Members of staff and students of the University have been charged to buckle-up and face the challenge of taking the University to greater heights in the New Year. “The job has started. Let us get to work”.  This call was made by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole during the University’s Joint Prayer Session, held to appreciate the Almighty, for the year gone by and to commit the activities of FUNAAB to God in the New Year. The Christian prayer session was held at the Professor Mahmood Yakubu Auditorium, while the Muslim prayer session took place in the University Mosque.

The Vice-Chancellor said with the commencement of a brand New Year, every member of the University community is important and should be ready to contribute his/her quota to the development of the institution, as he enjoined members of academic staff to inculcate good virtues in the students alongside their classwork, to enable them stand-out and become assets to the nation, irrespective of their course of study.

“Make extra effort to put skills in the lives of our students so as to be different. Be true mentors of the students. Postgraduate students should finish promptly. They should come in and know their supervisors immediately. This would make them complete their programmes in a record time”, he stated.

The Vice-Chancellor, who made prophetic declarations on the first working day of the year, expressed optimism that the New Year would bring positive achievements to the University in terms of research breakthroughs, innovations, abundant scholarship and grants, fellowship opportunities for staff, advancement and enlargement for all.

“Staff and students would receive honours from within and outside the country… This would be one of the best years in the life of the University”, he declared.

Professor Oyewole appreciated the Governing Council, Principal Officers, Senate, Deans, Directors, Heads of Departments/Units as well as students for all they had done in transforming the University, saying they were partners in progress. “Do not be afraid of change when the change is from God. For me, I have a divine assignment. I give God the glory for what He had done for us in 2013”, he stated.

The Vice-Chancellor also used the occasion to introduce to the congregation, the new Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Adekojo Waheed and the returning Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development), Professor Felix Salako, while expressing gratitude to the University’s Senate for the smooth selection.

Professor Oyewole commended the past Deputy Vice-Chancellors for their contributions to the development of the University, as the anointed men and ministers of God took turns to thank God for the out-gone year and prayed for peace, progress and excellent performance in 2014.

Earlier, Professor Isaac Aiyelaagbe, who delivered the sermon urged Christians to be well prepared to surmount the challenges that could prevent them from realizing their blessing through divine relationships with God.

The President, FUNAAB Students’ Union, Mr Temitope Adesipo, was full of praises to God for His mercies, as he committed the forthcoming elections of the Union into the hands of the Almighty, for a resounding success. Speaking of his expectations for the year, he hoped for accelerated development and the enabling environment, to enable students pursue their academic programmes without any hindrance.

In the same vein, the Vice-Chancellor has solicited the continued support for Management, to achieve the vision and mission of the University. The

Vice-Chancellor made this call during the Muslim prayer session, held at the University Mosque. He was represented at the occasion by the Amira of the FUNAAB Muslim Community and the University Librarian, Dr (Mrs) Mulikat Salaam.

Various prayers were offered for the Governing Council, Management, staff and students of the Universty. In his exhortation, the leader of the League of Imams in FUNAAB, Dr Idris Ayinde extolled God’s virtues for the gift of life, adding that offering prayer on the first working day of the year was very important.

According to him, “whoever desires prosperity, glory, elevation must first seek God as He is the custodian of it all. When God prospers us, we will suffer no calamity. Fear God and speak good words as well as do unto others as you want them to do to you”. He, however, admonished the Vice-Chancellor not to relent in imbibing justice, fairness and equity while dealing with members of the University community, as that should be the hallmark of a good leader, which he had always been.