The Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Kashere, FUK Gombe State, Prof Umaru Alhaji Pate has said that Konngol Silver Tongue: Media and Language Training Institute (KSMLTI) is a great achievement to happen in Yola, Adamawa state as it’s the only Institute of its kind in the entire northeastern region of Nigeria and has posed to be an opportunity to learn and to also grow scholarly professionally.
Professor Pate who is the Kaigamma Adamawa and the President of, Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN) made the declaration on Sunday, during the 15th joint graduation ceremony of the Class 2020-B and Class 2021-A of the Institute in Yola.
Pate lamented so many factors affecting the communication sector, like poor public speaking of some journalists, and politicians describing it as shameful and a slap on the noble professions. He also talked about teachers lacking the art of public speaking, handling students in the classrooms and how events are obnoxiously organised without consulting event management professionals, which he observed are rare in the state.
For establishing the media and language training Institute, Professor Pate commended Prof Abubakar Abba Tahir, the Kaakaakey Adamawa, whom he tagged a worthy colleague and a selfless servant of society.
The Kaigamma Adamawa, who was impressed with the event management, where papers, testimonials and debates were excellently showcased by the certified participants, congratulated the beneficiaries.
While assuring the institute of his constant support, he thanked the management of the Institute for finding him worthy to be invited as a special guest of honour.
The chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Salihu Baba Ahmed applauded Prof Abba Tahir for establishing the training Institute, he congratulated the graduates for their amazing performances and tasked them to make good the knowledge they have acquired.
Delivering his speech, the founder of the Institute, Prof Tahir thanked all the dignitaries that graced the occasion, he appreciated Pate, for his presence, and said the different motivational experiences shared during the occasion have come in handy for the graduates.
“Let me assure you that your instructors and alumni will forever remember your incisive individual speeches, your teamwork in the group projects, your seriousness with the training and indeed your award-winning testimonials, which have thrilled this audience today.
“In fact, your special graduation left this audience spell-bound, as we have been carried away by the great work of your graduation anchors – their emceeing was marvellous, a great testimony to the event scripting lessons and the mentoring class in emceeing!
“We cannot be prouder of your achievements and accomplishments today,” the founder said.
On the rationale behind the establishment of Konngol, the Kaakaakey Adamawa said; “nowadays, many university students no longer have confidence in themselves to the extent that they can hardly present and defend their undergraduate and even postgraduate thesis.
“At the workplace, many public servants find it difficult to craft and confidently present speeches before even familiar audiences.
“Many of them can write very well but the delivery becomes a nightmare.
“The culture of debates in our schools have almost fizzled out. And in institutions of higher learning, most students offering courses in the core sciences feel that public speaking is not their trade, but for those in the humanities and other fields.
“In the private sector where outspokenness is even more compelling, only a sprinkle of daring employees, buy into the quarrel with stage fright”.
Prof Tahir added that “we have deliberately joined events planning and project management to our public speaking training because of the organic and largely inseparable connection between them.
“There is hardly any formal public speaking that happens outside the contest of an event or ceremony.
“Unfortunately, society takes events management and delivery for granted, if we are only conversant about the public speaking and ignorant of events management, we will continue to plan and organise our events and ceremonies with fundamental shortfalls.
According to Kaakaakey, over 90% of the courses at Konngol were focused on practical mentoring to enable graduates to join the public speaking and events management industry with an adequate sense of professionalism.
Prof Tahir said the Institute’s training is more of community service considering the cost, where he revealed that the earlier training, which involved staff of the media organisations in the state were totally free of charge.
He commended the First Lady, Aishatu Muhammadu Bihari’s for supporting the Institute by sponsoring training and managing events.
According to him, so far, the Institute has graduated candidates not only from Adamawa but also other states like Kano, Kaduna, Taraba, Enugu, Imo and Rivers, etc. 27 participants have graduated for the Class of 2020-B 11 and Class of 2021-A 16.
Highlights of the occasion include the presentation of papers, poems, testimonials, eulogies and inter-class debates.
Other dignitaries present at the occasion include the Representative of the District Head of Yola, the Chika Soro Adamawa, the Ma’aji Adamawa, the Dan Adalan Chika Soro, the Representatives of Provost, FCE Yola and College of Legal Studies, Yola.
Certificates of completion were presented to the graduates who in turn presented gifts to the Institute.
Receiving the gift on behalf of the Institute, the Director of Operations, Dr Yusuf Mohammed, known as Captain, thanked the graduates for their generosity in showing appreciation and charged them to be good ambassadors of the institute anywhere they go.
He also announced that admission forms are currently on sale for the Class of 2021-C and classes are slated to commence in the second week of August.
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