Members of the Ibadan Boys’High School Old Students’ Association, at the weekend, celebrated one of their own, a member of the 1977 graduating set, Malam Yusuf Olaolu Ali, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Dignitaries who converged on Oyesina Hall, Ibadan Boys’ High School, Oke-Bola, Ibadan, venue of a reception to honour the renowned legal expert belonged particularly to the 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979 sets.
The celebration was part of the Annual General Meeting of the 1977 set of the association.
At the event, the old mates paid glowing tributes to Ali, now a professor, for his philanthropy and for contributions to the development of the country in general and to the progress of their alma mater in particular.
Those who spoke at the ceremony included the National President, Ibadan Boys’ High School Old Students’ Association, Rear Admiral Lateef Akintola (rtd).
Akintola described Ali as a great supporter of the school not just in terms of infrastructure but also in terms of academic development.
“Professor Yusuf Ali has been giving scholarship to the students. Last year, he paid the WAEC fees of all the JSS 3 students, and he is still willing to do more. You have been God-given to the school, and I pray that your rating will continue to soar,” he said.
Also, the chairman of the 1977 set of the old boys’ association, Mr Ebenezer Ogunbiyi, eulogised Ali’s virtues and described the reception held for the erudite lawyer as one of the happy moments of “our association.”
Former Executive Secretary, National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE), Professor Rashid Aderinoye, who hails from the same town, Ifetedo, Osun State, as Ali, praised the honoree’s generosity which he said was inherited from his parents.
Professor Aderinoye described Ali as a promise keeper who is passionate about the cause of God and humanity.
“He is a model for righteousness. He is very religious, but his religiousness is devoid of bigotry. He is a Muslim to the core and that does not prevent him from assisting all that are around him who profess other faiths,” he added.
The principal of the school, Dr Rasheed Fasasi, who listed some of the contributions of the honoree to the progress of the school, thanked the Senior Advocate of Nigeria for his philanthropy and benevolence towards the school.
Speaking with newsmen, Professor Ali described the gesture of his old school mates as “probably the highest honour” he could ever think of.
He said: “It is different from other honours, because these are people who knew you when you were nothing; when you never knew you would become anything.
“Most other people that celebrate you are celebrating what you are today. These are people who decided to celebrate who I was. We knew one another, we were all young boys. The future was ahead of us. What the future held we never knew.”
He added: “Ibadan Boys’ High School shaped the characters of many of us because when we came here, our characters were still in their formative years.”
ALSO READ THESE TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
- Herbert Wigwe: NSIB, NTSB to collaborate on helicopter crash investigation
- Again, Ned Nwoko calls for civilian gun rights amidst rising kidnapping threats
and then