By Tunji Bello

Let it be recognised that we are not just commissioning a chamber to impact knowledge, but also witness, firsthand, the force of faith, the prophetic power of the tongue and what is possible when we all commit to the pursuit of public good.

By that I mean the audacity to envision what seems most impossible and then summoning a relentless push to make it happen. At my 50th birthday in 2011, I had committed to instituting an annual prize in five disciplines namely, Law, Mass Communications, Social Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

I was very intentional about the criteria to qualify. Academic brilliance was one. Two, coming from a poor background. And three, the beneficiary must be an indigene of our dear state of Lagos. The whole idea is targeting those brilliant minds at the risk of dropping out of academic pursuit on account of poverty. To the glory of God Almighty, we have been able to sustain that scholarship programme till date.

So, as my 60th birthday approached in 2021, the concern was how I could do more. For me, the idea of throwing a big party to mark the occasion was completely off the table. My darling wife, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, the very able Madam Vice Chancellor of this great university, is the one who initially mooted the idea of building something for LASU to mark my 60th birthday. She was not yet the Vice Chancellor then. I never gave much thought to her suggestion immediately until few days later.

Eventually, after much reflection, I agreed it has to be an auditorium, truly befitting and fit for purpose. By the time we invited the architect, Mr. Kunmi Ayinla, to come up with a building plan and give us the cost implications, I was frightened when I saw the budget drawn by the architect and was immediately filled with doubt as per the feasibility of going ahead to build an auditorium for LASU.

But when God gives you a vision, God Almighty will also provide the means in miraculous ways. Of course, God’s miracle sometimes comes by having some brilliant ideas suddenly deposited in your mind. After days of wrestling with the architect’s budget in my head, it suddenly occurred to me I could ask those going to buy me gifts for the 60th birthday to monetisesuch and hand me the cash to do something really dearto my heart.

It worked. A very wealthy friend and known businessman had wanted to surprise me with a brand new Toyota Land-cruiser Jeep. I appealed to him to convert it to cash. With donations from other able friends and well-wishers, we got started in 2021.

I am of the belief that God Would never abandon whatever He Starts. Help came from some other quarters one least expected. Still, there were moments of doubts and temptations we encountered. But our faith never wavered. The toughest moment being late 2023 and early 2024 when the Naira went down and inflation upset all previous calculations. It meant that the costs were almost tripled at the point of buying finishing materials. To continue, I had to sell my property at Magodo estate to keep the workers on site in order that it may not become an abandoned project after three years of construction.

To God be the glory, the rest is history.

Without wishing to sound sanctimonious or all-righteous, one point I like to seize this moment to make is the consequential choice between transient enjoyment and posterity. Thus, by choosing to invest the money through sowing the seed in the vineyard of knowledge, I believe we are invariably preserving my 60th birthday cake in a way that it will be shared and savoured by many generations to come.

Besides, this is my humble way of supporting the argument that public purpose is served better by helping public universities fill the infrastructural gap.

Certainly, the government alone cannot do it. Private individuals who really have the means should invest in public tertiary education to create more opportunities as prevalent in several developed countries.

To the students soon to start benefiting from this auditorium in the production of ideas, let me say a few words of advice. I hope you would draw inspiration from the words of the great American statesman, Benjamin Franklin, we engraved on the marble at the entrance. That, “Investment in education pays the best interest”. No truer words have ever been said or spoken.

As you begin to take your seat and hear the voices of your lecturers echo through the Public Address System, I sincerely hope this auditorium will inspire you to double your zeal to excel in your academic pursuit and become the next Ayodele Awojobi, Wole Soyinka, Chike Obi, Isa Abubakar, Oluwasanmi, OlikoyeRansome-Kuti, Ojetunji Aboyade, among other academic giants in our history. As parents, our fervent prayer is that you will be greater than us. Technology has indeed made the world a global village. In our time, the idea of library was a space filled with books, requiring you to walk a distance from the hostel.

Today, the library is on your palm, at the click of your phone, providing you vast information on anything under the sun. So, you have no excuse or reason not to excel.

I have been similarly inspired by my late father, Alhaji Azeez Olatunji Bello. I drew inspiration daily from his legacy. One such was how Ansar Ud DeenCollege at Isolo in Lagos started. When the idea of the school was mooted in early 1950s by the Ansar UdDen Missionary Society, my dad didn’t hesitate before donating his vast tract of land as part of the process to build that school.

To my dad, there was no better way to demonstrate a deep faith in the power of education to transform the society.

Later in life, I was also inspired by the example of my late boss and mentor, Bashorun MKO Abiola, winner of June 12, Presidential Election, who, on a single day in the late 80s, announced an endowment for universities across Nigeria.

Nor should we also forget the inspiring story of our dear President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, on assumption of duties as governor in 1999, declared that all his salaries and allowances be donated to charities including orphanages. He had also about four years ago announced an endowment fund of one billion naira to this great university.

I have another good news for you the great students of LASU. Courtesy of VDT Communications, there will be free WiFi at the auditorium, to enhance your learning experience. On your behalf, I thank the Managing Director of VDT Communications, Mr. Biodun Omoniyi, who is a great friend of mine from childhood. As you can see, we are committed to your academic success. Let that inspire you to aim for academic excellence always.

To the management of LASU, let me also announce an additional pledge right away. We recognise that maintenance remains a big challenge vis-a-vis managing public assets. Thanks to the thoughtful generosity of another friend of mine, the maintenance of this auditorium and its facilities will be handled by a private management company for another year. So that within a year, an appropriate and sustainable maintenance protocols would have been established for LASU authorities to assume full responsibilities thereafter.

Before I conclude, let me put on record that this auditorium is my own token of appreciation to God Almighty for his grace and to my dear native Lagos State for the great opportunities given to me. First, I have also been one of the beneficiaries of the Lagos State Government’s scholarship award as an undergraduate at the University of Ibadan in the early 1980s. And later the privilege to serve in public office in various capacities. (Tunji Bello is the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC).

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