UI Senate is the Real Cornerstone — Olayinka Hails Adebowale’s Tenure

As the University of Ibadan prepares to close the chapter on the five-year tenure of its 13th Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kayode Oyebode Adebowale, FAS, FAAS, mni, FRSC, a powerful tribute from his immediate predecessor has underscored a fundamental truth: a university is only as strong as its Senate.

At a special meeting of the UI Senate held on Monday, 26 October 2026 in honour of the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Professor Idowu Olayinka, the 12th Vice-Chancellor (2015–2020), delivered a goodwill message that blended institutional memory, quiet pride and heartfelt commendation.

Olayinka, a participant-observer who has followed power transitions at the premier university for more than three decades, described the current send-off as unprecedented in its warmth and celebration. “The stone nearly rejected by the builders six years ago has pleasantly turned out to be the cornerstone of the solid UI mansion,” he declared, to the glory of God alone.

He reminded the Senate of the turbulent circumstances surrounding Adebowale’s emergence in October 2021. The earlier selection process had been truncated the previous year. Faceless protesters had held the Pro-Chancellor, members of the Selection Board and shortlisted candidates hostage for several hours inside the Adeoye Lambo Senate Chambers in a bid to stalemate the appointment. Yet the process was eventually completed, and the man who would become known as “a VC with a CV” assumed office.

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Drawing from the late Professor Emeritus Nimi Briggs’ keynote at the First Senate Retreat on 6 December 2019, Olayinka repeated the enduring principle: “A university is as good as its Senate.”

The Vice-Chancellor, he noted, is merely the Chair and an ex-officio member of Senate, the highest academic body of the institution. Top universities worldwide take the operations of their Senates with utmost seriousness.

Universities, like the Church and the Army, are conservative institutions that fiercely defend their traditions and customs. In this regard, the University of Ibadan Senate has discharged its responsibilities creditably over several decades.

Olayinka highlighted one of UI’s unique strengths: the Appointments and Promotions Committee for Academic Staff is largely a committee of Senate. All Deans are members, together with an additional representative from each Faculty, while Council is adequately represented by some of the Visitor’s appointees.

In practice, it functions as a joint Senate-Council meeting — a template that has served the university well for decades. The Vice-Chancellor presides “in the best spirit of seeing himself as the first among equals,” a practice Olayinka said is rare among Nigerian universities.

Turning to the man of the hour, the former Vice-Chancellor was unequivocal. “The 13th Vice-Chancellor… has distinguished himself and we have never been prouder of him.” Over the past five years, many colleagues had the opportunity to rally behind their confidant, colleague, comrade and friend. “Needless to add that we are well pleased with him.”

Olayinka revealed that he had enjoyed the privilege of advising Adebowale “24/7 whenever the need arose,” while the Vice-Chancellor took full responsibility for every decision. Importantly, he never once criticised his successor publicly — a rare display of restraint in a system where public attacks by immediate predecessors often become sources of institutional friction. “His humility made my job much easier,” Olayinka said. “We have largely been luckier here in UI.”

Professor Kayode Adebowale, an industrial chemist born in Ibadan on 11 January 1962, rose from Graduate Assistant through the ranks to become Professor in 2006. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Science and later as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) before his appointment as the 13th substantive Vice-Chancellor — the first Ibadan indigene to occupy the position in the university’s history. His tenure, which began on 1 November 2021 and ends on 1 November 2026, has been marked by institutional renewal, strengthened research networks, digitalisation efforts and infrastructural interventions.

As the Senate gathered to honour him, Olayinka’s closing words carried both gratitude and blessing: “I wish Professor Kayode Oyebode Adebowale all the best in all his future endeavours. You have done very well. Your best is yet to come. The rest of your life shall be the best of your life. Amen.”

In elevating the Senate as the true measure of a university’s strength, the 12th Vice-Chancellor has left the 13th with a fitting institutional tribute — and the University of Ibadan with a reminder of the traditions that continue to sustain its pride of place as Nigeria’s premier university.