The Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) has urged the Federal Government to name the Federal University of Technology (FUTA), Akure, after the late Second Republic President of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari.
The plea was contained in a statement titled, “Tribute to Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Usman: Name Federal University of Technology, Akure, after Shagari.”
The silk expressed his gratitude to the late former president for approving the citing of a Federal University of Technology in Ado Ekiti at a rally on the 11th of October 1980.
He said the approval spurred the then Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin-led UPN Government in the then Ondo State to hastily announce the establishment of a university in Ado-Ekiti.
While extolling the virtues of the late former president, Babalola noted with pleasure that he was instrumental to the establishment of the three higher institutions, which now exist in Ondo and Ekiti states.
Babalola added that Nigeria has lost a rare gem and an irreplaceable hero who stood and fought for the good of the majority with Shagari’s death.
“By his death, Nigeria has lost a rare gem and an irreplaceable hero who stood and fought for the good of the majority.
“Our consolation is that he led a good life and, above all, he left his indelible footprints on the sands of times. He was, undoubtedly, a great man, a worthy and an exemplary example of what a leader should be,” he said.
