CHINYERE IKEANYI
The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is set to confer degrees on a total of 16,506 students at its 56th convocation ceremonies, scheduled to hold between January 16 and 25.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Tolulope Ogunsola, disclosed this on Wednesday during a pre-convocation press briefing at the Senate Chamber. She stated that 10,584 graduands received first degrees and diplomas, while 5,922 students were awarded postgraduate qualifications, including PhD, DBA, EMBA and master’s degrees.
An additional 140 graduands emerged from the University of Lagos Business School (ULBS).
According to the Vice-Chancellor, 709 students graduated with first class and distinction, while 4,543 earned second class upper degrees.
She announced Chukwuzubelu Benedict Umeozor of the Department of Business Administration as the overall best graduating student with a perfect Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.0. Deborah Isiuwa Oloton of the Department of Architecture also emerged as the best graduating student in the Sciences with a CGPA of 4.91.
The university reaffirmed Chukwuzubelu Benedict Umeozor as its overall best graduating student for the 2025/2026 academic session, while Deborah Isiuwa Oloton was honoured as the best graduating student in the Sciences for the same session.
Prof. Ogunsola explained that convocation activities commenced on Friday, January 16, with a Jumaat Service at the University Central Mosque. Formal academic events began on Monday, January 19, with the unveiling of the UNILAG Multimedia Library Studio, a World Bank–funded Centre of Excellence project designed to preserve Nigeria’s cultural heritage through digital media.
She said the highlight of the day was the convocation lecture titled “Maximising Nigeria’s Demographic Dividend through Urgent Education Reform for Global Competitiveness in the 21st Century,”*, delivered by Mr. Orondaam Otto, founder of Slum2School Africa, at the J.F. Ade-Ajayi Auditorium. The lecture was chaired by Prof. Rahamon Bello, a former Vice-Chancellor of the university.
The Vice-Chancellor noted that first degrees and prizes were conferred on graduands from several faculties on January 20, while graduands from the College of Medicine, Engineering, Law, Management Sciences, Pharmacy and the Distance Learning Institute were presented on January 21.
Postgraduate degrees, emeritus recognitions, gold medals and honorary doctorates were awarded on January 22.
She announced that the university conferred honorary doctorates on Mr. Jubril Adewale Tinubu and Kanu Godwin Agabi (SAN), former Attorney-General of the Federation, in recognition of their contributions to national development.
Regarding research and global rankings, Prof. Ogunsola stated that UNILAG retained its position as Nigeria’s top-ranked university, alongside the University of Ibadan, in the 2026 Times Higher Education Rankings. The institution is placed within the 801–1000 global band and ranked first nationally in research quality and industry income.
She also announced the winners of the 2025 doctoral research awards. The overall best PhD thesis was won by Haruna Egbunu Abubakar in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Structures option), while the best PhD thesis in the Humanities was awarded to Beatrice Paul Zuhumnen in Educational Psychology. The best DBA thesis from the UNILAG Business School went to Oyeyemi Idowu Adebamowo.
Prof. Ogunsola added that the university won the Most International African Institution (West Africa) 2025* award.
Highlighting infrastructural developments, she listed the renovation of the J.F. Ade-Ajayi Auditorium, completion of the UNDP–UNILAG UniPod, the Window on America project in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy, new faculty buildings, hostel rehabilitation and expanded solar energy solutions.
She further disclosed that UNILAG attracted over $17.3 million (about ₦24 billion) in research grants, mainly for health-related research, and established a state-of-the-art molecular laboratory for Parkinson’s disease research through funding from global partners.
According to her, the university expanded from 12 to 19 faculties, recruited 350 new staff, supported over 61 startups, trained more than 14,000 students and youths, and reduced carbon emissions through its electric vehicle initiative.
Prof. Ogunsola thanked staff, students, alumni, government, industry partners and the media for their continued support, stressing that UNILAG remained committed to innovation, global relevance and impactful education.
“The past year has been one of growth despite economic challenges. As we look ahead, we remain focused on excellence, partnership and making the University of Lagos more globally connected and student-focused,” she said.
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