Dominican University Ibadan, Oyo State, on Friday received a world-class Economics library from the Emeritus Professor of Economics, Sir (Prof.) Ibi Ajayi, KSG.FNES

The board of trustees and management of Dominican University Ibadan, Oyo State, on Friday received a world-class Economics library from the Emeritus Professor of Economics, Sir (Prof.) Ibi Ajayi, KSG.FNES. in a well-attended ceremony at the university.

Prof. Ajayi, a Professor of Economics and a strong supporter of Dominican University since its conception in his academic benevolence handed over the Economics library to the institution. Vice-chancellor of the university, Rev. Fr. Prof. Anthony A. Akinwale during his speech at the Tom and Carolyn Walker hall of the institution thanked Prof. Ajayi for his generosity to the University. While Quoting Aristotle's philosophy of generosity, which he described as the mean virtue between wastefulness and ungenerosity, Prof Akinwale expressed his delight saying, "Today history is being made in the brief ceremony that we are about to witness, a ceremony that testifies to and celebrates Prof. Ibi Ajayi's magnificence. "Indeed Prof Ibi Ajayi's donation of his immensely rich library to the Dominican University is a gesture that clearly surpasses generosity.

Prof Ajayi is a well-known Economist who distinguished himself by placing his expertise at the service of the University of Ibadan, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the African Development Bank to mention a few. "In the midst of his many commitments, he played a major role in the history of the Dominican University. He has been a dependably strong supporter of the University since its conception with his friend Rev. Fr. Prof. Joseph Kenny of blessed memory and the formidable team of Professors from the University of Ibadan in planning an implementation committee once put together to work for the license of the Dominican University and when it took quite a long time for the license to be granted by the federal government, he never withered in his commitment. "In my many conversations with Rev. Fr Kenny before his transition from life to life, he expressed the desire to have Prof. Ajayi in the governing council of the University, I have no doubt that from the celestials sphere, father Kenny is watching this ceremony with contentment.

"Prof Ajayi's drive for high-quality University education, his wealth of experience as an academic, his priceless competence as a technocrat, his candle and sagacity have all been brought to bear on his membership of the governing council of this young University. Indeed we are enriched." He further maintained that the impact of the library is already beginning to bear fruits in the lives of students and beneficiaries of the university. "This gift immortalizes you, but we still owe you a gift and the gift for us to ensure that this gift you have given us is well kept and put to good use for the benefits of the academic community and the public.

Prof. Ibi Ajayi in his remark said he his making the donation to the society at first and the Catholic Church who have always been part of his history. He said "when I thought of this donation, I realized that I have been privileged over time. "There are many ways of assisting an infant university to grow and develop, but two prominent ones are the development of social capital for it and the development of human capital. "In the first category are excellent buildings and environment of the university. without any doubt, social capitals are necessary and important but they do not measure the high quality of education and the productivity of the members of staff of the university, what does is the human capital development assumed in the quality and excellence of library resources, laboratories, excellent publications of staff, inevitable journals and they're global competitiveness in attracting external funding for research."

In an exclusive interview with CEOAFRICA, Prof. Anthony A. Akinwale disclosed that the university received a total of 1450 volumes of books as the first installment of the donation of books from the Professor of Economics adding that he hopes that with the library the university will be able to train the future leading lights of the economy in the future. "We want to train graduates who will be technically and ethically competent whether it is in economics, computer science, etc. It is not enough to have technocrats, you need technocrats who have ethical competence in today's Nigeria.

Everyone is talking about corruption, it is not because Nigerians are the worst in the world, but because we have not highlighted the ethical component of university education. "A university is a universe of knowledge, yes you have specializations but specializations within a universe of knowledge in which there is a conversation across the boundaries of academic disciplines." He further disclosed that the University will be putting the library to use not just for students alone but for the wider public and for all individuals who wish to do any research along the line of the discipline.