GOODWILL MESSAGE DELIVERED BY THE HONOURABLE COMMISSIONER, MINISTRY OF TERTIARY EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ILORIN, BARR. ABDULLAHI, SAAD ALIKINLA, AT THE 18th COMBINED CONVOCATION CEREMONY OF BACKLOG NCE GRADUANDS OR KWARA STATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, ILORIN, HELD ON 13TH FEBRUARY, 2019.

Courtesies.
I am overwhelmed with joy to be invited to this historic 18th combined convocation ceremony of backlog of NCE graduands of this College holding today the 13th February, 2019.

As we all know, convocation ceremony is meant to celebrate students who have successfully met the academic and moral requirements for graduation. A convocation ceremony provides a public view in which graduating students receive their certificates.

I recall that the last convocation ceremony of this college was held in 1994 and since then, there have been backlog of 25 sets of NCE graduands to date. I strongly believe that this convocation ceremony will break the jinx which hitherto has been working against the progress of the College in this direction.

Permit me to ask, what are the casual factors for the orchestrated backlog of NCE graduands? What came to my mind included paucity of fund, economic meltdown which the nation has being grappling with more that two decades ago and other intervening variables which are very apparent to us.

In the light of the above, can one then assume that the College is now buoyant or has hit a jack pot to make this ceremony possible? Nay, I am convinced beyond doubt that the magic wand for this celebration is a fall out of determination, good will and purpose driven administration, which believes in doing what is worth doing at the nick of time, no matter the cost and prevailing circumstances.

On the strength of the foregoing, I wish to congratulate the incumbent Provost – Dr. Abdulraheem Yusuf and his Management team for their commitment to transforming the image of the College in a grand style. In the same vein, I am happy to register my unreserved gratitude to the Governing Council, under the leadership of Honourable Prince AbdulRaheem Aremu Olota for their support at ensuring that this convocation sees the light of the day.

I am particularly impressed by the glamour the Management has added to this ceremony, with the invitation of some eminent personalities including the pioneer Provost, Registrars, Principal Officers and Lecturers of the College whose foot prints on the sand of time of the College will remained indelible. I am equally fascinated by the presence of some notable Alumni of this College who are making waves in every spheres of life in Nigeria and beyond. The press release and other activities that were planned and implemented are commendable.

Let me specially congratulate the entire College community and the committee that rolled out the plans for this wonderful and epoch making event. I pray this ceremony shall be the beginning of greater things ahead of the College.

It is gratifying to use this medium to mention that this College has started witnessing development since 2017, when she was granted full accreditation in all her NCE programmes and recently, the National Universities commission (NUC) gave her approval to run full time degree programme in affiliation with Ekiti State University. With this development, I am sure that henceforth this college will continue to enjoy uninterrupted convocation ceremonies.

At this juncture, my ministry wishes to commend the Executive Governor of Kwara State – Alh. Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed for ensuring the vision and mission of this College is sustained by playing it’s statutory roles and responsibilities to the college and other sister institutions in the state.

It is also important to commend the parents and every body present for sacrificing your tight schedule to grace this convocation ceremony.

Albert Einstein, a physicist and a German national once stated that: “Life is like riding a bicycle. If you want to maintain your balance, you must keep moving” to keep moving is not to rest on your oars. To keep moving is to maintain the strategy(ies) that pay off. To keep moving is to continue to add value to the existing values and benefits that are likely to accrue from this ceremony.

Finally, I wish the graduands, God’s guidance and prosperity in all their future endeavours. Furthermore, I pray journey mercies to your respective destinations at the end of the programme.

Thanks for listening and God bless.