CELEBRATION OF AN ACADEMIC PATRIARCH: The Remarkable Journey, Legacy, and Impact of Distinguished Professor Bayo Okunade, PBO

An English poet, John Ruskin, had said many decades ago that “the highest reward of a person’s toil is not what they get for it but what they become by it.”. This is summarizing in a sentence what a meritorious public service has defined for a towering figure in the field of political science, Professor Adebayo Okunade, a distinguished academic whose success is manifested in the legion of great minds he has inspired, built, and made.

Here is talking about a great thinker, a mentor emeritus, a foremost international law scholar, and doyen of the field of public administration in Nigeria, Prof. Bayo Okunade, who will, on 12th March 2025, bow out from public service after a sterling, outstanding, graceful, and impactful service as a teacher and professor of political science at the University of Ibadan.

The retirement of Prof. Okunde is not the type that should be kept under wraps. For this reason, a special committee chaired by Dr. Stephen Lafenwa has drawn up the plans to celebrate this great phenomenon, the Nigeria Cicero, an institutional icon, a cosmopolitan scholar renowned for his initiatives and contribution to global development, collaborating with great institutions that include the University of Essex, East London University, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Oxford, etc.

Aside from his primary field—academia, where he has successfully nurtured, impacted, mentored, and raised thousands of great minds, including those who have gone on to become professors themselves. The erudite Professor Bayo Okunade is not less a political titan in university politics. He is an influential figure and an eminent member of the coterie of power brokers ideologically shaping and participating in the administration of the first and the best university in Nigeria, the University of Ibadan.

Therefore, other than being a professor of political science, PBO was a two-term member of the Governing Council of the University of Ibadan, a two-term Director of DLC, and the Director of CEPACS, UI. This administrative effort is complemented by his forward-thinking initiatives, which have equally made an indelible mark on the front of social and community development. He is the Bobajiroro of the UI staff club, lol!, and the grand initiator of the POLITICS PLATFORM, a forum of intelligentsia richly driven by the heterogeneity of the Nigeria state, the diversity of political ideology, and even partisan leanings.

Notably, the event of his retirement, even as he set to re-tyre his impactful life, would not only mark the bowing out of the Awe-born scholar after a meritorious public service. As it deems fit for such a distinguished academic, it will equally feature a valedictory lecture that will be delivered by a renowned figure, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, who is worthy of such a stage, and discussions would follow among erudite scholars, including Prof. Emmanuel Aiyede of the University of Ibadan, Prof. O. S. Afolabi of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, and Professor Emmanuel Ojo of the University of Ilorin, among others.

All these, including a grand reception to mark his 70th birthday anniversary. It stands to reason that the event promises to be a large and a grand affair. It anticipates being a circle that combines old-generation and new-generation academics, the presence of political icons who have benefitted, rode, and been shaped by his intellectual guidance. It would also definitely serve as leverage for the reunion of his mentees, even as family, friends, students, and well-wishers join to celebrate a remarkable life and legacy of Prof. Bayo Okunade. The faculty of the Soci

Without a shadow of a doubt, the erudite prof Bayo Okunade is not only a distinguished scholar; he is a successful administrator, a humanist, a giver, a builder, and a patriotic Nigerian. Prof. Bayo Okunade is a maker and breaker to the effect that he has made successful people and has helped many in breaking their fears to stardom, which underscores this event will undoubtedly be a testament to his remarkable journey, legacy, and impact on the academic community and beyond.

All hail PBO, an academic patriarch!

Venue: The large lecture theatre, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ibadan. Time: 12 pm. Date: March 12, 2025.

Azeem Salako.
Mentee, Prof. Bayo Okunade PBO
Research Fellow, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs