Nearly 500 students earn top honors as Lagos State University confers degrees on 20,000 graduates

A total of 494 students from the first-degree programmes at Lagos State University have achieved the prestigious First Class honour as the institution prepares to confer degrees on 20,604 students across various programmes at its 29th and 30th combined convocation ceremonies.

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The university's Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, revealed this information during a press conference held on Wednesday to announce the activities planned for the combined convocation for the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions.

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In the 2024/2025 academic session, 262 students obtained First Class honours, while 232 students achieved the same feat in the 2025/2026 session, according to Olatunji-Bello.

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A total of 7,621 students graduated from first-degree programmes in the 2024/2025 academic session, with 3,155 students obtaining Second Class Upper Division, 3,439 securing Second Class Lower Division, 622 finishing with Third Class, and 37 graduating with passes.

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Additionally, 106 students in the MBBS and BDS programmes were classified as having unclassified degrees, while in the 2025/2026 academic session, 8,653 students graduated from first-degree programmes.

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In the 2025/2026 academic session, 3,545 students graduated with Second Class Upper Division, 4,157 with Second Class Lower Division, 678 with Third Class, and 31 obtained passes, as stated by the Vice-Chancellor.

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Olatunji-Bello provided a breakdown of the overall figure, stating that the university would also graduate 3,383 postgraduate students from the two academic sessions, comprising 618 Postgraduate Diploma graduates, 1,508 academic Master’s degree graduates, 900 professional Master’s degree graduates, 238 PhD graduates, and 119 professional doctoral graduates.

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Ayilara Lawal Olawale of the Department of Project Management was announced as the overall best graduating student for the 2024/2025 academic session, having recorded a CGPA of 4.96 to emerge with First Class honours.

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Adebanjo Samuel Oluolamide of the Department of Aerospace Engineering emerged as the overall best graduating student for the 2025/2026 academic session, with a CGPA of 4.97 and First Class honours.

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The Vice-Chancellor described the combined convocation as historic, noting that it would be the final convocation she would preside over as the Vice-Chancellor of the university, and that it would feature the conferment of various degrees on deserving graduands.

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The ceremonies will commence with pre-convocation activities, including a staff sports competition and the university’s first Staff Celebration Day, and will include the conferment of diplomas, first degrees, postgraduate diplomas, master’s degrees, and doctoral degrees.

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Degrees in Engineering and Agricultural Sciences will be conferred on August 17 at the Olatunji Bello Auditorium, Epe Campus, while graduands from the remaining faculties will receive their degrees on August 18 at the Buba Marwa Auditorium, Ojo.

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On August 19, the university will confer professional and academic doctorate degrees, as well as honorary doctorate degrees on selected personalities, as announced by the Vice-Chancellor.

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The Senate has approved the conferment of Honorary Doctorate Degrees on distinguished personalities, including Mr Akin Kekere-Ekun, Mrs Harriet-Ann Omobola (Bola) Adesola, and Alhaji Aliko Dangote, in recognition of their exceptional contributions to national development, scholarship, public service, and humanity.

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The university will also elevate two deserving scholars, Prof. Rafiu Olaoluwa Okuneye and Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, to the rank of Distinguished Professor in recognition of their outstanding contributions to teaching, research, mentorship, and the advancement of knowledge.

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The VC highlighted some of the university’s achievements in the past year, including the approval of 17 new academic programmes by the National Universities Commission, and attracting more than 84,000 first-choice applications in the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

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Lagos State University was the most subscribed university in Nigeria for the second consecutive year, and two of its students won consecutive N50 million venture capital grants in 2026 in a national competition involving over 30,000 applicants.

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The university has secured approval for a N3 billion TETFund Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cyber Sciences, and construction has commenced on a 1,500-bed student hostel estimated at N4bn, as disclosed by Olatunji-Bello.