The proliferation of First-Class graduates, especially from private universities, calls for serious concern among educators, employers and even the secondary-school teachers who once taught these students.
We are witnessing a sudden, meteoric rise of students who once struggled academically now emerging as first-class scholars. Their own teachers are baffled. It looks like a wonder — a divine one, if you like — but a wonder that raises eyebrows.
The problem with this trend is simple: Are these students competent? The competence of many so-called first-class graduates is questionable.
Has the first-class honour become based on attitude, attendance or image rather than real academic performance? What exactly determines the award of first-class honours today?
And even if on paper they are competent… can they perform up to expectations?
What do we see?
Universities release First-Class graduates by the dozens, yet many of them roam the streets jobless, hopping from one interview to another with nothing to show for it. They are first-class graduates who are not qualified for automatic employment. In fact, their results often expose their incompetence rather than prove excellence.
Gone are the days when first-class graduates got automatic employment. Gone are the days when companies ran after them, eager to secure their brilliance. Something is clearly off with this current wave of first-class achievers.
Now for the numbers:
According to the National Universities Commission (NUC), in 2023 fewer than 5 % of graduating students across Nigeria’s federal and state universities earned First-Class degrees.
For example, at Ebonyi State University in 2019 only 6 out of 1,924 graduating students (≈ 0.3 %) earned First-Class honours.
In contrast, among private universities the numbers are much higher: In 2024, among Nigeria’s top 10 private universities one survey found that about 17 % of graduates bagged First-Class degrees — compared to around 3 % in federal/state institutions.
Another data point: At University of Lagos (UNILAG) 55th convocation, 561 students were awarded “First Class Degrees and Distinctions” out of about 9,684 first-degree recipients.
In a recent scrutiny of seven public universities, 1,899 First-Class degrees were awarded out of 115,255 graduates in one year. That’s roughly 1.65 %.
These numbers show two divergent realities: In some institutions first-class is extremely rare (under 1 %), in others (especially some private ones) it is far more common (10 %+). This inconsistency begs the question: what’s driving the difference?
On social media, some graduates announce loudly that they finished with first-class from a “prestigious” university — but that’s where the story ends. Only a few can actually defend the results. Many are as surprised as we are that they finished with first-class.
I recall a secondary-school teacher expressing disbelief when he heard one of his struggling former students graduated with first-class honours. He wasn’t being dismissive — just baffled. “I am not underrating her, but it continues to surprise me that she graduated with First-Class honours,” he said. His worry is the same worry many teachers now have: this proliferation of first-class honours has become suspicious.
Universities now seem to compete on how many first-class graduates they produce. It makes you wonder if incentives, reputation drives or other pressures are at play. The fact that private institutions sometimes hit one in five graduates being first-class is both remarkable and raises flags.
We need our higher institutions to look into this. We need academic standards reinforced, transparent criteria for first-class honours, and quality control restored. First-class honours should be reserved for those who genuinely earn them — those who can defend their results anywhere, anytime.
This intervention is necessary and it is urgent. If we don’t act now, the value and integrity of one of the highest academic achievements will continue to diminish before our eyes.
