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University Of Ilorin @ 40: A Tribute by baruzeez(m): 7:30am On Oct 22, 2015 |
“Can anything good come out of Ilorin?” Dele
Sobowale 1980s.
Underestimating people and institutions can
produce some startling surprises. Let me
confess that I was a pessimist about the
prospects of the University of Ilorin back in the
1980s. Despite knowing it was there, it just
never occurred to me that I would have
anything to do with it. I was forced to consider
it when one of my dearest in the world, my
daughter Onikepo (Nike) Sobowale made two
decisions on her own. First, she was going to
read computer science. Second, she was going
to offer Unilorin as her first choice.
The reader needs to understand why it was
difficult for me to know which of the two
decisions was the more alarming at the time. I
had enrolled her at Adrao International Nursery
and Primary School, Victoria Island, at a time
when it was the most expensive school in
Nigeria. I was not very rich, but my employer
was an American multi-national company, which
recruited me from the USA for the job.
That made me one of the highest paid
Marketing Managers in Nigeria. I was
determined that my kids would receive the best
education money could buy. Later Nike was
joined by two younger sisters at the same
school which collected enough money from me
to buy a Mercedes each year.
She proceeded to Queens College, Yaba, on
merit, finished as an “all-rounder” and scored
close to 300 in JAMB. She could have selected
any university and any course in Nigeria and the
admission would have been automatic. But, she
chose Computer Science and University of Ilorin
– and promptly drove me to consume twelve
bottles of GULDER non-stop. Computer
Science? Unilorin?
How could I go about beating my chest among
my friends with these options? It was also an
ethical dilemma for me because I left Nigeria
for the US promising my Mum to return a
medical doctor; then changed course to
economics. I had vowed never to interfere with
the career choices my kids make. And here was
the first one driving me to drink gallons of beer.
My work with two multi-nationals in the US, with
large fleets of trucks and delivery vans and
sterilized computer rooms, had convinced me
that Computer operators were mechanics in air-
conditioned rooms wearing white coats, instead
of those in the Mechanic Workshop which were
greasy and grimy. My brilliant daughter was
going to join the “white coated mechanics”.
Horrors.
Added to that, she was heading for Ilorin, Kwara
State which, at the time, for me, might as well
be in the Sahara Desert. Called the “Gateway to
the North” by many people, it was, as far as I
was concerned, a Gateway to Ignorance in the
19080s. And, if there had been Boko Haram
then, it would have been Gateway to Hell. As a
born and bred Lagos boy, anything beyond Ikeja
was “jungle”. Even Ibadan was barely tolerated
and if she chose University of Ibadan, I would
have advised her to keep away from the
“natives” (ara oke as we called them).
The vital questions were: should I stop her and
why? Eventually, the principle of non-
intervention in career choices of my kids
prevailed. I swallowed more beer and away she
went without knowing she left a father who
spent the first few months expecting and
actually praying she would be fed up with Ilorin
and return home to start again elsewhere.
Blessed are the ignorant people acting out of
partial knowledge. First, I was totally ignorant of
the future of ICT and how it was going to take
over all aspects of our lives in more ways than
Medicine, Engineering, Law, Pharmacy, and
even my own field, Economics could have
possibly do. Today, it is virtually impossible to
achieve success in any field without a large
dose of ICT. So score one for Nike.
It took a bit longer for the University of Ilorin to
demonstrate its true grit. I must confess that in
the early days when friends ask me which
university Nike was attending, I would pretend
not to hear the question or change the subject.
How could a “real Lagos boy” like me announce
that my intelligent daughter was attending a
university in the “bush”. The first person to
whom I gave the honest answer actually told
me, “Dele you must be mad.
U.I, Uni-Ife, UniBen, UNN are there and you sent
your daughter to Ilorin” – making it sound as if
I sent her to the gallows. And, mocking me
further, he reminded me that I once said “Can
anything good come out of Ilorin?” Sure enough,
I said it. And I was ashamed that Nike was at
Ilorin.
Nevertheless, life continues to teach all of us
lessons we refuse to learn. Among the enduring
lessons of history is “Nobody can be certain
about the future”. But, most of us, especially
adults, think we can predict the future. If
anybody had told me that University of Ilorin
would be ranked along with the University of
Ibadan today, I would have told the person to
“go to hell”.
Given the gap in everything, at the time, it
looked absolutely impossible that Unilorin would
catch up to the first generation universities.
Today Unilorin sits at the top of the pile. The
university had in one generation, defined as
thirty years, worked its way to the front ranks.
The great Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821, said
that the word “impossible” doesn’t or should not
exist, Unilorin has made me to agree with him.
Now I can beat my chest. Onikepo attended
University of Ilorin. |
Re: University Of Ilorin @ 40: A Tribute by INTROVERT(f): 7:30am On Oct 22, 2015 |
ok |
Re: University Of Ilorin @ 40: A Tribute by BlackrulesDworld(m): 7:36am On Oct 22, 2015 |
Better by far |
Re: University Of Ilorin @ 40: A Tribute by baruzeez(m): 10:31am On Oct 22, 2015 |
If you are not a student of the University of Ilorin get one as a friend |
(1) (Reply)
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