The Director, Centre for Cultural Studies and Creative Arts (CCSCA), University of Ilorin, Prof. Oluwatoyin Roland Ogunade, has announced that the Management has approved the staging of the maiden edition of University’s Cultural Day on May 16, 2025.
Prof. Ogunade made this known during a chat with UNILORIN Bulletin in his office last Tuesday (April 15, 2025).
The Director, a Professor of Sociology of Religion, said, “Though the Centre was officially established on May 12, 2024, the idea of a UNILORIN Cultural Day came up at the well attended two-day Commencement Programme of the Centre held October 2024. It there and then got the blessing of the Vice Chancellor, who said that the possibility of dedicating a day in a year as UNILORIN Cultural Day is a welcome idea.”
Prof. Ogunade said that UNILORIN Cultural Day is desirable as part of the nation’s “need for cultural renaissance”, stressing that a “people without culture will go into extinction.”
The one-day ceremony, according to the Director, will feature a press conference, a presentation by students of the Department of Performing and Film Arts, speeches by the Vice Chancellor and the Director, CCSCA.
The Director said that staff and students of the University are expected to appear in their beautiful cultural attires on the day to “demonstrate our pride in our culture.”
He further said that “members of staff should hold the consciousness that a day will come in May of every year as may be approved by the Management to celebrate our culture.”
The UNILORIN Cultural Day, according to Prof. Ogunade, is also in furtherance to the mandate of the Centre that involves the “running of courses in Cultural Studies, Creative Arts and Museum and Archival Studies at certificate, Diploma, Master and Ph.D levels.
The don, a Board member of the global, USA-based Kiriji Heritage Conservation Group, further called for more support for the Centre, which, according to him, has good prospects of becoming the first United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Chair for Cultural Studies in Nigeria.
The UNILORIN Cultural Day, the Director said, “will further showcase the commitment of the Management of the University to institutionally lead in the renaissance and advancement of our rich cultural heritage.”
Omotoso loses mother
The death has been announced of the mother of Prof. Gabriel Olaiya Omotoso of the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of health Sciences, University of Ilorin. Madam Rachel Olufunso Omotoso died last Monday (April 14, 2025) at the age of 90.
Prof. Omotoso, who is the Editor-in-Chief of the National Association (Anatomy Society of Nigeria), said that the burial arrangements will be announced soon.
