The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Arc. Sonny Echono, has called on Nigerians to embrace integrity, courage, compassion and dedication to public service, saying the country needs more citizens who place national interest above personal considerations.
Echono made the call in Ilorin on Monday while serving as Chairman of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) Homecoming Celebration and Investiture Ceremony for Awards of Excellence, Distinguished Alumni and Unilorin Ambassadors.
The ceremony featured the homecoming of Professor Emeritus Is-haq Oloyede and the recognition of 30 other distinguished Nigerians for their contributions to education, humanity, national development and the growth of the university.
Echono described Oloyede as a distinguished Nigerian who had spent his entire adult life demonstrating hard work, integrity, courage, compassion and commitment to service.
He said celebrating individuals who had distinguished themselves in their respective fields was important because it would encourage the honourees to do more while inspiring younger generations to emulate their achievements.
“We don’t tend to celebrate the right people enough. Our celebrations are often full of funerals, birthdays and burials. But when you celebrate individuals, you give them the impetus to do more.
“More importantly, you encourage others to emulate them so that they can also be celebrated,” he said.
Echono stressed that honours and recognition remained important tools for promoting excellence and sustained performance, adding that individuals who contributed positively to society should be recognised while they were alive.
He particularly commended Oloyede for his courage in tackling examination malpractice during his tenure as Registrar and Chief Executive of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
According to Echono, Oloyede confronted networks involved in examination malpractice and worked with security agencies to dismantle organised cartels operating across the country.
He said the battle was challenging because the networks involved were powerful and frequently issued threats.
Echono recalled participating in operations to investigate and dismantle the networks, including an exercise in which suspects arrested from different parts of the country were interviewed to establish the identities of those behind examination malpractice.
He said information obtained from the exercise contributed to efforts to clean up the examination system.
The TETFund boss also praised Oloyede for his compassion and commitment to inclusive education, particularly his efforts to expand opportunities for persons with disabilities.
He noted that under Oloyede’s leadership at JAMB, support for candidates with hearing and visual impairments went beyond the provision of facilities to include organisations that prepared persons with disabilities for tertiary education.
“Today in our universities, I understand JAMB even instituted an award for institutions who admit students with disabilities. Nigeria will remain grateful to you, sir,” Echono said.
Also speaking, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Egbewole, described Oloyede as a worthy product and ambassador of the institution whose academic achievements, administrative leadership and commitment to national development had brought honour to the university.
Egbewole said the establishment of a professorial chair was a befitting way of recognising Oloyede’s contributions to scholarship, leadership and the development of the university.
He appealed to stakeholders and guests to support the N250 million endowment established in honour of Oloyede, describing him as a highly disciplined, courageous and outstanding Unilorite and an “uncommon Better by Far Ambassador.”
The Vice-Chancellor also challenged recipients of the various awards to reciprocate the honour by supporting development projects at the university.
He urged recipients of the Awards of Excellence to identify projects they could execute, while distinguished alumni were encouraged to jointly identify and fund projects that would bear their names.
Egbewole similarly called on the Unilorin Ambassadors to collectively support a project for the institution, expressing the hope that the projects would be completed before the next edition of the honours programme.
