By Ogunseye Odunayo
On the 16th of December, 2020, the family of the Late Senator Ajimobi through the Senator Abiola Ajimobi Foundation was at the University for the foundation laying ceremony of the Abiola Ajimobi Resource Centre at the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies (IPSS), University of Ibadan, in a bid to immortalise the late Senator and the legacies he stood for.
This was made known in a statement released by the university’s media team.
It should be noted that the event was part of the activities planned for the 3rd Annual Abiola Ajimobi Roundtable and his 71st posthumous birthday.
Credit: UI Media Team
The President of the Foundation and wife of the late Senator, Dr Florence Ajimobi, was full of gratitude for the opportunity of being able to witness the day since it was a special day to the family.
She echoed the importance of the project as a unique way of ensuring that the legacies that the Late Governor stood for are kept alive and sustained. She further said that the project would be completed within a year and ready for commissioning at the 4th Annual Ajimobi Roundtable which will hold on the 16th of December, 2021.
She described her late husband as “a man who lived acquiring knowledge for development and a man who appreciated researching for details”. With this description, she said that the resource center will serve as a centre for good governance and leadership.
Speaking at the event, Prof. Adebola Ekanola, the Acting Vice Chancellor of the University, appreciated the Foundation for collaborating with the University. He said the initiative will be used for the purpose of which it is created for which is to retain the legacies of the Late Senator and to positively impact Oyo State, Nigeria and the entire globe.
He was optimistic that no regret will come from the collaboration, affirming that “as long as the University exists, the Abiola Ajimobi Resource Centre will continue to exist and this implies that the noble aim of immortalising what Ajimobi stands to resonate as long as the University exists.”
Among the dignitaries present at the event was the in-law of the Late Senator, Dr Umar Ganduje, the Governor of Kano State, who is also an alumnus of the University expressed his delight to be related to the Ajimobi’s family.
Governor Ganduje said the building of Resource Centre will be a building of memory, history and immortalisation of his great friend and colleague who was nine years older than him. In his words, “this edifice will promote researches on good governance and sustainable development.”
