For finishing with the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.95 on a scale of 5.0, Oladimeji Shotunde, the best graduating student of the Lagos State University (LASU), has won a post-graduate scholarship to any university in the world and a N5 million cash prize from the Lagos State government.
The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who announced the rewards at the 24th convocation of the university on Thursday, said it was to encourage the 22-year-old student, who finished from the department of business administration in the faculty of management science. Shotunde also got an offer of automatic employment into the state’s public service.
Sanwo-Olu also awarded a cash prize of N5 million to the best Master’s Degree student of the school, Sola Olabanjo, who finished his master’s degree in computer science with the Grade Point of 5.0.
Sanwo-Olu, who is still on self-isolation after contracting Covid-19, joined the event virtually from the State House, Marina.
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The governor said Shotunde’s record-breaking feat had set a new academic standard for the school, stressing that cash reward was his personal effort at promoting academic excellence and honouring brilliance. He promised that his government would continue to provide students with the best educational experience that will make them relevant locally and outside of Nigeria.
Sanwo-Olu said Lagos has started to brace itself for the opportunities in manufacturing driven by the application of technology and artificial intelligence to raise the sector’s capacity and output.
According to him, the state government had already set off the process of transforming the local manufacturing sector, with its collaboration with the University of Pittsburg in the United State (U.S.) to establish manufacturing assistance centres across Lagos to train young people in modern manufacturing skills, using technology and knowledge of artificial intelligence.
The partnership, the governor said, would overhaul the education ecosystem through hands-on machining skills and mechanical engineering principles, thereby preparing trainees for immediate employment in the manufacturing sector.
Sanwo-Olu said his administration’s education investment was to assist students in the government-owned tertiary institutions across the State to harness their potential and talents for promoting excellence in industries, entrepreneurship and self-sustenance.
The governor also said the state government had donated a building and a piece of land on Victoria Island for the take-off of an executive collaborative programme to be run by LASU in partnership with Cornell University in New York, adding that his administration had expanded the capacity of School Jobs Initiative to accommodate the needs of students in eight tertiary institutions in Lagos.
