By Elizabeth Osayande

OJO, LAGOS — The Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. Ibiyemi Ibilola Olatunji-Bello, has bowed out after five years in office, citing a 96 per cent first-year accreditation success rate and an increase in the university’s internally generated revenue from N3 billion to N13 billion as some of the major achievements of her administration.

Olatunji-Bello delivered her final convocation address on Wednesday during the grand finale of LASU’s 29th and 30th Combined Convocation Ceremonies at the Buba Marwa Auditorium, Ojo.

The Vice-Chancellor described her tenure as one that transformed LASU into “the most subscribed university in Nigeria and the most digitally advanced among our peers.”

She said she assumed office in September 2021 and was leaving behind “a university of proven excellence” after inheriting “a university of strong potential.”

The ceremony featured the award of professional and academic doctorate degrees to 375 graduands, as well as the conferment of honorary doctorate degrees on three distinguished Nigerians.

96% NUC accreditation

Olatunji-Bello said academic excellence was her administration’s “first and most urgent priority,” noting that the university recorded significant improvements in programme accreditation.

“In our very first exercise, we secured full accreditation for 31 of 37 programmes presented — a 96 per cent success rate that remains, to date, an unprecedented first-year achievement for any sitting Vice-Chancellor,” she said.

She added that in 2023, LASU secured full accreditation for 43 of the 44 programmes presented, while in 2026, 17 new programmes received full accreditation from the National Universities Commission through resource assessment.

“All our professional programmes achieved full accreditation,” she said, adding that the university also established four new faculties and two schools, with more than 30 new courses considered to be in high demand.

In October 2025, the university inaugurated the Babajide Sanwo-Olu Library Complex, which was described as the largest and most digitalised university library building in West Africa.

IGR rises to N13bn

The outgoing Vice-Chancellor said financial sustainability was also central to her administration’s agenda.

“Between September 2021 and September 2025, we grew our internally generated revenue from N3 billion to N13 billion — a fourfold increase,” she said.

Olatunji-Bello attributed the increase to creativity, leveraging internal capacity and the full automation of financial processes to block leakages that had previously affected the university’s resources.

She said the university executed more than 50 infrastructure projects funded through the Lagos State Government, Federal Government, TETFund, private donors and internally generated revenue.

The projects, she said, included the Students’ Arcade, 8,000-bed hostels and the N3 billion TETFund-sponsored Academic Resource Centre.

Research, sports achievements

On research, Olatunji-Bello disclosed that LASU researchers secured N29 million in grants from the Lagos State Research and Innovation Council.

She also said the Federal Government, through TETFund, approved N3 billion for a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cyber Security at LASU, which she described as the only centre of its kind in the South-West.

On sports, she said LASU emerged second overall at the 11th All-Africa University Games in 2024 and won 39 medals at the 2025 Nigeria Universities Games.

The LASU Queens, she added, became the first Nigerian university team to represent Africa in female football at the FISU World University Games.

Olatunji-Bello said LASU was now ranked Nigeria’s most subscribed university for two consecutive years, Best State University in Nigeria by the AD Scientific Index and the best university in Sub-Saharan Africa for sustainability by the UI GreenMetric ranking.

Dangote, others receive honorary degrees

At the ceremony, LASU conferred honorary doctorate degrees on three distinguished Nigerians.

They were Alhaji Aliko Dangote, GCON, who was represented by his daughter, Mrs Fatima Dangote, for his contributions to entrepreneurship, industrial and human capital development; Mr Akin Kekere-Ekun, OFR, for entrepreneurship, finance and management; and Mrs Harriet-Ann Omobola Bola Adesola, former Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, for her contributions to corporate finance and governance.

Earlier, during the convocation ceremony on Monday, the Senate elevated Prof. Rafiu Olaoluwa Okuneye and Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello to the rank of Distinguished Professor.

A total of 20,604 students are graduating across the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions.

In her appreciation, the Vice-Chancellor, in an emotional voice, thanked Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for “the platform, the confidence, and the unwavering support.”

She also described the five uninterrupted convocation ceremonies held during her tenure as a record of stability and one of her proudest achievements.