FUL marks 15 years with 10th convocation, 24 first-class graduates
When Federal University Lokoja confers degrees on Saturday, one of the graduates of its first safety management class will be a professional who oversees offshore operations for QatarEnergy, thousands of kilometres from the campus where he studied.
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Gbenga Ibileye disclosed the details on Monday at a press briefing opening activities for the university’s 10th convocation. He said the graduate, an offshore installation manager with the Qatari energy company, belongs to the maiden class of the university’s Centre for Safety Management.
The centre will present 22 candidates for the master’s degree and 11 for the postgraduate diploma. Five members of the class are international students, Ibileye said, and many will join Saturday’s ceremony virtually from their locations around the world. The university did not name the QatarEnergy employee or say which country the other international students come from.
Ibileye described the graduate’s enrolment as a sign of the university’s growing reach. “The decision of a professional responsible for offshore operations in Qatar to pursue advanced training in Lokoja speaks volumes about the growing reputation and reach of this University,” he said. He called it “a story of academic relevance, professional excellence, and global confidence in our programmes.”
Safety management training is of particular interest in the oil and gas industry, where offshore installation managers carry overall responsibility for the safety of platforms and the people working on them. The centre’s first graduating class suggests that a university in central Nigeria is beginning to draw mid-career professionals from beyond the country’s borders.
The safety management graduates are part of a class of 5,638 students who will receive degrees, diplomas and postgraduate qualifications at the 10th convocation ceremony.
The graduating class includes 4,828 first-degree recipients, 182 diploma holders and 628 postgraduate students. Of the 4,786 honours degree graduates, 24 earned first-class honours, 881 second-class upper division, 2,928 second-class lower division and 953 third-class honours. The Faculty of Life Sciences has the largest graduating class with 1,024 students, followed by the Faculties of Education and Arts with 806 and 773.
The university will also confer honorary degrees on three people: businessman Dahiru Mangal; Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, the Iyaloja-General, who advocates for market women and small-scale traders; and Babajide Kolade-Otitoju, director of news at TVC. The ceremony will be held under the theme “Fifteen Years, Ten Convocations: Consolidating Excellence, Building Partnerships and Shaping the Future.”
Funding and expansion
Ibileye said the university received a ₦3 billion grant from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to establish a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cyber Sciences. He said the university also accessed several other TETFund interventions this year, including ₦700 million and ₦400 million for laboratories and classrooms.
On academics, he said eight programmes won full accreditation from the National Universities Commission this year and 10 more are being assessed. Fourteen new programmes, including artificial intelligence, cyber security and data science, have admitted their first students for the 2026/2027 session.
The vice-chancellor said the university had begun construction of a pedestrian flyover at its main gate on the busy Lokoja-Okene Road and was pursuing a ₦3 billion public-private partnership for a model hostel. He said a science laboratory building supported by BUA Group has been roofed.
He said the administration had also deployed 10 Starlink internet terminals, moved all 100-level courses onto a new learning management system and appointed the university’s first grants officer. Staff have submitted more than 50 research grant proposals since that appointment, he said.
Challenges acknowledged
Ibileye did not limit his remarks to achievements. He said rising costs, growing enrolment and limited funding had slowed progress, and that delays in releasing approved funds had held up projects that were ready to proceed. He described the condition of some access roads and student accommodation as a particular concern.
“Expansion must never outpace quality,” he said of the university’s growth.
On staff welfare, he said the university had paid some allowances and promotion arrears but that some obligations remain outstanding and would be addressed gradually as resources allow. He also said 21 academic staff members have received TETFund training support totalling ₦158.9 million.
The vice-chancellor announced a change in leadership at two key offices. Bursar John Sule Shilo and University Librarian Sarah Dauda Yani retired last week after six years each. Sanusi Halidu Abubakar and Florence Ajani have succeeded them.
Week of events
The convocation programme runs through Sunday. A research fair is scheduled for Tuesday, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sola Enikanolaiye will deliver the convocation lecture Thursday on “Nigeria and the Emerging Global Order: Preparing the New Generation for Leadership.” The week also includes a colloquium honouring Professor Olu Obafemi, a convocation play and the Chancellor’s Night. A thanksgiving service on Sunday will close the programme.
The university said Saturday’s ceremony will be streamed live on its YouTube and Facebook pages for families unable to travel to Lokoja.
