The Minister of Interior, Dr Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, has tasked Nigerians to be patriotic in their action and inaction to help government fight non-state actors who are perpetrating evil in the country.
Tunji-Ojo stated this on Friday at the combined convocation of the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 academic sessions of the Federal University of Technology, Akure ( FUTA).
He said that security is everybody’s business, hence it must not be left to the government alone.
The minister, who gave the convocation lecture titled: “Harnessing Technological Innovation: A Strategic Solution to Insecurity”, said that President Bola Tinubu had committed resources to ensure security in the country.
He noted that Nigerians could surmount all challenges confronting them because of their nature of resilience and determination if united.
According to him, the fight against insecurity under President Tinubu is no longer business as usual.
He stated that the Nigeria Immigration Service ( NIS) had been able to adapt technology to tighten up the security architecture of the nation through the deployment of remote sensing technologies.
The minister said that all persons entering into the country through its international airports were being pre-profiled before their arrival into the country.
He, therefore, urged FUTA as a research institution, not to relent but collaborate with government and should develop curriculum to build expertise.
Tunji-Ojo added that government should continue to invest in the education of young people in various science and technology disciplines so that they could grow to become a critical building block in the society.
He asked the graduands to leverage on knowledge gathered in the university,stating that they must be ready to proffer solution to the world’s challenges.
Also speaking, the Vice Chancellor of FUTA, Prof. Adenike Oladiji, said that there were a total of 6,405 graduands across 9 schools of study from the combined 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 academic sessions convocation.
Oladiji added that 519 graduands had First Class, 3,408 got Second Class Upper, 2139 had Second Lower Class while 339 graduands were in the Third Class category.
She said that the university’s mandate was to carry out adequate learning and teaching with research works for development of the society.
Oladiji highlighted landslide victory and achievements by the institution cutting across human endeavours.
She explained that both students and staff of FUTA had made a mark in the comity of researchers and achievers in the world.
The vice chancellor stated that the university would continue to partner and engage stakeholders locally and internationally signing Memorandum of Understanding for more advanced recognition and excellence.
She enjoined the graduands to uphold the core value of and tenet which was geared towards greatness.
Oladiji said that the institution’s certificates were conferred on the graduands having found them worthy, asking them to remain disciplined and hardworking.
According to her, life has never been easy for the lazy but the hard-working people will always make a headway.
She asked the graduands to subject themselves to mentorship especially from the those that had trodden their paths of chosen careers.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Ifeoluwa Faromika and Mr Aanuoluwapo Vitowanu were the best graduating students in the 2022/2023 academic session with Cumulative Grade Point Average( CGPA) of 4.96.
NAN also reports that Oluwasegun Ajakaye was the best graduating student in the 2023/2024 academic session with CGPA of 4.95. All the best graduating students read engineering.