Your Eminence, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie; The Chancellor, Rt. Rev. Msgr. Dr. J. K. Aniagwu; The Chairman, Board of Trustees, Sir Steve Omojafor and members of the Board of Trustees; The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, Chief Gilbert Grant and members of the Governing Council;
The Vice-Chancellor, Augustine University; The Registrar; All other Principal Officers of the University; Invited Vice-Chancellors and other principal Officers of other Universities here present; Very Rev. Monsignori; Very Rev. Fathers and Rev. Fathers; Rev. Sisters and Religious here present; Staff of the University
Parents, Graduating Students and Invited Guests; Gentlemen of the Press; Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is with thanksgiving to God and with great joy that I warmly welcome all of you to this epoch-making event, the convocation of the Pioneer graduates of this young and promising University.
For you, the wonderful thirty-two young men and women graduating today, this event is the beginning point for greater achievements in your lives; while for the rest of us, it is a testimony to our faith that with God on our side, we can do great things, it is a victory for resilience and hard work.
What we celebrate today is also a testimony to faith of the proud parents of these pioneer graduates. Their leap of faith in sending their children to AUI is paying off today as we gather.
The journey started with the formal inauguration of the University in 2015, exactly 4years ago yesterday, it started with 54 students who eventually took their matriculation oaths on the 1st of April 2016. At that time, no one could tell how the journey would end but we can all see that not all that started the journey are ending it today. All glory be to God alone for your leap of faith and the hard work of everyone concerned.
May I ask the proud parents and guardians of these Pioneer graduates of AUI to please stand up to be recognized while I urge the rest of us to kindly applaud them for their faith in the University and for joy of this day they are witnessing. (APPLAUSE).
As we bask in the euphoria that comes with occasions such as this, let us not forget that it is also an occasion to take stock of the past and to assess the bright but inscrutable future that lies before us.
In looking back, we cannot but thank the Lord for those He has used in bringing this institution to be. We congratulate His Eminence, Anthony Cardinal Okogie who envisioned the project and set out the path for bringing it to reality.
We commend the Clergy, Religious and Lay faithful of the Archdiocese of Lagos as well as all the benefactors who assisted with the funds that went into the start of the University. We commend in particular, The Parish Church of the Assumption, Falomo and the Divine Mercy, Lekki Phase I for the roles they played in the beginnings of the AUI. We pay tribute to the members of the different Committees that saw to the take-off of the University.
By the grace of God, some of them are here present with us today and some of them constitute the Board of Trustees and the Governing Councils of the University. We pay our respect to the memory of Sir Molade Okoya Thomas and the memory of Professor Joseph Obemeata who unfortunately passed on to eternal life just a couple of weeks ago. They played very major roles in the preparations for and the take-off of the institution. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.
Taking stock of the past, we cannot but express our appreciation of the work of members of Faculty of this promising University who began the journey with our graduating students. I am sure that many of them are still in the service of the University. They worked hard to teach the graduates and educate them in their various disciplines. Together with the non-academic staff, they worked to form them in order that they may make positive marks on the nation Nigeria and the world at large. To the security men, the sanitation staff, and everyone else who directly or indirectly impacted on the formation activities here in AUI, I say a big Thank you.
We congratulate these pioneer graduates of AUI for blazing the trail and making this day the historical one that it is. We congratulate you for making yourselves available for formation and for setting a good standard of behavior which has brought you to this day. We commend you for your perseverance and for the focus with which you spent your days in this institution. May the Lord make your future bright and happy.
Now that you have got the tools you need to launch into the deep waters of the world and leave your marks on the sand of time, we ask you to go with courage and determination, lock your focus on positive goals and create in you a disposition for hard work. There is no viable alternative to hard work. There is no short cut to success, you have to go by the long route of hard work. As you graduate, you go into a country and a world that is at the same time full opportunities as it is not very friendly to the young.
If you take advantage of the opportunities and exert yourselves using your God-given talents and initiatives, we believe you will be able to surmount the challenges that the world of today throws in your paths. If life throws a lemon at you, be imaginative enough to make lemonade out of it rather than complain and whine about not getting oranges.
Do not be enticed into irregular and dangerous migration or drug abuse and never contemplate the cowardly way of suicide that some young people take in our world of today.
Our University, with its characteristic Catholic tradition has tried to form you into men and women with philanthropic and altruistic values consistent with our motto. We hope we have succeeded in giving you three gifts: KNOWLEDGE which derives from learning, INTEGRITY which comes from character and CONFIDENCE which is the fruit of learning and character. Please go with these gifts and conquer the world, make a new world by living out the values inherent in the motto of this hallowed institution. Each of you should be the change that we need in our country. Be ambassadors of your alma mater and we look forward to the formation of a strong Alumni Association with you as the foundation members.
We cannot fail to use an opportunity such as this to call attention to the need for the creation of the atmosphere necessary for the blooming of talents and the positive use of youthful energy for the growth of our country, Nigeria. An atmosphere of insecurity and lack of adequate basic infrastructure cannot be friendly to the young. Without prejudice to what government at different levels may be doing, the fact is that insecurity is very much with us in all corners of our country.
The problems associated with insecurity, lack of electric power supply, good roads, potable water and decent housing in good quantity are making it impossible for all citizens to live well and are not giving the young ones a leeway to begin their lives. We call on all concerned, especially the Federal Government but also government at all levels, to do more for the young people in particular and for the entire citizenry in general.
Finally, permit me to congratulate but also to commend the pioneer Vice-Chancellor, Professor Steve Afolami, the Principal Officers, the entire Management Team and all staff of the University for their hard-work over the years, for their tenacity, forbearance and relentless efforts in keeping to the vision behind the foundation of the University. May God reward you in due measure. We are grateful to Mama Doja Otedola, her son Mr. Femi Otedola and family; we are grateful to Dame Winnie Akpani and family and the other families that are making invaluable contributions to the infrastructural development of the University.
We shall keep you in our prayers for divine providence, protection and security from all dangers to body and soul. Thank you, for being a part of our AUI history and our story. May God bless you all gathered here today and may the joy of today be with us always.