Tailor Your Skills To People’s Needs, VC Tasks New Students

The Vice Chancellor of the African School of Economics (ASE), Abuja, Prof. Mahfouz Adedimeji, has charged the new students of the university to make a judicious use of their time, noting that the present is a fleeting moment that soon becomes past.

Prof. Adedimeji gave this charge in his address, “Your Present Is Your Present”, delivered at the second matriculation ceremony of the university held recently at the University Auditorium.

According to the Fulbright scholar, who congratulated the students and their parents on the historic occasion, the journey to the matriculating students’ desired future had just begun.

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“You are just starting and before you are terrains to be explored, depths to be reached and treasures to be discovered. The opportunities are vast and your responsibility is to utilise them by maximising the use of your time. All you have is the present of the present to guarantee your future.

“Your present or presence here is a gift that has been denied other people like you. Use it well on your studies and preparation before your present becomes past. Commit yourselves fully to your primary assignment in the university as that is the key to your success and avoid distractors or distractions,” he noted.

Prof. Adedimeji welcomed the students to the university community and encouraged them to learn every day both within and outside the classroom, stressing that a wise person learns from the mistakes of others.

He encouraged them on goal setting and skills acquisition as part of their training while advising them against being contented in their comfort zones.

He stated, “It is your responsibility to identify and harmonise what you love and what you are good at with what the world needs and what you can be paid for. You are welcome to the university and I encourage you to never rest until you always become better than the best elsewhere.”

In his lecture on the occasion, “University Education as a Catalyst for Poverty Eradication”, the Guest Speaker, who is also the Kwara State Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe, commended ASE on its approach to university education, noting that he had been following the progress of the institution since its inception in Nigeria two years ago.

Dr Olohungbebe, who is also the Chairman of the State Commissioners of Education in Nigeria, encouraged the students to take advantage of their unique institution by acquiring research skills to bridge the existing gaps in society and vocational skills through which they could generate income and get lifted from poverty.

As a way of escaping poverty trap, Dr Olohungbebe emphasised the importance of hands-on competence while encouraging the students to cultivate financial literacy early, live below their means as a lifestyle, avoid unnecessary debts and build strong professional networks right from now.

Goodwill messages were delivered by Prof. Tunde Akanni of Lagos State University who along with Alh. Najeem Jimoh, former editor of The Punch Newspaper, represented the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Emeritus Is-haq Oloyede, as well as the founder of ASE, Prof. Leonard Wantcheckon of Princeton University and Dr Foluke Aliyu-Ibrahim from the University of Ilorin.

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They all commended the management of ASE, The Pan-African University of Excellence, on setting the university on the path of global excellence and urged the students to be hardworking.