The former vice chancellor University of Ilorin and current registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Professor Is-haq Oloyede recently bowed out of the services of the university. UMAR BAYO ABDULWAHAB captures the two-day events organised in his honour.
President Tinubu’s special tribute
“Since the bedrock of development lies in education, developing nations, including Nigeria, are in dire need of more scholars like former vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin and current registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Prof Is-haq Oloyede.”
Above were excerpts from the special tributes from the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu while paying tribute to Prof Is-haq Oloyede on his 70th birthday and retirement from the services of the University of Ilorin.
In a statement on October 9, 2024 President Tinubu, who said that he was very proud of the renowned scholar, described Prof Oloyede as an astute administrator, educator and author.
Tinubu said Prof Oloyede’s impactful tenure at the University of Ilorin between 2007 and 2012, during which he introduced landmark ideas and innovations, helped the institution to attain enviable heights.
“Perhaps, more remarkable is Prof Oloyede’s transformative leadership at JAMB, which saw him pioneering and sustaining a series of reforms and technological innovations that have made the admission process in Nigeria transparent and credible.”
With those short inferences from the president’s special tributes to prof Oloyede, it was therefore not a suprise to witness an array of personalities from far and near, within and outside the shore of Nigeria who converged at the university to honour Oloyede who bowed out of the service of the University of Ilorin having attained the mandatory retirement age of 70 years.
Two days of gliz, glamour
For two days, Ilorin, the capital of Kwara state and University of Ilorin in particular, played host to dignitaries from all walks of life who came from far and near to honour the former UNILORIN vice chancellor.
At the Ilorin International Airport, it was also a busy week for officials as the airport reportedly witnessed hosts of diginatries that turned out to grace the occasion.
From the academia, judiciary, public service, traditional and the religious institutions, friends, family members and associates of Prof Oloyede, cruzed to the main auditorium of the university, venue of the two-day events to honour their own.
Double honours
The twin programmes which were the 2024 University of Ilorin lecture series delivered by Oloyede himself on the theme: ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanities’ and a lecture/special book presentation were in honour of the retired professor of Islamic Jurisprudence.
The books written in honour of Oloyede are entitled, ‘Islamics, Scholarship and Service to Society, A Festschrift for Is-haq Olarewaju Oloyede’ and ‘Glimpses into the Giant: A Tapestry of Tributes to Prof. Is-haq Oloyede at 70’.
While the UNILORIN lecture that preceded the book presentation on Wednesday 9th October, 2024 was organised by the university, the event of Thursday 10th October: lecture and book presentations was organised by the KU8+ Consortium of Universities in Kwara state of which the JAMB registrar is the director of its Board of Trustees.
It was therefore an epoch making event and a memorable one in honour of an outstanding university administrator.
The new Kuliya Sokoto
The event, which was originally organised to honour the retiring university administrator, turned out to be another occasion to confer more titles on him; the latest being the Kuliya Sokoto coming from the Sultan of Sokoto, Alh Abubakar Saad III.
The royal father said he was happy that the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, had conferred the same title of Kuliya (which translates as a Judge) of Ilorin Emirate on a legal luminary, Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN).
While noting that Oloyede and Ali are close associates who have many things in common, the Sultan said, “I hereby confer on Oloyede the title of Kuliya of Sokoto. I will send the letter of appointment to him as soon as I return to Sokoto.”
He said that he was very pleased to make the programme, adding, “It’s very important. We thank Allah for Oloyede’s life. We’ll continue to ask him to do more.”
Caution against cursing leaders
The Sultan used the occasion to admonish Nigerians to desist from the habit of cursing their leaders but to rather pray for them no matter how bad the situation may be.
“Don’t curse your leaders, no matter how bad they may be, but pray for them. Never talk ill of your leaders. Even if a leader is bad, pray for him. If you pray for him/her, Almighty Allah can make him/her to turn a new leaf and make him/her a better person that you will enjoy. Don’t condemn your leaders. No matter how bad they are pray for them,” the Sultan who is the head of the Muslim community in the country counselled
Fagbemi ‘s admonition
The minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi who was the chairman of the event, also charged Nigerians to encourage their leaders to perform optimally and not to castigate them all the time.
“I’m not saying that we don’t have problems, but when you begin to relegate or malign the country, I don’t know what you are portraying to the outside world. You may think you are doing them a favour but at the end of the day, they would show you the way out.
“I agree, however, that among us we have some bad eggs and it’s normal even in the developed countries. So, what we need to do to minimize it (because you can’t totally eradicate the situation) is to ensure that we put up a policy, behaviour, activities that will discourage things that will inhibit development and respect for the country,” Fagbemi said.
Also speaking, the secretary general of KU8+, Professor Francisca Oladipo, who is the vice-chancellor of Thomas Adewumi University, Oko in Kwara state, said that KU8+ is made up of all the universities in Kwara formed to form networks and partnership with a view to improve on tertiary education in the state, Nigeria and Africa.
“Professor Isiaq Oloyede, as the chairman of board of trustees, we could not think of a more befitting individual to take that role, given his giant strides, not only as a former vice-chancellor of the University of Ilorin and registrar of JAMB, but as somebody who prioritizes the establishment of partnership and consortium among universities, not only in Nigeria but Africa.
“The authors are scholars and vice-chancellors from different universities across the world and these books would be in libraries across the world too,” she said.
Footnotes from Ghana
In his keynote speech, Professor Olusola Oyewole, secretary general, Association of African Universities, Accra, Ghana extolled the landmark achievements of Oloyede as JAMB registrar and former VC.
He said the honouree promoted the internationalisation of the University of Ilorin and created access to learners from other African countries like Sierra-Leone, Gambia and Liberia, who had been disadvantaged through civil war to come over to Unilorin for their studies.
The man Oloyede
Prof Oloyede, an indigene of Abeokuta, in Ogun state, was born on October 10, 1954. He had his early education in Lagos.The renowned academic and seasoned administrator was subsequently admitted into the University of Ilorin in 1978.
He graduated from the University in 1981 with a First Class degree in Arabic.
He also earned his subsequent degrees from the same University.
Upon his graduation, Prof. Oloyede joined the services of the university as a graduate assistant. He became a professor of Islamic Jurisprudence at the University in 1995.
Having held so many appointments in the services of the institution, Prof Oloyede was appointed as the 8th vice chancellor in 2007. He is the first alumnus of the university to hold the enviable position from 2007 to 2012. His tenure witnessed so many phenomenal developments.
