The Ondo State government has announced that the state government would offer immediate employment to the overall best graduating student of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State.

Ajakaiye Oluwatobi, a graduate of Accounting who finished with a CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) of 4.76, emerged the best graduating student of the university.

The governor made the announcement while delivering his address at the 9th convocation ceremony of the AAUA, held on the campus of the institution on Friday.

Akeredolu said the best graduating student “deserves to work in the institution to enable him to contribute his knowledge to the growth of the school.”

The governor pointed out that the state-managed three universities and a polytechnic and his administration would continue to exert necessary efforts to sustain the tempo of development in all the state-owned institutions.

He said:

”As part of our administration’s understanding of the running of a 21st century-compliant university, we have continued to give the management of all state-institutions the freehand needed to run their affairs.

“Plans are on to ensure that we leverage the research efforts of academics across our institutions while also not failing to tap from their wealth of experience and research when occasions demand.

“Our educational policy thrust is clear, to make our institutions of higher learning independent and well-funded with a view of making tools of positive changes in the society.”

The governor who commended the management of the AAUA for its efforts to make the institution one of the best universities in Nigeria noted that the AAUA had continued to do exceptionally well, nationally and globally despite its 20 years of existence.

“Within such a relatively young age, the university has consistently emerged as the best state-owned university in Nigeria, and it is currently ranked the ninth-best out of the about 160 universities in the country,” Akeredolu noted.

At the ceremony, the Visitor formally renamed the senate building of the university after his immediate predecessor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko.

He declared that the building would now be known as Olusegun Mimiko Senate Building.

According to him, the renaming was done to acknowledge the contributions of the former governor to the development of the state.