Parents and guardians of graduating students on Thursday have been barred from the convocation venue, Amphitheatre in obafemi awolowo university,(OAU) Ile-Ife.
According to the university, the decision was taken to curb the spread of COVID-19.
It noted that inviting parents, guardians of thousands of graduands with their well-wishers into the venue would amount to flouting the rules and protocols of the federal government governing COVID-19.
DAILY GIST reports that the university on Thursday held its convocation and ceremony for the bachelor’s degree, postgraduate diplomas, Master of philosophy degree and award of prizes to graduating students in the faculties of Administration, Arts, Law, Education and Social Sciences
It was gathered that only the graduands, the official university procession, invited dignitaries and some selected Journalists including DAILY GIST reporter were allowed to attend the physical convocation ceremony.
DAILY GIST reporter covering the event learnt that some viewing halls have been provided for the visitors, parents and guardians of the graduands to watch the entire convocation proceedings online.
DAILY GIST had reported that the institution is graduating 7634 students at all levels of academic qualifications and degrees in it’s 45th convocation which started on December 8th, 2021.
The vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Eyitayo Ogunbodede while addressing Journalists at a press conference had said the 45th convocation will be the last he would preside over as the sitting Vice-Chancellor.
He noted that his tenure as the vice Chancellor of the university will come to an end in June, 2022.
According to the vice-chancellor, honorary doctorate degree would be confered on two highly qualified, distinguished Nigerians during the ceremony.
These two dazzling Nigerians are His Imperial Majesty, Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Babatunde Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, who will be conferred with the Honorary Doctor of Letters and Chief Michael Ade Ojo, the founder of Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State and Chairman, Elizade Group of Companies would be conferred with the Honorary Doctor of Business Administration.
Ogunbodede disclosed that of the 7634 graduating students, the university produced 109 First class graduands
He said; ”For the First Degrees, we have One Hundred and Nine (109) in First Class (Honours) category, with this breakdown: Faculty of Administration has Twenty-Four (24), Faculty of Arts, Eight (08); Faculty of Education, Four (04); while Faculty of Law has Twelve (12).”
Others are Faculty of Social Sciences with Nine (09), Faculty of Agriculture, Twelve (12); Faculty of Science, Five (05); Faculty of Environmental Design and Management, Nine (09) and Faculty of Technology, Twenty-Six (26).”
For the Second Class (Honours) Upper Division, we have a total of One Thousand, Six Hundred and Eighty-One (1,681); while Second Class (Honours) Lower Division has a total of Two Thousand, Seven Hundred and Seven (2,707). Six Hundred and Ninety (690) graduands fall under the Third Class (Honours) category and Seventy (70) would graduate with Pass. This brings the total number of our First Degree graduands to Five Thousand, Two Hundred and Fifty-Seven (5,257).”
For the Bachelor Degrees (Unclassified), we have those who pass with Honours. In the Faculty of Clinical Sciences we have Six (06) and One (01) from Dentistry, making the total, Seven (07). Those who pass with distinction are from Basic Medical Sciences which has Three (03) while Thirty-Five (35) are from Pharmacy. Those who pass with credit are One Hundred and Eighty-Eight (188) from Basic Medical Sciences while Three Hundred and Fifty-Two (352) have pass. In the unclassified category, we have a total number of Five Hundred and Eight-Two (582) graduands.
For the Postgraduate Degrees, where we have Postgraduate Diploma, Professional Masters, Master with Research Thesis, Masters of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy respectively, this prestigious University will graduate One Thousand, Six Hundred and Thirty-Seven (1,637) graduands across our Thirteen (13) Faculties.”
One Hundred and Fifty-Eight (158) would be awarded Non-Degree Diplomas in the Faculty of Administration, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Science.”the vice chancellor said.
