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UNIVERSITY
OF LAGOS
LAGOS, NIGERIA

OF THE
PRO-CHANCELLOR"

PROFESSOR JERRY GANA, CON

ADDRESS

AT THE 2012/2013 SESSION

CONVOCATION
CEREMONIES

OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS
IN THE MULTIPURPOSE HALLS,

UNILAG, AKOKA

.~
__. The University of First Choice and the Nation's Pride



PRO-CHANCELLOR'S ADDRESS
2013 CONVOCATION

By

PROFESSOR JERRY GANA, CON



© Jerry Gana 2014

. d No part of this publication may beAll nghts reserve . . .
reproduced in any form without tne prior perttnsston

of the author.

Printed

by

University of Lagos Press
Unilag P. O. Box 132,
University of Lagos,
Akoka, Yaba-Lagos,

Nigeria.

ii

ADDRESS OF THE PRO-CHANCELLOR,
PROFESSOR JERRY GANA, CON

AT THE 2012/2013 SESSION
CONVOCATION CEREMONIES

OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS

IN

THE MULTIPURPOSE HALLS,
UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS, AKOKA

WEDNESDAY, 11THJUNE, 2014

iii



His Excellency,
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR;

The Executive Governor of Lagos State,
Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN;

Your Excellency,
Former Head of State
General Dr. Yakubu Gowon, GCFR

The Honourable Minister of State for Education
and Supervising Minister of Education,
Chief Nyesom E. Wike;

Executive Secretary, National Universities
Commission,
Professor Julius Okojie;

Pro-Chancellors of other universities present;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Royal Fathers here present;
Vice-Chancellors of other Universities present;
Members of the Governing Council and Principal
Officers of the University of Lagos;
Members of the Senate;
Administrative and Technical Staff of the
University of Lagos;
Parents and Guardians of graduating students;
Our graduating students;
Gentlemen of the Press;



2. It is with great delight that I rise to address
this Convocation Ceremony as Pro-
Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing
Council. Together with the new members
of Council, we are indeed proud to be

, associated with your well-considered
processes of good governance at the
University of Lagos.

,

3. As we welcome our Special Guests, let me
request this great Assembly to please join
me to express profound thanks and a
gracious welcome to our Visitor - the
President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed
Forces President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan, GCFR, (M.Sc, Ph.D), former
lecturer at the University of port-Harcourt
before going into politics.

4. Please join me to also welcome the
Supervising Minister of Education - Chief
Nyesom Wike. Honourable Minister, we
greatly appreciate your efforts in uplifting
higher education in Nigeria, and for your
strong support for the University of Lagos.

5. We are pleased to welcome all our Special
Guests, parents and friends of the
University of Lagos.

2

It is with great delight that I now turn to our
~raduating students. Please accept our
Joyful congratulations! We have all
gathered here today to honour and
celebrate you. May your degrees and
certificates be abundantly blessed. May
you excel wherever you are called to
serve. May you rise to become excellent
leaders in various parts of Nigeria and
beyond.

6. Permit me to speak briefly about the
challenge to raise a new generation of
leaders. Leaders are vital because
Visionary leaders don't wait for the future
to come; they create it. They don't wait for
ot~ers, they take the initiative to make new
things happen. Leadership is thus about
taking. ~i~al.decisions. This ability to take
~ood initiatives is motivated by vision that
IS, the. imaginative power of perceivi'ng a
clear picture of what is desired, and how to
translate such a vision into reality. In other
words, leaders do not simply dream about
good visions, they take practical steps to
translate dreams into reality.

In the usually tough processes of
translating visions into reality, leaders must

3



have a clear sense of priorities. Indeed,
effective leadership has a lot to do with the
wisdom of selecting priorities. Since you
can't do everything at once, Wisdom
demands that you set very clear priorities

, with achievable targets'.

As emerging leaders, let me urge you to
also cultivate:
• The Spirit of resilience - the ability to

bounce back after any failure or set
back;

• Competence - or the sheer capacity
to get things done.

• Courage:.... that is, the ability to
transform fear into a positive
motivation for action. Leaders must be
fearless.

