Two emerge best graduating student with perfect 5.0 CGPA score
By Alade Adesina
A total of 16,409 students are graduating during the 55th convocation ceremony of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, has disclosed.
She stated this on Wednesday while briefing the press on activities lined up for the ceremony.
Among the graduating students, 561 are in the first class category, while 3,910 are in the second class upper class and 3,763 in the second class lower category, while 1,143 are in the third class category.
This is just as two students emerged the overall best graduating students with a perfect score of 5.0 CGPA. They are from the Faculty of Science, Department of Cell Biology & Genetics, and they are Damilare Haroun Adebakin and Samuel Akinade Badekale. The university is also producing 218 Doctor of Philosophy degree graduates. The VC added that some projects would also be inaugurated by the Chairman of the Governing Council, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN.
,”They are the Centre for Herbal Medicine, Drug Recovery & Development, Biomedical Toxicology, Regulatory Science and Pharmacovigilance Analytical Laboratory (ACEDHARS Building) – one of the World Bank supported Centres of Excellence project which is focused on the development of indigenous plants for medical applications. We are also commissioning the new 120 bed space Moremi Hall extension and finally the new ultra-modern Learning Commons, an extension of our library services which speaks to our student-centered services and provides an environment for teamwork, creative engagement, research-collaboration, and knowledge co-creation.
“The Convocation Lecture titled, “Universities as Hubs for Development and Wealth Creation” will be delivered by Dr. Tayo Aduloju, the CEO of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) at J.F. Ade-Ajayi Auditorium. We are looking forward to a very thought-provoking lecture that will add to the discuss on funding of tertiary education and positioning them as drivers of economic and social development. We are privileged to have as Chairman, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, former Governor of Lagos State and former Minister of Works whose clarity in addressing issues was pivotal to innovative reforms and development of our country,” she said.
Ogunsola added that two distinguished professors who have retired, Babajide Alo, of the Department of Chemistry and Olukayode Amund, of the Department of Microbiology, would be awarded Professor Emeritus, while Prof. Victor Ariole, of the Department of European Languages, would be awarded a Gold Medal for his contributions to the university and the nation.
“We will also be conferring honorary degrees in recognition to three personalities who have distinguished themselves in scholarship, made ground-breaking discoveries, or contributed significantly to academic and societal development. This year we have the privilege of honouring two men and a woman, who have shown that Integrity, hard work and service to the nation work.
“They are Mr. Fola Adeola, Engr. Kolawole Adesina, and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo -Iweala.
Adeola is a co-founder of Guarantee Trust Bank, Adesina is the Group Managing Director of the Sahara Power Group and Okonjo-Iweala is the Director General of the World Trade Organization, WTO.”
On some the developments that have taken place in the last one year, Ogunsola said Chief Tunde Fanimokun is donating a N4.5 billion postgraduate building to the university, while over N4 billion also came in as grants to the university from various sources.
She commended Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State for the renovation of the Ade Ajayi Hall, while Pastor Tunde Bakare helped in providing solar panels for the Faculty of Law.
On the renovation of students’ hostels, the VC gave the hint that the exercise could mean students would be off campus throughout the ongoing first semester.
“It is either we renovate the hostels now or we put ourselves at the mercy of galloping inflation. For the past five years, our students have been complaining about the conditions of the hostels. We took a long time view of the situation and decided to renovate them now. If we don’t do it now, there cannot be anytime when students won’t be on campus.
“We decided that the students should do virtual learning this semester. If you consider the fact that not all of them are from Lagos State, and even for those in Lagos, what about the cost of transport? For somebody I living in Ikorodu for instance, the fares for commuting from there to campus in three days may be higher than the cost of data for over one month. Moreover, virtual learning is not strange to our students. We had the experience during the COVID-19 pandemic,” she stated.
