UBa Graduates 5820 Into Jobless Market

By Wifah Jennyhans in B’da

 5820 students graduate from Bamenda Varsity

Some 5,820 students most of whom enrolled into The University of Bamenda, UBa in 2016 have been declared graduates at different levels. This was during that 9th Convocation Ceremony of the university which took place on Friday December 13, 2019.
    Chaired by Pro-Chancellor, Prof Beban Sammy Chumbow, representative of the Minister of Higher Education, Chancellor of Academic Orders and Visitor to the University, it was an opportunity for UBa administration to list out their plethora of challenges.
    While thanking government and the Head of State for their support to UBa, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Theresia K. Nkuo-Akenji did not mince words to say the institution she heads is in a basin of challenges. Security challenges, putting the lives of students and staff on the line; infrastructural lapses; lack of laboratory training equipment; frequent power outage among other needs have been making running of the university the past three years a very challenging one for authority.
    This batch of students most whom enrolled in 2016 started off their journey at UBa in crisis. NkezeBrigitta, graduate of Economics from the Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences  says her three years stay in Bambili have been turbulent. “We have heard all kinds of gunshots, we were flogged, asked to roll in the mud, teargased, kidnapped, wounded and some even lost their lives. Experiencing the end of this journey at UBa is a miracle to me”.

    The pressure therefore, has not only been on the university authority but also the students who undertook this journey with the administration.
    This 9th convocation is special to UBaas it graduated the first batch of PhD students, and is sending out the second batch of her trained medical doctors. Eight Ph.D holders, two Economists and six Historians, all men, ‘found worth in character and learning’ were awarded Doctor of Philosophy while the medics took the Hippocratic and Florence Nightingale Oaths to diligently serve humanity.
    The Pro-Chancellor, Prof Beban Sammy Chumbow called on new graduates to be refined constructive ambassadors of UBa as they face the world of challenges. “We are very proud by the VC, and her collaborators…in producing such a rich crop of graduates in most of the field that are needed. We are very satisfied with the quality that has been produced in the ten different establishments. We look forward to them to producing what is required for the development of this nation. We also enjoin them to ensure they come in with values which they have been imparted with in this university not only of knowledge which of course they have but also the values of probity and entrepreneurship”.
    Four students distinct themselves:VernyuyBlaiseVernyuy of Visual Arts and History of Arts, Faculty of Arts emerged with a GPA of 37.2; NzessuWaforBetoldAdrien, Chemistry department of Higher Teacher Training College proudly stood out with 3.72 GPA. Mai Stephanie and Ndum Chua Agnes Wambiyi emerged two best female students scoring a GPA of 3.71 in Accounting and Crop Technology from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and College of Technology respectively. KumNji Desmond, a visually impaired student of Faculty of Law and Political Science emerged best in his Faculty.