UNILAG To Graduate 238 First Class Candidates As Gbajabiamila Delivers Convocation Lecture

A total of 238 graduands among 12,217 that will be taking part in the 52nd convocation ceremonies of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, will bag First Class in various degree programmes.

Also, 36 others will graduate from the faculties of Pharmacy, Basic Medical Sciences, and Clinical Sciences with distinctions.

This was disclosed on Tuesday at a pre-convocation press conference addressed by the university’s vice-chancellor, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe.

Mr. Ogundipe, who disclosed that the 52nd convocation ceremonies will mark his last to be witnessed as the institution’s vice-chancellor, said a 1983 alumnus of the university and speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, will deliver the convocation lecture.

The lecture, he said, is themed; “Building Back Better: Creating a New Framework for Tertiary Education in Nigeria in the 21st Century,” and will be held on the campus on Monday, January 17.

He said the lecture will be chaired by a justice of Nigeria’s supreme court, Amina Adamu Augie.

Graduands’ statistics
Breaking down the statistics, Mr. Ogundipe, a professor of Botany, said out of the total 12,217 graduands, 7,799 will receive first degrees or diplomas while 4,418 will receive postgraduate degrees.

He said: “Furthermore, 2,454 students graduated in the Second-Class Upper Division, while 3,459 obtained Second-Class Lower Division. We also have 1,183 students graduating in the Third-Class Division while 85 students made the Pass degree. At this Convocation, a total of 201 graduating students obtained degrees that are not classified. The pre-degree programmes are graduating a total of 143 Diplomas comprising 68 in Human Kinetics and Health Education (HKHE) and 75 in Social Development and Administration (SDA).

“I am glad to also inform you that of the 4,418 postgraduate students, 145 students will be awarded Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in various disciplines, while 3,863 will obtain Masters degrees in the various fields across the University, and 410 will receive Postgraduate Diplomas.”

Best graduands
According to the vice-chancellor, Elizabeth Ekeoseye of the department of zoology with environmental toxicology and conservation option, at the faculty of science with a total Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.95 out of 5.00 will be awarded the best graduand for 2019/2020 graduating set.

He added that the best graduand in the Humanities is Oluwaseyi Atanranshe of the department of accounting, faculty of management sciences, with a CGPA of 4.92.

“In the postgraduate category, the overall best Ph.D. Thesis award for this year goes to UMUDU, Joy Chinyere who obtained her Ph.D. in Mathematics (Pure) while the best Ph.D. Thesis in Humanities award goes to EHIOROBO, Osa Abraham, who obtained his Ph.D. in Management.”

The vice-chancellor said the ceremonies, which will kick off on Monday with the convocation lecture, will continue till Friday with various activities including exhibition, award of degrees, thanksgiving services, and long service awards.

He thanked the minister of education, Adamu Adamu; the executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Rasheed Abubakar, among many others, who he said stood by the university since he assumed office as the university’s 12th substantive vice-chancellor in 2017.

The vice-chancellor, who claimed the university attracted a total of N17 billion as research grants between 2018 and 2021, said such was possible because his administration made research the currency traded in on the campus.

He listed many partnerships and programmes introduced by his administration including the launch of the University of Lagos Business School (ULBS), which he said will graduate its first set during the 52nd convocation ceremony.