This is not only a tribute to the outgoing Vice Chancellor of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto Professor Lawal Suleiman Bilbis but also an explicit appreciation of the immense contribution to the growth and expansion of academic and administrative initiatives he is leaving behind as his legacy.
An erudite international scholar of Biochemistry and a former Deputy Vice Chancellor of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto as well as former Vice Chancellor of a sister Federal University, Professor Bilbis came well-equipped for the office of the Vice Chancellor of UDUS.
His ability to identify areas of infrastructure needs, academic additions, faculty expansion, administrative delineations and general upliftment of the well being of staff and students is very visible and tangible for all to see.
On a personal level, I have been teaching Mass Communication at UDUS since February 2020 and on a few occasions, Prof Bilbis will leave his office and walk to my classroom where I am taking lectures just to see how I am faring.
At the times he did this, the students were left in awe that a Vice Chancellor would come into their class without protocol.
This humility have become a guiding principle for most students of Mass Communication at the University.
The constructions of new buildings, pavements and sidewalk along with the improved horticulture are testimony of his fine qualities.
As Vice Chancellor, Professor Bilbis believed in and practiced inclusiveness in his leadership style so very much that staff and students from all over Nigeria extol him for attention to diversity.
Finally, he was one of the reasons along with former Vice Chancellor Prof Risqua Arabu Shehu that I have enjoyed lecturing at UDUS for five years now.
One of his legacies remains the accreditation of Mass Communication as a course at UDUS as well as starting the University Campus Radio 89.7 FM which started transmission on April 13 , 2024 for benefit of the students and the University community.
As you leave this exalted office of Vice Chancellor, in the next few days I wish you Allah s guidance and certainly the history of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto will not be complete with copious mention of your name when it is written.
Fare thee well , Prof.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Nasir Danladi Bako, OON
Senior Lecturer (Visiting)
Department of Mass Communication
Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto
July 07, 2024
