The City Boy Directorate for Students has taken its student engagement and leadership development campaign to the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), urging students to look beyond academic certificates and deliberately develop the talents and leadership capacity needed to shape their future.
The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Student Engagement, Hon. Comrade Sunday Asefon, led the delegation to UNICROSS on Friday, September 18, 2026, during a courtesy visit focused on strengthening collaboration between students and University Management.
Asefon told the University community that tertiary institutions should serve not only as centres for academic learning but also as training grounds for leadership, innovation, talent development and personal growth.
He urged students to take advantage of opportunities available to them while in the University, stressing that they should identify, nurture and deploy their talents before graduation rather than wait until after obtaining their certificates.
According to him, the City Boy initiative is anchored on three key mandates: to inform, engage and empower students, adding that young people should be adequately informed about government programmes, policies, achievements and opportunities while also participating actively in issues affecting their institutions and communities.
Asefon recalled that he first visited UNICROSS in 2019 while seeking student support during his campaign for the presidency of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), noting that his return to the institution in his present capacity demonstrated how universities could nurture future leaders.
He assured University Management that the City Boy Directorate would conduct its activities responsibly and maintain a positive and constructive relationship with the institution.
Receiving the delegation on behalf of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Francisca Bassey, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Thomas Ojikpong, welcomed the team and explained that the Vice Chancellor was in Abuja on official engagement.
Ojikpong commended the student leadership for maintaining a cordial relationship with University Management, stressing that cooperation, mutual respect and synergy between students and management were critical to sustaining a conducive environment for teaching, learning and institutional development.
He highlighted recent developments at UNICROSS, particularly the commissioning of the University’s ICT Experience Centre by the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, CON, describing the facility as a major addition to the University’s infrastructure and digital learning environment.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor also noted that the positive experience of the First Lady during her visit, including the warm reception by the University community, had created an opportunity for a possible return visit, while reaffirming UNICROSS’s commitment to producing well-rounded graduates and future leaders.
The delegation included the National Director of Students, South-South, Comrade Danielson Akpan; Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Cross River State on Students’ Affairs, Comrade Kelvin Enyam; Comrade Okoi Abini Thomas of the National Association of Cross River State Students (NACRISS) Worldwide and other student leaders.
The team expressed interest in touring key University facilities, particularly the newly commissioned ICT Experience Centre, as the visit accentuated a shared commitment to meaningful student engagement, talent development, leadership and constructive collaboration between students and University authorities.
By Kingsley Agim
