GO Is Going Higher
Protocol
On behalf of the staff and students of Godfrey Okoye University, I warmly welcome each of you to this 13th Convocation of our university. Your presence here today underscores your love and solidarity with our dynamic, innovative, entrepreneurial and famous Catholic university. I welcome particularly the Chancellor of our university, who has never missed any of our convocations from the inception of the university till date as well as the Proprietor and Promoter of the university, who also has never missed any of our convocations. I warmly welcome the Chairman and members of Board Trustees as well as the Chairman and members of the Governing Council. I welcome you particularly, the main actors and actresses on this occasion, the fresh graduates of GO and your parents or guardians who have travelled from different places to be part of the end of a narrative that started four or five years ago in Godfrey Okoye University. I congratulate you, my young graduates, for your record-breaking success with twenty two (22) First-Class Honours out of six hundred and sixty (660) graduates. For the first time in the history of our university, a person who has been Vice-Chancellor-for-One-Day has emerged the overall best graduating student of this remarkable set. She is Ms Azubuike Nkenna Mary (CGPA 5.96) of our Psychology Department.
My dear Convoking Graduates, Your Excellencies, Erudite Professors, Ladies and Gentlemen, GO is going higher.
From our first convocation in 2013 till date, we have produced four thousand four hundred and thirty one (4,431) graduates who are in almost all countries of this world, studying or working and spreading the sweet aroma of GO university values, especially the three-pronged core values of dialogue, hard work and spirituality. What is unique about our alumni is their love of their alma mater. They not only insist that their younger siblings and friends study in our university but also undertake to pay their fees. This explains why many families have had all their children (without an exception) study in Godfrey Okoye University. Many of our graduates have also given scholarships to our students. Some of those who are outside Nigeria have also offered to teach pro bono in their alma mater. Such a bonding, such solidarity, such incredible generosity is the GO spirit, the palpable expression of our values. Ladies and gentlemen, GO is going higher!
GO is going higher in our college of Medicine.
In the Second MBSS examination, our first set of medical students set a record with 9 distinctions in Anatomy and many distinctions in other areas. Members of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria who were the external examiners were incredibly fascinated, and commended our staff and students. Besides, the serene environment here in Ugwuomu Nike is certainly a very good setting for teaching medical and nursing science students in the first part of medical education, which is the basic medical sciences. On this campus, there is neither room for distraction nor for such social space that breeds cultism, rascality and foolishness. As you can see, GO is going higher.
GO is going higher in our teaching hospital, the Godfrey Okoye University Teaching Hospital.
We have become one of the few private universities with their own functional teaching hospital. With the GO University Teaching Hospital, we are completely in charge of the quality of our medical students and doctors. Our teaching hospital has one of the biggest and most beautiful accident and emergency units (including a children‘s unit) of any teaching hospital in Nigeria. Our two-hundred-bed teaching hospital is equipped with modern hospital beds, x-ray machines, CT-scans, modern ultrasound machines and a dialysis centre. Our intensive care unit (ICU) will also be ready soon. The hospital provides around the clock services in pediatrics, orthopedics, general surgery, urology, antenatal care and gynecology, ear, nose and throat (ENT), psychiatry and psychology, family medicine, cardiology, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, nephrology, endocrinology, neurology, internal medicine, occupational health, etc. It has carried out two successful brain surgeries recently. Its learning environment for our medical students is incredibly clean and inviting. With this teaching hospital we hope to graduate exceptional medical doctors in two years’ time.
GO is going higher in our DNA Centre.
As I announced in the last convocation, Enugu State Government, under our incredibly hardworking and innovative Governor Peter Mbah, is partnering with our university for the expansion of our DNA Learning Centre for paternity tests, forensic analyses and state-of-the-art laboratories for all manners of biological science research and DNA sequencing of humans, animals and plants. Our DNA Centre is the biggest of such a centre in the whole of Africa. I express my deep gratitude to our Governor and Enugu State Government for facilitating this efficacious partnership with our DNA Centre. GO is indeed going higher and higher!
GO is going higher in our inaugural lectures.
We have had 19 inaugural lectures. Godfrey Okoye University inaugural lecture gives a special identity and recognition to a professor of GO University. The last one (the 19th inaugural lecture) was delivered by our professor and secretary to Enugu State Government, Prof. Dr. Chidiebere Onyia. The high quality of our inaugural lectures expresses not only the high quality of research but also the academic strength of our professors.
GO is going higher in the number of our students coming from all over Nigeria and foreign countries.
From a humble beginning with just two hundred and fifteen students, we have risen to over five thousand students spread in eighty seven fully accredited programmes of our university as well as five certificate programmes. Our university has remained one of the fastest growing private universities in Nigeria.
