The award covers the 500 returning students and the 250 newly admitted ones.
This is just as the business tycoon also announced a donation of N140 million for the furnishing of the completed engineering faculty he donated to the university, as well as another N110 million for the installation of street lights on the campus.
Speaking during the event, Otedola said: “As stated in my citation, I strongly believe in transforming establishments that I am associated with.
“Therefore, to commemorate my appointment as the Chancellor of the university today and in recognition of the harsh economic situation in our country, I hereby announce a scholarship donation to each student of our university in the amount of N1 million each towards the 2023–2024 session school fees of each student.
“I am told that there are 500 returning students and about 250 new first-year students, making a total scholarship donation of N750 million.
“I hope this donation assists in ameliorating the plight of the parents of our students in these difficult times. I am depending on the Governing Council and the management of the university for the efficient management of these funds,” he posited.
He added that the above commitments were apart from the N2 billion Lady Doja Otedola Faculty of Engineering he promised the university a few years ago.
The first phase of the project, valued at over N670 million, was completed and inaugurated for use in February 2023.
Otedola assured that work on the concluding phase of the project would start in December 2023 and be completed by December 2024.
While recognising the efforts by the Lagos Diocese of the Catholic Church to establish the university some years ago, he expressed thanks to God for giving him the opportunity to be part of the project.
He continued, “I feel emotional as I make this speech today, as this university was also my late father’s dream. I remember the Fund Raising Committee visiting my late father several times when he was alive and also approaching me in 2008 for help in building the university. What they did not know, and indeed, no one knew at that time, was that I was then bankrupt in Nigeria.
“During the period of economic recession at that time, I lost over N100 billion as our business of importing diesel hit the rocks. I thank God Almighty for changing my fortune and for all that he has provided for me since then. I firmly believe that Almighty God has empowered me to help in the development of this university and to help the multitude of students of this university,” Otedola added.
The Pro-Chancellor of Augustine University, Chief Gilbert Grant, described the Otedola family as one of the backbones of the university, just as he urged the graduating students to be good ambassadors of the institution and to put to use all the virtues inculcated in them during their academic programmes.
The Vice-Chancellor, AUI, Professor Christopher Odetunde, also commended Otedola for the support he had given to the university since its inception, disclosing that, following approval by the National Universities Commission (NUC), the institution would start postgraduate programmes in some courses in the next academic session.