OAU students honour Adewale with Excellence Award

The National Association of Public Administration Students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, has honoured a former chairman of Amuwo Odofin Council of Lagos State, Ayodele Adewale, with an excellence award.

Adewale received the award during a programme organised by the students, where he spoke on, ‘21st Century Democratic Governance, the Inevitable Roles of Administration.’

In his acceptance speech, Adewale thanked the president of the association, Gbadebo Moses Oluwaseun, and his Financial Secretary, Oluwagbemi David, who had earlier made the trip from Osun State to his office in Festac Town to personally invite him to the event.

He later donated an award, called ‘Comrade Ayodele Adewale Employment Opportunity Award’ in honour of the late George Iwilade, a.k.a Afrika, to the best three overall graduating students of the Department of Public Administration.

He dedicated the award to God and also to the memory of Iwilade, a 400-level Law student, who was killed by cultist on July 10, 1999, whilst sleeping in his hostel room in the university.

He was the general secretary of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), while Adewale was president of Lagos State University (LASU) SUG at the time.

Adewale promised to leverage on his goodwill in both the private and public sectors to assist the students secure gainful employment, adding: “The criteria that will be used to select the students must include a good character assessment, excellent academic results (First Class or Second Class Upper) and a letter of endorsement from the vice-chancellor.”

Adewale, who was executive chairman of the council for six years, gave a robust presentation on all facets of good public administration, with references from his grassroots administrative experiences to drive home his points.

He used the opportunity to underscore the importance of leaving good footprints and living a worthy and meaningful life, which would always be a beacon for others to emulate.