GO is going higher in our competitions.
With the establishment of our Directorate of Competitions under our brilliant, untiring Director, Mrs. Uchanta Chukwu, our university has never gone to a competition without winning a prize or a medal. Permit me to mention just a few of them:
- Winner of Nigerian Debate Championship (NDC X) – December 6-8, 2024: Godfrey Okoye University.
- All Nigerian Universities Debate Championship (ANUDC) – August 24-30, 2025: GO University ranked the tenth best speaker.
- Abuja City Journal National Essay – December 8, 2024: Godfrey Okoye University, 2nd Position with Ojiako Amarachi Judith who won 1.5 Million Naira.
- Chartered Institute of Personnel (CIPM) South-East Regional Quiz: GO University, 2nd position.
- Winner of Bluecode Africa Hackathon –
N6,000,000 Prize: GO University teams. - Enugu Tech Fest– April 2025: 2nd Position, the Godfrey Okoye University team. Prize:
N350,000. - Digital For All Challenge (TECH4DEV) – September 24, 2025, National ICT Tournament for All Universities: Godfrey Okoye University, 1st Nationwide in Data Analysis Track.
- GOUNI Hackathon Pitch Finals – October 7, 2025 with prize money as
N750,000,N500,000 andN250,000 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd positions: Godfrey Okoye University. - West African Universities Debating Championship (WAUDC): GO University as one of the top eight best public speakers in West Africa.
GO is going higher in winning grants.
Our scholars recently won two grants from AfricaUniNet worth one hundred and thirty–five million naira. Our research teams from different faculties are working with their colleagues from 160 universities in Africa and Austria who are members of the AfricaUniNet. This has tremendously improved their visibility and exposure to the latest developments in their fields.
GO is going higher in our Directorate of Entrepreneurship (DOE).
The achievements of this Directorate are legion. I would like to mention just a few:
- Grants & Funding: The DOE, in partnership with Leuphana University in Germany, Mt. Kenya University and the University of Venda in South Africa, is in the second year of the implementation of the DAAD-funded ninety (90) million naira for the SDG Partnership Projects. Under this grant, Godfrey Okoye University has trained and empowered 700 students in the Student Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion -Sustainability (STEP-S programme). Besides, the SDG-Partnership projects have placed GO University among universities implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the Global South. Also the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Nigeria has earmarked three hundred (300) million naira to fund a new TVET project with our Directorate of Entrepreneurship. This project will be funded under the GIZ Skills Development for Youth Employment (SKYE programme).
- Student Startups: Within the last one year, the Directorate of Entrepreneurship has successfully trained and empowered 200 student micro startups with over 11 million naira micro credit to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. Our student startups are not only profit-driven but also people-driven. The Directorate has also provided mentorship and coaching services to many other startups including Zempa, which is an e-commerce platform owned by GO University students.
- National Entrepreneurship Challenge: Mr. Divinewisdom Ugwuanyi, our STEP-S student and a three hundred level student of the Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, emerged the winner in the National Entrepreneurship Competition organised by the South East Directors of Enterprise Development Centres (EDC) in Nigeria. Mr. Divinewisdom represented the entire southeast in the grand finale of the National Entrepreneurship Challenge in Abuja, beating 165 other public and private universities to maintain his position as the best among private universities in the South East.
- Entrepreneurship Master Trainer Certification: In March 2025, Mr. Christopher Chidiebere Uwakwe, a GO University scholar and Director of Entrepreneurship was certified by Leuphana University Germany as the first Nigerian Master Trainer on Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Africa. Mr. Uwakwe’s certification came after he had successfully facilitated the STEP-S Train-the-Trainer Workshops and trained 12 faculty members each at the University of Venda and the Mount Kenya University.
- National and International Entrepreneurship Knowledge Transfer: The GO University Directorate of Entrepreneurship has been involved in different national and international workshops to share and exchange knowledge on best practices for entrepreneurship training. In September, Mr. Christopher Uwakwe and Mrs. Njideka Mbadugha participated in a study visit to the Hessen Institute for Continuing Vocation and Training in Hessen, Germany, to exchange knowledge on the successful implementation of the German dual system of vocational training at the GO University Centre of Practical Skills (CoPS). The study visit qualified the Directorate of Entrepreneurship as a key stakeholder from the Nigerian private sector to strengthen TVET in Nigeria. In November 2025, the Director of Entrepreneurship was invited by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to train over 300 representatives of public universities in Nigeria on how to implement the Local Economic Development (LED) framework. The training aims at supporting Nigerian universities to build capacity through community collaboration for the local economic development. As you can see, GO is going higher!
