The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole, has encouraged physically-challenged students not to see their condition as a barrier to being successful in life, but rather look up to God as a source of inspiration and be focused. Speaking at a Talent Exhibition and Fund Raising, organised by the National Association of Physically-Challenged Students (NAPCS), FUNAAB Chapter, the Vice-Chancellor, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Oluyemisi Eromosele made reference to one of the University graduands, Mr. Tayo Jubril, a physically-challenged person, who graduated from the Department of Chemistry with a Second Class (Upper Division) degree. The Vice-Chancellor added that the student went through a skill acquisition programme on soap making in the University prior to his graduation and now was doing very well, saying his life was worthy of emulation.
Delivering a sermon at the event, the Presiding Priest, Abigail Ajibola Anglican Church, Camp, Venerable Charles Fakiyesi, stated that everything God made was good, saying rhetorically that what mattered in life was how one reacts to any situation that one finds himself/herself, but not the world itself. He recalled the life and times of Steve Wonder, an ace instrumentalist, who was born blind, but was able to overcome the challenge and became very successful in life. Venerable Fakiyesi noted the hit song, “We are the World”, led by Michael Jackson and Steve Wonder, was an evergreen, saying that without him (Steve Wonder), the song would not have been that successful. He, therefore, charged the physically-challenged students to be confident and believe that there is ability in disability, because they were all wonderfully-made.
Corroborating Venerable Fakiyesi, the Director, Academic Planning of FUNAAB, Professor Olukayode Akinyemi, declared that, “Your tomorrow is secured. No matter your ambition, you could achieve”. Making reference to the animal, the Porcupine, he said that as small as it is, people cannot move near it, stating that when there is a disability, God always create an ability. Professor Akinyemi admonished the students to dwell less on their weaknesses and concentrate more on their strength. “Love yourself, love God, appreciate yourself and put your confidence in God”, he noted.
The President of NAPCS, FUNAAB Chapter, Mr. Ayetuoma Zion, a 400-level student in the Department of Agricultural Extension and Farm Management (AEFM), College of Agricultural Management and Rural Development (COLAMRUD), solicited for financial support from well-meaning University community members, saying that such support would ameliorate the Association’s challenges in meeting both academic and logistic needs. According to him, the financial support would be used to photocopy lecture notes and course materials, purchase food stuffs, settle accommodation fees, procure crutches as well as manage emergencies among members. At the event, there was preparation of Semolina with Egusi soup by a visually-impaired woman to the admiration of guests.
