Aliko Dangote has pledged N600m towards the construction of a girls’ hostel at Lagos State University.
The pledge was announced during LASU’s 29th and 30th combined convocation ceremonies held to celebrate graduates of the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions.
Dangote, represented by his daughter, Fatima Aliko Dangote, made the commitment through the Aliko Dangote Foundation.
The intervention is expected to improve accommodation and welfare for female students of the university.
The Dangote Group also announced employment opportunities for first-class graduates in Engineering and Sciences.
The outstanding graduates will be considered for employment by the group after completing their National Youth Service Corps programme.
The company said it currently employs more than 52,000 people across Nigeria and 11 other African countries.
The Dangote Academy also provides practical training for graduates seeking careers in the industrial sector.
The development came as Lagos State Governor and Visitor to LASU, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, rewarded the university’s two best graduating students with N20m each.
The beneficiaries are Ayilara Lawal Olawale of the Department of Project Management, who graduated with a 4.96 CGPA, and Adebanjo Samuel Oluolamide of the Department of Aerospace Engineering, who recorded a 4.97 CGPA.
The governor said the awards were intended to recognise academic excellence and encourage other students to pursue outstanding performance.
Sanwo-Olu disclosed that LASU produced 20,604 graduates across the two academic sessions, including 494 first-class graduates.
He urged the graduates to complement their academic qualifications with competence, discipline and good character.
The governor also highlighted investments in infrastructure, accommodation and other facilities at the university.
According to him, LASU’s accommodation capacity has increased to about 8,000 beds, while more than 50 infrastructure projects have been executed through various funding sources.
The convocation also marked the end of the five-year tenure of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello.
In her final convocation address, Olatunji-Bello said the university recorded progress in accreditation, research, innovation, digital transformation and infrastructure during her tenure.
She disclosed that 31 of the 37 programmes presented during the first accreditation exercise under her administration secured full accreditation.
She added that all professional programmes presented achieved full accreditation.
Olatunji-Bello further said LASU’s internally generated revenue rose from N3bn in September 2021 to N13bn by September 2025.
She said the university had also expanded student accommodation, scholarships and employment opportunities for qualified staff.
The Chancellor of LASU, Oba Olufolarin Ogunsanwo, said the university was strengthening its role in research and innovation.
He noted that LASU emerged as the sole South-West beneficiary of a N3bn TETFund grant for a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cyber Sciences.
The university also conferred honorary doctorate degrees on prominent Nigerians during the ceremony.
Another highlight was the first convocation ceremony held at the LASU Epe Campus.
Graduates in Engineering and Agricultural Sciences were among those celebrated at the campus.
The university also disclosed a strategic partnership with the University of Illinois in Chicago, aimed at expanding collaboration in research, teaching and academic exchange.
The convocation therefore combined recognition of academic excellence with fresh commitments towards student welfare, graduate employment, infrastructure and research.
