LAUTECH’s Oriire thanksgiving

•My wife is not a forester like me but she experienced in two months what I learnt in 36 years —Prof. Alamu
•We prayed for return of our loved ones and God answered us —VC

FOR a long moment, the applause refused to die down.

As Professor Wole Alamu, husband of Rachael Alamu, the principal of Community High School, Ahoro-Esinele, in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, stepped onto the podium at the Great Hall of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, on Tuesday, colleagues who had spent nearly two months praying, hoping and quietly carrying the weight of his family’s ordeal erupted into thunderous applause.

It was more than a show of appreciation; it was the release of pent-up emotions after weeks of fear, uncertainty and unrelenting prayers.

Then came the words that left many in reflective silence.

“My wife is doing very well. She was the spokesman in the forest. She is not a forester, but in two months, what I learnt in 36 years, she experienced,” the Professor of Forest Resources Management and Dean of  LAUTECH’s Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources said, his voice steady yet laden with emotion.

Mrs Alamu has since become widely admired for her courage and resilience after surviving a 56-day kidnapping ordeal alongside her pupils and fellow teachers.

It was an extraordinary testimony from a man whose professional life has been spent studying forests, yet who admitted that nothing in his decades of experience could have prepared him for watching his wife endure captivity in one.

The occasion was LAUTECH’s interfaith thanksgiving and prayer session, convened to celebrate the safe release of the spouses of two members of staff and other victims abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

The gathering brought together the university’s principal officers, including the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Razaq Olatunde Rom Kalilu; Registrar, Mrs Olayinka Olanike Balogun; Bursar, Mr Kehinde Olusegun Olatokun; University Librarian, Professor Adefunke Sarah Ebijuwa; deans, heads of departments, Christian and Muslim clerics, and other members of staff.

But beyond the prayers and hymns, the gathering became a powerful story of institutional solidarity, compassionate leadership and steadfast faith.

At the heart of it was the vice-chancellor, Professor Kalilu, whose address captured the emotional journey of a university community that had lived through one of the most difficult periods in its recent history.

“What happened about two months ago was indeed traumatic. It was a rude shock from which the university community did not recover until Monday evening when family members physically sighted the rescued victims. Until that moment, the case was not closed,” Professor Kalilu said.

His words reflected what many in the hall had silently endured. The anxiety was no longer about distant headlines. It became deeply personal when it emerged that the families of two members of staff were among those abducted. For weeks, hope competed with fear.

Tuesday’s gathering therefore marked not merely the end of an unfortunate episode but the restoration of a community’s collective peace.

Professor Kalilu said the university opted for thanksgiving because the safe return of the victims was an act of divine mercy.

While acknowledging the efforts of the Federal Government, the Oyo State Government under Governor Seyi Makinde who is also the Visitor to the university, and the Nigerian security agencies, he maintained that ultimate gratitude belonged to God.

“We hoped that these people would come back to us alive, and He made it possible. We are here to offer appreciation and thanksgiving to God Almighty.

READ ALSO: Oriire: LAUTECH Teaching Hospital discharges rescued victims

“It may appear novel, but there is nothing wrong in bringing Muslims, Christians and people of other faiths together to call upon God to be merciful to us individually and collectively. We should also pray for Nigeria, Oyo State and Ogbomosoland,” the vice-chancellor said.

In his reflection, the University Chaplain, Pastor David Olawuyi, described the occasion as a celebration of God’s faithfulness. Drawing from Psalm 124, earlier read by Pastor (Mrs.) Christianah Adepoju, he reminded the congregation that divine help had carried the affected families through the darkest moments of the ordeal and encouraged them, particularly Professor Alamu, to continue trusting in God.

From the Islamic perspective, Mr Isiaka Adeleke Muhammed, Chief Imam of the State Hospital, Ogbomoso, and a member of staff of LAUTECH, also offered words of encouragement, while Mr Abdullahi Tijani recited relevant passages from the Holy Qur’an, reinforcing the interfaith character of the thanksgiving.

Several Christian and Muslim members of staff took turns leading colleagues who stood side by side in offering special prayers for the released victims, seeking healing, restoration, and emotional recovery after their weeks in captivity. They also prayed for the university community, asking for divine protection, academic excellence, unity, and continued progress.

The prayers extended beyond the campus to Ogbomosoland, Oyo State and Nigeria, with supplications for lasting peace, improved security, wisdom for political leaders and an end to kidnapping and other security challenges.

The emotional climax, however, belonged to Professor Alamu.

Speaking on behalf of the affected families, he offered a moving account of faith sustained through uncertainty.

He revealed that throughout the ordeal, he repeatedly appealed to those around him to remain patient.

“People kept coming to tell me that the government was not saying anything. I would tell them to be patient. These people (kidnappers) may communicate with you for two minutes and then go silent for three days because of the nature of their operations,” he recalled, adding: “But all in all, we thank God. It has ended in praise.”

Then came another deeply personal revelation.

At one point during the ordeal, he said, he had offered to exchange places with his wife: “I told them, ‘Let me come into the forest and let her come home. I am a forester.’ But they replied, ‘No. You are used to this place. We will not allow you to come.’”

The statement momentarily transformed the accomplished academic into nothing more, and nothing less, than a husband desperately seeking to protect his wife.

He also acknowledged that the emotional burden of the ordeal was eased considerably by the support he received from the university community, singling out the vice-chancellor for uncommon compassion.

“Let me thank the Vice-Chancellor once again. Even when I did not ask for financial help from some people, they still gave me financial help. That really facilitated my movements because they were always impromptu. Today they would ask you to be in Ilorin; by evening, they would say come to Ibadan,” he said, noting that “God used many people to help me. I pray that whenever any of us needs help, help will come.”

The acknowledgement drew approving nods across the hall, reinforcing what many staff members had privately described as Professor Kalilu’s hands-on support throughout the crisis.

Earlier, the registrar, Mrs Olayinka Olanike Balogun, had similarly praised the vice-chancellor’s leadership, describing him as a steady source of encouragement during the difficult weeks.

She also thanked members of staff for sustaining prayers even when hope appeared to be fading.

“There were moments when everybody was discouraged because we were no longer hearing anything. But God answered at His appointed time,” she recalled.

As the thanksgiving drew to a close, hugs replaced handshakes and smiles finally displaced anxious faces.

For LAUTECH, Tuesday’s gathering was far more than the conclusion of a painful kidnapping episode. It was a celebration of hope over despair, faith over fear and unity over uncertainty.

And perhaps no words captured that victory more poignantly than those of a forester who discovered that the greatest lesson about surviving the forest was not learnt in decades of professional experience, but in the remarkable courage of the woman who endured it.

Salawu is the head of the Public and Alumni Relations Unit of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso.