Prof. AbdGafar Siyan Oyefeso: A Courageous Reformer Returns to His Lord Adam Olatunji Muritala (PhD)Mechanical Engineering Department, Obafemi Awolowo University

The news of the passing of Professor AbdGafar Siyan Oyefeso, Council Chairman and Pro-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has left an unmistakable void in Nigeria’s academic and moral landscape. Some departures shake a community; his departure shakes a nation.

Prof. Oyefeso was not just a scholar. He was a standard-bearer of integrity, a man who believed that knowledge without courage is mere decoration. In every institution he touched, he became the rare voice that insisted that things must be done the right way not the convenient way, not the political way, but the principled way.

 A Life Marked by Uncompromising Courage

Many people claim to be honest until honesty becomes costly. But Prof. Oyefeso represented that rare breed of public servant who would rather offend the powerful than betray the truth. His leadership at Obafemi Awolowo University was defined by:

Courage without fear

Fairness without favour

Decisions anchored on justice

A deep belief in merit, transparency, and the sanctity of institutional values

OAU, a university already known for its intellectual tradition and resistance to mediocrity, found in him a leader who embodied its ethic: For Learning and Culture but also for courage.

 *A Leader Who Did Not Bend* 

Prof. Oyefeso carried himself with the quiet firmness of a man who knew his mission. At council meetings, during crises, and in moments that demanded moral clarity, he demonstrated that leadership is not the softness of diplomacy but the steel of discipline.

He spoke truth even when silence was easier.

He stood firm even when retreat was safer.

He defended what was right even when it invited criticism.

In a society where many cloak selfishness in titles, he wore integrity as his identity.

 *Beyond Titles; A Legacy of Character* 

His passing is not just the loss of an academic icon. It is the loss of:

A moral compass in our university system

A truth-teller in a generation allergic to accountability

A mentor, a builder, and a guide to countless scholars and administrators

Nigeria mourns him because men like him do not appear often.

OAU mourns him because leaders like him do not walk its halls often.

And we mourn him because voices like his firm, fair, fearless are desperately scarce.

 *A Call to the Living* 

In mourning Prof. AbdGafar Siyan Oyefeso, we must confront an uncomfortable truth:

Our universities do not need more buildings; they need more men of character.

They need leaders who will insist on rightousness, who will defend merit, who will stand firm when corruption knocks, who will refuse to barter principles for favour.

His death is a reminder, not of the frailty of life, but of the fragility of courage in public service.

 A Final Reflection

As we pray that Allah grants him eternal peace, forgives his shortcomings, and envelops him with mercy, we must also reflect on the legacy he leaves behind.

Prof. Oyefeso lived as a reformer, not a spectator.

He lived as a guardian of standards, not a passive administrator.

He lived as a man who put things right, even when it was inconvenient.

May his memory continue to challenge us. May his example continue to guide us. May his absence awaken in us the responsibility to uphold what he stood for.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un. A giant has returned to his Lord. But his footprint remains on the sands of our academic history.

Adam Olatunji Muritala (PhD)

Mechanical Engineering Department, Obafemi Awolowo University