Ayo Banjo, ex-VC of UI, dies at 90

Ladipo Ayodeji Banjo, a former vice-chancellor of the University of Ibadan (UI), is dead.

Sources close to his family confirmed to TheCable that the academic passed away on Friday morning.

He was born on May 2, 1934, in Oyo state. He attended Igbobi College in Lagos between 1947 and 1952.

Banjo began his career as a lecturer at UI’s English department in 1966. The same year, he won the American State Department scholarship award for an MA in linguistics at the University of California in the US.

The academic later obtained a doctorate degree from UI in 1969.

He was appointed associate professor in 1973 and became a full professor in 1975.

The academic was appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Ibadan in 1984, a position he held till 1991.

During this period, he was the chairman of the committee of vice-chancellors for Nigerian universities.

Banjo was a visiting professor for one year at the University of West Indies at Cave Hill, Northern Ireland.

He was also a visiting fellow at the University of Cambridge, England, between 1993 and 1994.

The professor was appointed the pro-chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt between 2000 and 2004.

After his tenure, he was appointed pro-chancellor of the University of Ilorin for two years (2005 to 2007).

He also served as the incumbent pro-chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University.