Ekiti State First Lady, Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji is one of the few people I have met who have given practical definitions to the words ‘second address’.
The glamour and prestige of the office of the First Lady notwithstanding, Oyebanji had mixed feelings when her husband was sworn in as governor, and she confided in a few of us.
No doubt, she was happy her husband assumed office as governor.
However, she was worried about jettisoning her first love as a university lecturer and put her career trajectory on hold.
She didn’t just want a repeat of what happened when she took a fresh appointment at the University of Ibadan from the Ekiti State University, where she had put over 10 years of her career life and of course in the process lost some good years of her career.
She took what she was offered in the interest of her family that had already settled in the city.
Today, most of her colleagues in EKSU are already full-fledged professors.
For weeks after resuming office as First Lady, Dr. Oyebanji was busy planning how her assignment in Ado Ekiti would not scuttle her work in UI.
She summoned the courage and determined to give both assignments her very best. From day one, Oyebanji, who was then due for promotion as an associate professor, has been shuttling between Ado and Ibadan. In the process, she has supervised and produced many doctoral students.
As part of her Community Service Responsibility initiatives, Mrs. Oyebanji also instituted a volunteered teaching programme for herself and took up courses in the department of Education Management at EKSU, the state university and the department of Business Administration, College of Social and Management Sciences, Afe Babalola University (ABUAD); a private University.
On Thursday, while the First Lady was playing host to the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima (GCON), in Ado Èkìtì, the premier University announced that Dr. Oyebanji was among distinguished academics who have been elevated to the post of Associate Professors in the prestigious premier University of Ibadan;
the appointment was backdated to the year 2022.
The implication of this is that Dr. Oyebanji is due for her full-fledged professorship next year by God’s grace.
Huge congratulations, Her Excellency. I know how much you value your ‘second address’, and I salute your doggedness.
By Raheem Akingbolu
