OAU produces 150 PhDs, 127 first class holders

No fewer than 150 persons are to obtain doctoral degrees from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, this year, its Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bamitale Omole, has announced.

Omole, who announced this on Monday at a briefing to herald the 40th convocation of the university, also stated 127 undergraduates obtained first class from the institution.

The convocation ceremonies, according to him, will hold between December 10 and 12.

He said, "The Senate of the university has approved the graduation of 9,094 first degree graduates drawn from the 13 faculties in the university. The breakdown is as follows: 127 students made first class honours while 2,369 and 4,256 respectively made second-class upper and lower divisions. One thousand two hundred and thirty-two students made third class while 123 students would graduate with ordinary pass.

"For the postgraduate students, 394 will be conferred with postgraduate diplomas, 2,755 with master's degrees, 73 with Masters of Philosophy while 150 will be conferred with Doctor of Philosophy degrees."

The VC, who spoke on the challenges facing the institution, noted that its major issue was how to maintain its number one position in Nigeria and moving up the ladder in Africa.

According to Omole, the university has made history by becoming the first ivory tower to be rated the best in the country for three consecutive years on the Webometric ranking organised by the Cybermetrics Labs of Spain.

The VC said, "It is on record that the Obafemi Awolowo University is the leading university in Nigeria in Information Communication Technology with Internet access bandwidth of 600Mbps, which is the largest in the Nigerian university system.