Day Unilorin students shone brightly in Zaria

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eople who wonder what makes Unilorin tick, that it shines so brightly in the galaxy of the Nigerian, nay African university system, got some of the answers recently in Zaria. It was at the award ceremony of the MTN Foundation Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme at Ahmadu Bello University, Kontagora Square, Zaria where the university students dominated the awardees.

Dateline was February 22, 2010. The day was crystal clear. Every higher institution wanted to be counted. As the Chairman of the MTN Foundation, Ambassador Ahmadu Hamzat (Walin Sokoto), who was represented at the occasion said, his Foundation was “excited by this development.” Everybody was excited as excellence was put at the front burner in the programme, which was the first of its kind.

have all done very well to earn a place on this scheme and your parents and guardians should indeed be proud of your achievements. I would also like to implore you not to rest on your oars. The MTN Foundation is pledging to continue to provide this scholarship to awardees that maintain the required CGPA/GPA in their particular course of study until they graduate,” he said. What surprised many of the participants at the occasion, who included the representative of the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, the principal officers of the ABU and senior management staff of the MTN, was how the University of Ilorin could produce such a large number of students for the highly competitive award. For those who know the transformation wrought upon Unilorin in recent years by its successive leaderships, the University deserves the best if at all hardwork determines best results. They say Unilorin students can only soar and shine above others because the conducive atmosphere has been created for them to learn and study. While presenting the awards to the brilliant students, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Is-haq O.Oloyede, who was represented at the occasion by the Dean of Engineering and Technology, Prof. John A. Olorunmaiye, wished the lucky winners greater successes in life and implored them to continue to remain focused and hardworking because the future belongs to the best.
The breakdown of the students is as follows, according to their Departments: eight from Medicine; four from Mathematics, three from Computer Science, two from each of Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Statistics and Computer Science and one from Electrical Engineering.