By Stephen Oladele
Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council of the University of Ilorin, Surveyor Abiodun Aluko, has described the university as leadership factory where people are trained for excellence and integrity.
He made the statement while expressing delight in the feats achieved by students, graduates, and researchers of the university and leadership role being assumed elsewhere by members of the staff in the last one year.
Aluko made the remarks at the 41st convocation ceremony of the institution on Thursday.
He spoke just as the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof.Wahab Egbewole asked the 11, 213 graduating students of the first degree programme not to fail to appreciate their parents on the sacrifice made to see them through their academic pursuit.
Aluko said the last one year of the period between the last convocation of the university and the present one had been a year of outstanding intellectual accomplishments and remarkable community development feats.
The Pro-Chancellor who noted that during the period, the institution’s researchers continued to make breakthroughs, academics won laurels, law graduates emerged among the best at the Nigerian Law School, and staff members were appointed to leadership roles in various institutions said the university is a leadership factory where leaders wirh excellence and integrity are produced.
He stated: “Our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Egbewole, was appointed a Member of the elite legal practitioners’ governing body, the Body of Benchers. This is no mean achievement for the erudite Senior Advocate of Nigeria. It is also a source of pride to the University, which continues to exude excellence in all spheres of its calling.
“Our researchers have continued to record impressive breakthroughs, while our staff members and students have also continued to make the University proud by winning laurels upon laurels.
“Several of our academics were listed among the top 2% of scientists in the world, while others won national and international awards for excellence in teaching and research. We celebrate you all.
“One particularly exciting feat by our students, and indeed one of the most celebrated laurels this year, came from the Nigerian Law School. At the 2026 Final Bar Examinations, one of our own, a graduate of our Faculty of Law, Israel Adekunle Ajayi, emerged as the Overall Best Graduating Law Student in Nigeria. Even more remarkably, sixteen of our Law graduates came out with First-Class Honours at the same Bar Final Examinations.
“This is unprecedented. It is a powerful confirmation of the quality of legal training at Unilorin and the culture of excellence that our Faculty of Law has sustained over the years. On behalf of the Governing Council, I congratulate our brilliant young lawyers, their parents, and the entire Faculty of Law for making us exceptionally proud.
“Since our last convocation, a good number of our distinguished academic and non-academic staff have been found worthy to lead other institutions.
“Several of them have been appointed as Vice-Chancellors, Registrars, Bursars, and Provosts of other universities, polytechnics and colleges.
“This is not surprising. Unilorin is a leadership factory. When you train people in excellence and integrity, the world comes looking for them. We celebrate them and wish them well in their various assignments”” he stated.
Aluko who also appreciated greater height the university attained in the year in the ranking of universities said collective efforts in the institution were paying off in global recognition.
“In the recent U.S. News and World Report Best Global Universities Rankings 2026 – 2027, the University of Ilorin moved from the 37th position it occupied last year to 5th position in Nigeria. Also, the SCImago Institutions Rankings 2026 ranked the University 1st in Nigeria and 18th in Africa for Aquaculture, alongside other remarkable improvements in our ranking records.
“This giant leap is not by luck. It is the result of deliberate focus on research output, academic visibility, citations, and the quality of our staff and students,” he stated.
Egbewole while advising the graduating students to honour their parents for investment made on their education when they might have been reaping the economic benefits of the education investment also tasked them to be a good ambassador of the university.
The Vice Chancellor who titled his address “Let This Investment Count,” said that the graduates’ education represented three major investments which he explained as parental sacrifice, institutional commitment and personal effort.
He said that all the three investmebts ought to yield meaningful results through responsible conduct, professional excellence and contributions to national development.
Egbewole said many parents and guardians sacrificed their comforts, postponed personal ambitions and committed substantial resources to ensure their children acquired university education.
“The money that could have been used to build a house went towards your accommodation. The money that could have bought a car paid for your textbooks, learning materials and internet data,” he said.
The Vice Chancellor while advising the graduating students to honour the sacrifices of their parents by supporting the parents when they were able, also asked them to make the parents proud through their achievements and contributions to society.
He said that as ambassadors of the university, the conduct, integrity and professional competence of the graduates would influence public perception of the institution.
