KWASU VC, Professor Akanbi, dies

The Kwara State University, KWASU, Vice Chancellor, Professor Mustapha Akanbi, has died after a protracted illness.

A statement by the KWASU Registrar, Kikelomo Salle, confirmed Professor Akanbi’s death Sunday night, describing it as shocking.

Professor Akanbi, who was a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, was appointed VC of KWASU by the Governor of Kwara State on Wednesday, April 1, 2020, after the Governing Council’s recommendation.

”We urge everyone to remember his immediate and extended family, and the University in prayers in this very trying time,” the registrar said.

In his condolence message, the governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, described Prof Akanbi’s death as painful and shocking, adding that the scholar was a true and humble servant.

According to him, “We submit to the decree of Allah who gives and takes. It is against that backdrop that we mourn the Vice Chancellor who answered Allah’s call tonight. He was a true and humble servant of Allah and we beseech our God, the Oft-Forgiving and Merciful, to grant him al-jannah Firdaus,” the Governor said in a statement Sunday night.

“The professor of law was a colossus who played the leading role to open a new chapter of academic excellence and greatness for KWASU. Our condolences go to his family, immediate and extended, to KWASU and the rest of the academic community, and to members of the bar and the bench in Kwara State and across the country.”

Late Professor Akanbi became a Professor at the age of 40 years and was appointed as Vice Chancellor at age 49.

In August 1998, the late VC joined the service of University of Ilorin as a lecturer 2 in the Department of Business law, faculty of law of the University. He rose through the ranks and was appointed a Professor of Law in the Department of Business Law in October 2012.

Prof Akanbi bagged a Master’s degree in law (LLM) in 1998 from University of Lagos, Akoka. He was a graduate (2004 and 2006) of the prestigious Kings College, University of London, United Kingdom, for his doctorate degree in law (Ph.D) which he bagged in a record time of 2 years.

During his doctorate programme, Prof Akanbi also earned a Graduate Certificate (Non-award Route) in Academic Practice (GCAP), from the same university in 2005.

In 2014 he was also appointed an adjunct professor of law at the Kings University College, Accra, Ghana, for a period of one year.

Late Professor Akanbi, who served for over two decades in the University of Ilorin, held several administrative positions, including: Sub-dean of the Faculty of Law, Head of Business Law Department, Faculty of Law and Postgraduate Representative.

He was a Senate Member; Dean of the Faculty of Law; Deputy Director, Centre for Research Development and In-House Training (CREDIT) and Director, School of Preliminary Studies, Fufu, University of Ilorin.