Though, a boardroom guru and a top player in the private sector of the nation’s economy, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Mrs. Mosun Belo-Olusoga, to the admiration of her audience, flawlessly displayed her skills as a seasoned counsellor and mentor while addressing the congregation during the 28th/29th convocation ceremonies of the University.
The combined convocation which took place between Tuesday, 28th January to Friday, 31st January, 2020 at Otunba Gbenga Daniel Lecture Theatre brought out the best of motherhood qualities from the charming queen of the banking industry, when she focused her speech mainly on counselling the graduands and giving them invaluable tips on how to survive in life, make career choice and adapt to work place situation with the ultimate aim of adding value to one’s society.
She started her advice to the graduands by charging them to be positive, principled, pro-active and productive. She also implored them to discover what they were good at, what they love to do, and what they also dislike, saying that by doing these, they (the graduands) would become happier and more passionate in life.
“Be open to change and do not get discouraged when a job you really want does not appear forth-coming. It just opens up doors to other possibilities.” Said, the Pro-Chancellor.
She advised them further that they should not hide their mistakes, they should be honest and “when not sure about something, ask questions, keep moving forward, learn to hear feedback and never procrastinate.”
Mrs. Mosun Belo-Olusoga went on to instill confidence in the graduands by urging them never to feel intimidated by their colleagues and superiors but to remain polite and courteous.
According to her, the graduands should remember that they (i.e. their colleagues and superiors) were once in their shoes when they began their careers.
She, therefore, told the graduands to leverage on the knowledge and experience of their superiors and find ways to take what worked for those superiors of theirs and adapt it to work for themselves.
She stated that “treating people with respect, being humane and of high integrity are important. Always reserve judgement until you have enough time to make up your mind.” She went on to advise them to prepare for the future by developing good time management habits. While also informing them that their workload would increase with time alongside their responsibilities. She, therefore, urged them to be ready for these challenges.
Earlier in her address, Mrs Mosun Belo-Olusoga had informed the congregation about the steady and considerable progress made by the University.
According to her, the Council had undertaken rapid infrastructural development on the campuses and had also appointed three Principal Officers for the University within 12th December, 2017 and 1st August, 2018.
She said in order to improve the internally generated revenue of the University, the Council has approved the commencement of the Open Distance Learning (ODL), as well as the re-engineering of the University Ventures through the expansion of the bottled water production factory and the establishment of a bakery.
Speaking on accreditation, she remarked that 45 programmes would be due for re-accreditation by the National Universities Commission (NUC) while the Medical and Law programmes would face re-accreditation from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria and the Nigerian Legal Council respectively.
The Chairman of Council, therefore, appealed to the State Government for financial and moral supports to make a success of the outing.
While seizing the opportunity of the convocation ceremony to acknowledge the numerous supports and goodwill the University have received from individuals, alumni, corporate organizations, Mrs. Mosun-Belo Olusoga singled out the Awujale of Ijebu-land, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona for instituting a Centre for Governance Studies to award Postgraduate Degrees in Governance in the University as well as the completion of the Building Complex for the Professorial Chair in Governance Studies.
On the last day of the event, Friday, 31st January, 2020, a total of 1,198 graduands were awarded Postgraduate Degrees and Diplomas of the University while over 9,000 graduands had earlier been awarded the first degrees of the University over the past three days.
