Governor Wike offers N50m gift, automatic employment to a physically-challenged man who bagged Ph.D

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has honored a man living with disability with a huge sum of N50 million and automatic appointment as a university lecturer for bagging a Ph.D. degree.

The Governor announced the N50 million reward and automatic appointment on Saturday during the 33rd convocation of the Rivers State University (RSU) where a total of 4,970 students graduated from different faculties.

Wike said the honour bestowed on Mr Daniel is in recognition of his academic excellence and for being a source of inspiration to persons living with disabilities.

While making his remarks, he directed the Governing Councils and managements of the institution to sanitize and enhance their internal academic systems by stopping every inappropriate policy, practice or procedure that compromises the high quality academic standards required of tertiary institutions.

The governor has also cautioned all State universities to stop indiscriminate conferment of doctoral degrees on all manner of questionable candidates and people of material influence emphasizing that serious universities guard jealously their reputation and only award doctoral degrees to students who have gone through years of rigorous intellectual research and interrogation and whose dissertation is independently adjudged to be sound and contributory to new learning.

He described the current trend and practice in universities where doctoral degrees were indiscriminately awarded like chieftaincy titles, to all manners of questionable candidates.

“First of all, the programmes that you offer must equip the students with relevant skills, entrepreneurial or otherwise, so that on graduation they can start their own businesses and professional practice and become creators of jobs from the beginning; and not jobless seekers for elusive jobs,” he stated.

Governor Wike further assured that the infrastructural development in the university which was started by his administration will be completed by the second quarter of 2022.