Federal University, Lafia, Appoints First Professor, Graduates 6 First-Class Students

The Federal University, Lafia, Nasarawa State, has appointed its first professor and graduated six first-class students from among its 199 pioneer students.

The university’s Vice-Chancellor, (V-C) Prof. Ekanem Braide, said this on Thursday at its first inaugural lecture in Lafia delivered by the newly appointed Professor Mbe Egom-Nja.

Braide said the inaugural lecture was significant because it was holding at about one year after Egom-Nga was promoted to the rank of a professor.

She said that the confirmation of Egom-Nja as a professor within one year and the graduation of six first-class students were due to the institution’s determination to maintain its core values of integrity, innovation and discipline.

She advised others aspiring to attain the professorial chair in the university to emulate the hard work and commitment of Egom-Nja by preparing to work on their proposed inaugural lectures.

Braide said that since the university was established in 2011, it had begun to exhibit its determination to equip its students with knowledge and skills.

She said that such attributes would help them to carry out researches and innovation that, and when implemented by policy makers, would enhance the socio-economic development of the country.

According to her, the efforts have yielded results as the university has been able to produce six first- class students out of the 199 pioneer students.

Braide said that the university would soon organise a convocation-ceremony for them.

“Out of the graduates, 58 are indigenes of Nasarawa State and four out of the six that graduated with first class honours are from Nasarawa State,” she said.

She said one of the graduates was a visually impaired young man who performed so well in his studies that he became a university scholar.

The V-C said that the graduates produced by the university were not only employable but had been found worthy to become employers of labour.

Braide commended the hard work exhibited by both the teaching and the non-teaching staff of the institution which had ensured that the institution achieved the best and urged them to do more.

Also, Prof Egom-Nja while delivery the inaugural lecture dedicated his achievements to God, his family, the support and encouragement from his colleagues and the university’s authorities.

He promised to dedicate the remaining part of his life to adding value to knowledge and research in order to contribute to the development of the country.

He mentioned one of his contributions to Mathematics and Statistics to include: “ a New Estimation Procedure for Generalized Linear Regression Designs with near Dependence’’.

Egom-Nja suggested that a well articulated central biometric database system should be established and be used as a requirement for monthly allocation to federal, states and local governments in Nigeria. (NAN)