A large turn-out of all categories and cadres of Non-Teaching Staff of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) welcomed, greeted and characterised a 4-Day Workshop/Retreat held at Five (5) different venues on campus from Monday to Thursday last week.
The sprawling Prof Oluwafemi Balogun Ceremonial Building which hosted the Opening Ceremonies of the Training for Senior and Junior Non-Teaching Staff on Monday and Wednesday respectively was filled to the brim especially on Monday when it surged and spilled over imposingly to the top of the gallery.
Excitement and enthusiasm were boldly written on the faces of non-teaching staff, most of whom attended in-house Training of unprecedented and unparallel magnitude for the first time since they joined the service of the University.
Looking ‘take-away’ and resplendent in their official outfits, the venue of the opening ceremony was fully occupied as early as 9 a.m.
for an event billed for 10 a.m.
The joy of hundreds of members of staff who turned up massively for the Retreat knew no bounds as they joyfully exchanged pleasantries and throw banters while taking turns to register for the Retreat referently.
The Workshop apparently questioned and reversed the popular saying that “a Prophet is without honour in his own land” as the arrival of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Felix Kolawole Salako was welcomed with thunderous cheers and jeers while his thought provoking speech which he delivered extempore received a standing ovation.
The Registrar, Dr. Bola Adekola did not only prove the mettle as a perfect host given the orderliness and decorum that pervaded and
enveloped the Retreat, his display of wizardry and mastery exhibited in the presentation of his Paper on University Culture and Ethics earned him ovations and approval that a Daniel indeed sits atop of the University Registry.
The Opening Ceremonies subsequently retreated to five (5) other Venues: Mahmood Yakuub Hall, 1000 Seater Lecture Theatre, COLVET Auditorium, JAO Hall 2 and Oluwafemi Balogun Ceremonial Building where Sessions of training on topics relevant to various cadres and professional categories of Staff were held.
At the close of the Retreat on Thursday, it was infectiously evident that the career cum professional lives of the teeming Non-teaching Staff were no longer the same as they have been grossly impacted by the Prof. Kolawole Salako led – Management who ‘fed’ them with the theme, “Sustaining University Culture and Ethics: Rescuing the Nigerian University System.
