The Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Folasade Ogunsola, has disclosed that the university has produced 709 First Class students and Distinctions in the 56th convocation of the institution for the 2024/2025 academic session.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, the university will also confer an Honorary Doctorate Degree (Honoris Causa) on Mr Kanu Agabi (SAN), former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, who will be awarded the Doctor of Laws and Mr Jubril Adewale Tinubu, the Founder/CEO of Oando Plc, who will receive the Doctor of Business.
This will be conferred on the duo on Thursday, January 22, 2026, during the award of Postgraduate Diplomas, Master’s And Doctoral Degrees.
Addressing journalists during the 56th pre-convocation press conference, held at the Senate Chamber of the university, Prof Ogunsola said a total of 16,506 graduating students, comprising 10,584 in First Degree, while 5,922 postgraduate students are to receive their scrolls for the award of First Degrees, Diplomas, Certificates, Master’s and Doctorate Degrees.
Giving a further breakdown of the results, the Vice-Chancellor said that of the total graduating students, no fewer than 4,543 students graduated with Second Class Upper; 3,910 students with Second Class Lower; 1,023 with Third Class and 69 students with Pass Grade; while 330 were in the Unclassified category.
The week-long ceremony will kick off on Friday, January 16, 2026, with a Special Jumat Service, and will be followed on Monday, January 19, with the unveiling of the UNILAG Multimedia Library Studio, funded through a World Bank Centre of Excellence project and the Convocation Lecture.
The Convocation Lecture, titled: “Maximizing Nigeria’s Demographic Dividend through Urgent Education Reform for Global Competitiveness in the 21st Century,” will be delivered by the Founder of Slum2School Africa and pioneer of the first Virtual Learning Classroom in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Orondaam Otto; and chaired by the 11th Vice Chancellor of the university and the President of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, by Prof. Rahamon A. Bello.
As part of activities lined up to commemorate the ceremony, two retired academics Prof James Dele Olowokujdejo of the Department of Botany and Prof Duro Oni of the Department of Theatre Arts, will be bestowed with the title of Emeritus Professors; while Prof Akinsanya Olayide Osibogun, a distinguished scholar of medicine, will be conferred with the title of Distinguished Professor.
The University Gold Medals will also be awarded to Prof Ayoka Mopelola Olusakin, Professor of Counselling Psychology, and Dr Taiwo Folasade Ipaye, former Registrar of the university and Director of the Office of Advancement.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, the Overall Best Graduating student and also the Best Graduating Student in the Humanities is Chukwuzubelu Benedict Umeozo from the faculty of Management Sciences, Department of Business Administration, with a perfect score of 5.0; while the Best Graduating Student from the Science is Deborah Isiuwa Oloton from the Faculty of Architecture in the Department of Architecture with a CGPA of 4.91.
“The Overall Best PhD. Thesis award for this year goes to Haruna Egbunu Abubakar, who obtained his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Structures option), while the Best PhD Thesis (Humanities) is Beatrice Paul Zuhumnen in Educational Psychology; and the Best PhD Thesis (DBA) from the ULBS is Oyeyemi Idowu Adebamowo,” the Vice-Chancellor stated.
