Why I built auditorium for LASU — Tunji Bello

Former Lagos State Commissioner and veteran journalist, Mr. Tunji Bello, has explained the motivation behind the newly commissioned auditorium he donated to the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, describing it as his contribution to bridging the infrastructural gap in public tertiary education.

Speaking at the unveiling, Bello said the project was inspired by his desire to give back to society and to mark his 60th birthday in 2021 in a meaningful way, rather than hosting a lavish celebration.

“At my 50th birthday in 2011, I instituted an annual scholarship prize in five disciplines — Law, Mass Communication, Social Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine — targeted at brilliant but indigent students of Lagos State origin,” he recalled. “As my 60th birthday approached, the concern was how I could do more. My wife, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, who later became LASU Vice Chancellor, suggested building something for the university. After much reflection, I agreed it had to be an auditorium.”

Bello admitted that the cost of the project initially frightened him, but he found creative ways to fund it. “I appealed to friends and well-wishers to convert birthday gifts into donations for the project. One wealthy friend who had planned to surprise me with a Land Cruiser Jeep converted it to cash. With more donations and God’s grace, we started in 2021,” he said.

The former commissioner revealed that rising inflation and the crash of the naira nearly derailed the project in late 2023, forcing him to sell his Magodo estate property to keep construction going. “The toughest moment was when costs tripled, but our faith never wavered. To God be the glory, the rest is history,” he added.

Bello dedicated the project to future generations of LASU students, urging them to draw inspiration from the engraved words of Benjamin Franklin at the entrance of the hall: “Investment in education pays the best interest.”

“This auditorium is my way of sowing seeds in the vineyard of knowledge,” he said. “By choosing posterity over transient enjoyment, I believe my 60th birthday cake will be shared by generations to come.”

He also announced that the facility would have free WiFi courtesy of VDT Communications, while a private company had been engaged to handle its maintenance for one year to ensure sustainability.

Bello cited the examples of his late father, Alhaji Azeez Olatunji Bello, who donated land for the establishment of Ansar-Ud-Deen College, his late mentor, Bashorun MKO Abiola, who endowed Nigerian universities in the 1980s, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who donated his salaries to charities as Lagos governor and more recently, endowed LASU with N1 billion.

He urged wealthy Nigerians to emulate such gestures by investing in public tertiary education. “Certainly, the government alone cannot do it. Private individuals with the means should rise to the task, as is the case in developed countries,” he said.

Bello concluded by dedicating the auditorium to God and to Lagos State, which he said gave him opportunities as a beneficiary of a state scholarship in the early 1980s and later as a public servant.

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