The University of Ilorin will confer degrees and other academic qualifications on 16,152 graduands at its 41st convocation ceremony for the 2025/2026 academic session, with 365 students graduating with first-class honours.

The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Wahab Egbewole (SAN), announced the figures on Monday during a press briefing ahead of the ceremony, which will run from Wednesday, October 21, to Friday, October 23.

According to Egbewole, 11,213 students will receive first degrees, including 4,367 second-class upper division graduates, 5,102 second-class lower division graduates, 1,006 third-class graduates and 30 pass-degree recipients.

He said the graduating class also included students from several professional programmes, with 19 in Medicine and Surgery, 89 in Nursing, 73 in Pharmacy, 41 in Optometry, 89 in Physiotherapy and 32 in Veterinary Medicine.

The Vice-Chancellor disclosed that “4,939 graduands would receive higher degrees and diplomas, comprising 160 postgraduate diploma recipients, 901 master’s degree graduates, 114 professional master’s degree recipients, two Master of Philosophy graduates and 251 doctorate degree recipients”.

Another 3,511 students, he said, would graduate through the university’s Centre for Affiliated Institutions.

In a separate programme, Egbewole said 8,320 students had completed the university’s U-INSPIRE initiative, which equips participants with 21st-century skills in addition to their primary qualifications through partnerships with 10 industry partners.

He described the figures as evidence of the university’s commitment to academic excellence, professional training, research, innovation and the development of skilled graduates for national and global development.

Reflecting on his administration, Egbewole said the convocation provided an opportunity to assess the institution’s progress since he assumed office on October 16, 2022, and consider the legacy being prepared for the next vice-chancellor.

“When I assumed office as Vice-Chancellor on 16 October 2022, my first convocation ceremony was for both the 37th and 38th. I came into office with a clear commitment: to build on the strong foundations laid by my predecessors, preserve the University’s defining strengths, and move the institution forward with renewed ambition,” he said.

“Four years on, as we prepare for the 41st Convocation, I do so with gratitude to Almighty Allah and a deep sense of fulfilment. This is not simply a review of activities; it is an account of steady, substantial progress and of the institutional capacity, opportunities, and responsibilities we will bequeath to the next Vice-Chancellor, as a legacy,” he added.

The Vice-Chancellor said the university had maintained its tradition of stability, academic excellence and peace while making improvements in digital infrastructure, staff and student welfare, research, teaching and learning, campus facilities and external partnerships.

He added that the institution’s development strategy remained anchored on its Vision 1:10:500 ambition of becoming Nigeria’s number one university, ranking among Africa’s top 10 and securing a place among the world’s top 500 universities.

“The 41st Convocation is therefore both a celebration and a moment of reflection. It gives us an opportunity to recognise what we have accomplished, acknowledge the people whose work made it possible, and identify the foundations on which we can build the next phase of progress,” Egbewole said.

On the ceremony’s activities, the Vice-Chancellor announced that the convocation lecture, titled From Lecture Hall to Cabinet Room: The Journey from Academia to Public Leadership, would be delivered by Sierra Leone’s Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Dr Haja Ramatulai Wurie, on Friday, October 23, at 9am.

He disclosed that the university would stage its convocation opera, The Death of the Crown’s Escort, at the Performing and Film Arts Theatre on Tuesday, October 20, with performances scheduled for 4 pm and 6 pm.

According to him, graduands from four-year programmes would receive their degrees on Wednesday, October 21, and Thursday, October 22, while those from five-year and six-year programmes would be presented for their degrees on Friday, October 23.

Egbewole further disclosed that President Bola Tinubu, the university’s Visitor, was expected to commission completed projects on the campus at 2.30 pm on Friday.

The day’s programme would also include a convocation luncheon and merit awards for deserving members of staff at the university’s Multipurpose Hall at 4.30 pm.

The activities, which commenced with a special Jumat service on Friday, October 16, and an interdenominational church service on Sunday, October 18, will end with a thanksgiving service at St Thomas Aquinas Chaplaincy on Sunday, October 25.

Source: punchng.com

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The Catholic Diocese of Gboko has ordered the immediate closure of its institutions in Ihugh community, Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State, citing repeated attacks on church-owned properties.

The affected institutions include St Winifred Girls Secondary School, Ihugh; St Thomas Hospital, Ihugh; St Winifred Nursery and Primary School, Ihugh; and St Winifred Parish, Ihugh.

The directive also ordered the withdrawal of pastoral agents from the community.

Ihugh is the home community of Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia.

The letter conveying the directive was signed by the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Gboko, Most Rev. William Avenya, and the diocesan chancellor, Rev. Fr. Marcellinus Wende.

Titled “On the Temporary Closure of Catholic Institutions and the Withdrawal of Pastoral Agents from Ihugh,” the letter said the diocese decided this following repeated attacks on Catholic institutions in the community since 2024.

Parts of the letter read, “Over a considerable period, the Catholic institutions in Ihugh have suffered repeated disturbances, attacks and acts of destruction.

“Among these were the recent burning down of the students’ hostels of St Winifred Secondary School, Ihugh, on October 28, 2025, May 10, 2026, May 15, 2026, and October 11, 2026.

