The Vice-Chancellor of Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU), Ikeji-Arakeji, Osun State, Prof. Olasebikan Fakolujo, has disclosed that the best graduating student of the institution, as well as those who emerged in the first-class category, will receive the sum of N29 million as a cash award for their academic efforts and excellence.

While disclosing that the Chancellor of the university, Prof. Anthony Adegbulugbe, awarded a total of N24 million to outstanding graduates for the 2024/2025 academic session, the Vice-Chancellor disclosed that the best female graduating student will receive N5 million from the endowment fund of the First Lady of Nigeria, Oluremi Tinubu.

According to Fakolujo, who revealed this during the convocation ceremony of the institution, Blessing Agboola of the Medical Laboratory Science department emerged as the best graduating student with a CGPA of 4.93.

The Vice-Chancellor stated that the 400- and 500-level Medical Laboratory Science students of the university achieved a 100 per cent pass rate in their professional examinations and stressed that 10 of 79 students inducted into the nursing profession bagged first-class.

He said: “This year, we present 729 outstanding first-degree graduates and 142 distinguished postgraduate scholars, a total of 871 ambassadors of knowledge and godly service. At the pinnacle of academic achievement, 57 of our graduates earned First Class Honours, a distinction that places them among Nigeria’s finest young minds.

“Even more impressive, 323 graduates achieved Second Class Honours (Upper Division), meaning that nearly 52 per cent of our entire undergraduate cohort performed at the highest academic tiers. When we combine these with our Second-Class Lower Honours graduates, an extraordinary 90 per cent of our students are in the classifications of second class lower to first class, a statistic that speaks not just to individual brilliance, but to an institutional culture where excellence is the standard, not the exception.”

On his part, the Chancellor, Prof. Adegbulugbe, who described higher education as a cornerstone of societal progress and global advancement, emphasised that universities must inspire purpose and nurture responsible citizenship, particularly in an era he said has been marked by rapid technological transformation and environmental challenges.

“The future belongs to institutions that cultivate innovation grounded in moral values. Our goal at JABU is to develop graduates who can think critically, act ethically and lead courageously – men and women who will advance science with conscience, enterprise with empathy and governance with integrity,” Adegbulugbe stated.

With the visitor to the institution, Pastor Samuel Oladele, who is the President of the Apostolic Church Nigeria and Overseas, urging the graduands not to measure their success by titles or possessions, stated that their contributions to humanity should be the ultimate.

He said, “Beloved graduands, you have been to JABU, the first entrepreneurial university in Nigeria, and have been impacted by your lecturers and your parents too, to the best of their ability. However, you have much more to do as you go forth into the world.

“Whatever knowledge you acquired in this university was meant to be like a seed sown, which should germinate and bring forth harvest. Above all, lay all your laurels before God, who is the giver of all. Do not ever take any credit for yourself, no matter how tempted you are to do so.”