It was a day of joy for 50 medical students of the Osun State University and their parents at the weekend as they ended their medical studies at the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
One of the new medical doctors, Miss Oyeleye Lateefah Abiola was named by the Vice-President for Research and Education of the University, Prof Mykola O. Azarenkov, as the overall Best Graduating Student from both the Faculty of Medicine and in the entire university.
She came out with a percentage score of 95.6 in the KROK 2 Examination, which was the final for graduating students.
The convocation arena erupted in cheers as the Best Graduating Student mounted the stage to deliver her speech.
The Karazin Kharkiv National University is 213 years old having been founded in November 1804. It is one of the oldest and leading universities in the Eastern Europe. It is second oldest university in the Ukraine, second only to the University of Lviv, Ukraine.
The university has produced at least three Nobel Prize laureates. They include Ilie Mechnikov (Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine); Simon Kuznet (1971 Nobel Prize in Economics); and Lev Landau (Physics).
The 50 Nigerian students from Osun State were the cynosure of all eyes at the event.
They were among the 87 who were sponsored by the state government in 2013 to study Medicine at the National University of Kharkiv, Ukraine out of the inherited 98 students who secured admission to study Medicine at the state-owned university but could not continue due to non-accreditation of their programme for lack of a standard teaching hospital.
Respite came the way of the students, who were in their third to fifth years when Governor Rauf Aregbesola decided to send them to Ukraine after a rigorous search for universities across the world where their dreams of becoming medical doctors could be realised.
Aregbesola’s decision was borne out of the conviction of his administration that no sacrifice would be too much to secure better future for the students at a reasonable cost.
The Deputy Governor, Mrs Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, who represented Aregbesola at the event, said the graduation of the students was dream come true.
Aregbesola had said his government facilitated the transfer of the students because it believed that a responsible government must fulfill its part of a pact entered into with the people irrespective of which person or party in power signed the agreement, since governance is a continuum.
According to Laoye-Tomori, “We feel fulfilled that the students, who would have had their dreams aborted, have today realised their ambition of becoming medical doctors. This is one of our outstanding success stories in Osun.
“We have kept faith with these students, their parents and guardians towards realising their life time ambition. In spite of the acute paucity of funds that our state has been facing, we never renege on our promise to see them through. Today, we are happy we have caused their dreams to become realities.”
The Vice Chancellor of the Osun State University, Prof Labo Popoola said at the graduation ceremony: “This is an indication of leadership with vision.”
Abiola, the Best Overall Student, said the new medical doctors would forever be grateful to the state government and Aregbesola for making their dreams possible.
“We are here today proud that from the loss of hope that we were plunged into, we have been raised with new vigour. We have seen in Osun a responsible government which would not let its citizens down. Words are not enough to celebrate our victory. We have won,” she told the crowd.
Besides the initial 87 students who then were in 300-500 levels, the state government also assisted 29 other medical students who were in 100 and 200 levels to secure admission to the university and process their travelling documents with their parents providing sponsorship.