The Nigerian Army University, Biu (NAUB) has graduated its first batch of 417 students in different disciplines in its maiden convocation ceremony held at the university’s main campus in Biu, Borno State.
A statement by the Director of Army Public Relations said the graduation took place on Saturday, October 28, 2023, at the nascent citadel of learning situated in the southern region of Borno in northeast Nigeria.
The modest journey of the tertiary institution started on October 30, 2018, and it matriculated its first set of students on February 18, 2019, into the five faculties of arts, management and social sciences, computing, environmental sciences, engineering, and technology, as well as natural and applied sciences.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, who is the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University, felicitated the graduates. General Lagbaja urged them to be good brand ambassadors of the institution and to positively exploit the opportunities that abound in the country.
The Pro-Chancellor also disclosed that by establishing the Nigerian Army University in Biu, the Army adopted the strategic option of exploring a non-kinetic approach to its counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria.
“We sought to achieve social inclusion and gender balance and expand diversity through education,” he clarified.
The COAS asserted that the emergence and growth of the institution in the heart of the North East, an area that until recently was bedevilled by violence and insecurity, is a testament to the successes the Nigerian military has collectively achieved in its counter-insurgency efforts.
“Today, the graduands are a testament to our bravery, courage, and determination, despite the security challenges, to groom youths that would become solution providers and self-reliant in addressing some of the challenges of our dear nation.“
The University Chancellor, His Royal Majesty, Major General Felix Mujakperuo (rtd), who is also the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, Delta State, noted that siting the university in Biu has brought development to the community and believes the development will continue.
He enjoined the graduates to strive to be entrepreneurial in their post-graduation endeavours by being employers of labour rather than seeking white-collar jobs.
The Royal Father commended the Vice Chancellor, management, staff, and students of the university for their individual and collective roles in moving the institution in the right direction.
Rendering the summary of honorary awardees and graduating students by class of degree, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Kyari Mohammed, affirmed the award of Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa to HRM Maj Gen Felix Mujakperuo (rtd) and Doctor of Letters to Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, former Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Republic of Benin and former Chief of Army Staff.
Prof. Kyari declared that 20 graduates of the university made First Class, while 207 graduating students bagged Second Class Upper Division and 186 of the convocating students fell in Second Class Lower Division. Four of the graduates made the third class. Highlights of the maiden convocation were the presentation of eponymous awards to students who graduated with flying colours.
Ibrahim Dorcas Kutawalang of the Department of Political Science emerged as the overall best-graduating student with a cumulative grade point average of 4.84 and carted away the Pro-Chancellor’s and Vice Chancellor’s Prizes, amongst other prized awards.
The Chief of Army Staff, on behalf of the Honourable Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, commissioned 24 units of 2-bedroom flats donated by the Ministry of Defence.
Equally, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, represented by Theatre Commander Operations Hadin Kai, Maj. Gen. Gold Chibuisi inaugurated another set of 24 one-bedroom flats for the staff of the institution. A Students’ Affairs building was also commissioned by the Chancellor.
