The Igbinedion University, Okada (IUO) has conferred the award of Honorary Ambassador on the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Dr. Mohammed Bello Shehu.
The Head of Information and Public Relations, Maryam Umar Yusuf, said in a press release today that the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Lawrence Ikechukwu Ezemonye, disclosed this when he led a delegation from the university management to present the award to the chairman in his office in Abuja on Tuesday.
In his speech, Ezenmonye told the chairman that in line with its development trajectory, the university deemed it fit to establish the position of Honorary Ambassador of IUO to recognise personalities who have demonstrated commitment to educational excellence and distinguished themselves in service to the nation.
The vice-chancellor said, “The premier private university, in its due diligence search, has considered you as most worthy of this honour of being its Honorary Ambassador.
“This is predicated on your profile as a consummate technocrat and more, importantly, as a distinguished alumnus of our great university.
“As Honorary Ambassador of IUO, you will be expected, amongst other things, to promote and project the image and standing of the university while advancing its interest.”
In his reaction, Shehu extolled the ideals of the university’s founding fathers and expressed his appreciation to the management and staff of the institution for finding him worthy of the recognition accorded him in advancing the course of the university.
He said, “The most important thing that we can do for the society is to impact knowledge. If we had sustained what our forefathers started many years ago, probably all the issues that are being discussed in Nigeria today wouldn’t have come up.
“We have great minds, great talents and great institutions but, somehow, along the line, we allowed the university system to derail.”
He expressed gratitude to God that some higher institutions like the IUO were able to maintain a high standard of education despite the challenges confronting higher institutions of learning in the country.
The chairman praised the foresight of the founding fathers of the university, saying, “It is really remarkable to have started this institution 25 years ago and considering the positive transformation that has been recorded so far, I think the management of the university should be commended.”
Pledging his readiness to advance the course of the institution, Bello said, “I assure you that I would do whatever I can to assist in whatever capacity, to market, to propagate, to help and to project the image of the university wherever I am.”
The Registrar/ Secretary of Council of the university, Professor Friday Benji Bakari, and other members of the delegation, as well as officials of RMAFC, in their address, described the chairman as a humble, amiable and detribalised person.
The high point of the occasion was the presentation of the letter of appointment as the Honorary Ambassador of the university to the recipient.
Other members of the delegation from the university were Prof. Deborah Omotsefe Odejimi, the Dean of School of Postgraduate Studies, and Prof. Femi Olufunmilade.
