Again, Ambali bags 'Outstanding VC' Award - Unilorin

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali (OON), again stood tall penultimate Thursday (March 12, 2015) when he was honoured with the Centenary Merit Award for Outstanding Vice-Chancellor at the prestigious Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja.
The Award, given by the Grassroots Leadership Centre (GLC), Abuja, was received on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor by the Director of Academic Planning, Prof. Sulaiman A. Kuranga. 

Presenting the insignia of the Award to the representative of the Vice-Chancellor at the well-attended ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of GLC, Mr. Yinka Awoyinka, said, 'The Award is in recognition of Prof. Ambali's outstanding performance as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin. It is also to appreciate him for his contribution to the educational development of Nigeria.”
Mr. Awoyinka noted that Nigeria is 100 years old as a united country, saying, however, that “for a nation that is so blessed with enormous natural and human resources, we are certainly not where we should be”.
According to him, “it is true that we are operating far below our potentials. It is true that there are many bad leaders in Nigeria, but it is also true that there are a few good leaders. It is true that there are many corrupt leaders in Nigeria, but it is also true that there are a few upright leaders.”
The GCL boss pointed out that in the midst of so much bad news flying around in the country, the Unilorin Vice-Chancellor “represents good news to Nigeria”. He said, “Prof. Ambali has brought hope in the midst of our hopelessness. He has given Nigeria a good name through his personal leadership qualities, his achievements over the years and his commitment to make Nigeria better than he met it. The good thing about his achievements is that he has always been creative and hard working. His success story will be an inspiration to millions of other Nigerians”.
Mr. Awoyinka recalled some of the achievements recorded by the University of Ilorin under the two and half year-old administration of Prof. Ambali. These, according to him, include: vigorous pursuit of excellence in teaching and research; massive infrastructural development on campus, placing the University on the fast lane of information and communication technology (ICT) development, excellent town and gown relationship, visible enhancement of internally generated revenue, as well as promotion of a regime of fiscal discipline, transparency and accountability.
He disclosed that the goal of GLC is geared towards the improvement of the living conditions of the ordinary man by promoting hard work, dedication and integrity of people in leadership position. “And one of the ways of achieving these is by recognsing and rewarding excellence in governance, especially as it affects the grassroots.”
Receiving the Award on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, the institution's Director of Academic Planning, Prof. Kuranga, thanked the Board of Trustees and management of Grassroots Leadership Centre “for finding our Vice-Chancellor worthy of the Centenary Award”.
Prof. Kuranga, who pointed out that the Award did not come as a surprise, said that “it is a well-deserved honour for Prof. Ambali's legendry commitment to excellence and hard work.”
The Director of Academic Planning recalled that the University of Ilorin was recently adjudged the best in Nigeria and 20th Africa, a feat which he attributed to the forward-looking leadership style of the Vice-Chancellor.
Prof. Kuranga, who spoke extempore, said, “Our indefatigable Vice-Chancellor is somebody who is always thirsty for development; he wants to break new grounds all the time.
“By our own slogan we call the University of Ilorin the better by far University. And we are number one in Nigeria today and 20th in Africa. We have mixed feelings for that because we believe that we should not just stay at number one in Nigeria, we should compete with the world not just Africa. That is why we must not only maintain the present position but we must mark up to compete favourably with our counterparts in the world.”
He recalled that “the University of Ilorin has not gone on strike for the past 15 years, all in a sustained bid to satisfy the needs of our clientele, i.e. the parents of our students. We have moved to 652 megabytes in bandwidth usage and internet availability. Everywhere on the university campus including the staff quarters, you can access the internet. You know we have given PC tablets to all our students and we have given them the opportunity to access their lectures online, to read their curriculum, to see everything within the context of learning from their PC tablets.
“On Monday, we are hosting an NUC team who will be coming for resource verification on about 30 new programmes that we have just started.
“All the achievements of the Vice-Chancellor that you have recounted are visible. So, we thank you very much. And we appreciate this that Nigerians are appreciating the contributions of Prof. Ambali to the nation's educational development. Your organisation has attested to the fact that Prof Ambali is worth being given many awards. And he has received several awards locally and internationally. Last year, Mr. President, our dear Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, gave him an award of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in recognition of his laudable achievements. He has just spent only two and half years in office. And we believe that he would continue to do more for the University and for the country as a whole.”
Prof. Kuranga, however, noted that the stated achievements cannot be achieved only by a single person, saying, “We want to appreciate our students, their parents, our great staff, teaching and non-teaching, who have made the University of Ilorin better by far. And above all, we want to appreciate the University Council and the Federal government who are behind the success machine. They provide funds and they also provide guidance.”