BY LEKE ADEGBITE
The Vice Chancellor of the Ondo State-owned Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Prof. Olugbenga Ige has declared that a total of 62 out of 6,182 students, have bagged First Class grade, ahead of the institution’s 13th convocation ceremony.
Prof. Ige stated this at a press briefing heralding the convocation ceremony, held at the institution’s Business School in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
The VC said a total of 6,837 graduands from the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 academic session which include 657 postgraduate students among whom 46 Ph.D. degrees will be presented.
Prof Ige said this year’s convocation holds special significance as it coincides with the Silver Jubilee Anniversary of AAUA, stressing that the celebration goes beyond festivities as it is marked by a historic milestonethe foundation laying of a multi-million-naira Hall of Residence Project.
He said despite the economic difficulties and the instability confronting higher education in Nigeria, AAUA has persevered and addressed emerging issues, provided visionary leadership, nurtured intellectual growth, created impactful programmes, advanced professionalism, and fostered an environment conducive to learning and service.
He said eight of its academics were recently ranked among the top 2% of global scientists in the prestigious 2024 Stanford-Elsevier ranking, serving as a beacon of the quality of education and mentorship offered at the university.
According to Prof Ige, the university during the convocation on Saturday, will honour Ondo state Governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa; House of Reps member, Adegboyega Adefarati and a financial Expert, Mr. Hazmat Ayodele Subair
“Among the 6,182 undergraduate graduands, 62 achieved First Class Honoursa testament to the academic excellence upheld by this institution. Additionally, 1,941 earned Second Class Honours (Upper Division), 3,486 attained Second Class Honours (Lower Division), 684 graduated with Third Class Honours, and eight fall into the Pass category.
“That is not all, we are also conferring honourary degrees on three distinguished Nigerians for their outstanding contributions to society: His Excellency Hon. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa (Doctor of Public Administration, Honoris Causa); Hon. Adegboyega Adeyemi Adefarati (Doctor of Political Science, Honoris Causa) and Mr. Hazmat Ayodele Subair (Doctor of Business Administration, Honoris Causa)”
“Other activities for the 13th Convocation Ceremony include innovative research exhibitions and a friendly football match tomorrow Tuesday; the Anniversary Lecture to be delivered on Wednesday by Dr. Kayode Ajulo, SAN, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Ondo State; while the AAUA at 25 Awards Ceremony will hold the same day.
“We are proud to note that in the last one year, despite numerous challenges, we have expanded our academic offerings with the establishment of two new faculties: the Faculty of Allied and Health Sciences; and the Faculty of Computing, which now offer programmes such as Nursing, Medical Laboratory Science, Public Health; Cyber Security, Data Science, Software Engineering, Information, and Communication Technology; and Information System. Our Faculty of Agriculture has also added Food Science and Technology to its existing programmes.”
Prof Ige added that the school academics have demonstrated outstanding research prowess by securing highly competitive research grants of over half a billion naira.