• Focus - which is the ability to stay
focused and to refuse to chase
shadows.

• Passion - namely, the ability to
generate a strong motivation to qet
things done on time.

• Vision - or the capacity to clearly
perceive the desirable future society to
be obtained through sustained action;
or a clear mental picture of the desired
goal.

4

7.

• Perseverance - the ability to plan
rather than surrender; the capacity to
sustain action rather than give up.

• Strategic Thinking - the ability to
have a clear order of things to be done
in logical sequence.

• Self-Discipline - namely the ability to
maintain self-control at all times.

May you all be leaders with character,
capacity and courage to get good things
done for our people.

Let me proceed, on behalf of Council, to
express our deepest appreciation to the
Management, the Senate, and the entire
Staff and Students of this University for
their tireless efforts in making sure that this
academic session was completed within
the stipulated time frame, such that our
students did not lose anything immediately
after the last prolonged ASUU strike. It is
as a result of your sacrifice that this
convocation is holding today. It is our belief
and conviction that the events leading to
such a protracted crisis in our higher
educational system, would be a thing of the
past, for the sake of our beloved students.

5



8. Today, our country is faced with a lot of
socio-political and economic problems, .
such as corruption, insecurity, terrorism,
unemployment and poverty. Our
University must live up to its billing as a
pioneer educational. institution to ensure
that its research efforts and resources are
mobilized to solve the problems that afflict
our society. Our University must put its
expertise at the disposal of policy makers
so as to engender the right policy decisions
for the development of our beloved
country.

9. Let me assure you that the University
Council, under my leadership, will not
waiver in providing the necessary
environment that would enhance the
accomplishment of this task. It is for this
purpose that Council has commenced the
process for the construction of a new multi-
storey library building to boost academic
and research activities; the construction of
a ten-storey postgraduate school; the
construction of a new building for the
Faculty of Education and similar projects,
in demonstration of our commitment to
ensuring that this University ranks among
the best in Africa and indeed the world.

6

10.

11.

With reference to staff welfare, Council is
determined to ensure that appointments
and promotions of members of staff are
done with dispatch, and the approved
emoluments paid to all respective cadres In
the University. It is therefore our
expectation that "to who~ much is gi~e~,
much is expected". The Import of this IS
that members of staff would be sufficiently
motivated to contribute their quota to the
general progress ~f thi.s.Universit~ to;;vards
the attainment of ItS vision of being a top
class Institution for the pursuit of
excellence in knowledge and service to
humanity."

Let me assure you, distinguished ladie~
and gentlemen, that the Unive~sity Council
is resolute and highly commItted to the
core values of this University, as enshrined
in the mission statement, which is "to
provide a conducive environment for
teaching, learning, research an.d
development where staff and stud~nts wl~1
interact and compete effectively with their
counterparts globally".

At this juncture, may I salute the courage,
selflessness, steadfastness, doggedness
and commitment of members of the

7

12.



University Council, the Management -
under the able leadership of our dutiful and
diligent Vice-chancellor - the Senate, the
Provost, Deans of Faculties, and Heads of
Departments, for all their unrelenting
efforts in placing this. University where it

'rightly belongs among the comity of
Universities, both nationally and
internationally.

13. It is with great delight that I also
congratulate the new Registrar of the
University of Lagos; the new University
Librarian - and the first Lady Provost of the
College of Medicine, all of them ladies of
honour.

Your Excellencies, the Visitor, the Minister,
distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it is
not by accident that this University is "The
University of First Choice and The
Nation's Pride." I therefore wish to
encourage all stakeholders, including the
Alumni Association to continue to work
hard to retain this enviable position. It is on
this note that I, once again, welcome all of
you to these Convocation Ceremonies of
our great University and to wish you
journey mercies back to your respective
destinations.

8

Thanks for your kind attention, and may the
14. y uLORD bless 0 .

C gregation closed."
15. "I hereby declare the on

Professor Jerry Ga~~'afr~~n
pro-Ch~ncellor and Governing council.
UniverSity of Lagos



UNILAG PRESS