By - Osun State University graduated 4,357 students across all degree categories during a week-long convocation that ran from September 18 to 24
- The university’s pioneer batch of 90 MBBS graduates became its first-ever medical doctors, inducted by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria weeks earlier
- Vice Chancellor Odunayo Adebooye used the ceremonies to highlight new infrastructure, including a FIFA-standard sports complex and several new lecture theatres
Osun State University closed out its 16th convocation ceremonies last week having graduated 4,357 students, a class that included the institution’s first-ever cohort of medical doctors and its highest first-class distinction numbers in recent memory.
The ceremonies stretched across seven days, opening with a press conference on September 18 and closing on September 24 with the presentation of postgraduate diploma, master’s and PhD awards. In between, the schedule packed in an alumni lecture, several college-specific induction ceremonies for professional bodies, a special thanksgiving service, and a dinner honouring the university’s top-performing graduates.
Vice Chancellor Odunayo Adebooye laid out the numbers at a pre-convocation briefing in Osogbo before the ceremonies began. Of the 3,845 students graduating with first degrees, 88 emerged with First Class Honours, while 1,509 earned Second Class Upper and 1,946 landed in Second Class Lower. A further 220 graduated with Third Class Honours and three received Pass degrees. Beyond the undergraduate cohort, the university also conferred nine postgraduate diplomas, 400 master’s degrees and 103 doctorates.
A Milestone for the Medical School
The standout moment of the week belonged to UNIOSUN’s fledgling medical programme. Ninety students completed the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery course, becoming the university’s first-ever set of trained doctors. The cohort had already cleared induction by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria on August 12, ahead of receiving their formal degrees during the convocation’s third day, September 23.
Adebooye described the milestone as a marker of how far the university’s academic offerings had grown since its founding, noting that several other programmes introduced during his tenure, among them Cyber Security, Software Engineering, Criminology and Security Studies, and International Relations and Diplomacy, also produced their first graduating classes at this convocation.
Infrastructure Push Alongside the Ceremonies
Beyond the graduating numbers, Adebooye used the pre-convocation briefing to catalogue a run of completed and ongoing building projects across the university’s campuses. He pointed to the commissioning of a FIFA-standard sports complex, a three-in-one science laboratory building, the Governor Ademola Adeleke Lecture Theatre, and a second lecture theatre with a 900-person capacity as recently finished additions. Several academic office complexes, a pit theatre and multiple auditoriums had also been completed, he said, while construction continued on an ICT resource centre and additional computer laboratories at some of the university’s other campuses.
Recognising Top Performers
As part of the week’s events, the university held a special dinner for its first-class graduates, giving them a chance to meet directly with employers and industry figures. Adebooye framed the initiative as a way of exposing UNIOSUN’s strongest academic performers to real employment prospects and the realities of the job market as they left the institution.
Closing out the briefing, the Vice Chancellor thanked the media for its coverage of the university’s activities and urged journalists to keep holding the institution accountable, while reaffirming UNIOSUN’s stated commitment to research, entrepreneurship and what he described as responsible citizenship among its graduates.
