UI DVC Charges Student Leaders to Embrace Service, Integrity

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, University of Ibadan, Professor Peter O. Olapegba, has charged student leaders in the University to embrace service and integrity in their leadership positions.

Professor Olapegba gave the charge on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kayode O. Adebowale, at the 2026 Chief F.R.A. Marinho Leadership Summit, themed “Lead, Engage, Accelerate and Develop (LEAD).”

He described the summit as an important platform for transformative leadership, noting that its theme was timely and relevant to the development of responsible student leaders.

According to him, leadership is about service rather than privilege, and leaders must serve their followers with integrity and use their positions to influence them positively.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor encouraged the student leaders to collaborate and engage with others while prioritising students’ welfare in building a harmonious University community.

He further urged them not to merely adapt to change but to become active agents of positive change, stressing the need for leaders to develop people and build institutions.

He said the leadership programme was a preparation ground for greater responsibilities beyond the University, adding that participants would eventually be required to apply the leadership values acquired in the wider society.

“Those who fail to embrace change will soon become victims of change,” he warned, urging the students to develop themselves and remain prepared for the changing demands of leadership.

In his opening remarks, the Dean of Students, Professor Demola Lewis, stated that leadership may not necessarily come naturally but could be acquired and developed.

He noted that every leader needs the appropriate qualities to function effectively and restated that leadership should be based on collaboration rather than opposition.

Professor Lewis emphasised the importance of problem-solving in achieving better results and explained that the speakers invited to the summit had been carefully selected to expose students to practical leadership principles.

He appreciated the sponsors of the summit for their continued support of the annual event.

The President of the Students’ Union, Comrade Temidayo Adeboye, said the summit was an opportunity for students to understand the meaning of true leadership and prepare them for leadership responsibilities beyond the University.

He added that the programme would equip participants with knowledge on how to lead diligently and apply responsible leadership principles outside the University.

A daughter of the late Chief F.R.A. Marinho, Mrs Patricia Adedipe, who delivered a goodwill message on behalf of the family, said her father had left an annual gift to the University to sustain the leadership summit.

She explained that the late Chief Marinho was passionate about developing young people and expressed the hope that the summit would positively impact all participants.

The first speaker, Dr Olarewaju A. Oladejo of the Department of Peace, Security and Humanitarian Studies, Faculty of Multidisciplinary Studies, University of Ibadan and a former President of the UI Students’ Union, spoke on “Qualitative Student Leadership in Trying Times.”

The second speaker, Professor Michael Boakye-Yiadom, Director-General, Educational Planning and Administration, Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA), under the auspices of UNESCO, University of Cape Coast, Ghana, spoke on “Developing Integrity: Character-Centred Pathways to Enhancing Student Leadership in African Universities.”