UNILORIN at 50: Who Was Left Out?

Journalist and alumnus Tunde Olusunle has urged the University of Ilorin to be more diligent and inclusive in selecting honorees for its Golden Jubilee roll of honour.

UNILORIN marked its 50th anniversary on July 16–17 with a glittering ceremony that produced Awards of Excellence, Distinguished Alumni and UNILORIN Ambassadors. Academics and lawyers dominated the list — 11 Senior Advocates of Nigeria were joined by figures from the public and private sectors.

Olusunle saluted the haul but said too many heavyweights were ignored. He listed former Kwara governor Abdulfatah Ahmed; ranking senator Fatai Buhari; ex–Head of Service permanent secretaries Olusegun Adekunle and Tinuke Watti; top civil servants across states; senior intelligence and military chiefs, including Agev Apollos Dem (DDG, NIA), Maj-Gen Alexander Mshelbwala, Maj-Gen Kayode Ogundele, Maj-Gen Johnson Olawumi (ex-NYSC DG) and others — all products of the “Better By Far” factory.

He praised the law faculty’s remarkable rise from its shaky early years to producing a legion of senior advocates. However, he insisted that a single event cannot encompass all of UNILORIN’s stars, and future lists must cast a wider net. For Olusunle, the famed UNILORIN brotherhood — “adhesive glue,” as he calls it, deserves a fuller, fairer roll call when the university celebrates itself.