The acting Vice-Chancellor of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Prof. Mojeed Liasu, has said the university will graduate 24,704 students during its 14th combined convocation holding on Friday.
The acting VC said out of the number, 753 made First Class while 8,096 graduands made Second Class Honours Upper Division; 12,023 graduated with Second Class Lower; 3221 made Third Class and 299 finished in Pass category.
Liasu said this at a press conference he addressed in Ogbomoso on Tuesday to announce the activities lined up for the ceremony.
He explained that the graduands were drawn from six sets: 2015/2016, 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021.
As part of the convocation, the acting VC also said a former Military Governor of Oyo State, Gen. Oladayo Popoola (retd.), would be awarded an honorary degree in appreciation of his contributions to the development of humanity.
Apart from Popoola, a former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council of LAUTECH, Chief Mobolaji Ayorinde (SAN); the Vice-Chairman and Executive Officer of BOVAS Group, Dr. Victoria Samson; Pastor Williams Olugbemi and Ambassador Ibironke Adefope will also be awarded honorary degrees of the university.
Liasu said the university has continued to record many feats which he attributed to the efforts of Governor Seyi Makinde to reposition the school and make it a world-class university.
The university, the acting VC said, has been consistently ranked the Best State University in the country while the National Universities Commission declared LAUTECH as the fourth-best university in the country.
“News filtering in from Weboneteucs, a world-renowned ranking body, also named us as the Best State University and number 12 in the country. In the latest ranking, March 11, 2022, the body rates LAUTECH as the 9th best university in Nigeria in its “World Scientist and University Rankings 2022,” he added.
He lauded lecturers in the university for winning various grants including TETFUND, and Prof. Daniel Ojurongbe of the Department of Medical Microbiology, who he said won Humboldt Research Hub awarded by Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation.
“His research is on the Establishment of Centre for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious diseases with a focus on genetic factors that influence the relatively low mortality rate for COVID-19 in Africa. The value of the grant is €750,000 ( N357, 183,513.08),” he added.
He said that the governor had cleared the backlog of 13 months of workers’ salaries and was working on payment of outstanding allowances owed to the workers to encourage them to continue to give their best.
He said that in line with the state government’s vision to change LAUTECH to a conventional one from the University of technology, new academic programs such as Law, Mass Communication, Education, and other courses would soon be introduced.
