The Rivers State University, Nkpolu Oroworukwo Port Harcourt, has announced that a total of 8,920 students from the various faculties and departments of the university will be graduating during the 36th convocation of the institution.
The university also announced that out of the figure, 120 students would bag first class honours.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Nlerum Sunday Okogbule, disclosed this during a press conference held in the institution in Port Harcourt, recently.
Okogbule,while giving the breakdown, said 6,708 students bagged First Degree; 2,122 students earned higher degrees, 4,017 bagged Class Honours, Lower Division; 757 received Third Class Division, while 58 earned Pass Division.
In the Higher Degree category, 743 bagged Post-Graduate Diplomas; 1,195 received Masters Degrees, while 442 earned Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
He said that that this year’s Convocation ceremony is special because it will be recording two significant events in the historical trajectory of the university.
“First, it will be the last convocation where I will be participating as Vice-Chancellor of the University. This is because my five years tenure as Vice-Chancellor of the University will terminate on 4th March, 2025. Second, it will witness the graduation of the first set of Nursing graduates from the University.
“The Nursing graduates were recently inducted as professional nurses by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria. This is a landmark achievement not only for the University, but also for the Rivers State Government which is massively supporting the Medical College, and the University,” he said.
He added that a convocation lecture would be delivered by the former Vice-Chancellor of Usman Danfodiyo University, Prof. Lawal Suleiman Bilbis on Thursday.
The lecture will be titled “Emerging technologies in reshaping the future of education and the learning environment.”
He added, “Finally, we will also have an exhibition of some of the research findings, designs inventions and innovations by staff of the University.”
According to him, “the purpose of this exercise is to draw the attention of the public to some of our relevant research findings to see how corporate entities and individuals can support us in the task of improving the wellbeing of humankind and to spice the programme.
“There will also be cultural display where our award-winning Theatre Arts group will entertain guests with their intricate dance steps.”
On academic achievements and developments, the vice Chancellor said, “I am happy to inform you that the University has within the last one year continued to creditably acquit itself in the task of producing the required high-level manpower to meet the aspirations of the people of Rivers State, and respond to the peculiar environmental challenges of the Niger Delta region, and Nigeria as a whole.
“Let me also use this opportunity to inform you that the University has witnessed a number of landmark academic achievements in the last one year.
“Topmost among these is the fact that in the last National Universities Commission (NUC) Accreditation exercise for 2023, all the 19 programmes presented by our University for accreditation received Full Accreditation Status from the Commission. No programme was given Interim Accreditation, and none was denied accreditation. This means a 100% performance.
“It may be recalled that in the 2022 Accreditation exercise, we presented twenty-four (24) programmes, and all the 24 programmes received Full Accreditation status. We, therefore, scored 100% in both accreditation exercises consecutively. This is a clear indication that our University is doing very well academically. We are also confident of scoring the same 100% in the three programmes presented for accreditation in the just concluded 2024 exercise.”
The University which started in 1980 with seven (7) Faculties, namely: Faculty of Agriculture, Engineering, Science, Technical and Science Education, Environmental Sciences, Management Sciences and Law now has 15 Faculties.
The new Faculties include, Humanities, Social Sciences, Communication and Media Studies, Entrepreneurial Studies, Basic Medical Sciences, Basic Clinical Sciences and Faculty of Clinical Sciences under the prestigious College of Medical Sciences.
Prof Okogbule said further that the university recently commenced the Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences while approval has also been given to commence Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
He added that the current student population has also increased to over 40,000.

By: Akujobi Amadi

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has counselled members of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) to ensure they adopt violence-free approaches in their quest to achieve equity, justice, and fair share of the distributable resources found in the Niger Delta region.
Governor Fubara gave the advise when the President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, Dr. Alaye Tari Theophilus, led a delegation of leaders and members of the group on Solidarity Walk to Government House in Port Harcourt, last Wednesday.
The leadership of the IYC also conferred on Governor Fubara the prestigious honour by naming him the Grassroots-General of Ijaw Nation.
Speaking, the Governor hailed the youths for their commitment to upholding and furthering the contributions made by the foremost rights advocate of the Niger Delta region, Isaac Adaka Boro, who fought until his dying days seeking justice for the region.
Governor Fubara said while no person can stifle people of the region from speaking out against perceived or real marginalisation, they must not resort to destruction of valuable national assets.
The Governor warned that he will not tolerate or support anything that will either disgrace Rivers State or embarrass the Federal Government from any group of people in the State.
Governor Fubara explained that if the International Oil Companies (IOCs) and the Federal Government are tackled for perpetrating marginalisation and environmental pollution, the people of the region must not exacerbate the situation by vandalising oil pipelines that also impact the environment negatively.
He said: “Violence does not solve problems. That’s the truth. We must all walk together, join hands together to give ourselves that thing that we want. So, I will appeal to you, your message will be transmitted to Mr President. But while we are doing that, you must be law-abiding.
“There should not be any vandalisation of our oil pipelines. It is not the white men that are coming to do it. It is you, our people doing it. So, we need to discourage ourselves from it. We need to encourage ourselves to support the government. When production is high, revenue will increase, those demands you are making will be met. The local governments and the states will get more amenities for you, jobs will be created, more money will be in your pockets,” he added.
In his speech, President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, Dr. Alaye Tari Theophilus, said IYC is 26 years and has remained committed to seeking desirable attention and addressing the many economic, political and environmental injustice metted to the region.
Dr Theophilus listed some of their requests to include, increase of 13% derivation to 50per cent, backed by an Executive Bill; remediation of Ijaw land of oil exploration activities are to continue, and inclusion of greater number of Ijaw people in mainstream governance at the Federal Government level and in oil sector governance.

The State House of Assembly has mandated its Committee on Public Complaints to immediately ascertain the cause of damage at the oil spill at the facility of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation in Bonny Local Government Area.
The Committee is expected to visit the affected communities, ascertain the level of damage and come up with recommendations that will immediately alleviate the suffering of the people.
This follows a petition presented by the House Leader, Hon. Sokari Goodboy Sokari, on the floor of the Assembly at the Government House, Port Harcourt against NNPC on the oil spill incident at her facility at Iloma community, on behalf of Minima Community in Bonny Local Government area.
Presenting the petition, Hon. Sokari said the petition which was signed by Amaopusenibo Kingsley Hart, urged the House to take immediate action to address the environmental disaster caused by the spill.
They also requested the Assembly to ensure that NNPC take immediate action to clean up the spill and restore sanity to the environment, as well as provide compensation to the affected communities
The House Speaker, Rt . Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo at the end of the presentation committed the petition to the Committee on Public Complaints and mandated it to visit the affected communities and make recommendations.
It would be recalled that on the 22nd of November, 2024, a devastating oil spill from the NNPC facility occurred in Bonny Local Government Area affecting so many communities.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Real Estate Regulatory Authority Bill 2024 and Rivers State College of Nursing Sciences Bill 2024 have also passed first reading in the floor of the House.

By: John Bibor