The Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, will on Thursday, June 4, 2026 deliver the 38th Convocation Lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.
The event, which will hold at the Prof. C. O. E. Onwuliri Conference Centre of the University, will attract notable political leaders, academics, industry leaders, and members of the FUTO community.
Governor Uzodimma, who is also the Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, will speak on the topic, “Nigerian Universities of Technology Must Lead in the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Jeopardise the Nation’s Future.”
In a statement issued in Owerri, the Imo State Commissioner for Information, Public Orientation and Strategy, Hon. Declan Emelumba, explained that the Governor’s choice of topic is part of a broader strategy to deepen the quest for technological breakthroughs in Nigeria.
According to him, the Governor, who has delivered a series of lectures in universities across Nigeria, wants to refocus institutions of higher learning to adapt to modern methods of teaching and research.
He noted that Uzodimma, an alumnus of FUTO who has also been awarded an honorary doctorate by the institution, is using the lecture to encourage the school to achieve excellence in science and technology.
Describing the Governor as a lover of functional education, Emelumba noted that the Imo Chief Executive is the only governor in Nigeria whose administration is currently funding and superintending four state-owned universities.
“He has established three new universities, two of them dedicated to specialised fields of national priority, namely agriculture and environmental sciences, and innovation, science and technology. Together with the pre-existing Imo State University, Owerri, that gives our state four functioning universities. That will give you an inkling of how he values education,” he said.
