By Mubarak Oladosu
Last Monday , October 17, 2022, the sun rose on the University of Ilorin in its full glory. Its golden rays reflected from the sixth floor of the tallest building in the University to all corners of its campuses, as if in acknowledgement of the auspicious day that marked the beginning of a new five year season in the life of the University. It is the season of the 11th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin. The Egbewole season.
As Professor Wahab Olasupo Egbewole was about to experience his first working day as the Chief Executive of the most desired public university in Nigeria by admission seekers, a sea of heads assembled at the main entrance of the University of Ilorin. Friends cheered, students screamed , clients waved as drums and trumpets serenaded Egbewole. The divine declared him a personification of town and gown in the voice of the joyous party which ushered him into the University campus for a new season of meetings and resolutions, examinations and results,admissions and convocations, in a cycle of five sessions.
I became aware of the Wahab Egbewole phenomenon as an undergraduate .The name Egbewole, for anyone who speaks the Yoruba language, is simply intriguing. A great history must be behind it. Perhaps, the Vice Chancellor will share the etymology of his name with the public, in the coming days. Sometime after I had graduated, I accompanied one of my parents to the then newly completed chambers of Wahab Egbewole and Co. to submit some papers. He was however not on seat. I left the sparking edifice with my dream of meeting the great man dashed. The man serving food on the dinning table of some fellow citizens.
The next significant time I would encounter him closely, I was a young staff who was getting orientation on the job. Someone had pointed an undergraduate with whom I had no prior connection , in my direction and I was supposed to be her last hope of getting accommodated on campus. It was after the official working hours, but I still had some assignments to complete before I could close for the day. The girl was drenched in a river of her own tears. I rounded-off and accompanied her to the office of the big man in charge of accommodation. The man told me he had no accommodation to spare except for one that Professor Egbewole needed to approve . I assured him that I would convince the Professor about the girl’s desperate need and the big man handed me the required forms. After stepping out of his office, I told the lady what had transpired and we headed to the Faculty of Law but Professor Egbewole was not around. Immediately, the girl’s tears of despair flooded into a tsunami which nearly consumed me.
Naive, lacking in experience and learning on the job, I entrusted her with the forms after we agreed that she would not fill the forms until we had met with the don and he approves of it. At that point, the said rivers of tears receded. The following day, my head was buried in work when my phone rang. The voice at the other end told me he trusted me, but I needed to go and clear my name with the big man. I rushed down to the big man’s office . He welcomed me warmly and his mien was neither hostile nor accusing. What’s the matter? I wondered. Then his assistant, who was not around the previous day pounced on me with a barrage of accusations and verbal jibes. His words stung like venom. I was intimidated. Apparently, the lady had filled the hostel forms and the big man had told everyone his new version of the story . His version was that he had sent me to deliver something to Professor Egbewole and I took it for myself . He chose to forgot that I was not his staff and he had never known me until I appeared before him.
“No, that was not what happened”. I insisted gently. It was my turn to feel a flood of tears. I was worried my reputation was in tatters. I eventually left the office and headed for the Faculty of Law but again, Professor Egbewole was not on seat. I summoned courage and called him. The line came alive with his voice, and it was a balm on my soul. ” Mubarak don’t worry, I have no business with you on this. Any other thing?”” No sir,” I replied . End of story. I was the happiest person alive. I headed back to my office with a lot of lessons. Was that Egbewole the silk wig or Egbewole, the last hope of the ignorant staff. Was that about me or about the big man? As for the girl, I later got to know that I was never her last resort.
Years later, I had another Egbewole encounter. A bright youth corps member who was serving in my office confided in me that she still wanted to pursue her original dream of studying law. She kept pressing for help until one beautiful morning. She was part of my team to an event on campus and Professor Egbewole was there, right at the entrance of the auditorium. I didn’t have to say much before he helped set her on the path to her desire . The lady now lives her dream as a distinguished lawyer. Certainly, this was Egbewole as a father figure.
Again, a few weeks back , I also encountered the don of law when I informed a friend who is a law alumnus at the University of Ilorin that we have a new VC in Prof Egbewole but my friend’s response shocked me. The friend who is based in Britain thinks Professor Egbewole was rather too strict on his children who studied law. “Prof would always send the poor boy out of his class without a second thought…for minor offences “. He said .
“But that is what we are yet to get right in Nigeria; rule of law! Absence of rule of law is sending young people away from the country in droves. With rule of law, all our woes will dissipate “. I countered.
In that discussion, I encountered Egbewole as a disciplinarian father , a teacher and a sticker to the rule of law.
The profundity of my 2018 encounter of the legal beacon demands that I skip the details. it suffices to say that he was simply sublime. My last encounter was only last Friday. We had just concluded the book launch in honour of the 10th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Professor Sulyman Abdukareem. I was at a distance and I heard a voice call me twice. I looked up and it was Professor Egbewole wearing his beautiful smile. He offered a handshake and invited me to join him as he walked towards the Central Mosque for Friday prayers. I was in a fix about taking his second offer.
I was extremely tired. But how does anyone say no to his next boss who would resume in 48 hours? Ultimately, I rode in a car to observe my prayers and after almost a week , I am still in prayers that the Friday encounter was not that of Egbewole the boss .
From the classroom to the courtroom and the boardroom, Professor Wahab Egbewole has excelled at it all. For the next five years, he will be in pursuit of the huge goals he has set for himself and the University, right in the middle of a global economic crisis. I pray that on the 15th of October 2027, he would shine like a constellation of stars, as the University breaks several proverbial glass ceilings and touches the sky of excellence while all members of the community remain alive, well and prosperous.
