The Pro-Chancellor, Chief Lawrence Ayinde Olakunle Osayemi (Left) presiding over the cutting of the Birthday Cake by the Celebrant, Prof. Oluwafemi Balogun (middle) and a well wisher from FUNAAB Int’L School

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Oluwafemi Olaiya Balogun, last Wednesday celebrated his 58thBirthday with gratitude to God and a testimonial that his relationship with the members of the University community (FUNAAB family), will be everlasting.

The birthday bash, held at the Vice-Chancellor’s Lodge, was well attended by well-wishers from within and outside the University community, with praise-worship, exhortation, prayer and toasts of the celebrant, the University and the nation.

Speaking at the occasion, the celebrant, Prof. Balogun, who was celebrating his last birthday, as FUNAAB’s Vice-Chancellor, said his relationship with the University community will outlive his tenure, which ends next May.

“We have come, adopted and now we are a member of the community. We will continue to be part and parcel of the community”, he noted and thanked God for being his administration’s “Pillar of Support”, in the last four years.

Giving the exhortation, with quote from Proverbs, Chapter 2, the University’s Chaplain, Prof. Christian Ikeobi, enjoined people, particularly leaders, to always seek the grace of God’s wisdom and also aspire to end their tenures positively.

The Chaplain noted of the celebrant as being endowed with divine wisdom, an attribute he said had been evident in the administrative and resource management prowess of Professor Balogun, praying that his later-tenure achievements will surpass his previous records.

In his remarks, the Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba (Dr.) Michael Adedotun Gbadebo congratulated the Vice-Chancellor for the grace of witnessing another glorious year in life.

The Monarch, who spoke through Jaguna of Ake, Chief Peter Sodunke, described Professor Balogun as “a true son of the soil”, who has brought progress to the University through his laudable initiatives.

Oba Gbadebo further described the Vice-Chancellor as a man of his words, not easily intimidated and discourages indiscipline.

“You have not only come to serve as the Vice-Chancellor, but you have come to enhance the economy of Egbaland”, Alake added.

The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council of the University, Chief Lawrence Ayinde Olakunle Osayemi extolled the virtues of the Vice-Chancellor whom he described as “an erudite administrator of note”, urging him not to relent in upholding his trademark virtues.

The celebrant, Professor Balogun expressed his profound gratitude to the Almighty God, who he said had been supporting his administration in the last four years.

He prayed for the sustainability of the University, after leaving office. “We have come, have been adopted and now a member of the community. We will continue to be part and parcel of the community”, he added.

Encomiums were showered on the Vice-Chancellor by a cross section of guests that attended the ceremony, particularly by Professors O.B Kehinde and Chryss Onwuka, while toasting to the celebrant and the University, respectively.

High point of the occasion was the cutting of the cake, which was anchored by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the occasion, Chief Osayemi.