By Zik Gbemre
Chief Edward Onaodowan let us give honor to whom honor is due. Unfortunately, this is something that is often lacking in Urhobo.
The College of Education, Abraka, was not a campus of Bendel State University (now Ambrose Ali University). It was an affiliated institution to Bendel State University for the purpose of running degree programmes in Education. There is a clear difference between an affiliated institution and a full-fledged university campus.
Who appointed the first Vice Chancellor of Delta State University? Who appointed the first Governing Council? It was Governor Felix Ibru who appointed Prof. Frank Ukoli from the University of Ibadan as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Delta State University, Abraka. Governor Ibru also inaugurated the first Governing Council of the university. Unless anyone is claiming that Felix Ibru did not appoint Prof. Frank Ukoli from the University of Ibadan, these are historical facts.
Therefore, it is unfair to badmouth Felix Ibru by claiming that he did nothing to upgrade Delta State University, Abraka. That opinion is entirely personal and certainly not the opinion of the majority of Urhobo people.
Whatever the case may be, Delta State University, Abraka, should be renamed Felix Ibru University in recognition of his role in its establishment. Did Dennis Osadebay establish any university in Asaba as the first Premier of the Midwest Region?
Felix Ibru transformed the College of Education, Abraka, from an institution affiliated with Bendel State University for Education degree programmes into a full-fledged university. Before then, the college offered NCE programmes and degree programmes in Education through its affiliation. An affiliated institution is not the same as a university campus.
The academic and non-academic staff of the College of Education, Abraka, were employees of the college itself, not of Bendel State University. Abraka was never a full-fledged campus of Bendel State University; it was simply an affiliated institution.
Felix Ibru established Delta State University, Abraka, and appointed its pioneer Vice Chancellor, Prof. Frank Ukoli.
Dennis Osadebay had passed away many years before the establishment of Dennis Osadebay University. What role did he play in its establishment? If a university can bear his name in recognition of his legacy, why should Felix Ibru not receive similar recognition for the university he actually established?
Can Urhobo land truly develop if we continue to allow petty politics to overshadow historical facts and deny people the credit they deserve?
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