As UNILORIN begins 41st Convocation Ceremonies
By Idris Alooma
As a new moon shines like a diamond in the sky, so is the University of Ilorin Convocation Ceremony. Though the moon comes once in a month, the University of Ilorin Convocation comes once in a year, but when it comes, it comes with power, with pomp, with prestige, and with powerfully packaged programmes that keep the nation talking.
The echoes are here again. The breeze is blowing across the Campus, across Tanke, Oke-Odo, across Ilorin and beyond. The 41st Convocation Ceremonies of the Better By Far University for the 2025/2026 Academic Session, for the award of First and Higher Degrees, Diplomas, Certificates and presentation of Prizes, scheduled to hold between Friday, 16th and Sunday, 25th October, 2026, is here. It is memorable. It is memorabilia. And as usual, everybody is waiting and salivating.
Already, Tanke Road has worn a new look, beautifully rehabilitated by the Kwara State Government. The campus will be adorned with billboards of the Vice-Chancellor and the Convocation Lecturer, colourful decorations, lights and aesthetics. Visitors from far and wide will be arriving. The convocation atmosphere is infectious, and the entire University community will be agog.
At the centre of this grandeur is a man whose diligence makes the difference, Prof. Adisa Fawole, the immediate past Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Management Service, the Chairman of the Ceremonials Committee. Since the 39th edition, this very active, highly resourceful and goal-getter has overseen the committee with uncommon zeal, precision and class. He is a perfectionist, a workaholic, a team leader who leaves no stone unturned to make every edition more glorious than the last. Under his leadership, UNILORIN Convocation has moved from good to great to world-class, and this 41st edition will not be an exception.
At the helm of affairs is the visionary Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, a legal luminary and administrator per excellence who has kept UNILORIN as the most subscribed university in Nigeria with a stable academic calendar and rising global ranking. It is under his leadership that the University continues to tower. Closely supporting him are the Chancellor of the University, His Royal Highness, Alhaji (Dr.) AbdulMumini Kabir Usman, the Emir of Katsina, and the Chairman of the Governing Council, His Excellency, Surveyor Abiodun Jacob Aluko, whose wise counsel and governance oversight have ensured stability and growth in the system. Together with the Visitor, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, they have provided the leadership that makes UNILORIN better by far.
We must also commend the Registrar and Secretary to Council, Mr. Mansur Adeleke Alfanla, the chief announcer of the convocation and the engine room of administration. As the custodian of records and the one who signs the notice to graduands, his office is central to the success of the ceremonies. From the verification of graduands’ lists, to the coordination of gown collection, to the adherence to protocol during the academic procession, Mr. Alfanla will once again bring his experience, calmness and administrative sagacity to bear to ensure a hitch-free event.
This year’s convocation is also a celebration of impactful projects, and we must commend the Federal Government under President Tinubu for sustained support to tertiary education, and TETFund for its massive intervention projects that have dotted the University landscape in uniform, lecture theatres, laboratories, hostels and research facilities that have transformed UNILORIN into a 21st-century world-class campus. Many of these projects will be commissioned during this convocation, and we look forward to the presence of the Honourable Minister of Education, the Executive Secretary of the NUC, and the Executive Governor of Kwara State, among other eminent dignitaries.
No convocation succeeds without effective information machinery, and here the Directorate of Corporate Affairs, the image-making organ of the University headed by the ever-creative and ever-proactive Mr. Kunle Akogun, deserves huge praise. Through the UNILORIN Bulletin, press releases and strategic media engagements, the Directorate has projected the positive image of UNILORIN to the world. In the same vein, special commendation goes to UNILORIN 89.3 FM headed by the goal-getting ace broadcaster and highly resourceful Station Manager, Mr. Idris Alooma. The station he leads has been the heartbeat of information for the campus and host community, alongside the vibrant New Media Unit and UNILORIN TV, which will take the echoes of the 41st Convocation to every nook and cranny and to the global space. Apart from live coverages of all the events that UNILORIN 89.3 FM will carry as usual, the station has lined up other rich programmes to herald the convocation. Top on the list is the special countdown programme tagged Countdown to UNILORIN 41st Convocation, to be kick-started by the Vice-Chancellor himself, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, followed by the Chairman of the Ceremonials Committee, Prof. Fawole, sub-committee chairmen and other stakeholders. The station will also feature incisive news commentaries, special programmes, interviews, vox pops from graduands, parents, alumni and the host community, and live phone-in programmes that will capture the mood, expectations and memories of this historic celebration.
All stakeholders deserve praise: the Senate, management, staff, students, parents, guardians, security agencies, the host community, and particularly the great UNILORIN Alumni Association worldwide, whose support and pride in their alma mater remain unquantifiable. They will do wonders this year as usual.
As the 41st Convocation breezes in, one thing is certain, as usual, it will be successful, colourful, peaceful and pace-setting. The Better By Far University will do it again, and the memories will linger as memorabilia for years to come.
