The Lagos State University (LASU) will next week graduate a total of 36, 489 candidates during its 21st convocation ceremony, the highest number in the history of the 34-year-old university.
Explaining the reason for the astronomical figure, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Lanre Fagbohun, said at a press conference, on Thursday, that thousands of candidates were cleared from the backlog in the school’s defunct part-time programme, known as External System.
Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote will, during the ceremonies, be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Business. Also on the honours list are Mrs Folorunsho Alakija (Honorary Doctorate Degree of Arts and Humane Letters) and Chief Adetutu Kensington (Honorary Doctorate Degree of Science, Communication). A Professor in LASU’s Faculty of Education and a former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Peter Okebukola will be named Distinguished Professor.
Fagbohun said, “For several years, the university refrained from giving Honorary Awards. This year, the university will be awarding some eminent personalities with honorary awards during the Convocation Ceremony. These individuals are being awarded for their enormous contributions to the betterment of society.”
Discrediting insinuations that the motivation for the selection of the three recipients was financial, the Vice Chancellor said the University Senate was interested only in their contributions to the advancement of humanity.
While giving a further breakdown of the results, Professor Fagbohun said a total of 26 students will graduate with First Class Honours; 2,642 with Second Class Upper Division; 20,412 with Second Class Lower Division; 5,025 with Third Class; and 115 with Pass. Additionally, 133 students will receive Diplomas, while a total of 8,056 candidates will obtain higher degrees.
The Vice Chancellor said one of the projects expected to be commissioned by the Governor of Lagos State during the ceremonies, next week, was the new 7-floor Senate Building, funded by the Lagos State Government. Ambode will also preside over the ground-breaking ceremony of a 6000-capacity students’ hostel.