Saturday 2nd of December, 2023, the Western Delta University (WDU), Oghara, Ethiope West LGA, Delta State, is the hub of the universe for the students involved in today’s convocation; the 11th – 13th combined convocation ceremony 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023 academic sessions. Ah, the first post-Covid-19 convocation!

After years of diligent studies, the students will be getting their degrees which, in societies where merit and industriousness are

rewarded, would help determine the level of success a person could attain in life. They will also join the world’s elite class – only

about 7% of the global population is educated to the level equivalent to the Bachelor’s Degree; 37.7% in USA, 41.2% in Europe. So, anyone with a university degree is an elite globally.

An important part of today’s activity is the conferment of Honorary Degrees on Emir of Zazzau, Amb. Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli (Doctorof Public Affairs), Amb. Kim Young Chae (Doctor of International Affairs and Diplomacy), Dr. (Mrs.) Ajoritsedere Awosika (Doctor of Science), Mr. Oritsedere Otubu (Doctor of Business Administration) and Mr. Igho Okotete (Doctor of Business Administration).

The WDU 2023 Convocation ceremony is also a celebration of the footprints of the present Vice-Chancellor, Prof Augustine Ovuoronye Ikelegbe,  who succeeded Prof (Mrs) Otete Cecilia  Okobiah  in August 2021, just two years ago, within which WDU has witnessed significant expansion and increase in core areas of university growth and development, including physical projects, social facilities and services, revenues, academic programmes, enrolment, academic governance, environment and horticulture, staff and student welfare, repairs and maintenance of facilities.  In academics, student enrolment at WDU – UTME and Direct Entry, HND/B.SC Conversion, Transfer, Part-Time, JUPEB students are now in the thousands. Even dozens of Postgraduate students now walk WDU grounds.

Driving this influx of students under Prof. Ikelegbe’s Vice-Chancellorship is the introduction of new academic programmes;

(HND/B.SC Conversion, Bachelor’s degree programmes in the Colleges of Applied Health Sciences, Computing, and Postgraduate Studies, and restoration of JUPEB programme). The Main Campus, Temporary Campus and Ijomi Campus, and even at the College of Computing Complex, and hostels (WDU is 100% residential to check untoward activities which are rife off campus, and to help students focus on their studies) now have solar-powered lighting.

The improvements which showcase the support Prof Ikelegbe is getting from the WDU Visitor, James Onanefe Ibori, the former Governor of Delta state, the University Health Clinic has been upgraded with ambulance, personnel and facilities such as Medical Laboratory Services. The Nigerian Navy Hospital, Oghara, near UDU, is now the first level referral for students and staff at negotiated subsidized costs. Ikelegbe has also put in place a University Cafetaria with facilities for three catering outfits and a supermarket and facilities for entertainment/recreation.

Prof Ikelegbe taught Comparative Politics and Public Policy at University of Benin, Benin City, before coming to WDU. He was Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, UNIBEN. He was Visiting Lecturer at Niger Delta University, Amassoma, and Directing Staff at the National Institute for Security Studies, Lower Usuma Dam, Abuja.

He has also been Visiting Research Fellow, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United kingdom, Visiting Research

Fellow, African Studies Centre, University of Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands, Adjunct Research Professor, Centre for Population &

Environmental Development, Benin City, and Nigeria Supervisor for the Multilateral Comparative Research Project on Violence Research and Development in the Global South, Institute for Interdisciplinary

Research on Conflict and Violence, University of Bielefied, Germany. He has published 14 books, 8 monographs and 94 journal articles and book chapters in reputable publishing outlets, has presented over 45 papers at conferences and research meetings in Africa, Europe, America and Asia.

His flagship books include Militias, Rebels and Islamist Militants: Human Insecurity and State Crises in Africa, Pretoria: Institute of

Security Studies (edited with Wafula Okumu, 2010); Oil, Environment and Resource Conflicts in Nigeria. In Politics and Economics in Africa Series, Volume 7, Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2013; Governance, Sustainable Development and Peace Building in the Niger Delta: Challenges and Pathways, Ibadan: Spectrum Books (edited with A. Onokerhoraye,2017); and Transhumance and International Migration: Challenges for Governance, Peace and Sustainable Development in Sub Saharan Africa’’, Abuja: National Institute for Security Studies, 2019 (Edited with A. Muhammad-Wali & A. Karim). He has been External Examiner to 20 universities and institutes in Nigeria and South Africa, External Professorial Assessor in 17 Universities, and Chairman/member of NUC

Accreditation Visitations in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programmes to several Universities.

Talk about Prof and Prof (Mrs) and you could be talking about the Ikelegbe household; he is married to a fellow academic, Professor (Mrs) Onovughe Ikelegbe of the University of Benin and they are blessed with children. Professor Ikelegbe believes in the power of ideas, innovation, change and transformation; the values of hard-work, merit, achievement, quality and results; the virtues of openness, transparency, accountability, honour and integrity; the leadership style of team-work and inclusiveness; and the provision of opportunities, spaces and avenues for younger colleagues to excel and deliver on results, while providing guidance, inspiration and motivation. He is an academic to the core, ingrained in the academic traditions of simplicity, humility, discipline, credibility,

excellence, integrity and honour.  This wide sweep of his grand vision is visible in the improvements Prof. Augustine Ikelegbe is introducing into Western Delta University, repositioning WDU into a national asset and leading light.