President Goodluck Jonathan has said his administration is committed to ensuring that citizens of the country get qualitative education, calling on universities in the country to be innovative and put in motion research methodology to tackle the security challenges affecting the country.
Jonathan, who was presented by the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqqayyat Ahmed Rufa'I, stated this during the 26th Convocation of the University of Jos, Plateau State.
He said "You must strive to be creative in your approach to contemporary problem solving, including the recurring insecurity problems in some parts of our country."
He urged the University of Jos to make adequate use of its Centre for Peace and Conflict Management and come up with intelligent measures to curbed the insecurity that have plagued Plateau State for over a decade.
According to him, "The work of your centre for conflict management and peace studies is essential in our search for peace. We will continue to count on your invaluable research outcomes on the causes, impact and solutions to the security challenges in this environment."
He commended the institution over its landmark achievements in recent times, especially as it was ranked among the 10 best universities in Nigeria.
"The university of Jos is on the part of growth as evident in the last webmetric ranking, which placed UNIJOS among the 10 best universities in our country. This attests to your efforts and achievements, in spite of daunting security challenges in your operational environment," he said.
Speaking earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Hayward Babale Mafuyai, appealed to the Federal Government to come to the aid of the institution, saying the land that was earmarked at the inception of the university has been encroached into by individuals.
Mafuyai lamented that part of the institution was badly affected by the 2012 flood disaster which forced out most of the students from their hostels.
"We are faced with severe ecological challenges in all our campuses. Last year, during the national flood disaster, our campus was not spared as portions of our fence near the administration building were washed away and female hostel in the Naraguta Campus was flooded leading to evacuation of the ground floor, " he stated.
According to the vice chancellor, "Out of a total number of 7, 946 graduating students, 50 are being awarded doctorate degrees, 491 masters degrees and 67 postgraduate diplomas while 31 will receive certificates. "Among those graduating with a First Degree, nine have obtained Distinction (First Class) while 613 are in the second Class Upper Degree brackets."
