Idowu Olayinka, the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan posting on his Facebook page has called the criticism of the first class honours given to 58 law graduates of University of Ibanda, unwarranted.
Stating on his social media handle,, he said “It has been factually reported that 58 out of the 146 students which graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan at the end of the 2024/2025 academic session earned a First Class. Happily, I attended the Senate meeting that approved the results yesterday, 16th February 2026.
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.
In reality, all the students admitted into the Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan have 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. One hastens to add that this has been the pattern for at least the past 20 years. The Merit Cut-Off Mark for the 2025/2026 intakes for Law at the University of Ibadan is 70.875%. For the records, the comparative cut-off marks for Medicine and Surgery in 2025/2026 is 78.875% and for Nursing Science 71.375%. So we should not be surprised if a few years down the line these students also post excellent results.
Kudos to the University Senate that has always insisted on very high standards. It should then worry us if majority of these academically outstanding students finished eventually after their five years of study here with poor degrees.
What is important is that the UI Law Graduates are fit for purpose. They have always excelled in their Final Bar Examinations at the Nigerian Law School. Rather than any unsubstantiated criticisms, the Dean and all members of Staff in the Law Faculty at UI are to be commended for bringing out the best in their students. Please keep up the very high standards.
You do not measure success by the quantum of failures. Law is not one of the flagship programmes at the University of Ibadan by just words of mouth. The reputation was earned and should be sustained. One would like to congratulate all the final year students of the University of Ibadan whose results were approved yesterday, including the first set of Doctor of Pharmacy Graduates. Now that your hard work and critical reasoning have paid off handsomely, you can go out boldly and positively impact the world.
The rest of the world should be rest assured of one thing: IF IT IS FROM IBADAN, IT MUST BE OF OUTSTANDING QUALITY.”
Idowu Olayinka
Former Vice-Chancellor
University of Ibadan