A TOTAL of 198 students of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Edo State, bagged First Class degrees out of 14,083 students to be awarded first degree at the institution’s 51st Convocation and Founder’s Day ceremony.

The Vice-Chancellor of UNIBEN, Prof. Edoba Omoregie, disclosed this yesterday in Benin at a pre-convocation press briefing.
He said 4,217 students bagged Second Class Upper,  7,928 got Second Class Lower, while 578 bagged Third Class degrees.

Omoregie said the result was indicative of the seriousness with which staff and students were committed to ensuring that the institution continued to move forward with vigour.

He said 15 new approved programmes by the National Universities Commission (NUC) would commence in the 2025/2026 academic session.
Prof. Omoregie said the Veterinary Medicine programme, which earlier suffered an accreditation hiccup before he assumed office, has been accredited.

He said: “The wheel of progress is on course and moving steadily in the University of Benin.  This administration is poised to deliver on its mandate of effective, practical teaching, sound learning, result-oriented research and impactful community service.

“We must applaud President Bola Tinubu for establishing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which has significantly reduced the financial stress of students in the process of acquiring tertiary education.    We encourage students and their parents to take full advantage of the Federal Government’s benevolence in instituting the fund.”

Prof. Omoregie disclosed that Nigeria’s Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, would deliver the Founders’ Day lecture with the topic,  “Reforms for a Shared Prosperity.”

The UNIBEN VC said Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and Former Vice Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, would deliver the Convocation Lecture on the theme, “Making Our Universities Great”.