The National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, will on Saturday graduate 22,175 students, divided into 15,768 undergraduates from various departments in the eight faculties of the university, and 6,407 postgraduate students, as well as six PhD graduands.
In a statement on Monday, the NOUN Director of Media and Publicity, Ibrahim Sheme, said the university will also confer honorary doctorate degrees on two distinguished Nigerians, Dr. Innocent Chukwuma and Hafsatu Abdulwaheed.
The statement quoted the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Olufemi A. Peters, as announcing this on Monday in Abuja at a press briefing on the institution’s forthcoming 13th Convocation ceremony.
Chukwuma is a renown entrepreneur and founder of Innoson Motors, one of Nigeria’s top automobile companies, while Mrs Abdulwaheed was the first female novelist in northern Nigeria, prominent activist and philanthropist.
According to Mr Peters, the CEO of Innoson Motors is going to be awarded the honorary doctorate degree in Business Administration because of “his creativity, innovation, and dedication to local content.”
Commenting on Mrs Abdulwaheed, whose Hausa novel So Aljannar Duniya was published in 1974, he said she would receive the award of an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa.
Mr Peters said: “She has devoted her life to promoting education, especially for girls, believing in literacy’s power to transform communities and break the cycle of poverty.”
He added that both recipients “embody NOUN’s core values of entrepreneurial ingenuity, knowledge-based content, and creativity.”
The VC emphasised that awarding honorary degrees is not common at the NOUN, and a careful consideration was therefore given before such decisions were made.
Mr Peters stated that the recognition was a significant achievement for the university community and has paved the way for valuable knowledge-based partnerships.
The VC further revealed that the graduation ceremony will be preceded by the investiture of the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, as the new Chancellor of the university on Thursday and the Convocation Lecture to be delivered on Friday by the Vice-Chancellor of the Open University of Tanzania, Professor Elifas Bisanda.
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