I served in the best University, says ex-Unilorin Chancellor

The Dein of Agbor, His Royal Majesty, Dr. Benjamin Ikenchuku, Keagborekuzi I, has described the University of Ilorin as the best University any Chancellor would serve.

The Dein, who is the immediate past Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, stated this in a Channels Television personality interview programme, “View from the Top”, last Wednesday (August 5, 2015).

The former Chancellor said, “In my experience, the former President Olusegun Obasanjo gave me one of the best universities in the country”.

Pointing out that the University of Ilorin was a remarkable place to preside over, the well-respected monarch said, “I saw what could be done in a university when the funds given were utilised properly”.

He thanked the former Vice-Chancellors, Prof. Prof. Shamsudeen Amali and Prof. Is-haq Oloyede (OFR), and the current Vice-Chancellor, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali (OON), “for having done an amazing job”, adding that “I was proud to have stayed as the Chancellor of that University”.

The Dein, who decried the state of facilities in public universities in the country, frowned at a situation where students learn in hot environments and don't have basic facilities like toilets and desks. He also condemned what he called the “aggressive nature of students in the country”, which he noted is being manifested at the National Assembly.

Observing that a lot of work still has to be done in the nation's education sector, the former Chancellor said, “If the education sector is not corrected, there is very little hope for us as a nation”.

His Royal Majesty Benjamin Ikenchuku Keagborekuzi I was born in July 1977 and is the youngest monarch in Nigeria to be appointed Chancellor of a federal university. He schooled in Europe and is an Officer of the Order of the Crown of Belgium and at the same time the Vice-Chairman of the Delta State Traditional Rulers' Council.