The weekend at Oye-Ekiti

It was a trying weekend for the country with all the brouhaha arising from the self-inflicted difficulties of the redesigning of the Naira. Yet I couldn’t pass up an invitation to attend the 7th convocation ceremony of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, (FUOYE) being an opportunity to see that part of the country I hardly get to see. It was also a chance to participate in a convocation ceremony of a public university for the first time since I went through the exercise in December 1976 in ABU Zaria where incidentally the former Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo superintended as our Chancellor.

The flight was swift, about 40 or so minutes, from Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport to Akure airport. On the plane were also the Pro-Chancellor FUOYE, Dr. Mohammed Lawan Yahuza, and three other council members, Eng. Sabo Inuwa, Alkali Aji Kolo, and Abdullahi Jibrin.  We should have flown directly to Ado-Ekiti, the capital, as a new airport had been officially inaugurated last year but alas it is yet to be in use. So, when we dropped at Akure we had to endure a two or more hours drive to get to Ado-Ekiti on a narrow and packed full of vehicles highway of less than 100 kilometers. The extension of the highway to Oye-Ekiti, the home of the university, a mere 30 kilometres would take another hour to traverse. It surprises a first-time visitor that two of the main towns of old Ondo State, Ado-Ekiti, and Oye-Ekiti have not been linked with an easy-to-use macadamised highway.

Despite this, one cannot but observe the peaceful conditions under which people go about their daily affairs. From Akure to Oye is pretty much urbanised and there are swathes of forests here and there, yet there is no pervading sense of insecurity as one feels in some other parts of the country. There is religious harmony too. I observed that when I attended the Friday prayers in the small university mosque that was substantially completed with a few things outstanding.  The Muslim community had invited the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Abayomi Fasina for consultations. He is a Christian and I was surprised he turned up with his top officials many of whom were also Christians. They squatted there on the mats within the mosque and discussed how to sort out the outstanding issues affecting the mosque. It was a fascinating spectacle for me coming from the other part of Nigeria where we have failed to bridge the gap that still yawns in many communities.

The convocation ceremony was itself a grand affair with a large turnout of the students and their parents, the locals, and the dignitaries. It was also a carnival complete with drummers and singers. The investiture of the new Chancellor of the university, HRM Alaji Matthew M Opaluwa, the Attah Igala, added more colour to the events because he turned up with all his paraphernalia of office complete with his office holders who traveled all the way from Idah to support him. It was also a time for self-congratulation which was abundantly reflected in all the speeches delivered. Verily, it was all self-evident.

A university that began a bare 10 years ago and is now boasting over 40,000 students, spread across eight faculties and 40 academic programmes is indeed worth beating of chest. Moreover, the university has a good record of students completing their academic work in good time. For instance, the first and second sets of their students completed their academic works in record times in 2015 and 2016 allowing the university to conduct the first combined convocation in 2017. Since then, the university has never failed to hold a convocation every year, which is a testimony of resolute good management.

This year the university graduated close to 4,000 students including post-graduate students. But the high point of the convocation was the conferment of honorary degrees on three distinguished citizens namely, Wole Olanipekun SAN, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), who also served as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Ondo State as well as Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, the former managing director of First Bank of Nigeria, an excellent banker and brilliant chartered accountant.

The third honorary awardee is the footballer of my generation, Segun Odagbemi, who throughout most of the 1970s and early 80s was arguably the most talked-about footballer of the time. He was the star of the Shooting Stars of Ibadan as well as the Nigerian national team winning laurels for all. He has never retired from football considering the many footballing ventures he is involved in, today, across the country. He is also a very educative and entertaining football commentator being hosted by many newspapers as a columnist including the Daily Trust.

One takeaway from the convocation was the memory of naira rained on the best-graduating students. The two honorary awardees, Wole Olanipekun, and  Stephen Olabisi Onasanya opened up their pockets to announce millions of naira to be distributed to the best-graduating students. I found it an altruistic exercise worthy of emulation by all the well-to-do in the country, as an encouragement for students who are always ready to burn the midnight oil to succeed.