* Late Dr Victor Omololu Olunloyo
The Pathfinder
Thursday June 26, 2025
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Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has renamed the Polytechnic, Ibada,n after a late former governor of the state, Victor Omololu Olunloyo.
Makinde announced the development in his brief remarks at the interdenominational commendation service for the late former governor held at the Obafemi Awolowo stadium in Ibadan.
“The institution will now be known as Omololu Olunloyo Polytechnic, Ibadan,” the governor said.
Olunloyo, who died in April at the age of 90, was the pioneer Rector of the institution.
The Polytechnic Ibadan was established in 1970.
We’ll support, and digitize Olunloyo’s library, Makinde says
Earlier on Wednesday, the governor declared that the state government would preserve and digitize the library of a late former governor of the state, Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo, and make it a tourist attraction center.
Governor Makinde, who described the library as a treasure trove of knowledge capable of offering solutions to numerous challenges facing the country, said preserving the library was one of the ways of immortalizing Dr. Olunlolyo, who was the second-elected governor of the old Oyo Stat,e comprising present-day Oyo and Osun states.
The governor stated this while paying his last respects to the late Dr. Olunloyo at the lying-in-state and executive session organized in his honor by the state government and held at the House of Chiefs, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.
He added that the state government would also commission the Omololu Olunloyo Leisure Park at Alakia-Airport Area of Ibadan, which was named after the revered statesman in 2023.
Recall that the state government equally named the three-kilometre Airport Road after the former governor.
Makindeeulogizedd the late former governor for being one of his go-to persons on how to solve the problems of the state.
He added that exploring the tourism potential of the library would also align with his administration’s focus on tourism development.
He said: “I have lost a partner. Sometimes, he would tell me how some problems were solved before my time in the state. When people look at me and wonder why Oyo State has been so peaceful during my tenure, they don’t know that I go to these leaders, and they analyze things for me and leave me to make the best decisions for the state.
“We must give honor to whom it is due. This event is important; it is an avenue for us to give a befitting passage to an individual who gave a good part of his life to serve this state and country.
“There are two things I need to let this gathering know. One is the fact that the Omololu Olunloyo Park is ready for commissioning and we will open it soon. Two, in most of my discussions with Baba, there was no way we would talk and wouldn’t get to the issue of his library.
“So, I am making a public announcement now that the state would support the family to preserve and digitize that library.
“It is a library where we can practically find solutions to a whole lot of challenges we are still faced with currently. We must preserve the library and ensure that when people visit Oyo State, the library becomes a tourist center that we can showcase,” he said.
Also speaking, the deputy governor of Oyo State, Barr. Abdulraheem Bayo Lawa described Dr. Olunloyo as a towering intellectual with a strong commitment to tourist center
He said: “Today is a day of reflection on the life and time of Dr. Omololu Olunloyo. Today does not call for grief, sorrow,w or lamentation.
“In reflecting, we must put into perspective his contributions to life, our society,y and the world at large.
“He was a towering intellectual who had a strong commitment to public service. He served our state at the highest level with distinction and rare brilliance.
“We believe that he has left enough for us to tap into us to make a good life. We have lost a colossus whose footprint would remain etched on the sands of time.”
Speaking on behalf of the Olunloyo family, the first child of the deceased, Mrs. Oluyemi Olunloyo-Buckner, described her late father as a politician of a rare genius and an exceptionally brilliant statesman whose contribution to Oyo State was huge.
She added that he was a man who gave his children identity, heritage,e, and love.
Also in their separate orations, the Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Iyabo Yerima; and the Acting Rector, The Polytechnic Ibadan, Dr. Taiwo Lasisi, described Olunloyo as an embodiment of brilliance, with a profound commitment to public service.
The event had in attendance the wife of a former governor of Oyo State, Chief (Mrs.) Mutiat Ladoja; a former deputy governor and PDP Deputy National Chairman (South), Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja; former deputy governor, Barr. Hazeem Gbolarumi; former Minister of Trades and Investment, Chief (Mrs.) Onikepo Akande, CON, as well as Chairman and Co-Chairman of Oyo State Elders’ Council, Dr. Saka Balogun and Elder Wole Oyelese.
Other government functionaries in attendance were the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Olanike Adeyemo; Oyo State Exco members; service commanders, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and family members, among other dignitaries.
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