The management, staff, and students of Igbinedion University Okada (IUO) on monday celebrated the Founder and Chancellor of the Institution, Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion on his 91st birthday anniversary celebration.
The Vice-Chancellor, Igbinedion University Okada, Prof Lawrence Igbinedion, who led the university staff and students to extol the institution’s founder, Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion during his 91st birthday lecture organised by the university, described the latter as a great pillar of the Nigerian education landscape.
Ezemonye said that the history of private university education in Nigeria, when written, will have the first chapter reserved for the institution’s founder and chancellor, Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion.
“The choice of a birthday lecture is deeply symbolic. It signifies that we are celebrating not just a man but his ideas, not just a life, but his legacy of intellectual empowerment.
“There is no more fitting way to honour a founder of a university than the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge, which is the very core of our existence.
‘When the history of private university education in Nigeria is written, the first chapter will be reserved for our Chancellor. At a time when the terrain was uncharted and the obstacles seemed insurmountable, Sir Chief Dr. Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion saw not barriers but possibilities.
“He foresaw the pressing need to expand access to quality education.
He envisioned a citadel that would be a pioneer, setting the gold standard for academic excellence, moral rectitude, and community service .
“This foresight was an act of immense patriotism and courage. It required a conviction that went beyond profit, a belief in a future he was determined to shape.
“He invested his resources, energy, and reputation into this grand project he built for Nigeria and generations yet unborn.
“Today, as we look around this magnificent campus at the thousands of graduates who are change-makers in every field of human endeavor, we see the magnificent and resounding fulfillment of that foresight.
“Igbinedion University is his most enduring legacy, a permanent testament to his love for his people and his country.” Ezemonye said.
