A total of seventeen thousand, four hundred and sixty four (17,464) students will be admitted to various undergraduate and postgraduate degrees of the University of Lagos at the 54th Convocation Ceremonies which is slated for Monday, January 15 to Friday, January 19, 2024.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, OON, FAS, disclosed this at the pre-Convocation Press Conferenceheld on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 at the Senate Chamberof the University.
Traditionally a curtain raiser for convocation ceremonies at the University of Lagos, the press conference afforded the Vice-Chancellor the opportunity to apprise the general public of events lined up for the 54th Convocation Ceremonies and the notable highlights to look forward to.
Her words: “Ladies and gentlemen, let me take you through the statistics of the graduating students. This year we will be graduating 17,464 students. Of these,10,578 will receive first degrees and 6,886 will be postgraduate. Of those with first degrees, 340 are First Class with 97 coming from Management Sciences, followed by Science with 57 and Engineering, 47. From the Faculties of Pharmacy, Basic Medical Sciences and Clinical Sciences, there are 39 Distinctions, 24 of which are from the Faculty of Pharmacy. 3,374 graduated with Second Class Upper, 4,547 graduated with Second Class Lower and 1,832 with Third Class. 188 graduated with a Pass and 250 had unclassified degrees from Pharmacy, Basic and Clinical Sciences. At the postgraduate level, 465 students will graduate with a Postgraduate Diplomas, while 6,266 will graduate with a Masters – out of which 377 have Distinctions”.y
To the delight of the audience, the Vice-Chancellor announced David Oluwatomiwa Akanmu, from the Faculty of Engineering, as the Overall Best Graduating Student with a perfect Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.00. She also announced Ibrahim Abiodun Quadri, of the Faculty of Management Sciences, as the Best Graduating Student in the Humanities with a CGPA of 4.94.
The University Helmswoman seized the moment to extol the unrelenting internationalisation efforts of the University, and to highlight the operations of the University of Lagos Business School (ULBS) as an autonomous, postgraduate degree-awarding institution.
“Most exciting is that 31 of the Masters students are international students who were supported with a World Bank grant at our African Centre of Excellence for Drug Research, Herbal Medicine Development and Regulatory Science (ACEDHERS). This is the first time, in the history of this University, that we will be having such a harvest of international students at one Convocation Ceremony. This further validates the aggressive internationalisation drive of this administration and previous administrations”.
She continued, “62 students will be graduating from the Business School this year and the Overall Best GraduatingStudent is Abiola Oluyemisi Itakpe, who obtained the Master of Business Administration degree with a CGPA of 4.84”.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, “155 graduands will be awarded the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in various disciplines. The Overall Best Ph.D. Thesis award for this year, which is also the best PhD in the Sciences. goes to AminatOlawunmi Ige, with a PhD in Mathematics. The best PhD in the Humanities goes to Issa Akanji Adedokun with a Ph.D. in Private and Property Law”.
While stating other events scheduled for the 54th Convocation Ceremonies, Professor Ogunsola disclosed that the Universitywill also confer honorary doctorate degrees on Professor Toyin Falola, a globally acclaimed Humanities scholar; Professor Phyllis Kanki, renowned globally for her contributions to medical education and HIV research; and Professor Attahiru Jega, an astute Political Scientist who revolutionized Nigeria’s electoral process.
The Vice-Chancellor highlighted the achievements of the University of Lagos over the past year including significant wins in research activities, collaborations, and partnerships, as well as improvements in infrastructure, employability initiatives, and internationalization efforts.
She also expressed gratitude to all stakeholders for their support and commitment to the UNILAG brand. Her words, “Finally, I want to again thank you all, members of the Press, for your support in the last one year and look forward to your coverage of our 54th Convocation Ceremonies”.
The degree-award events of the 54th Convocation Ceremonies will be held at the J.F. Ade. Ajayi Auditorium at the Akoka Campus of the University of Lagos. The Programme of Events and General Information for the Convocation Ceremonies are available via: https://unilag.edu.ng/?p=31705.
Kindly click https://youtube.com/live/d2ORc0rNEQc to view the 54th Pre-Convocation Press Conference.
