President Bola Tinubu has applauded the University of Benin (UNIBEN) for aligning its academic reforms with the federal government’s strategic push for technology and vocational skills development.

Mr Tinubu gave the commendation on Saturday in Benin while delivering his address at the 51st Convocation ceremony of the university.

The president, who was represented at the event by Owunari Georgewill, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Portharcourt, described the institution as a model for the country’s tertiary education transformation.

He lauded the institution’s Vice-Chancellor,  Edoba Omoregie, for embedding practical skills training into the university’s academic culture.

According to.him, the initiative places the university firmly within his administration’s vision for a workforce empowered through technical competence, enterprise, and innovation.

“The mainstreaming of vocational literacy and introduction of various technical training programmes in the University of Benin is a forward-looking initiative that aligns with my administration’s programme designed to cultivate practical skills, enterprise and innovation,” he said.

Mr Tinubu referenced the university’s implementation of the new Artisan Training Programme in collaboration with the Industrial Training Fund as a “reflection of the spirit of transformation that is the education hallmark of the current federal government.”

In his address, Mr Omoregie described the past 11 months under his leadership as a season of “quantum leap” across academic, infrastructural, welfare, and community engagement pillars.

“The past 11 months have witnessed a quantum leap in the successful delivery of set goals in the spheres of academics, infrastructural development, staff and students welfare and in community service,” he said.

Mr Omoregie reported that UNIBEN graduated 14,083 first-degree candidates and 1,790 postgraduate students.

He attributed the rise to reforms within the College of Postgraduate Studies.

“The result of higher degrees represents over 600 percent increase from the figure of the last convocation,” he noted.

He said the upscaling of postgraduate programmes was “a strategic move at repositioning the university.”

He also highlighted five newly created faculties, 15 newly approved programmes, full accreditation for all university programmes, and major ICT upgrades, including a new intranet server for seamless results processing.

Mr Omoregie disclosed that UNIBEN’s visibility and compliance with federal government transparency directives placed it “tops among Federal Universities.”

The vice-chancellor aLao announced that UNIBEN had been designated as a Federal Centre of Excellence in Sports for the South-South zone, while also winning multiple national and international research awards and grants.

These, he said, included the National Automotive Design and Development Council’s electric vehicle shuttle buses.

On infrastructure, he acknowledged various interventions funded by TETFund and the Federal Government, including a new Senate Building, modern hostels, solar-powered mini-grid installations and others.

He said the administration also oversaw the recruitment of 500 new staff after a decade-long employment freeze.

Mr Omoregie urged the nearly 16,000 graduates to be “positively daring, innovative and to keep your eyes constantly on the ball of distinction.”

 (NAN)