It all seems like yesterday now when the cream of the leadership of the Okun-Yoruba people of Kogi State engaged former President Goodluck Jonathan on salient concerns of the nationality, late 2010. The delegation was an amalgam of the leaderships of the Okun Development Association, the foremost sociocultural umbrella body of the Okun nation, and the Okun Think Thank, a select group of apolitical Okun technocrats who provided policy fibre for the subnational. A former Minister for Health, Prof. Eyitayo Lambo; a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo; and Chief of Staff to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Prince Sola Akanmode headlined the team. There were also a former Commander of Brigade of Guards at the State House, Major-General Julius Oshanupin (rtd.); billionaire businessman, Tunde Ayeni; and energy expert, Chief Dan Kunle. Emeritus President of the ODA, Ambassador Babatunde Fadumiyo; Emeritus Professor of Pathology, Albert Anjorin; a former Rector of the Kogi State Polytechnic, Prof. Idowu Ajibero; former Commander of Internal Security in Rivers State, Brigadier-General Paul Okuntimo (rtd.); and community leader, Chief Samuel Adedoyin, all of blessed memory, were equally present.
Issues tabled at the engagement included the total emasculation of the Okun people from the Jonathan administration, and the absence of a federal university in Okunland, despite the historical contributions of the people to national educational development. The meeting alluded to the existing College of Agriculture, Kabba which had been affiliated to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, since it was established in 1964. Jonathan took due note of the latter request, aggregated similar requests from across the country and pronounced the establishment of nine federal universities, including that of Lokoja on 16 February 2011. It was good politics for Jonathan who would be running for the presidency on his own mandate the following month, against serial contestant, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.). Prof. Abdulmumini Hassan Rafindadi was appointed pioneer Vice-Chancellor of the newborn institution, and succeeded by Prof. Angela Freeman Miri, who completed her tour of duty in February 2021. Prof. Yemi Akinwumi, a redoubtable scholar of History and International Relations, took over the reins from Miri, and has been credited with significant infrastructural development, ambitious curriculum expansion and institutional stability. His memoirs is one of two publications which will be presented in Abuja on Friday to commemorate his eventful regime.
History beckons as an epochal and landmark management transition unfurls at Federal University Lokoja (FUL), now considered one of Nigeria’s fastest growing citadels of learning and research. Gbenga Solomon Ibileye, an internationally acclaimed Professor of English with specialisation in Pragmatics and Discourse, is set to assume the reins of power as Vice Chancellor of the only federal academic institution in a city that once served as capital of colonial Nigeria. His appointment reads like a Nollywood script with divine authorship. Ibileye is the second “indigenous”, Vice-Chancellor of the school; indigenous within the context of being the second indigene of Kogi State to lead the institution. It is a striking coincidence that Ibileye and his predecessor both hail from Ekinrin-Adde, Ijumu Local Government Area, further underscoring the total commitment to education for which Okun people are well known. Indeed, aside from agriculture, education has retained its prime position as the most vibrant industry in Okunland. Over the ages, people from the area have made their marks in diverse fields and professions across the globe.
By no means, therefore, is this achievement infinitesimal or a random happenstance. Without doubt, it is a product of a well calibrated design forged in several years of rigorous scholarly pursuit, unwavering commitment to hard work, and a liberal dose of exemplary discipline. It is not a surprise that Ibileye joins the small club of special and privileged Nigerians to attain the professorial pinnacle of academia as well as hitting the topmost administrative cadre (Vice Chancellor) in the university system. These privileged Nigerians constitute less than one per cent of the population. To be sure, Ibileye is a prolific author, consummate teacher and mentor, a painstaking assessor, an astute manager of men and resources, a groundbreaking researcher, and a tested leader with verifiable records of high impact results. His appetite for advancing the frontiers of knowledge is insatiable and has seen him produce and co-author over 100 publications and books. Each of the publications addresses specific, germane intellectual and pragmatic concerns .
A man of an immensely fecund analytical mind, his primary research interests include Discourse Analysis, Political Discourse, Media Discourse, and Social Media Discourse. His research specialties cover Legal Linguistics, Constitutional Language Analysis, Forensic linguistics, Applied Linguistics, and Psycho Linguistics. Among his major studies in progress are “Psycho Discoursive Analysis of (in) Security Induced Trauma in Nigeria”; “Oworo Language Codification Project”, and “Magongo Language Codification Project”. These studies seek to unearth the major issues in national insecurity as well as formalising and codifying Oworo and Magongo languages for development.
