The University of Lagos (UNILAG), on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, matriculated a total of nine thousand, one hundred and seventy nine (9, 179) students for the 2025/2026 academic session of the University.
The figure covers students admitted via Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), Direct Entry (DE) and Institute of Continuing Education (ICE), UNILAG.
Speaking at the Matriculation Ceremony which was held at the Jelili Omotola (Multipurpose) Hall of the University, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, OON, FAS congratulated the new students on their admission into UNILAG (the University of first choice and the nation’s pride), a feat, she attributed to merit, hard work and diligence on the part of the students.
Prof. Ogunsola described the ceremony as the beginning of a defining chapter in the lives of the matriculating students, one which requires discipline, leadership, character, responsibility and purpose.
While urging the new students to embrace honour, honesty and dignity as their guiding principles, the Vice-Chancellor who led principal officers of the university and Deans to the event, charged the freshers to shun all vices including cultism, negative peer pressure, examination malpractice, drug abuse, sexual exploitation and other acts which could sabotage their academic pursuits. She advised the matriculating students to make the best use of support services which UNILAG had to offer. These include library facilities, research and entrepreneurship centres, mentorship programmes, innovation hubs among others.
The Professor of Medical Microbiology also enjoined the new students to see their academic sojourn in UNILAG as a path to personal discovery, character formation and purposeful preparation for the life beyond the university walls. She implored them to make wise choices, seek clarifications, collaborate ethically with each other and faculty, as well as persevere and never give up.
Her words “…you will encounter academic demands that will stretch your abilities and resilience, do not shy away from them, rather, embrace them because they represent growth, lean into them and cultivate the growth mindset that enables you to see setbacks and challenges as opportunities for learning rather than reasons for retreat and lamentation…”
Prof. Ogunsola also used the opportunity provided by the event to caution the new students against derogatory representation of the University of Lagos and Nigeria especially on social media. She pointed out that such acts do not only sabotage nation building but also impact negatively on prospective local, multinational and global career opportunities which they stand to enjoy as students of UNILAG.
She encouraged them to engage in intellectual activities, participate in constructive students’ engagements, familiarize themselves with policies guiding their studentship and seek guidance early whenever the need arises.
The highpoint of the ceremony was the formal administration of the Matriculation Oath by the University Registrar, Mrs Abosede Victoria Wickliffe to the matriculating students presented by their Deans across all faculties.