The Federal University, Ndufu- Alike, Ikwo (FUNAI), Ebonyi State, on Friday, 29 November, 2013, held its second matriculation ceremony, where it received 494 students. Welcoming the new entrants, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Oye Ibidapo-Obe, stated that the matriculants were entering the University at a time when higher education was undergoing rapid and dramatic transformation throughout the world. Nigeria, he said, was also undergoing seismic shifts and challenges, while facing extraordinary pressures. “As technology evolves and as familiar boundaries shift on the map of knowledge, educators are being pressured at every level to adapt in response. “Technology is also giving rise to new educational models and to a whole new field of competitors who seek to redefine what it means to go to university”, he said.

Professor Obe told the guests that, as a result of a difficult economy, the job market had been weakened and this had, in turn, made more persons to see education in increasingly narrow terms and question how education could get students on track and land them their dream jobs, rather than asking how it could help them learn what was necessary to shape them to live meaningful and valuable lives and contribute to national development.

According to the Vice-Chancellor, FUNAI was about possibilities. At FUNAI, he said, it was possible to change a person’s perception of education. It was possible to meet and to become entrepreneurs, who would build future businesses and cultural enterprises. At FUNAI, it was possible to unlock the promise of a better future for the country, because entrepreneurship was an integral part of the University’s curriculum. It was also possible for students to grow, develop and become relevant in any field of their choice, as they were equipped with 21st Century knowledge.

As part of efforts to achieve worldclass status, the University was currently discussing with Hiroshima University, Japan, with a view to making FUNAI a Centre for the Study of Space Science and Astronomy, while plans were on course for renewed Life Science programmes, with emphasis on Biotechnology. The Institution had also embarked on partnership programmes, on staff and student exchange, with selected universities in the United States, such as Rice University, Harvard University and Texas Southern University. As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, FUNAI was proposing a linkage with the Folk Technical College, Ikwo, to kick-off the University’s entrepreneurial strategy for total training. The 494 matriculating students, of which 256 were in the Sciences and 238 in the Humanities and Social Sciences, were spread across the following Departments:

Anatomy, Physiology and Medical Biochemistry (55); Biology, Microbiology and Biotechnology (55); Chemistry and Biochemistry (54); Mathematics, Computer Science, Statistics and Informatics (52); Economics and Development Studies (44); Accounting, Business Administration and Entrepreneurial Studies (42); History and Strategic Studies (16); Languages, Linguistics, Literary Studies and Visual Arts (57) as well as Political Science, Sociology and Psychology (79). The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission was represented by the Director, Lagos Liaison Office, Barr. Victor Onuoha.