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…To build an additional 7,836 bed spaces by 2027
The University of Lagos (UNILAG) graduates a total of 16,506 students at its 56th convocation ceremony, with 617 of them earning first-class honours across various disciplines.
Folasade Ogunsola, vice-chancellor at UNILAG, made this known during the institution’s 2026 convocation press conference held on Wednesday.
Ogunsola disclosed that the 56th convocation ceremonies will commence on Friday, January 16, with a Juma service and end with a thanksgiving service on Sunday, January 25.
The vice –chancellor explained that out of 16,506 students, 709 undergraduates made first class and distinctions, 4,543 had second class upper (2:1), while 3,910 students graduated with second class lower (2:2).
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A total of 1,023 students graduated with third class, 69 had pass degrees, and 339 students fell within the unclassified degrees.
The faculty of Management Sciences had the highest number of first-class students with 180 students, followed by the faculty of Engineering with 89 first-class students, the faculty of Life Sciences had 43 first-class students, and the faculty of Social Sciences had 42 students.
The postgraduate students had 502 distinctions and 5,420 passes. The University of Lagos Business School (ULBS) recorded 32 distinctions and 108 passes, while the School of Post-Graduate Studies (SPGS) recorded 470 distinctions and 5,312 passes.
Chukwuzubelu Benedict from the Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences, emerged as the overall best graduating student in the Humanities with a perfect score of 5.0.
Deborah Isiowa from the faculty of Architecture emerged as the best graduating student from Science with a CGPA of 4.91. The overall best PhD Thesis Award for this year goes to Haruno Egbuno, who obtained his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Structures of Option.
Ogunsola further explained that the university has continued to strengthen collaborations, expand students’ exposure to competitions, internships and global learning opportunities and deliberately created environments that inspire innovation, critical thinking and inquiry.
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“We have retained our first position in Nigeria, co-shared with the University of Ibadan in the 2026 Times Higher Education Ranking, placing us in the 801 to 1,000 black value globally out of 2,191 institutions.
“A deep dive into the ranking showed that UNILAG was first in Nigeria in research quality and industry. The university also emerged as the winner of the most international African institution from West Africa in 2025. This was awarded by the international education group at its Africa Summit,” she emphasised.
In addition, she said, “This prize was for exceptional impact in advancing international education opportunities, infrastructure and student housing.
The university is committed to continuously upgrading the campus to provide an environment that supports thinking, learning and innovation. In the last year, some buildings were completed.”
Meanwhile, the vice-chancellor announced plans to significantly expand its student accommodation capacity, with a proposed construction of 7,836 new bed spaces expected to be completed by 2027.
Ogunsola said the university already has 10,599 bed spaces, which, according to her, is not enough to cater for the students.
“The University of Lagos has about 10,599 bed spaces, and we’re projecting to add another 7,836 bed spaces by 2027, all things being equal.
“This is both through TETFund and PPP, the contractors that have been qualified have moved to sites and are at different stages of commencement,” she said.
However, the vice-chancellor emphasised that it would not be possible for the university management to regulate the cost of privately built hostels because of the power and other concomitant costs of maintaining those properties.
“Accommodation cost can’t be benchmarked in UNILAG because of the power cost. It costs a lot to generate electricity on campus, and some of these students use air-conditioners and other high-energy-consuming appliances,” she noted.
