UI confers lifetime achievement award on The Guardian’s publisher

It was a day of boundless reminiscences as the University of Ibadan (UI) conferred a Lifetime Achievement Award on its alumna, the Publisher of The Guardian, Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru.

The award which was presented to her yesterday at Rutam House, the corporate headquarters of The Guardian in Lagos was in recognition of her stellar accomplishments in life.

The UI delegates, led by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka, described Lady Alex-Ibru as a role model and quintessential woman whose life achievements are inestimable and inspiring.

According to Olayinka, “The award was a recognition and celebration of great icons and alumni of the institution. UI celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, and there is no way we will celebrate the greatness of the UI without celebrating the people that made our institution prestigious through their lifetime achievements.

“The award was instituted as part of activities marking the 70th anniversary of the institution. We looked at her profile, she came to UI in 1969. We looked at what she has achieved in the last 50 years both as a student during which she was very active and then when she left the university. She is someone we are very proud of. We think she is a role model, an icon for the current and future generations of students. So, we thought she’s someone we need to celebrate . That was why she was recommended for the lifetime achievement award by her alma mater.

“Lady Ibru, you are a role model and we will appreciate if you can visit us and inspire our young ones. They need to understand that your accomplishments did not come on a platter of gold.”

The highly elated publisher, relived her days at UI, displaying photographs of her matriculation at the university in 1969 to the admiration of the gathering.She thanked the vice chancellor for the recognition, saying the award meant a lot to her. “It came as a shock to me, you coming to honour me. I’m deeply honoured from the bottom of my heart,” she said .

The Chairman, Editorial Board of The Guardian, Prof. Wale Omole, in his response commended the vice chancellor of the university for the honour conferred on the publisher, saying it was well deserved. He also lauded the VC for sustaining the vision of the founding fathers of UI.

The Chief Operating Officer and Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian, Mr. Debo Adesina, while congratulating Lady Alex-Ibru described her as a sunny soul and thanked UI for seeing the glory of the sun.