My dear convoking graduates, as you leave Godfrey Okoye University today to be actors and actresses on the world stage, with roles and varied human activities and interests, I write you this letter:
My dear Grad 2025,
I am profoundly grateful to God for the gift of you and every moment we shared together. Looking back to the beginning of your journey in Godfrey Okoye University, I cannot but raise my hands in gratitude to God today. Most of you entered the university at the age of sixteen or seventeen. You entered as green horns without adequate preparation for life outside the comfort of home with the reassuring watch and care of Papa and Mama. I knew then we could not offer you a physical and social space as comfortable as home. But I realised that we had no option but to offer you a space that is as reassuring as it is caring. The presence of your VC while evoking authority also emitted love, fatherliness and care. I knew I needed to balance authority with the love of a father and encouraged the staff to do the same. Many of you came to trust us as role models and we properly mentored and guided you.
No doubt some of the programmes like Sunday evening programmes were not your cup of tea. Do we need to talk about the discomfort of waking up to do your morning chores? Do we need to talk about three times of prayers, rigors of tight lecture schedules, the seemingly oddity of seeking approval before leaving the university, sharing of space with your roommates, countless assignments and examinations, numerous entrepreneurial activities in our labyrinth of entrepreneurial ecosystem?
Today looking at your bright and beautiful faces and reflecting on your physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and social growth, I feel my heart brimming over with joy as I recall a beautiful German sentence “Es hat sich gelohnt” (It was worth it.). You have grown physically. You have gown emotionally with incredible emotional intelligence. You have grown spiritually with a deep sense of the importance of a good connection with your Father in heaven. You have grown socially strong with the consciousness of “being-with-others“ and thus becoming socially smart. You have grown intellectually with all the knowledge you have acquired in GO, spiced up with entrepreneurial skills. You have grown in cultural intelligence because of our philosophy of cultural dialogue. You now realise the beauty of the variety of human cultures. You now realise that no culture is superior to the other. You now understand the meaning of tolerance and acceptance of people from other cultural groups. Many of you have forged friendships across cultural boundaries and divides. I am incredibly proud of you because you represent the Nigeria and Nigerians of our dream. God bless you!
Yours sincerely,
Fr–VC
My dear graduates, “Higher education isn’t just about landing a job or launching a startup; it’s about building a foundation for lifelong learning, critical thinking, and personal growth.” You have been given the tools for continuous growth. Never stop growing. I urge you to keep learning and improving yourself everyday so that you can play your role well in the world‘s stage of human actions.
My dearest children, let me drop this beautiful poem entitled “If” by Rudyard Kipling into your beautiful souls:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Always remember this famous William Shakespeare‘s words in his comedy As You Like It:
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
As you leave your university today, remember to take as your role models those graduates and who have not only excelled in their studies and work within and outside Nigeria but have also continued to support their department and the university. Please be part of the world-wide family of GO University Alumni. Two weeks ago I inaugurated the senate of GO University Alumni comprising two senators for each set of graduates. Each senator has their graduation set as their constituency and must work hard to promote the interest of the graduates of that particular set. Please make your voice heard through your senators.
Furthermore, please help me thank your parents and guardians for entrusting us with your higher education. I am aware of their tremendous sacrifices for your education and human formation in Godfrey Okoye University. May God bless all parents and guardians of our students and graduates.
Let me also congratulate all those who have completed their postgraduate programmes in our university. Please remember that you are now senior members of the GO Uni Alumni. We expect each of you to be an embodiment of our values and to contribute to the growing reputation of GO University as a leading private university in Nigeria. God bless you! To our honorary doctorate degree awardees, please remember that you have been selected based on your track record of hard work, excellence and integrity. We expect you to be good ambassadors of Godfrey Okoye University and to continue to contribute to its development. Congratulations!
Finally, as you, my fresh graduates, leave today, I raise my hands and eyes to heaven to invoke all the blessings of God (the real owner of Godfrey Okoye University) on you! May the Lord bless you with long and happy life! May the Lord bless you with successes wherever you go! May the Lord protect you through all the prayers and masses being offered in Godfrey Okoye University! May the Lord make you exceptional leaders in your work and work places. May the Lord bless you with deep spirituality and understanding of the real meaning of a good life! May the Lord bless you with wealth! May Lord bless you with happy marriages and vocations! May the Lord bless you today and all the days of your life!
Your Excellencies, Your Lordships, Distinguished Guests and Friends, thank your for being here today to share our joy in giving Nigeria and the world beautiful, intelligent, entrepreneurial and God-fearing fresh graduates of this God‘s Own University. Thanks for being part of the narrative of GO as it goes higher and higher. God bless you all!
Rev. Fr. Prof. Dr. Christian Anieke
Vice Chancellor
