Graduating students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) School of Post-graduate Studies were shocked on Tuesday when the managment announced that the academic gowns for this year;s convocation ceremony have been stoeln by hoodlums who attacked the bus conveying the gowns to the school premises.
The ceremony which began on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 with a Pre-Convocation Press Conference addressed by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Folasade T. Ogunsola, OON, will end on Sunday January 21, 2024 with a Convocation Thanksgiving Service. While 10,578 students would be awarded with first degrees, 6,886 others would be honoured with the postgraduate degrees.
In text message and email adrressed to the postgraduate graduands, the School of Postgraduate Studies (SPGS) management expressed disappointment with the stolen academic gowns which the students had paid N15,000 each to hire.
The message reads: “Dear graduate, we regret to inform you that the distribution of SPGS academic gowns is now suspended. Sadly, the remaining gowns were stolen, and our bus vandalised this afternoon.”
The development has affected the general mood dof the graduands, who had loked forward to taking snapshots in the prestigious gowns. It is however unclear if the University authorities will refund the N15,000 or create alternatives for the graduands.
