Prof. Mojeed Liasu, interim Vice Chancellor of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, has announced that the university will graduate 24,704 students at its 14th combined convocation on Friday.
According to the acting VC, 753 graduands received First Class, 8,096 received Second Class Honours Upper Division, 12,023 received Second Class Lower, 3221 received Third Class, and 299 received Pass.
This was said by Liasu at a news conference held in Ogbomoso on Tuesday to announce the ceremony’s events.
The graduates were chosen from six groups: 2015/2016, 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021, he explained.
The acting VC also announced that a former Military Governor of Oyo State, Gen. Oladayo Popoola (retd. ), will be conferred an honorary degree in recognition of his contributions to mankind during the convocation.
Apart from Popoola, the university will confer honorary degrees on Chief Mobolaji Ayorinde (SAN), a former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of LAUTECH; Dr Victoria Samson, Vice Chairman and Executive Officer of the BOVAS Group; Pastor Williams Olugbemi, and Ambassador Ibironke Adefope.
Governor Seyi Makinde’s attempts to reposition the university and make it a world class university, according to Liasu, have resulted in numerous achievements.
The institution has continuously been regarded as the greatest state university in the country, according to the acting VC, while the National Universities Commission named LAUTECH the fourth best university in the country.
“News filtering in from Weboneteucs, 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 it’s “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 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 focus on genetic factors influence on 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 a 13-month salary backlog and was working on paying overdue allowances owed to staff in order to encourage them to keep working hard.
New academic programs such as law, mass communication, education, and other courses would be launched shortly, he said, in keeping with the state government’s ambition to convert LAUTECH to a traditional university from a university of technology.
