set a standard for you to beat, or at least, maintain.”
For the new matriculants to stand on the shoulders of the giants the school has produced, he charged them to share values with the giants, including values of hardwork, honesty, respect for others, kindness and respect for the law.
He further admonished them to abstain from anything that can tarnish their image such as violence, examination malpractices, theft or cultists, gangsterism, yahoo-yahoo, and ritual killing, among other vices.
Also, according to him, the matriculation students should spend time to learn from their lecturers and instructors who are giants on their own rights.
Congratulating the matriculants on their successful admission to UI, the VC noted that at the time the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) closed its application portal, a total of 63, 791 applicants had selected University of Ibadan as university of choice, with 20,799 scoring 200 and above in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Out of these, 12,798 sat for the Post UMTE in the school of which only 6,065 scored 50 or above.
From among these, only 4,261 were offered admission based on the rigorous and transparent admission process of UI. In other words, only 6.7 percent of those who choose UI finally got admitted.
He inferred, “It means you are best of the best. It means you are the head, not the tail. It, however, also means that you have a lot of work to do”, challenging the matriculants to put in their very best.
The VC promised that the institution would continue to do everything possible to make their university life both memorable and productive.
He said, “We are devoting significant funds to maintaining the halls of residence, while encouraging the development of private hostels, that satisfy our requirements in terms of your comfort and security. WE are expanding access to the university Internet services and maintaining our subscription to international journals, books, and other resources so that you do not have to labour before you can access good materials. “
Delivering the Matriculation Lecture, the founder of Soupah Kitchen, Ifeoluwa Olatayo (Alumna 2021), noted that her interest was to share with the matriculants the many lessons she had learnt as well as drawing their attention to steps and thoughts that can guide the new students on the journey to the path of achieving greatness in the university.
Informing the matriculants that they are in school basically to learn, she said, “If you have been given your dream course, you are lucky. If you have not been given your dream course, you are no less lucky. The best you should do is to make a dream out of the course you have been given. There is no irrelevant knowledge. You need to know that so many extremely successful people passed through the same department you are in right now, so it’s nothing about a department or a course but everything about you.”
Olatayo hinted the matriculants that the main objective of being in the nation’s Premier University is to explore and attain the best academic excellence in their diverse fields admonishing, “Set a high academic standard for yourself and start now. I will use my example. I graduated from the Department of English and Literary Studies with a borderline CGPA. But do you know my CGPA of 5.8 didn’t happen in my final year? The close call happened from the very first year and laid a foundation for what I graduated with. The best time to start building a solid foundation for a successful academic is now, and the most crucial way to survive this is to avoid piling up your notes, waiting for the announcement of tests and exams before reading. How I sailed this, very simply, was by managing my time properly. I’d block out 2 to 3 hours in the evenings to read each day’s lecture, before the next. Always remember a saying, “you can write a 365-page book every year if you only write one page per day.”
“Imagine if you start reading from the day of your first lecture; two things will most likely happen. The first is a good level of comprehension, which means you are not just memorizing, but building a depth of understanding that will remain valuable to you forever. The other thing is, you will end up with good grades, and just like the opportunities it presents; high grades imply intelligence, personal excellence, and dedication.”
According to her, failures and mistakes should be put into a growth perspective, stressing that failure should be seen as an expected part of the learning process that actually helps to build stamina.
She urged them to build good relationships, learn from the senior colleagues, learn with friends, treat past questions with colleagues, do the ‘hot seat’ quizzing where peers would be allowed to ask difficult questions in preparation for tests and exams, of which answers must be provided for, logically network, choose friends carefully, embrace self-discipline and self-care and seek out special opportunities.
“Finally, school is not a scam. The essence of education is not only for certification, but it is deeply rooted in the last lines of the University anthem “For a mind that knows is a mind that is free”. You have started strong, make sure you see this through”, she concluded the lecture.
