I consider this a special privilege and high honor to be invited to deliver this Seventh Professor Adetokunbo Babatunde Sofoluwe Memorial lecture.
Interestingly, I was the only external candidate, searched from outside the University of Lagos among the five scholars that were short-listed for the interview. Some of the others I can vividly remember were: Professor BabajideAlo, former Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Lagos, and Professor AyodejiOlukoju, former Vice-Chancellor at Caleb University.
As soon as we sat and organized the boxes, Professor Sofoluwe asked me jocularly: “what are in these boxes?” I immediately answered him boldly “these are my documents, publications, and testimonials”. The cohort of participants in the 2010 race for Vice-Chancellorship at the University of Lagos remains in my experience, one of the very best I have seen for a long time. Since that event, we have come to respect each other, to be friends and to cherish each other, with the clear understanding that it was only a contest for which the very best of us won the day.
He was a man with a golden heart, a selfless and patriotic Nigerian with a focus on achievement of specific goals, a hard-working academic who attained several laurels in his field of Mathematics and Computer Science, an unforgettable architect of modern UNILAG, a people-centered Vice-Chancellor, and indeed one of the most profound Vice-Chancellors this country has ever had. He left when the ovation was at its loudest point.
His death was dramatic and a great surprise to many students and staff of the University who had seen him earlier in the day. He was reported to have died from “sudden cardiac arrest,” a phraseology that is now too well known to many Nigerians.
Education Education Latest News, Education Education Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: GuardianNigeria - 🏆 1. / 94 Read more »