UNILORIN Convocates 10, 922 Graduands, as 180 Bags First Class

A total number of 180 first-class graduates are included among 10,922 graduates produced by the University of Ilorin in the 2019/2020 academic session.

Speaking with journalists on the 36th convocation ceremonies of the university in Ilorin on Monday, the vice-chancellor, Professor Sulyman Age Abdulkareem, said that physical attendance at the main convocation event next Saturday would be restricted to only graduates with First Class Degree Honours, Prize Winners and Doctoral Awardees.

“Out of this (10,922) figure, 9,338 are First Degree/Diplomas graduands while the remaining 1,584 are graduating with Higher Degrees/Postgraduate Diplomas. In the First Degree/Diploma category, we have 180 First Class, 2,836 Second Class Upper Division, 4,879 Second Class Lower Division, 1,110 Third Class and 14 Pass. We also have 140 MB;BS graduands, 46 graduands in Nursing, 5 graduands with Distinction and 16 with Pass in Optometry, 6 graduands with Distinction and 49 with Pass in Pharmacy while we have 37 graduands in Veterinary Medicine.

“Furthermore, a total of 20 graduands are obtaining Diploma from the Institute of Education. For emphasis, the total number of higher degrees to be awarded at this occasion is 1,584. This figure comprises 142 Postgraduate Diplomas, 1142 Masters from various Faculties, 113 MBA/MPA/MILR/MGIS/MPH/MHPM and 187 PhDs.

“The 2019/2020 session was also special because we had 2,766 students from our affiliated institutions that completed their programmes and will be awarded Postgraduate Diplomas after going through our rigorous and high standard of academic excellence as well as our stringent quality control mechanisms. Another 84 students from institutions affiliated with us are also being awarded Diploma degrees in various disciplines”.

As part of its community service, the Unilorin vice-chancellor said that the university is almost concluding a plan to construct Unilorin small hydropower plant, “to be propelled by the river feeding our small earth dam to generate power that can be used by our community and those close to us.

“The feasibility study and design of the hydropower have been carried out by our National Centre for Hydropower plant Research and Development. The bill of quantity has been prepared and construction will commence in due course as part of 2021 capital projects”.

Professor Abdulkareem also said that the university has started a mega poultry farm through a special intervention from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He also said that the project would serve the needs of the people within the university environment.

“With its bright prospects, the farm is also going to be a great source of internally generated revenue for us and a training centre for the staff and students.

He highlighted other achievements to include:

Construction of Extension of the Main Library, Construction of Administrative Block for the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Construction of Surveying and Geo-Informatics Department, Construction of the Faculty of Engineering 500-Seat Lecture Theater (ongoing), Construction of Department of Chemical Engineering (ongoing), Construction of Carpentry Workshop and Paint Factory for Technical and Entrepreneurship Center.

Also construction of Asphalt Overlay on the existing surface road to the College of Health Sciences (Phases 1, 2 & 3), Construction of 130 Meters of Asphalt Overlay of 6 meters wide and 2 meters width surface dressing overlay on the existing surface road to the College of Health Sciences, Laying of Paving stone on the existing parking lot within Senate Building, Construction of the new GNS Building from our IGR, which was possible through the prudence and commitment of the former Director of General Studies Division, Professor Nasir AbdulSalam, Renovation of a building on the Mini Campus of the University that would serve as Clinic Annex for students of the Open Distance Learning (ODL), JUPEB and Institute of Education.

The health and wellbeing of our staff and students have always been paramount to us. To this end, we improved on our health delivery services during the year through various projects that included:

i. Drug and Consumable procurement for students and staff to the tune of Forty-eight Million, Two Hundred and Fifty-nine Thousand Naira only (N48,259,000:00);

ii. Payment of medical bills of students that needed special attention with their referral to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH);

iii. Purchase of instruments, equipment and consumables that the University Health Services needed for prevention and control of COVID-19;

iv. Purchase of Consumable for the Dental Unit of the University Health Services; and

v. Approval for the extension of the University Clinic, which would commence at any time from now. The extension is part of the NEEDS Assessment Project.

We are indeed consolidating our globalisation drives. To this end, we have been able to consummate academic linkages and collaborations with some prestigious foreign universities. For example, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National University of Science and Technology Pakistan, and had also renewed our MoU with the University and CSIR –IMMT Bhubaneshwar. Like I have earlier said, we won the JAMB’s award for the University that admitted the highest number of foreign students for the 2019/2020 academic session because we had intensified our international students’ enrolment. Currently, there are over three hundred and sixty-two (362) international students studying various courses at Language immersion, undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University of Ilorin. During the year, five international students from Cameroon who successfully completed their MB;BS programme were inducted into the Nigerian Medical Profession with two (2) of the students awarded best students in pre-Clinical and best in Physiology. This is to confirm the extent to which we have consolidated on our goal for globalisation and diversity among staff and students.