•Varsity set to graduate 17,464 students
Funmi Ogundare
For the third time since its establishment 61 years ago, a student of the Faculty of Engineering, Mr. David Akanmu has set another record in the University of Lagos, Akoka.
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola who briefed journalists, yesterday on the upcoming convocation of the institution, gave the statistics of the graduating students.
Akanmu emerged the overall best graduating student with a perfect Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.00 out of the 17,464 students the school will be producing at its 57th convocation ceremony scheduled to kick off with a Jumat service on January 12.
Also, Mr. Ibrahim Quadri of the Faculty of Management Sciences with CGPA of 4.94 emerged the best graduating student (Humanities) while Ms Aminat Ige will be receiving the overall best PhD thesis award in Mathematics for the year, as well as the best PhD in the Sciences.
In the same vein, Issa Adedokun will receive the best PhD award in the Humanities( Private and Property Law).
Ogunsola stated that out of a total of 17,464 graduating students, 10,578 will receive first degrees and 6,886 will get their postgraduate degrees.
“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 were 39 distinctions; 24 of which, were from the Faculty of Pharmacy. 3374 graduated with second class upper, 4,547 graduated with second class lower and 1,832 finished with third class.
One hundred and eighty eight 188 graduated with a pass and 250 had unclassified degrees from Pharmacy, Basic and Clinical Sciences,” Ogunsola stated.
Ogunsola added that of the 6,886 postgraduate degrees, 465 will be graduating with a postgraduate diploma, 6,266 are graduating with a masters of which 377 have distinctions.
“Most exciting is that 31 of the masters students are international students all with MSc degrees who were supported by World Bank grant through the African Centre of Excellence for Drug Research, Herbal medicine Development and Regulatory Science (ACEDHERS),” she stated.
The convocation lecture titled: ‘Decolonising African Higher Education for Transformational Development’, will be delivered on January 15, by Prof. Toyin Falola, a distinguished professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin.
Also, the Chairman of Tanus and former Pro-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (O.A.U), Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi, is expected to chair the lecture.
The congregation for the award of first degrees, diplomas, certificates, and prizes to graduating students across all faculties and the Distance Learning Institute (DLI), the VC, noted, will hold in morning and afternoon sessions, on January 16, and 17.
The VC added that Postgraduate Diplomas, Masters, and PhD degrees, including DBA and EMBA will be conferred on graduates of the School of Postgraduate Studies and the University of Lagos Business School (ULBS) on January 18.
Ogunsola added that the university will also confer honorary doctorate degrees, same day, on three personalities who have distinguished themselves by significantly contributing to scholarship and societal development in various fields.
The VC listed them as: Prof. Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker, Chair at the University of Texas at Austin, a Professor of Immunology at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Phyllis Kanki, as well as Professor of Political Science and former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega.
The ceremonies will climax with a thanksgiving service at the Chapel of Christ Our Light, University of Lagos, on January 21, the institution said.
