OOU VC Hails NELFUND as University Graduates Record 147 First-Class Students

Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) is set to graduate 5,808 students during its 35th convocation ceremony, a historic event featuring a record-breaking 147 First Class Honours graduates. 

In a press briefing held on Thursday, January 22, 2026, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ayodeji Johnson Agboola, commended the Federal Government's Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) initiative, revealing it has been instrumental in keeping over 4,000 students from dropping out due to financial difficulties.

The 5,808 graduands for the 2024/2025 academic session are categorized as follows:

First Class Honours: 147

Second Class Upper Division: 2,051

Second Class Lower Division: 2,927

Third Class Honours: 571

Pass and Uncategorized: 112 

The overall best graduating student award for the session went to Ajayi David Bamidele, a Civil Engineering graduate who achieved a remarkable CGPA of 4.89 out of 5.00. 

Professor Agboola praised NELFUND as a "very laudable initiative" that has allowed students to focus on their studies without the pressure of tuition fees. He provided striking data on its impact, "before NELFUND, the university recorded between 3,000 and 4,000 applications annually for leave of absence due to financial constraints."

As of the current date, the university has not recorded a single application for leave of absence on the grounds of financial incapability. 

For the current 2025/2026 academic session, NELFUND has already made payments for 5,000 OOU students, with nearly 1,300 more applications awaiting processing. 

The convocation ceremonies are scheduled to run until Saturday, January 31, 2026.