The morning of 12th May, 2012 started like most days in Elkanemi Hall with shouts of ‘Any Wash’ and ‘Jam Doughnut!!!’ - A familiar way in which Seun, a student-preneur usually advertised the sale of freshly-made doughnuts around the Boys hostel. I slipped out of bed, as I tried to get money from my bag to purchase some doughnuts from him. Alas, the next thing he said threw my off guard – ‘The VC don die’. Instantly, I told him off in the manner I dismiss most fowl talk and rumours. He refused to back down and so I returned to my bed not wanting to be part of the dialogue anymore, while my other roommates engaged him in a sort of debate on the veracity of his story.
A quick Google search some minutes later by Laolu (a friend) revealed the news of the passing of Professor Babatunde Sofoluwe was already published by online newspapers. I was shell-shocked because only two days earlier, I had seen him walk past the Bookshop on his way to the Senate building after an event organised in the school. I couldn’t believe that such a man who looked agile and healthy had left the world for the great beyond. I immediately turned on the radio app on my phone and frantically search for UNILAG RADIO – at intervals announcements were made about the death of the Vice Chancellor and no scheduled programmes aired throughout that day. These findings drove home the sad tale of his demise which kept me in a state of genuflection.
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I first encountered Professor Babatunde Sofoluwe during the orientation ceremony of 2010 at the main auditorium of UNILAG, organised for ‘freshers’ by the Student Affairs Division of the University. He had a pleasant demeanour and spoke with an aura that exuded humility and confidence at the same time. He advised the freshmen on the need to be diligent and in between his speech, he constantly chipped in jokes about his own days as an undergraduate in the University of Lagos.
During the matriculation ceremony of that period, he went ahead to christen our set – ‘Election JAMBITES’ - as the set which was before the scheduled 2011 general elections. In all my encounters with him at various academic events he would always re-emphasize the notion of University of Lagos being the ‘University of First Choice and the Nation’s Pride’. He was a great administrator and was swift to listen to the plights of students and also proffer timely solutions. He created avenues for students to engage him and it was at such a meeting that the issue of the return of Student Unionism was raised by the students and he promised to do something after consulting with the Senate council. His successor, however was the one who would bring that plan to fruition.
His empathetic side was one I also experienced during his visit to the site of the unfortunate shooting of February 14, 2011, in which a student was shot dead by unknown assailants at the New Hall gate. He was shook by the goriness of blood splash on the wall and the dastardly act. He thereafter advised students to be cautious in their dealings, shun cultism & violence and not stray from their primary objective as students of the University.
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The late Professor Babatunde Adetokunbo Sofoluwe was born April 15th, 1950. He studied Mathematics at the University of Lagos, where has awarded a Bachelor of Science in 1973. He would later win a commonwealth scholarship that saw him proceed to the Edinburgh University, Scotland where he bagged a Master of Science degree in 1975 and later on a Doctorate degree in 1981. He became a full Professor of Computer Science in 1996 and was two-time Head of Department. He was elected Dean of Faculty of Sciences before his appointed as Deputy-Vice Chancellor, Management Services. He was appointed as the Vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos in 2010.
Last year, as I walked through the Sofoluwe Park (a place close to the senate building, set aside by the University authorities to honour his memory) I kept on thinking of a way to further keep him in my memory – I found no other way than to publish this short writeup few weeks to the fifth anniversary of his passing as a mark of honour. It is symbolic because April was his birth month. To some people, he was ‘Prof’ and to some other ‘funny’ students he was called ‘Opebe’ – they claimed he had a facial resemblance with a popular Yoruba actor who goes by that stage-name.
In all of this, he is greatly remembered by the academic community, his family, friends and the alumni of UNILAG for his scholarly contributions and pristine role as an administrator. He was what a friend of mine, Tunde Alabi would jokingly describe as an ‘Academic Juggernaut’. Although his tenure as Vice-Chancellor was cut short by his demise, that period was one that was trailed by peace, stability and academic exploits in the University community that he headed. Rest on Professor.
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