…As Presidency Honours Alumnus
Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, has retained its status as primus inter pares among state-owned institutions in Nigeria and one of the top 10 universities in the country.
According to the latest Webometrics Ranking of Universities across the globe which was published in January 2021, AAUA topped the state-owned universities in Nigeria and earned 10th position among all Nigerian universities for a record of three consecutive years.
Webometrics is a ranking system for the world’s universities based on a composite indicator that takes into account both the volume of the Web content (number of web pages and files) and the visibility and impact of these web publications according to the number of external inlinks (site citations) they received.
It will be recalled that AAUA had, in April 2014, rated the Best State University by the United States Transparency International Standards (USTIS), and in 2005 by the National Universities Commission (NUC) which affirmed the pre-eminence of AAUA in terms of quality of academic staff.
In the same vein, one of the Institution’s graduates, Miss Ebubechukwu Victoria Igwe, has received a Presidential Award, having distinguished herself while serving the nation under the compulsory one-year service of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, scheme.
Miss Igwe received the 2020 President’s NYSC Honours Award “in recognition of her exemplary conduct, hard work, and passion for the educational development of her host community”.
Miss Igwe graduated from the Mass Communication Department of AAUA and was mobilized for the mandatory National Service in Enugu State from where she was posted to New Haven Secondary School, Emene.
According to her citation as released by the NYSC, “In her commitment to uplifting the educational standard of her students in the school, she volunteered to take free holiday lessons to prepare students for the Junior School West African Certificate Examination (WAEC).
“Miss Igwe did not stop at that, as a member of the Publicity (Media) Community Development group, she participated actively in setting up and strengthening the Press Club in Secondary Schools in the area.
“In demonstration of her passion to contribute to the improvement of the standard of education in her host community, Ebubechukwu also carried out the following personal Community Development projects in New Haven Secondary School; Renovation of the School Library, donation of text books to the library, establishment of Press Club, and conducted free holiday lessons for junior secondary students in preparation for their JSC Exams”.
In a chat with the Information Unit of the University, Ms. Igwe, said, though she had earlier received the state award as the Best Serving Corps Member, the Presidential Award came as a surprise.
She thanked the presidency for the honour, adding that it was a call to a greater service.
Ms. Igwe said, “The Presidential Award to me was like a dream because I never expected it. Although I won the state award as my project was adjudged the best, I never knew it can take me to the national platform.
“The Presidential Award is a call for more service to humanity. At the moment, I have gone back to building myself, and completing some projects I am running with some secondary schools where I reside. And I am sure the benefits attached to the award will come in due time.”
