Nigeria’s Premier Private University, Igbinedion University, Okada (IUO) this week celebrated the 92nd birthday of her founder and Chancellor, Sir Chief (Dr.) Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion, CON, CFR, – ESAMA of Benin Kingdom – with a special birthday lecture recognizing his long standing contributions to business, philanthropy, institution building and national development.
The event was held on Tuesday, 8th September, 2026 at the University’s Library Conference Hall and centred on a birthday lecture titled “A Tapestry of Nine Decades of Wisdom… Still Counting: The Journey and the Legacy.”
Guests from across Nigeria and beyond attended, including a delegation from the Office of the President of Ghana. Vice-Chancellor Prof. Lawrence Ikechukwu Ezemonye PhD, FAS, welcomed the Ghanaian delegation led by Dr. Foster Abu Sankara, Mr. Emmanuel Oboe-Baiden and Ms. Maame Yaa Edusei, former Media Adviser to Ghana’s late former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings.
In his address, Ezemonye described Igbinedion as a visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist whose impact extends far beyond his immediate community. He stressed that true greatness is measured not merely by personal success but by the number of lives uplifted and opportunities created for others.
He highlighted the establishment of Igbinedion University in 1999 – Nigeria’s first private university – as the clearest demonstration of the Chancellor’s foresight and conviction that education can drive national transformation. Thousands of the University’s graduates now work across Nigeria and internationally, he noted, crediting Deputy Chancellor Chief Dr. Lucky Nosakhare Igbinedion with helping sustain and advance that vision.
Historian Professor Yakubu Aboki Ochefu delivered the keynote lecture, tracing Igbinedion’s journey from selling kerosene on the streets of Benin City to building major national enterprises. He characterised the path as one defined by boldness, resilience, innovation and institution-building, a process he termed the “democratisation of development,” in which private individuals and institutions partner with government to advance society.
Among the ventures cited were Mid-Motors Nigeria Limited, founded in 1968 and widely regarded as the country’s first indigenous motor-assembly plant, and Okada Air, launched in 1983 and later expanded to a fleet of more than 40 aircraft. Ochefu observed that the airline’s name has endured long after the business itself, with “okada” becoming the common term for commercial motorcycles in Nigeria and entering the Oxford English Dictionary in 2020.
He described the university as perhaps Igbinedion’s most enduring achievement, noting that its founding helped open the door to private participation in Nigerian higher education, a sector that now includes more than 160 licensed private universities. The institution, he said, should be viewed not as a monument to one individual but as a self-sustaining establishment built to last across generations.
He concluded that the true measure of Igbinedion’s life lies in the many people whose circumstances have been improved by his vision, adding that the story he began continues to be written.
