Former Governor of Rivers State, Sir Celestine Omehia was among the crème d’la crème of the society that attended the 67th inaugural lecture of the Rivers State University in Port Harcourt last Wednesday.
This is even as five former Vice Chancellors of the institution took time off to grace the event as a mark of honour and solidarity to the inaugural lecturer, Prof (Mrs) Blessing Esuru Ahiauzu, who incidentally is the wife of the former Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Augustine Ahiauzu.
The colourful ceremony which also attracted distinguished academia and other personalities from all walks of life, featured long procession of the men and women of the flowing academic gowns.
To crown it all, the distinguished audience intermittently applauded and poured encomiums on Prof Blessing Ahiauzu for her astuteness and brilliance, and the fact that she is the first Professor of Library and Information Management in the institution, made the honour conferred on her by the university at the event most significant.
Speaking at the occasion, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Nlerum Okogbule said the conferment of the professorship on the inaugural lecturer was as a result of her hard work, humility, dedication and wisdom.
According to him, “This woman has broken a record. She is the only person and woman to become a Professor of Library and Information Management.
Prof Okogbule noted that Prof Blessing Ahiauzu rose from the ranks as a university Librarian from 1979 to 2017 to get to her current level, and recalled that she had held several other positions in the university before this time.
In her response, the inaugural lecturer thanked the management and staff of the university, especially the Vice Chancellor, Prof Okogbule for their magnanimity, stressing that her current elevation was made possible through the cooperation, advice, encouragement and prayers she got from members of the university community.
According to her, the 67th inaugural lecture titled, “The Voice of Knowledge Managers, Library Services, Knowledge Application And the Society’ was the first hybrid hosted both physically and online via zoom owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She noted that though awareness on the Library and Information Sciences profession was relatively young in the country, compared to other professions like Law, Medicine and Engineering, it is an age-long profession in many countries in Europe and the United States.
She stressed the need for indigenous languages to be included in school curriculum in the country, and thanked the participants for gracing the occasion.
On his part, former Governor of Rivers State, Sir Celestine Omehia congratulated Prof Blessing Ahiauzu on her achievements and emphasised the need for awareness campaign on the importance of Library and Information Management to be taken to the grassroots.