Daud Olatunji
Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State, on Sunday conferred degrees on a total of 3,229 graduates, including 241 First-Class honours across various disciplines, in a convocation ceremony that also marked the final official outing of its Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ademola Stephen Tayo, after a decade of transformative leadership.
Addressing the gathering at the university’s 2025 Convocation Ceremony themed “Charting a Glorious Future with Courage and Purpose,” Prof. Tayo expressed joy at the accomplishments of the graduating class and recounted the milestones recorded under his 10-year stewardship.
“Today is personal for me. It’s not only the graduation of another outstanding cohort, but also my final convocation as Vice-Chancellor.
“I stand before you as a grateful servant-leader, a witness to God’s faithfulness, and a proud member of the Babcock story,” he said.
While speaking on the breakdown of the graduates, the VC said out of the 3,229 graduates, 2,543 were undergraduates, and 686 were postgraduate students, including 217 PhD holders, 30 MPhil, 359 Master’s, and 80 Postgraduate Diplomas (PGD).
He also disclosed that BUCODeL (Babcock University Centre for Open and Distance E-Learning) produced 43 undergraduates and 12 postgraduates for graduation, marking the centre’s first-ever graduating cohort.
Speaking on his legacies, Prof. Tayo said during his tenure, he spearheaded sweeping reforms in academic offerings, infrastructural development, research, alumni engagement, and student entrepreneurship.
He disclosed that the university had introduced futuristic academic programmes such as Cybersecurity, Peace Studies, and One Health, all accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
He said the Schools of Engineering and Environmental Science, launched under his administration, now operate in a dedicated Iperu campus with ongoing structural expansion.
“We pursued not just growth, but meaningful transformation. Through partnerships, accountability, and a shared vision, Babcock has become a beacon of academic excellence and moral leadership,” Tayo said.
The Vice-Chancellor also noted major research milestones, including winning research grants totalling over £35,000, €10,500, $14,000 and ₦60 million, and participating in international collaborations such as the Global Teach Project with the University of Pittsburgh, and community health initiatives supported by the University of Manchester and TWAS-DFG in Germany.
In his address, Prof. Tayo revealed that Stutern ranked Babcock as the second most employable university in Nigeria in 2024.
He added that to further enhance this, the institution established a Career Services Unit, engaged in industry training, and boosted entrepreneurship through initiatives like the Babcock Innovation Challenge and Entrepreneurship Week, producing functional student startups .
He disclosed that the the Babcock University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), now one of Nigeria’s top private medical centres, has handled over 927 advanced medical cases, including 20 open-heart surgeries, spine operations, neurosurgeries, and paediatric procedures.
According to him, It has also fully automated its electronic medical records.
The outgoing VC, in an emotional farewell, urged graduates to wear their Babcock training with pride, and to let their lives reflect values of faith, integrity, innovation, and service.
“Let your knowledge serve justice. Let your talents solve problems. Let your values inspire hope. Be fearless. Be kind. Be Babcock.
“Babcock University is not just surviving—it is thriving. And with God on our side, the best is yet to come,” he charged .
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