Obiano Bags Fellowship Award at FCET Umunze …as College graduates 2058

www.odogwublog.com reports that Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano has been conferred with a distinguished Fellowship award of the Federal College of Education, (Technical), Umunze, Anambra State. The award was presented during the 23rd joint convocation ceremony of the College for the award of the Nigeria Certificate in Education, (NCE) and the Professional Diploma in Education, (PDE) to it graduating students.

The management of the college said the Fellowship award, the highest in the College is exclusively for select personalities who have proved their mettle in their areas of engagement. The Provost, Prof Josephat Ogbuagu, said the award was bestowed on the governor in recognition of his laudable roles in the education sector of the state and the College. By the award, Gov Obiano has joined the league of other respected Nigerians who wear the badge of honour as Fellows of the College.

The Visitor to the College and Honourable Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who was represented by the Executive Secretary, National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Prof Bappa-Aliyu Muhammadu congratulated the graduands, even as he charged them to always justify their training from the foremost college by opting to practice their profession with zeal for the benefit of the nation.
“As Technical Teacher Education graduates, you occupy an enviable position in the nation’s concerted effort towards technological growth. Your task now is to diligently put what you have learnt in the College into practice for the benefit of the students, whom you will be teaching and ultimately for the benefit of the society. In doing this, you will be justifying the huge financial investment expended on you by your parents and the government”.
The Minister lauded the growth in the college, evident in the increase in number of her academic programmes and the attainment of a crises-free academic session in the last seven years.  He noted that it was the policy of the present administration to upgrade Colleges of Education across the country to enable them effectively play their role in producing the mid-level technical manpower for the nation.

He expressed delight that the College has done a lot that provides important sign-posts for further progress in the area of Technical Teacher Education.
The Provost of the College, Prof Josephat Ogbuagu said on assumption of office, he focused on staff development, students welfare as well as infrastructural upgrade as a roadmap towards realizing the institution's mandate of effectively training technical, vocational and science students, urging the graduating students to be good ambassadors of the institution wherever they find themselves.

 “You will recall that when I assumed office as the Provost of this College on February 15, 2010, I promised to transform the College through re-engineering, re-positioning and restructuring of the system. I remember vividly that during my interview for the job, one of the promises I made before the Committee was to make the College a degree awarding institution. I want to inform you that I honoured my words.  The College now runs 14 degree programme in affiliation with the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.”
Ogbuagu explained that elevating the College to a degree awarding institution equally strengthened the existing NCE programmes offered in this institution. According to him, students in this College now enjoy the opportunity to progressively continue with their degree after graduating from the NCE programme.
“Let me also state here that running the degree programme, alongside the existing NCE programme, has increased students’ enrolment and given this College a competitive edge in the increasing quest for a Dual Mode status”.
Responding, Governor Obiano thanked the College for the honour. He said education remains a critical enabler in his administration that holds the key to optimum youth development in the state.

He urged the graduating students to take advantage of skills acquisition programmes introduced by his administration to become entrepreneurs that would add value to the society.

A total of 2058 students graduated from the NCE Regular, Sandwich, Continued Education Program, CEP, and Professional Diploma in Education, PDE programmes of the College between 2012 and 2016, participated in the convocation ceremony.