From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
No fewer than 4,210 graduates will be awarded various degrees and certificates during the 12th and 13th convocation ceremony of the Osun State University slated for Thursday.
Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Odunayo Adebooye, who spoke at a press conference on Friday in Osogbo, said 3,959 will bag first degree; 229 masters degrees, nine postgraduate diplomas, and 13 doctoral degrees.
According to him, 89 students will be graduating with first-class honours, 1,326 with second class (upper division), 1,818 with second class (lower division), 470 with third class and five will graduate with pass.
Adebooye disclosed that plans have been perfected by the university to graduate its students every September following their final examinations in July of the same year. He said the target of the university is to be among the top 10 universities in Nigeria and emerge among the top 25 in Africa by 2026. “We know the various requirements for these, and we are pursuing them vigorously. We know that a consistently peaceful teaching and learning environment that is devoid of strike and student violence is critical, and this we have laboured to establish and sustain.
“We know the role of a committed and happy workforce in the achievement of this, and we are committed to it by increasing our staff’s satisfaction level through beyond-the-bar packages and incentives.
“We know the criticality of the need for well-equipped laboratories and libraries, as well as the deployment of modern technologies for knowledge impartation. We are also very strongly committed to this. Our dream is achievable and we will achieve it, by the grace of God,” Adebooye said.
He stated that Governor Ademola Adeleke will be presiding over the convocation ceremonies for the first time since his assumption of duties, while the Chancellor, Dr. Folorunso Alakija, and the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Professor Wale Oladipo, will also be on the ground