Ife Varsity to launch Independent power project soon, graduates 7,209 students on Convocation

The Vice Chancellor, Prof Ogunbodede, had hinted this in July, 2019, while declaring open the African Institute for Science Policy and Innovation International Biennial Conference, held at the campus said the institution planned to exit the national grid by October and generate its own energy.

However, Ogunbodede, while addressing a pre – convocation press briefing on Friday, explained that the independent power project of the university will generate 8.08 megawatts of electricity, disclosing that it is expected that the project will be ready by the end of December 2019.

Explaining the reason for the delay, he said: “Re-organisation in the Federal Ministry of Power is the reason we could not meet that (October 2019) target. But this December, we plan to exit the national grid. The project is on course.”

Meanwhile, he disclosed that during the forthcoming convocation of the Institution  7,208 students would earn degrees of diplomas in various undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

He said, “Of this number, 4, 756 are classified bachelor degrees, while the rest 536 are unclassified. Furthermore, 124 of these graduates have First Class Honours; 1,795 have Second Class Honours (Upper Division), 2, 256, have Second Class Honours (Lower Division), while 542 and 39 are graduating with Third Class Honours and Pass respectively.

“Similarly, of the 1, 917, postgraduate degrees; 59 are postgraduate diploma, 923 are Professional Masters, and 675, 52, and 208 are Masters with Research Thesis, Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy respectively.”

According to him, during the convocation, three eminent Nigerians will receive honorary doctorate degrees of the university. They are a marketing communications practitioner, Mr Biodun Shobanjo, President of African Export- Import Bank, Dr Benedict Oramah and chairman, First Bank of Nigeria, Plc, Mrs Ibukunoluwa Awosika.