The immediate past Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Lai Mohammed, has urged Nigerians to give encouragement to the President Bola Tinubu-led administration in the fight against insecurity in the country.
While emphasising that no president would want his country to be insecure, Lai Mohammed, who served in the administration of the late Muhammadu Buhari, stated that the situation is a global issue.
The former information minister made the appeal while delivering the 15th convocation lecture of Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State, with the title ‘Don’t Just Graduate, Innovate.’
With Mohammed tasking the new generation of Nigerian graduates not to view their hard-earned certificates as a final destination, he challenged them to see them as a launchpad for innovation.
According to him, with audacious boldness on the part of fresh graduates and continuous self-reinvention, they will be fully prepared for the future they desire.
He said, “That change that we are all looking for must begin with all of us. Security is a local issue. Our security is local. Actionable intelligence is part of it. The president is doing his best in fighting insecurity. And this insecurity is worldwide. It’s global. Make no mistake about that.
“To the graduating class, don’t be afraid to fail. Failures are not dead ends. They are turning points. I failed and failed, and, each time, the failures became turning points for me.
“Graduands, failure is not the opposite of success. It is part of the journey to success.
You must reinvent yourself relentlessly. It is the only way to stay relevant.
“Friends, graduation is a wonderful achievement, but a degree is not a guarantee. The world is not a straight road from university to your dream job. It is unpredictable, messy and full of opportunities you may not even see coming.
“Many graduands believe that a degree is a roadmap. You study, you qualify, you apply, you get a job and then you live happily ever after. But here’s the truth: many of the “dream professions” you envision may not work out. Many of the plans you make today will need to be adapted tomorrow, more so in an era when the jobs landscape is changing radically because of artificial intelligence, or AI.”
On his part, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Prof. Bode Ayorinde, who described the title of the convocation lecture as apt, stressed that the university is moulding students who will be innovators.
“We have rusticated students and refunded their money for indiscipline, and last week we rusticated another student and refunded his money.
We don’t sell certificates. Our culture is academic culture and discipline, no drug abuse, no cultism. We score and reward our faculties based on performance and discipline.”