“These acts have destroyed the shelter of young people entrusted to our care, wiped out the labour and sacrifices of many years, and placed the lives and safety of students, teachers and staff in grave danger.

“The persistent burning down of St Winifred Secondary School students’ hostels was not an isolated event. The consistent burglary incidents at St Winifred Parish, Ihugh, the repeated criminal incidents at St Thomas Hospital, Ihugh, and the hooliganism witnessed during the reopening of St Thomas Hospital, Ihugh, on June 21, 2024, when people in Ihugh displayed placards and chanted slogans saying they no longer wanted the Reverend Sisters to work in the community, were also part of the problem.

“These acts are identified as part of a systemic pattern of hostility and destruction directed at church-owned properties, alongside arson and harassment. Each incident has left behind fear, loss and uncertainty among those who serve and are served by the church.”

The diocese said that before reaching the decision, it had met with members of the host community, engaged traditional rulers and community elders, and presented its grievances to the relevant civil and security authorities.

“Sadly, these sincere efforts have not yielded the peace, security and guarantees that the continued presence of our institutions requires.

“We have done all that depends on us. The attacks have continued, and no assurance of lasting safety has been secured,” the letter added.

The diocese said students of the secondary and primary schools would be assisted to continue their education in other Catholic schools within the diocese.

It added that patients of St Thomas Hospital would be referred to other health facilities, with every care taken to protect those requiring urgent medical attention.

“Staff affected by this decision will be treated with justice and charity, in accordance with Church teaching on the dignity of labour,” the letter concluded.

When contacted by telephone on Tuesday, Avenya confirmed the letter, saying, “Yes, we have suspended activities there.”

Source: punchng.com

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France readied on Tuesday for fresh nationwide demonstrations supporting students who have been protesting poor classroom conditions for weeks, with authorities and participants wary of further violence.

The mobilisation, backed by unions and the far-left opposition France Unbowed party, was to include a march through Paris starting at 1200 GMT, along with marches in other cities.

It follows demonstrations on Thursday that saw more than 70,000 people take to the streets across France, with about 500 people arrested.

French authorities had been hoping that the student protest movement that started in late September was starting to ease, ahead of half-term holidays. The protests have seen students pile up dumpsters and other obstacles to block access to high schools, with clashes occasionally breaking out with police.

On Monday, only 130 of France’s 3,700 lycees were closed, according to the education ministry, though it stated that, while “the number of school closures is falling… the violence is intensifying”.

In an incident seemingly unrelated to the protests, police arrested a 14-year-old on Monday near Marseille after a middle school headmaster and a teacher were shot with a hunting rifle, wounding both.

The education ministry said eight members of teaching staff were injured on Monday, mostly in the Paris region and cities of Bordeaux and Lyon, in relation to the protests. Its tally did not include the shooting, which police were treating as a separate case.

• ‘Aren’t being heard’ –

While most of the protests have been peaceful, students say they are determined to press the government to address the problems of too many absent teachers, dilapidated buildings, overcrowded class schedules and other grievances.

“Students aren’t being heard enough… not their proposals to authorities and elected officials,” a 19-year-old graphic design student in Paris, Leo, said.

He added that the protesters — many of whom were minors — were “disturbed by the level of repression never before seen for a student movement”.

One young protester lost a hand from a police stun grenade earlier in the protests, another lost many of his teeth from a tear-gas canister fired in his face at close range, and another lost an eye.

Rights groups and students have accused the police of a disproportionate use of force.

Several police officers and teachers have also been hurt, and on Monday authorities said fireworks fired through a tube injured two school workers in Reims, one school worker in a Paris suburb and a police officer outside a school in Marseille.

Tuesday’s demonstrations supporting the students were to be followed on Saturday by wider public rallies against the rising cost of living.

Naila, a 17-year-old student in the city of Rennes who said she would participate in Tuesday’s demonstration, hoped it would “converge” with the wider one on Saturday.

President Emmanuel Macron, speaking to reporters on Monday, said the pupils’ grievances would take time to address and urged restraint from protesters.

“These are issues that deserve time, consultations, discussion and respect,” Macron said.

• Worries about lost lessons –

More than 6,800 people — largely minors — have been taken into police custody over the course of the protests, according to the justice ministry.

Police have opened internal investigations into 24 allegations of brutality against demonstrators.

After last week’s nationwide demonstrations, the government promised some 3,000 substitute teachers would be deployed in the coming days to replace absent staff at the 114 worst-affected high schools.

A government spokeswoman on Monday said they had started to be assigned.

But the national students’ union has dismissed the government’s move as “crumbs” and is demanding a 10 billion-euro ($11 billion) boost for lycees.

Some parents and students, however, voiced concerns about all the classes being missed because of the protests. A few worried that the children were being used as pawns by opposition political parties.

Some parents pleaded for the teens to lift their blockades at Paris schools.

“The blockades are by their very nature undemocratic,” complained one mother, who went by the pseudonym Gladys.

“It’s shameful to block students who really want to study, by a movement they aren’t part of,” said Clara Juillet, a university student in the city of Tours who has been unable to attend lessons for a week because of the protests.

AFP

Source: punchng.com

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