President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the 4,946 University of Abuja graduands to use skills and knowledge acquired to transform the country and contribute their quota to national development.
The President gave the advice on Saturday at the 23rd Convocation ceremony of the institution in Abuja.
He said the critical component of university education was moulding of character, calling on the graduands to demonstrate that they were worthy of the award they had earned.
Buhari, who was represented by Mr Sunday Echonu, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, said that the Federal Government was committed to addressing youth unemployment in the country.
He said the present administration would not rest until youth unemployment was reduced to the barest minimum, urging them to embrace measures used to curb unemployment in the country.
He also said that his administration would continue to improve on infrastructure facilities in the universities, promote teachers development and address deficiency in the educational system.
Alhaji Shehu Idris, the Chancellor, University of Abuja, congratulated the graduands who had achieved their objective of acquiring knowledge and requisite skills in their chosen field of study.
He advised them to use the knowledge acquired for the benefit of society as well as imbibing the culture of self reliance.
He also urged the graduands to apply their skills of enterprise acquired at the university for national development, adding that one of the virtues of education was self discipline.
He appealed to the Federal Government to consider the university for a special grant, saying there was need for assistance by government to facilitate the development plans of the university.
The chancellor said there was urgent need to complete ongoing projects in the institution for better learning.
Prof. Michael Adikwu, Vice Chancellor of the institution, who also congratulated the graduands, said the university expected them to be worthy ambassadors outside the school.
Adikwu urged them to rise to the challenges that the country was grappling with in the economic and social sectors.
“The situation today demands of you, a complete change of attitude, perseverance and a dose of ingenuity in tandem with the mood of the nation.
“It requires of us to commit personal sacrifice in overall efforts towards national development,” he said.
Meanwhile, Talatu Adamu, the overall best graduating student from the Faculty of Science, on behalf of other graduands thanked the lecturers and the school for their support and encouragement. (NAN)
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