University Of Ibadan Produces 1st First Class Graduate In History After 69 Years
For the very first time in 69 years, the University of Ibadan
(UI) has produced its first graduate with a First Class honours degree in
History.
The university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, said
Ozibo Ekele of the Department of History, and was one of the 186 students who
earned First Class degrees at the 2015/2016 convocation ceremonies, which began
Monday in Ibadan.
Olayinka said 5,629 students graduated in various academic
programmes from 12 faculties, including the Distance Learning Centre at the
convocation.
According to him, 186 passed with first class honours, 1,538 finished with
Second Class Upper, while 3,133 finished with Second Class Lower.
Similarly, 434 students finished with Third Class, while 81
others graduated with Pass degrees.
The VC enjoined the graduates to be good ambassadors of the
university, saying they should impact positively on their world.
He remarked that the students would have graduated a long time
ago but for the strike embarked upon by the academic and non-academic staff
unions.
According to him, the breakdown of the graduating list showed
that 3.5 per cent and 28.6 per cent finished with First Class and Second Class
(Upper) honours, respectively.
“I am aware that there has been strident public criticism of the
large number of first class graduates from our universities.
“We are exceedingly proud of all Ibadan graduates.
“We see this phenomenon from the strategic point of view of
input-process-output.
“The University of Ibadan has arguably the most competitive
mechanism for undergraduate admissions in the country.
“This has been attested to consistently by the Times Higher
Education World University Rankings, in which Ibadan is the only university in
the country ranked among the topmost 1,000 universities in the world,’’ the VC
said.
He was full of praises for Ekele for breaking the jinx as the
department had never produced a first class student since inception.
“We warmly congratulate Ozibo Ekele, who is graduating today
with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 6.6 out of a maximum of 7.0,’’ the VC
said.
Meanwhile, giving a valedictory speech on behalf of others, the
overall best graduating student in Law, Tolulope Ogunmodede, attributed their
successes to hard work and prayers.
On his personal experience, Ogunmodede said that although he
faced challenges during his academic pursuit, he was focused on his priorities.
He urged his fellow graduates to generate ideas that could make
them entrepreneurs and not to trade their integrity for anything evil.
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