The former governor of Akwa Ibom State, HE Emmanuel Udom has called on newly graduating students of the Mountain Top University, MTU, to shun mediocrity and build a culture of excellence.

Governor Udom said this while delivering a lecture titled: “Optimising Your Potential In A Challenging Future” at the 5th convocation ceremony of the institution on Thursday.

According to Udom, “To build a personal culture of excellence, you need to avoid procrastination and over-analysis.

 

“Learn to hold yourself personally responsible for your decisions, actions, failures and success. It doesn’t matter how you were born, it matters how you live the rest of your life. Do not let your background put your back on the ground.

Explaining further, he said: “Your mind is your greatest capital and your greatest battleground, say no to mental laziness. Put your mind to work. Challenge your mind, that Is the seat of your creativity.”

“Challenge stereotypes and the status quo to improve on it Innovation starts from asking questions like “Why are we doing this and how can this be done better?”.

Udom encouraged the students to be a creative and solution-oriented person. Continuously feed your mind with the night information. Refuse to be ignorant about any area of your field. Go for knowledge and embrace understanding. Develop competence in whatever field you are into. Competence is a combination of knowledge, skills and experience.”

“Practice makes perfect, so keep at it until you become a master of your craft. Remember that you are what you repeatedly do. Excellence is a habit, not an act! Strive to stay current with trends and developments in your field.

“Always pay painstaking attention to details. Sweat the small things because the aggregation of those little things result in excellence. Do not forget that big things happen when you get small things right! Become a person of value. Your value must be packaged and served with excellence to attract a higher reward. Excellence involves surpassing ordinary standards”.

The highlight of the 5th convocation ceremony was the recognition of 36 students who made first class, among the three hundred and twenty-nine 329 graduands conferred with the award of first degree, two, for PhD, one for MPhil degree, fifteen for Master’s degree and 1 for a postgraduate diploma.

Thirty-six, 36 are in First Class Honours category: The College of Humanities, Management and Social Sciences, CHMS has seventeen 17, while the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, CBAS has nineteen 19.  For the Second Class Honours Upper Division, we have a total of one hundred and fifty-five 155, while the Second Class Honours Lower Division has one hundred and nineteen 120. Eighteen 18, graduates fall under the Third Class Honours category.

The overall best graduating student is Miss Iganya, Ele-Ojo Judith of the Department of Economics with a cumulative Grade point Average of 4.94.

Meanwhile, Engr. Michael Bayo Akinola (Marvelous Mike) was conferred honorary degrees for his support to the University. Also, two pioneer students: Ogunbiyi Tosin Segun, and Orisanwo, Israel Oludotun were awarded Doctor of Philosophy Ph.D. in Microbiology and  Finance respectively.

Prof. Ayolabi said: “Part of the vision of this university is to train students to be self-employed upon graduation, that is, for those who may not be disposed to paid employment. Therefore, the Mountain Top University graduate is a full package positioned to compete favourably and excellently in a competitive world environment. Already, some of our graduates are making waves in different parts of the world through the training and nurturing they got from this university.”