Kwara state governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has mourned the passing of Professor Mohammed Mustapha Akanbi, SAN, the Vice-Chancellor of the Kwara State University, KWASU.
Professor Akanbi died on Sunday night, 20th November.
In a statement by his chief press secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, the governor described Prof. Akanbi's death as painful and shocking.
The statement read in part, “Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has described as painful and shocking the death of the Vice Chancellor of Kwara State University (KWASU) Prof. Muhammed Mustapha Akanbi, SAN.
“We submit to the decree of Allah who gives and takes. It is against that backdrop that we mourn the Vice Chancellor who answered Allah’s call tonight. He was a true and humble servant of Allah and we beseech our God, the Oft-Forgiving and Merciful, to grant him al-Jannah Firdaus,” the Governor said.
"The professor of law was a colossus who played the leading role to open a new chapter of academic excellence and greatness for KWASU. Our condolences go to his family, immediate and extended, to KWASU and the rest of the academic community, and members of the bar and the bench in Kwara State and across the country,” the statement added.
Confirming the development, the KWASU Registrar, Mrs. Kikelomo Salle in a statement said Akanbi died on Sunday after a protracted illness.
Professor Mohammed Mustapha Akanbi, SAN. Image: The Punch
”We urge everyone to remember his immediate and extended family, and the University in prayers in this very trying time, she added.
Prof.Akanbi is expected to have been buried in his country home in Ilorin on Monday, November 21, 2022, according to Islamic rites.
Up until his passing, Professor Akanbi was a renowned scholar, law professor, and legal icon who was deeply committed to both academic excellence and community development. He accomplished many remarkable things at a young age.
Akanbi began working at the University of Ilorin in 1998 as a Lecturer II before being appointed Professor of Law in the Department of Business Law in 2012.
Akanbi, a graduate of the esteemed King's College, University of London, United Kingdom, worked as a legal assistant in the Central Bank of Nigeria's legal division in Lagos State during his national service year.
He had over twenty years of experience teaching at the University of Ilorin, during which time he also held several administrative positions.
Akanbi had over 60 national and international publications in renowned peer-reviewed journals, with a focus on arbitration law and alternative dispute resolution. Corporate management law and practice are some of his further research specialties.
He participated in the Technical Working Committee 2013 on "An Independent Review of Evidence of Gross Violation of the Rights to Participation in Government and Fair Trial through the Election Petition Process in Nigeria 2003-2011," which was organized by the National Human Rights Commission, Abuja, OSIWA, and the Ford Foundation.
Akanbi served as a consultant and member of the technical working committee in 2012 for a study commissioned by the International Development Law Organization, Rome, Italy, on the legal framework surrounding citizenship and religion and how it influences national integration in Nigeria.
Between 2007 and 2009, he also held the position of Chairman of the Ilorin Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association.
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