*Commends Babangida, Abubakar for making it reality
*South Africa envoy salutes Igbinedion University at 24
Dike Onwuamaeze and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
The Founder and Honourable Chancellor of the Igbinedion University Okada (IUO), Dr. Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion has disclosed that it took him nine years of struggle to secure a licence to establish Nigeria’s first private university on May 10, 1999.
Igbinedion, who is also the Esama of Benin Kingdom, further disclosed that that they were 59 entrepreneurs that collected forms for the opening of private universities out of which only nine returned the forms, but only three were finally selected for licensing, but he distinguished himself as the first entrepreneur to establish a private university in Nigeria.
He disclosed these on Wednesday, during the 24th Founder’s Day Lecture of the IUO with the theme, “Advancing Higher Education Legacy Through Partnership: Private Sector Engagement,” which was delivered by the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Thamsanqa Dennis Mseleku.
Igbinedion said: “To start with I am very grateful to the Lord for keeping me alive. When I started, I said if my eyes see 20 years, and God has extended my life in healthy condition to see 24 years. “I am praying to God to give me more years to witness more anniversaries like this.
“There are three people I will thank for actualising this university. One, is the person in the control room in Aso Rock, which I do not know – the operator at that very moment who was able when I was in a meeting there put a call to link me with Mr. President. The second person to thank is former President, General Ibrahim Babaginda (rtd), who is a friend in need and a friend indeed who started this thing.
“Today we are celebrating success, which I am grateful to a lot of people and to Babangida wherever he is today. And mostly, the former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who made it a reality. My gratitude and thanks go to them.”
“We went through all the hurdles, but we thank God that after starting it, today there are over a hundred private universities. One university professor said every staff in the private university are staff of Igbinedion. So, I am grateful to God Almighty and I am praying to him to extend my life to see more celebrations of the Founder’s Day.”
Chief Igbinedion, who was represented by his son, the Deputy Chancellor of IUO, Dr. Lucky Nosakhare Igbinedion, a former executive governor of Edo State, said in his speech that the Founder’s Day was extremely important.
He said: “Looking back I feel a sense of fulfilment, knowing that my modest effort has yielded positive results, such that today Igbinedion University is reckoned among the key players in the global education sector.”
Mseleku, in his lecture, said the vision Igbinedion pursued in 1999, “has today delivered a world class education in a highly conducive environment that has inspired a culture of creativity and innovative experience.”
He added “In celebrating this day, we are not just celebrating the founding of this university, we are celebrating the very birth of private higher education in Nigeria.”
He said South Africa passed a law, which defined a university as an institution with multi faculties, schools and colleges, saying anything that do not fit this definition could not be registered as a university.
But, the high commissioner, stated that even in South Africa, the Igbinedion University “would have passed through the eye of the needle because this is a university, a multi faculty university.”
He said that the goal of university institutions in Africa today should be to produce students that would not be lured into the culture of corruption, but those that would “dedicate their intellectual capacities to solving the problems of the African continent.
“I wish to appeal to the academic staff and students to use these partnerships to enhance their own capacity to advance the legacy we are talking about here in Nigeria and not as a stepping stone of leaving this country for one reason or the other,” Mseleku said, adding that, “the ability of a university to secure meaningful partnerships and engagement largely hinges on its reputation gained from its impactful works through excellent teaching, research and community engagement. I am pleased to say that this university is able to gather such engagements.”
In his welcome address during the occasion, the Vice Chancellor of IUO, Professor Lawrence Ikechukwu Ezemonye, said that the 24th Founder’s Day was a celebration of the university’s credible academic excellence.
Ezeminye said: “It is significant that the noble vision had forever altered the narrative of the nation’s tertiary education system for good. Indeed, history will be kind to the honourable chancellor for making such an indelible imprint on the educational landscape of Nigeria.”
Ezemonye declared that at 24, it is significant to noted that the brilliant exploits of the institution’s blue-sky graduates in their various fields of endeavour across the world evidenced “in the quality of our products which is predicated on the university’s commitment to continually seek ways to advance knowledge and educate our students to make a difference in our society.
Highpoint of the event was the cutting of cake to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the founding of Igbinedion University, Okada.
