The Joint Council and Senate of the University of Ibadan has named the official residence of the Vice-Chancellor of the institution after its longest serving Vice-Chancellor, Professor Emeritus Ayo Banjo who served in that capacity from 1983 to 1991.
According to a release signed by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka, a copy of which was obtained by insideoyo.com, the unveiling was done on Thursday and the residence will henceforth be known and addressed as ”AYO BANJO MANOR”.
The complex which has served the university for the past seven decades has been occupied by Professor Kenneth Mellanby, 1947-1953, Professor J. T, Saunders, 1953-1956, Professor John H. Parry, 1956-1960, Professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike, 1960-1967, Professor Thomas Adeoye Lambo, 1967-1971, Professor Horatio Oritsejolomi-Thomas, 1972-1975, Professor Tekena N. Tamuno, 1975-1979, Professor Samson Olajuwon Olayide, 1979-1983, Professor L. Ayo Banjo, 1983-1991, Professor Allen B. O. O. Oyediran, 1991-1995, Professor Omoniyi Adewoye, 1996-2000, Professor Ayodele O. Falase, 2000-2005, Professor Adebisi Olufemi Bamiro, 2005-2010, Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole, 2010-2015, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka, 2015 till date.
Ayo Banjo has served the University of Ibadan in particular and the entire Nigerian University system in general meritoriously and with distinction in different capacities for the past 54 years.
He rose as a member of the academic staff to the grade of Professor of English. His 1981 Inaugural Lecture was titled “Grammars and Grammarians”. He served as Dean, Faculty of Arts (1977-1979), Deputy Vice-Chancellor (1979-1981), Acting Vice-Chancellor (1983-1984) and Vice-Chancellor (1984-1991). He was appointed Professor Emeritus in 1997. A grateful institution conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa, Ibadan) on Founders’ Day in 2015.
He has served the nation as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, University of Port Harcourt. He also served in that same capacity at the University of Ilorin and Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo.
As a laureate of the Nigerian National Order of Merit, Professor Emeritus Ayo Banjo is a recipient of the highest award for academic excellence in the country. He is a Fellow and Past President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters.
He is a former Chairman of the Advisory Committee on the National Language Centre, former Chairman National Committee on English Language (WAEC); former President West African Modern Language Association; former Visiting Professor of English to the University of West Indies, Barbados.
He has served on the Advisory Board of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) Prize for Literature. He was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, as Chairman of the Governing Board of the National Universities Commission in 2016, a position he still occupies.
He is a recipient of the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
We thank both the Council and Senate of the University of Ibadan for giving this honour and recognition to a most deserving national icon and eminent citizen of the world.
