No fewer than 494 students from Lagos State University’s (LASU) first-degree programs have received first class as the institution prepares to graduate 20,604 students across all program categories during its 29th and 30th combined convocation ceremonies.
Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, the university’s vice chancellor, made the announcement on Wednesday at a press conference to outline events for the joint convocation for the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions.
According to Olatunji-Bello, 262 students received First Class honors in the 2024/2025 academic session, while 232 did so in the 2025/2026 session.
She stated that 7,621 students graduated from first-degree programs during the 2024/2025 academic year.
According to her, 3,155 students earned Second Class Upper Division, 3,439 Second Class Lower Division, 622 Third Class, and 37 graduated with passes. Another 106 students in the MBBS and BDS programs were classed as having undeclared degrees.
According to the vice-chancellor, 8,653 students graduated from first-degree programs during the academic year 2025/2026.
She claimed that 3,545 students graduated with a second-class upper division, 4,157 with a second-class lower division, 678 with a third class, and 31 received passes.
Olatunji-Bello provided a breakdown of the overall figure, stating that the university would graduate 3,383 postgraduate students across the two academic sessions.
She reported that the amount included 618 postgraduate diploma graduates, 1,508 academic master’s degree graduates, 900 professional master’s degree graduates, 238 PhD graduates, and 119 professional doctorate graduates.
The Vice-Chancellor named Ayilara Lawal Olawale of the Department of Project Management as the top graduating student for the 2024/2025 academic year.
She mentioned that Olawale had a CGPA of 4.96 and graduated with first-class honors.
Adebanjo Samuel Oluolamide of the Department of Aerospace Engineering was the overall best graduating student for the 2025/2026 academic year, with a CGPA of 4.97 and first-class honors.
The vice-chancellor described the combined convocation as historic, noting that it would be her final convocation as vice-chancellor of the university.
The ceremonies would award diplomas, first degrees, postgraduate diplomas, master’s degrees, and doctoral degrees to deserving graduates.
The celebrations will begin with pre-convocation activities, such as a staff sports competition and the university’s inaugural Staff Celebration Day.
According to the VC, degrees in engineering and agricultural sciences will be bestowed on August 17 at the Olatunji Bello Auditorium on the Epe Campus, while graduates from the other faculties will receive their degrees on August 18 at the Buba Marwa Auditorium in Ojo.
She also stated that on August 19, the institution will bestow professional and academic doctorate degrees, as well as honorary doctorate degrees, on selected individuals.
She said, “The Senate has also approved the conferment of honorary doctorate degrees on distinguished personalities whose exceptional contributions to national development, scholarship, public service, and humanity have earned them this prestigious recognition of honoris causa.
“They are Mr. Akin Kekere-Ekun, Doctor of Business Honoris Causa (Entrepreneurship Finance Management); Mrs. Harriet-Ann Omobola (Bola) Adesola, Doctor of Business Honoris Causa (Corporate Finance and Governance); and Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Doctor of Business Honoris Causa (Entrepreneurship Industrial & Human Capital Development).
“Similarly, the university will elevate two deserving scholars, as earlier highlighted, Prof. Rafiu Olaoluwa Okuneye and my humble self, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, mni, NPOM, to the rank of Distinguished Professor in recognition of their outstanding contributions to teaching, research, mentorship, and the advancement of knowledge.”
The VC also highlighted some of the university’s successes in the last year, including the approval of 17 new academic programs by the National Universities Commission.
She added LASU garnered more than 84,000 first-choice applications in the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, making it the most subscribed university in Nigeria for the second consecutive year.
Olatunji-Bello also stated that two LASU students won consecutive N50 million venture capital grants in 2026 in a national competition with over 30,000 candidates.
She also revealed that the institution had received approval for an N3 billion TETFund Center of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Cyber Sciences, and that building had begun on a 1,500-bed student housing anticipated to cost N4 billion.
