By Bashir Adefaka

Chief Moshood Abiola’s June 12, 1993 presidential victory came alive recently at the 4th convocation of the Crescent University Abeokuta, Ogun State, where the trio of the Awujale of Ijebu Land, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona; Governors Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano) and Ibrahim Shehu Shema of Katsina states were showered with honourary doctorate degrees.  A total of 115  graduates including three in the first class category, were turned out.

Governor Kwankwaso named Chief Abiola  and the Proprietor of Crescent University, Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN) as some of the excellent products from Ogun State who had contributed immensely to the socio-cultural and econo-political growth and development in Nigeria.

Responding to the institution’s  gesture on behalf of the three recipients, Kwankwaso said as “Deputy Speaker of the

House of Representatives at that time, I was very close to Chief MKO Abiola. That was the time the Muslim-Muslim ticket was put up and yet, all Nigerian Muslims and Christians voted and we won that election.

“My house was near Bashir Tofa’s house in Kano where Tofa comes from and yet, I voted for MKO Abiola because that was not an election based on religious or tribal sentiment but an election to chart the course of progress and new beginning for Nigeria.”

Kwankwaso, who described Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN), as a bridge between Northern and Southern peoples of Nigeria, said in his administration’s commitment to education development in his state, that he had encouraged massive enrolment of children in schools by offering five meals a week and two sets each of uniforms to all school children, building state-of-the-art education infrastructure as well as sending different categories of students abroad for higher and specialized courses to take Kano State to greater height.

In his address, the Vice- Chancellor of the institution, Professor Hassan Okeleye, said the  university was graduating 115 students from three colleges – 74 students from College of Social and Management Sciences, 23 from College of Natural and Applied Sciences and 18 from College of Information and Communication Technology.