Federal University Lokoja (FUL) will graduate 5,638 students, including 24 First Class Honours graduands, at its 10th Convocation Ceremony on Saturday, 14 November 2026, at the Main Campus, Felele.
Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Gbenga Ibileye, disclosed this at a press briefing marking the commencement of the convocation activities.
The ceremony, his first since assuming office on 16 February 2026, will hold under the theme “Fifteen Years, Ten Convocations: Consolidating Excellence, Building Partnerships and Shaping the Future.”
Describing the briefing as “both an occasion for celebration and a moment for reflection and accountability,” Ibileye gave an account of his stewardship, anchored on the University’s Strategic Plan 2026-2031.
The Graduating Class
Of the 5,638 graduands, 4,828 will receive first degrees, 182 diplomas and 628 postgraduate qualifications. Among the 4,786 honours graduates, 24 earned First Class, 881 Second Class Upper, 2,928 Second Class Lower and 953 Third Class.
The Faculty of Life Sciences has the largest graduating class with 1,024 graduands, followed by Education (806) and Arts (773). At postgraduate level, the University will award 46 Postgraduate Diplomas, 162 Professional Master’s, 238 Academic Master’s and 182 PhD degrees.
The maiden class of the Centre for Safety Management will also graduate, with 22 Master’s and 11 Postgraduate Diploma candidates. Five are international students, including an Offshore Installation Manager with QatarEnergy. Many will participate virtually. The VC said this “speaks volumes about the growing reputation and reach of this University.”
Honorary Degrees and Convocation Lecture
Three Nigerians will receive honorary degrees:
-Alhaji Dahiru Mangal is entrepreneur with interests in aviation, oil and gas, transportation, manufacturing and cement
Chief Mrs Folashade Tinubu-Ojo is businesswoman and Iyaloja-General
Mr Babajide Kolade-Otitoju is the Director of News at TVC and a prince of Ekirin-Adde, Kogi State
The Convocation Lecture holds on Thursday, 12 November 2026 and It will be delivered by Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, on “Nigeria and the Emerging Global Order: Preparing the New Generation for Leadership.”
Academic Development
Eight programmes secured full NUC accreditation this year: Mass Communication, Computer Science, Education Mathematics, Integrated Science, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Microbiology and Sociology. Ten more are undergoing accreditation.
Fourteen new programmes admitted pioneer students for 2026/2027, including Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Data Science, Software Engineering, Psychology and Broadcasting Journalism. “Expansion must never outpace quality,” Ibileye said.
In the College of Health Sciences, pioneer medical students began clinical training at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, and the College attained full membership of the Consortium of Medical Schools in Africa in August.
READ Prof. Ibileye Pledges Enhanced Standards of FUL Halls of Residence
A new Learning Management System is being deployed, with all 100-level courses already on the platform. The University also signed two MoUs with the Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa, and 615 FUL graduates were inducted into teaching by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria. Frameworks for Endowed Professorial Chairs and Professors of Practice have also been established.
Research and Innovation
FUL secured a ₦3 billion TETFund grant to establish a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cyber Sciences. The University appointed Dr Grace Korter as its first Grants Officer, and staff have since submitted over fifty grant proposals.
Eight professors have delivered inaugural lectures since February, bringing the total to forty-seven. Prof. Ezra Shiloba Gbaje received a ₦30 million TETFund Research Award, while Prof. John Stephen Kayode was admitted into the Africa Clean Air Network.
Infrastructure
– Ten Starlink terminals deployed, and 100 computers donated by Hon. James Abiodun Faleke
– ₦3 billion PPP model hostel project awaiting regulatory approvals
– TETFund interventions including ₦335 million (NEEDS Assessment), ₦700 million and ₦400 million (laboratories and classrooms) and ₦300 million (zonal)
– BUA Group-supported General Science Laboratory Building at Felele, already roofed
– Construction begun on a pedestrian flyover at the main gate on the Lokoja-Okene Road
Governance and Partnerships
At a Stakeholders’ Roundtable in Abuja in September, the University unveiled the Corporate Partnership Portfolio 2026-2030 and an Investment Prospectus. It also established the Directorate of Strategic Communication and Corporate Documentation and launched a monthly publication, *FUL Voice*, in April.
FUL gained a gateway into the EU’s Erasmus+ Programme and is in talks with Badr University, Cairo University, the University of Pretoria, Walter Sisulu University and the University of Manitoba. It signed an MoU with the Nigeria-Korea Friendship Institute of Vocational and Advanced Technology and is revitalising its partnership with Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited. The Makoju family’s philanthropy is expanding into doctoral sponsorships and prizes.
Staff and Student Welfare
Twenty-one academic staff benefited from ₦158.9 million in TETFund training support, and 190 of 200 conference sponsorship applications were approved. Official vehicles were allocated to Deans for the first time, a ₦50 million Vehicle Refurbishment Loan Scheme was introduced, and a 52-seater bus was donated by Customs Comptroller-General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi. Twenty electric tricycles are in use, with fifty electric minibuses arriving soon. The VC acknowledged that “some outstanding obligations remain” to staff and promised to address them progressively.
For students, the University introduced a “Vice-Chancellor for a Day” programme, inaugurated a Community Security Committee and supported NELFUND beneficiaries, with disbursements of about ₦188 million and ₦199 million reaching 1,631 and 1,665 students. Students also won the CIPM North Central quiz and a ₦2 million prize at the Kogi Innovation Hub Hackathon.
Ibileye said the University aims to build a system where “progress can be sustained beyond any single administration, including my own.”
He also announced the retirement of Bursar Mr John Sule Shilo and University Librarian Prof. Sarah Dauda Yani after six years. They are succeeded by Mr Sanusi Halidu Abubakar and Dr Florence Ajani respectively.
