BY: Kehinde Amusan
The incumbent governor of Oyo state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi donated a sum of five million naira to the University of Ibadan on Friday, 21st of September, 2018 at the maiden edition of the annual peace lecture of Gen. Abdulsalami A. Abubakar. The event which welcomed the Oyo state governor was to celebrate the international peace day and also to partly mark the 70th anniversary of University of Ibadan.
Senator Abiola Ajimobi while giving his remark said “the purpose of the government is to provide peace and security for its citizenry.” He further affirmed that ” Oyo state is one of the most peaceful state in Nigeria.” Then, he acknowledged the guest speaker, Gen. Abdulsalami A. Abubakar as an epitome of peace, integrity and honour, whom he said is the only Nigerian former head of state who never nurse the ambition of coming back to power. He also appreciated his deputy, Moses Adeyemo, who initially stood in place for him upon his absence at the inception.
Governor Ajimobi expressed his disappointment about University of Ibadan failure to acknowledged him after he had delivered papers and speeches at the school. He further said that when he attempted U.I admission after his secondary school he was also never admitted by the school. He also stated he aspires to study sustainable development in U.I but he is yet to be given admission. However, he congratulated the University of Ibadan on its 70th anniversary. He further affirms that “University of Ibadan remains the best”. He also acknowledged the school to be “worldclass training institute for postgraduate studies” and He further stated that the institution has “the capacity for development”. “And above all, it has supported Oyo state government in our educational goal.”, he added.
Speaking of development, Governor Ajimobi enumerated the pillars of development that Oyo state government has in focus as – Education, ICT, Health, Industrialization and Culture. On education, he noted that ” Education is structured information; structured information is knowledge; knowledge is key of ability; ability is capability; capability is empowerment.” He hinted that this was how the first technical university in Nigeria was started. Furthermore, he explicitly stated that this is not a university of technology but technical university which combines theory and practical, unlike university of technology which focus mainly on theory. “And we are hoping that university and U.I will still have some relationship.”, he added.
In his conclusion, Governor Ajimobi informed the audience that their “ability to manage conflict is what peace is all about.”
