No fewer than 6,209 graduands of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, who will participate at the 34th Convocation Ceremonies for the 2023/2024 Academic Session, will be able to collect their certificates and transcripts on the day of the event.
The Vice-Chancellor of OOU, Prof. Ayodeji Agboola, disclosed this on Thursday during a press conference held at the Main Campus, Ago-Iwoye to flag off the activities lined up for its convocation.
The convocation ceremonies, scheduled to take place from Thursday, 23rd to 31st January, 2025, will feature series of events, including conferment of degrees and diploma certificates, health walk, agriculture and engineering show, convocation play, novelty match and commissioning of projects.
Prof. Agboola, who described the initiative to present certificates and transcripts to graduands as an unprecedented innovation by OOU in the annals of Nigeria’s university system, said the institution was committed to providing students with exceptional experience that surpasses their expectations.
“I am happy to inform you that all graduating students would go home with their certificates and transcripts on the day of convocation. This is unprecedented,” the Vice-Chancellor declared.
“We are going to give each graduand a folder which will contain both the certificate and transcript. In addition, all the First Class graduates will be given a plaque with their names on it,” he said.
Giving a breakdown of the total number of graduands that will convoke, the Vice-Chancellor explained that the 6,209 graduating students comprise 5,793 regular students and 416 part-time students.
He added that a total of 741 postgraduates would be conferred diplomas and degrees, comprising 571 Postgraduate Diplomas/Masters and 170 PhD.
Also Read
- CNPP wants state creation to address regional imbalance
- ISDEVCOM, NAN partner on 6th International Conference
- Bode George faults proposed 31 new states
- Only death penalty will deter fake drug peddlers — NAFDAC DG
- Navy intercepts 16 boats loaded with 1,000 bags of rice
“The breakdown of the regular students category shows that 115 earned First Class, representing a 16.16% increase on the total of 99 recorded for the 2022/2023 session; 1,845 were in the Second Class Upper Division, 3,044 were in the Second Class Lower Division and 688 had Third Class Degree; 35 had a Pass grade, while 66 (unclassified) graduated from our medical programme,” Prof. Agboola said.
According to him, the highpoints of the programme will be the convocation lecture entitled, “TETFund and Educational Development in Nigeria: The History, the Treasures and the Future,” to be delivered on Friday, January 31 by the TETFund Executive Secretary, Architect Sunny Echono, and the conferment of honorary degree of Doctor of Science on a globally acclaimed Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon and Chief Medical Director, Eye Foundation Hospital Group, Dr. Adekunle Olubola Hassan.
Prof. Agboola, who revealed that the university has added 20 new programmes to its pool of academic disciplines to increase the options available to prospective undergraduates and postgraduates, said the institution had also maintained full accreditation status in all its programmes.
He further said, “This great institution is poised to give our students the best experience, while molding them to be outstanding both in learning and character.”
“As encapsulated in our 3Es concept, we have made it a point of duty that our graduates should be able to further their education; skillful enough to be gainfully employed in both public and private sectors; and also greatly knowledgeable to become employers of labour through entrepreneurship.”
Prof. Agboola also highlighted some of the achievements of the University since his assumption of office as Vice-Chancellor, saying “we have continued to demonstrate the shining star that we are by keying into evolving trends in teaching and research technologies.”
His words: “Just recently, Olabisi Onabanjo University was crowned the ‘Artificial Intelligence School of the Year’ at the 2024 Data Science Nigeria (DSN) annual bootcamp event, including a star prize of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) worth of books. Two of our lecturers also emerged as joint winners of the inaugural Google Academic Research Awards (GARA) for 2024. The award included a research grant of Sixty Thousand Dollars ($60,000).
“We have equally improved on the engagement of our Alumni, which has really paid off. Some have single handedly donated structures to the University, including Bar. Segun Asekun Law Resource Centre; Alhaji Lawal Fagbo Saheed 750-seater lecture theatre; Otunba Olufemi Okenla Entrepreneurship Centre that is nearing completion. A good number of the Alumni chapters and sets have also supported us in diverse areas.”
The Vice-Chancellor expressed gratitude to the Visitor to the University and Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, for the tremendous support given to OOU, adding that the cooperation of staff and students have also yielded positive results for the institution.