Senator Austin Akobundu is fast becoming one of the most sought-after speakers at academic events organised by educational institutions in the country. Between February 2025 and June 2025, a space of just four months, Senator Akobundu has delivered four speeches as key note address speaker at various academic institutions in the country.
In February, for example, Amadeus University, a private institution located in Ikwuano, Abia State, invited the Senator to deliver a speech at its opening ceremony and inaugural matriculation. This was soon to be followed by Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) where he was invited by the Governing Council, Senate and management of the highly regarded institution to present a keynote address at its 2nd Michael Iheonukara Okpara Lecture and Founder’s Day celebration. In his address, Senator Akobundu called on leaders at all levels to emulate Dr M.I. Okpara, the late Premier of Old Eastern Region, whose exemplary leadership qualities and enduring transformative socioeconomic policies impacted positively on the people and turned the region into one of the fastest growing economy in the world at the time.
On the occasion of World Environment Day marked on 5th June 2025, the College of Natural Resources and Environmental Management of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, organised a conference with the theme, “Ending Plastic Pollution”. Senator Austin Akobundu was also invited to present an address on the theme to the University community.
Most recent of these academic ventures for Senator Akobundu was at the graduation ceremony of the prestigious Pacesetters Academy, Abuja, where former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, GCON, Members of the Federal House of Representatives, wives of governors, members of the academia, captains of industry, among others, were present.
In presenting his address as the keynote speaker of the occasion, Senator Austin Akobundu held the audience spellbound as he reeled out, point after point, the way forward for education in Nigeria, to the admiration and intermittent resounding applause of his listeners.
In general, Senator Akobundu was delivering insightful addresses packed with novel ideas for a more peaceful, progressive and prosperous nation in particular and humanity as a whole. His speeches have since been attracting rave reviews from the academia and beyond.
But why is Senator Austin Akobundu now a prime choice to deliver papers in academic institutions from the north to the south?
The answer is simple.
As senator, Akobundu has demonstrated great love for children and youths of his constituency and beyond, especially in the areas of education, skills acquisition and empowerment. He has practically committed himself enormously to their welfare and securing their future.
Apart from the several students that are on the scholarship scheme of the senator, he has sponsored the free training of children/youths in the areas of engineering and robotics through which they learnt how to create game apps, animated cartoon characters, build housing and estate prototypes, and prototypes of exotic cars and heavy duty vehicles.
This was followed with the sponsorship of another set of constituents sponsored to the National Teachers Institute (NTI) to be trained as professional teachers who would bridge the gap in shortfall of teachers in the state and even beyond.
This was soon to be followed with the training of some other youths in the area of fashion design and farming at the end of which start-up kits, including sewing machines and cash, were given to the participants.
Perhaps the most talked-about of them all is Senator Akobundu’s digital skills acquisition programme with a target to train 1,000 youths of the constituency in lucrative ICT fields like UI/UX Design, Web Design, Professional Graphics Design, Cyber Security Systems and Operations, Digital Marketing, Forex Trading, Software Development, and Data Science.
With all this commitment to the education, skills acquisition and empowerment of children and youths in his constituency and beyond, it is no surprise that Senator Austin Akobundu is now the darling of educational institutions in the country.
Chief Jude Ndukwe Writes from Abuja
