Record-breaking graduands a collective effort - APC Chair

By Seyifunmi Soremekun and Wisdom Onye

Despite an eight-month strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the School of Postgraduate Studies (SPGS) breasts the tape, graduating 2,251 students.

The chairman of its Academic Planning Committee (APC), Professor Abayomi Okanlawon, described the high output of postgraduate students from the school as a collective effort of all stakeholders.

Okanlawon, explained that the collective efforts of the SPGS management, the board, the APC and the students made it possible to have a record number of 2,251 graduands from the SPGS despite the ASUU strike.

*Prof. Abayomi Okanlawon, Academic Planning Committee*

He noted the hard work and support of the management. “Beginning with the Dean, the sub-dean and the administrative secretary, they’ve worked over and beyond the call of normal duties”, he said.

Okanlawon cited the diligence of the board, “they worked four times over. They literally had to sleep on campus. They kept working and working. They did not go home for about two or three days. Even if we did an APC and there was no board to look at it, there wouldn’t be a need, so the board also had many meetings”, he added.

The Anatomy Professor also commended the APC, which he chairs for doing a great job. He explained how they outperformed and surpassed expectations.

“We had four committees. For instance, the committee of science will work in the morning from 9 am – 1 pm, and the committee of Art will work between 2 pm and 5 pm. We were doing that every day apart from maybe Wednesday. From the time we resumed in October, we were doing APC almost daily”, he said.

Cooperation from the students, he added, made the process successful. He appreciated the rigorous streets they went through by even writing “eight exams across various levels in one day when the examination came”.

He also showed his gladness that “despite the shortness of time, the Lagoon LightHouse(School of Postgraduate Studies) is graduating 65 people for PhD alone, apart from 2000 for Masters”.