… As Ilesha Bishop, Bishop Nwokolo, Condemn Exam Malpractice
By Emeka Odogwu
The Anglican University known as the University on the Niger, (UniNiger), Umunya, Anambra State admitted about 762 students during its second year matriculation.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, the Very Rev Prof. Chinedu Nebo charged the students to diligently internalise hard work and discipline.
According to the school VC, hard work and discipline are not only the distinguishing features of the institution but also the philosophical bedrock that guarantees her success.
Prof Nebo made the challenge to the students in the address of welcome he delivered during the second matriculation of the school held at her Umunya permanent site.
He had in the two-page address explained that discipline and hard work were capable of determining how far they would go both in the institution and outside it.
“Discipline”, he said “is the foundation of every lasting achievement”, without which he said intelligence would become arrogance, “and talent fades into waste”.
Explaining in some details what he described as benefits of discipline, Prof. Nebo advised the matriculants; “Be disciplined in your studies, be disciplined in your times, be disciplined in your habits and values. Remember you are not just building a degree; you are building a life.
“Hard work, too, is non-negotiable. The University on the Niger does not promise ease; it promises opportunity”, saying, “The promise is that if you work hard — consistently, intelligently and with the right attitude, this university will reward you.”
He therefore encouraged both the old and new students of the institution to always make the best of every of their lecture, laboratory and library hours.
“I challenge you to dream boldly, live intentionally and work diligently. Let your years here be marked not only by academic success, but also by personal growth, spiritual depth and service to others”, he further admonished the students.
The Proprietor/Chancellor of the university who is also the Bishop on the Niger, the Rt Rev Dr Owen Nwokolo, had equally in his address at the event warmly welcomed the fresh students and promised them rich and successful academic journey in the institution.
He formally informed the students, their parents and guardians that the school had secured approvals from various professional and regulatory councils and boards in the country.
The bishop assured that apart from being a unique multilingual university in Nigeria, the institution, according to him, “is a place where character, entrepreneurial spirit, professionalism and hard work are imparted”.
In his keynote speech, the Bishop Theologian, Church of Nigeria, and the Bishop of Ilesha, the Rt Rev Prof. Dapo Asaju, counselled the students to be serious with their studies and to shun all forms of immorality and examination malpractices.
He advised them to constantly work hard and become useful to themselves, their families and their immediate communities by way of giving back to the environments he said that nurtured them.
The Bishop Theologian outrightly discouraged the current trend where he said Nigerian universities constantly lose their graduates to foreign countries after labouriouly producing them.
He called on governments, institutions parents and guardians to find ways to put paid to the trending phenomenon, regretting that thousands of qualified Nigerian professionals were now serving other countries at the very social and economic perils of the nation and its citizens.
