The VC and his wife, Prof. and Prof. (Mrs.) Oluwafemi Balogun with other Principal Officers being entertained by the “Igedes’ during the Send-Forth organised by the University Community.
The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Community members last Friday honoured the out-going Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwafemi Olaiya Balogun at a Ceremony, to mark his tenure completion.
Speaking at the Ceremony, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Toyin Arowolo described the event as the first in the history of the University, adding that “we are here to celebrate an achiever”.
“In the last four years, 11 months and two weeks, he exhibited good leadership skills”, he noted.
Professor Arowolo described the out-going VC as a multi-talented individual with overwhelming innate skills in accounting and administration which he put to maximum use in transforming the University to higher pedestal.
The Chairman of the Ceremonials Committee, Professor Tunde Idowu, described the out-going Vice-Chancellor as a great manager of resources.
Also, one of the beneficiaries of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Foreign African Scholarship Scheme (FUFASS), Mr. Paul Bangura, from Sierra Leone did not mince words as he paid glowing tributes to the out-going Vice-Chancellor.
The Director, Directorate of Grants Management, Dr. Kayode Akinyemi and his predecessor, who is currently the incoming Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Bandele Oyewole, spoke of the out-going Vice-Chancellor as a “founder of structures and builders of people”, as evident in the creation of the new Directorate.
Similarly, the Director, Technical and Technology Staff Directorate, Engr. Abdulahi Baba Tahir, extolled the virtues of Professor Balogun as being trustworthy, honest and humble.
In the same manner, the Deputy Dean, Students Affairs and Chairman, Management Committee on Transport (MANCOT), Dr. O. S. Awokola, declared that before the advent of Prof. Balogun, MANCOT had only eight buses, which he noted rose to 29 in 2012.
In his own comment, the Dean, College of Management Sciences (COLMAS), Professor B.A Oyelere stated that the young College will soon outshine others, as he observed that Professor Balogun gave the College a good start.
However, the President of the Student Union, Comrade Bamigbade Abdulkareem, highlighted the performance of the out-going Vice-Chancellor since inception in 2007 to include rapid increase from 1,000 to 3,000 bed-spaces in the Hostels.
Others include renovation of the SUG Building and payment of school fees of indigent students with the provision of special buses for physically-challenged students.
Responding, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Oluwafemi Olaiya Balogun, disclosed that he was “humbled and physiologically touched by the expression of love” to him, by the different segments of the University community.
“The co-operation and understanding is unbelievable, in spite of initial resentment, you have assisted us to prove our potentials”, he stated.
Prof. Balogun also admonished the Community to improve on maintenance culture as a way of preserving infrastructures, painstakingly provided through judicious prioritisation of meagre resources.
He noted that, “It is difficult to build but very easy to destroy”, saying in strong terms that “I will not condone people messing up government property”.
Giving the Vote of Thanks, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development), Prof. Felix Salako described the Vice-Chancellor as a “defender of the weak and a very compassionate individual”.