Lagos State University (LASU) is set to graduate 20,604 students at its 29th and 30th Combined Convocation Ceremonies for the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, disclosed this on Wednesday at a press conference held at the Senate Chamber of the Babatunde Raji Fashola Senate Building, LASU Main Campus, Ojo.
The combined convocation, scheduled for August 14 to 23, will mark the final convocation ceremony presided over by Olatunji-Bello, who is completing her five-year tenure as Vice-Chancellor.
According to her, the graduating students comprise diploma, first-degree and postgraduate students from the two academic sessions.
For the 2024/2025 session, she said 947 students graduated from diploma programmes, while 7,621 students completed first-degree programmes.
Of the first-degree graduates, 262 obtained First Class honours, 3,155 finished with Second Class Upper Division, 3,439 with Second Class Lower Division, 622 with Third Class and 37 with Pass degrees. Another 106 students graduated with unclassified MBBS/BDS degrees.
Ayilara Lawal Olawale of the Department of Project Management emerged as the overall best graduating student for the session, with a CGPA of 4.96.
For the 2025/2026 session, Olatunji-Bello said 44 students graduated from diploma programmes, while 8,653 students completed first-degree programmes.
She said 232 of the first-degree graduates obtained First Class honours, 3,545 earned Second Class Upper Division, 4,157 obtained Second Class Lower Division, 678 finished with Third Class and 31 with Pass degrees.
Adebanjo Samuel Oluolamide of the Department of Aerospace Engineering emerged as the overall best graduating student for the session, recording a CGPA of 4.97.
The Vice-Chancellor added that 3,383 postgraduate students would also graduate from the two sessions, comprising 618 Postgraduate Diploma graduates, 1,508 academic Master’s degree holders, 900 professional Master’s degree holders, 238 PhD graduates and 119 professional doctorate graduates.
Olatunji-Bello said the convocation would feature a series of academic, cultural and social activities, beginning with the staff sports competition on Wednesday.
She said Thursday would be observed as Staff Celebration Day, while the formal convocation programme would begin on Friday with the Coconut Breaking and Cultural Day, followed by a Jumat service.
On Monday, August 17, diplomas, first degrees, postgraduate diplomas and master’s degrees in Engineering and Agricultural Sciences will be conferred at the Olatunji Bello Auditorium, Epe Campus.
The university will also confer the rank of Distinguished Professor on Prof. Rafiu Olaoluwa Okuneye and Olatunji-Bello.
The convocation lecture, titled ‘From LASU to the World: Harnessing the Nigerian Diaspora as the 7th Region for National Development,’ will be delivered on Tuesday by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
The university will also confer honorary doctorate degrees on businessman Aliko Dangote, Akin Kekere-Ekun and Bola Adesola for their contributions to entrepreneurship, finance, governance, industrial development and humanity.
Reflecting on her tenure, Olatunji-Bello said the university had recorded significant progress in academic development, research, innovation, infrastructure, digital transformation, international collaborations and student success.
She said LASU had secured approval for 17 new academic programmes from the National Universities Commission, while several other programmes had obtained full accreditation.
The Vice-Chancellor also said LASU had emerged as Nigeria’s most subscribed university for the second consecutive year, attracting more than 84,000 first-choice applications in the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
She noted that the university had retained its position as the Best University in West Africa in the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings for the fourth consecutive year.
Olatunji-Bello highlighted other milestones, including the commissioning of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu Library Complex, which she described as the largest and most digitalised university library in West Africa.
She also disclosed that the university had secured approval for a ?3 billion TETFund Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cyber Sciences, which she said would be the only centre of its kind in South-West Nigeria.
According to her, construction has commenced on a 1,500-bed student hostel under a TETFund-facilitated public-private partnership valued at about ?4 billion.
The university has also secured Federal Government approval for a 15-megawatt Independent Power Project aimed at improving electricity supply, reducing energy costs and enhancing operational efficiency.
On research and innovation, she said two LASU students had won consecutive ?50 million venture capital grants in 2026 from a highly competitive national programme that attracted more than 30,000 applicants.
Olatunji-Bello further disclosed that LASU athletes recorded their best-ever outing at the Nigerian Universities Games, winning 10 gold, 14 silver and 15 bronze medals.
She said the achievements recorded during her tenure demonstrated the university’s commitment to excellence, innovation and institutional resilience.
‘This combined convocation is particularly historic for me. It is the final convocation ceremony over which I will preside as Vice-Chancellor of this great University,’ she said.
Olatunji-Bello expressed appreciation to the Lagos State Governor and Visitor to the university, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Governing Council, Senate, staff, students, alumni, development partners and the media for their support throughout her tenure.
She urged the graduating students to deploy their knowledge and character in ways that would positively impact their communities, Nigeria and the global society.
The ceremonies will formally end on August 23 with a Special Convocation Thanksgiving Service at the University Chapel, Chapel of Light, Ojo Campus.