UniPort to Graduate 8,156 Students, 120 Earn First-Class Honours
The University of Port Harcourt (UniPort) will award degrees to 8,156 graduands during its forthcoming convocation ceremony, with 120 students graduating with First-Class honours.
Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Owunari Georgewill, disclosed this while highlighting the institution’s achievements and challenges ahead of the end of his tenure later this month.
Georgewill expressed gratitude to past and present governing councils, former vice-chancellors, management teams, and stakeholders for their contributions to the university’s growth and development.
According to him, UniPort has witnessed significant infrastructural transformation through interventions from the Federal Government, including the Needs Assessment Programme, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), capital projects, and other intervention initiatives.
He noted that the support had facilitated the renovation of existing facilities, construction of new office complexes, upgrading of learning environments, rehabilitation of student hostels, development of lecture theatres, establishment of an innovation hub, and the ongoing construction of the South-South Zonal Multipurpose Laboratory.
The vice-chancellor also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda in the education sector, noting that UniPort had benefited from several federal interventions.
“The university received electric tricycles, which have enabled us to embrace clean energy and promote an environmentally friendly transportation system within our campuses,” he said.
On student welfare and academic support, Georgewill revealed that more than 1,000 students across different disciplines currently benefit from tuition assistance and academic mentorship programmes, describing the initiative as a demonstration of the university’s commitment to inclusive and accessible education.
Despite the progress recorded, he identified several challenges facing the institution, including land encroachment, inadequate funding, shortage of hostel accommodation, insufficient staff quarters, poor internal road networks, lack of streetlights, the need for a new central administrative building, additional office spaces, and improved fencing around the university.
Georgewill thanked students, alumni, benefactors, partners, and friends of the institution worldwide for their support, describing UniPort’s achievements as a collective success. He also praised the university’s principal officers and management team for their dedication throughout his administration.
