UI's 58 First Class Law Graduates Deserve No Apology, Says Former Vice Chancellor

University of Ibadan's Faculty of Law in the 2024/2025 academic session has sparked public debate, but the institution's former Vice Chancellor, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, says the critics have got it wrong.

Writing on his official Facebook page on Tuesday, Prof. Olayinka, who attended the Senate meeting on 16 February where the results were formally approved, said those questioning the figures lacked a proper understanding of the university's admissions process and the quality of students it attracts.

Of the 146 students who completed the law programme, 58 earned First Class honours, a proportion of roughly 40 per cent that has drawn scepticism from sections of the public who believe first class degrees should be rare.

Prof. Olayinka was having none of it. "One has read on social media about some negative comments on this development. At times, people comment on topics that they have little information about. And so what if about 40% of the UI 2026 Law Graduating Class finished in the First Class category? You cannot build something on nothing and expect it to stand," he wrote.

His central argument was straightforward. The students admitted into the Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan are among the highest performing in the country, with virtually all of them scoring a weighted average of nearly 70 per cent across both the UTME and post UTME at the point of entry. He disclosed that the merit cut off mark for Law in the 2025/2026 academic session is 70.875 per cent, with Medicine and Surgery set at 78.875 per cent and Nursing Science at 71.375 per cent.

According to Prof. Olayinka, this standard of entry has held firm for at least two decades, making strong graduation outcomes not only predictable but expected. "In reality, all the students admitted into the Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan have the potential to eventually graduate in First Class insofar as nearly all of them scored a weighted average mark of almost 70% in the UTME and post UTME when they were offered admission," he said.

He turned the criticism on its head, suggesting that weak results would be the real cause for alarm. "It should worry us if the majority of these academically outstanding students finished eventually after their five years of study with poor degrees," he stated.