Ibileye has been a major and integral factor in the evolution and development of FUL, the institution he now has the privilege to lead. A pioneer staff, he joined the service of the then nascent university in 2012 as a Professor of English and Literary Studies from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He immediately hit the ground running, heavily immersing himself in academic programme planning and curriculum development as the first coordinator of the general studies unit between 2012 and 2016. He also served as the Head of Department, English and Literary Studies from October 2014 to 2017, redesigning the curriculum for greater efficiency.
A rounded and grounded academic, his expertise and services were sought after by virtually all the units, colleges, and centres at FUL. He was also Head of the Department of Theatre Arts from May 2021 to April 2025; and Provost, College of Post Graduate Studies between May 2021 and September 2025. That is not all. At various times in 2021, he had been Acting Vice Chancellor of the school. His time at FUL has been loaded with responsibilities and strategic assignments, all of which he discharged creditably well and prepared him for his new assignment. He was at a time the Chairman of Committee of Provosts, Dean’s, and Directors from May 2021 to September 2025; and member of Senate Business Committee from 2013 to 2017 and from April 2021 to September 2025.
He was a member of the Governing Council between 2015 and 2018 and has been a Member of several strategic committees of the university for several years. He served as Chairman Strategic Planning and Implementation Committee which designed a five-year Strategic Plan for FUL (2013 – 2018). An erudite communicator with an exceptional gift of the garb, Ibileye, has been the university Orator since 2018. Whenever and wherever he mounts the rostrum, he discharges his art effortlessly and with remarkable fecundity. Ibileye”s interest in Entrepreneurship is also visible with clear footprints in FUL where he served as Pioneer Director of the Entrepreneurship Development Centre between 2014 and 2017, designing and coordinating the curriculum of the theoretical and practical components of the programme.
Easily one of Nigeria’s finest intellectual exports, Ibileye has taught in many foreign universities, including the Rhodes University in South Africa, University of Burundi, and Universite de saint Louis, Senegal. With a broad intellectual horizon and worldview, little wonder then that his services are always highly sought after as a teacher, external examiner, Research Fellow, and professorial assessor. The list of universities both locally and internationally where he has served as external examiner includes University of Ghana, Legon; Rhodes University, South Africa, University of Gaston Berger, Saint Louis, Senegal, Federal University, Oye Ekiti; Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, Federal University, Dutsinma, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife; University of Nigeria, Nsukka, among several others. He has also provided effective and first grade project supervision to over 50 students both at the master’s and doctoral levels over the years. Many of his students are themselves eminent scholars both at home and outside the country.
Deeply rooted in the global academic community, Prof. Ibileye is a fellow of several academic bodies, including the Linguistics Association of Nigeria, National Association of Teachers of English in Colleges and Polytechnics, and English Scholars Association of Nigeria. He is also a member of Nigeria Academy of Letters, English Language Teachers Association of Nigeria, and the Linguistics Association of Canada and the United States. He is equally listed by the National Pragmatics Association of Nigeria, and the Chartered Institute of Management of Nigeria, among others.
Ibileye obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language (Second Class, Upper Division) from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1989. He thereafter received his Master of Arts degree in English Language from the same institution in 1994 and capped his academic endeavours with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in the same field in 2002. He earned a Post Graduate Diploma in Education from the National Open University in 2016. As he mounts the saddle at FUL, his strategic vision for higher education leadership will predominate his focus. This encompasses academic excellence and innovation, community development and impact, international positioning, and strong partnership and collaboration. A widely travelled man, Professor Ibileye’s hobbies include tennis and networking. In spite of his global networks, Ibileye is a homeboy who has remained firmly in touch with roots in Ekinrin Adde from where he launched out to Government Secondary School, Ilorin after completing his primary education at Baptist Primary School, Ekinrin Adde in 1979. He is happily married and blessed with three focused and resourceful children.
This is wishing him every success in the discharge of his obligations on his new brief as he builds on the foundations of his predecessors.
Olusunle, PhD, Fellow, Association of Nigerian Authors, teaches Creative Writing at the University of Abuja
