UNIJOS Graduates 60,000, Celebrates Golden Jubilee

•Mourns eight student leaders killed in road crash

Seriki Adinoyi and Yemi Kosoko in Jos

The University of Jos has produced 60,000 graduands that would bag various certificates and degrees in its 35th and 36th combined convocation and golden jubilee celebration.

Sadly, in another development, eight student leaders of the university lost their lives on Thursday morning in a fatal automobile accident along the Zaria Road Stadium in Farin Gada Jos, Plateau State.

The victims were reportedly returning from a students’ welcome party when their vehicle apparently on high speed lost control and collided with a trailer, leaving the university community in shock and mourning.

Meanwhile, addressing journalists at a pre-convocation press conference, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Tanko Ishaya gave a breakdown of the graduands as; 9236 diploma graduands, 37742 First degree, and 13, 023 postgraduates.

Prof. Ishaya said, “From our last combined convocation ceremonies held the penultimate year, UNIJOS has achieved a lot of great things that have gone a long way in shaping our future. These achievements, without a doubt, are products of collective efforts by our partners, friends, the government through some of its agencies, and spirited individuals who have been relentlessly supportive.

“We are also using the convocation ceremony to honour our Founding Fathers. There is an Anniversary Lecture by none other than the newly appointed Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd).

“The history of UNIJOS is one that has a mixture of fortunes. We have been grappling with myriads of challenges from the beginning. Regardless, we have continued to grow in leaps and bounds; these laudable achievements have placed us on a pedestal amongst the comity of universities. Right from inception, we have defied the odds by growing through concrete to have been competing relatively favourably with sister institutions.

“From our humble beginnings, UNIJOS began as a Campus of the University of Ibadan in 1972; from there, in 1975 the then Federal Military Government announced UNIJOS as a full-fledged University on Tuesday, September 23, 1975. We have our founding fathers in the ilk of the late Joseph D. Gomwalk, Selcan.

“Gentlemen men of the press, we have grown from a University that had four (4) Faculties between 1975 and 1976. By the time we turned 40 in 2015, we had twelve (12) Faculties and today, we pride ourselves as a big institution with seventeen (17) Faculties and ninety-three (93) academic programmes.”

The Vice Chancellor disclosed that through networking, partnerships and expertise the university has projected Plateau State to be selected as one of the six (6) Technology Centres of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science.

In the fatal accident incident, emergency responders including personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps alongside other spirited citizens conveyed the injured to the hospital for medical attention and the dead to the morgue.

FRSC Plateau State Sector Command who confirmed the incident in a statement signed by Public Education Officer SRC Peter Y Longsan, said the Command received a distress call at about 0230 hours, reporting a road traffic crash that occurred opposite Unity Bank Zaria Road, Jos.

“The crash involved two vehicles, a trailer and a bus, eleven people were on board the bus, and were said to be students of University of Jos.”

“On arrival, seven people were suspected to be dead on the spot, as they were eventually certified to be dead by the doctor, another victim died in the hospital bringing the total number of the deceased to eight.  Three others are currently receiving treatment at the hospital. All victims were males,” the statement added.

An eye witness at the scene of the accident testified that the bus was on a high speed and engaged in wrongful overtaking, which led to loss of control and the eventual crash.

Meanwhile, a detail investigation according to the FRSC Command is still ongoing.

Sector Commander FRSC Plateau Corps Commander Olajide E Mogaji in the statement calls on the motoring public most especially drivers to desist from night trips, avoid excessive speed and dangerous driving, driving under the influence, and driving when sick or fatigued as these are the major causes of fatalities in an advent of crash.

“The government needs you alive, and wants you to live life to the fullest in this festive season and beyond”. Noted the Sector Commander.

“This is a dark day for the university community. We have lost bright young leaders who were committed to the welfare of their colleagues and the progress of the institution,” a senior administrator of the university said, adding that the university authority has been warning students not to organise any event related to students’ activities outside the school campus.

The accident has reawakened concerns over road safety in Plateau State and across Nigeria, where heavy-duty vehicles are frequently involved in fatal crashes.

Advocacy groups have called for stricter enforcement of traffic regulations and better road infrastructure to prevent similar tragedies.

As UNIJOS mourns its student leaders, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for improved safety measures on the nation’s highways.