Unilag produces 245 first class graduates, including 4 in Chinese language

Four students of Chinese language are among 245 first class graduates to take part in the 49th 2016/2017 Convocation of the University of Lagos.

The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, announced this at a news conference on Wednesday in Lagos.

Ogundipe said activities lined-up for the three-day ceremonies would begin on May 8.

According to him, the university will, for the first time, produce graduates in the Chinese language, with four out of 14 of them, in the first class division.

He said the university would confer degrees, diplomas and certificates to 12,638 students in various disciplines at the convocation.

He explained that 62 of the entire first class graduating students are from the Faculty of Engineering.

The vice-chancellor noted that three students emerged best graduating students with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.97.

They are Jude Mathew from the Department of Biochemistry, Abbas Roy-Larinde from the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and Emmanuel Babawale, Department of Early Childhood Education.

Giving a further breakdown of the graduating students, Ogundipe said 6,816, representing 53.9 per cent, would get first degrees and diplomas, while 5,822 others, representing 46.1 per cent, would bag postgraduate degrees.

Out of the graduating students, 1,892 are in the Second Class Upper division, while 2,958 others are in the Second Class Lower division.

Also, 1,227 graduates are in the Third Class, 93 with Pass degrees, while 400 others would be awarded degrees or diplomas that are not classified.

In the postgraduate category, Ogundipe said 123 would be awarded Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in various disciplines, while 5,190 others would be conferred with Masters’ degrees in their various fields of study.

He said 509 other students would be conferred with Postgraduate diplomas.

The VC expressed the determination of the university to attain unequalled national recognition and global relevance.

“We have initiated some partnerships and collaborations with institutions and organisations that will help us to achieve our dream of providing a world-class learning and research environment that will produce great scholars and researchers, with national impact.

“We are reaching out to both private, public organisations and individuals to support us.

“The ultimate goal is to make University of Lagos the African hub for research and innovation by 2022.

“We shall escalate research activities that focus on solving real-life challenges,’’ the VC said.

He noted that the university was ready to provide the lead in attending to urgent national issues through evidence-based research.

He added that the institution had challenged staff and students to make good use of their ingenuity and resourcefulness.

Ogundipe added that the university was also poised to develop its students by honing their skills through the introduction of entrepreneurship training to the curriculum.

At the end of the students’ degree programmes, he said they would be awarded bachelors’ degrees and an Entrepreneurship Certificate.