Indeed, it is almost a tradition in our country that people go into offices at the end of which they do not share their experiences. That is why this book is useful, even though Professor Ambali owes us his own personal account. And from the glimpses in this book, the distinguished professor sure has a compelling story to tell.
It is remarkable that an institution that started in October 1975 as an affiliate college of the University of Ibadan with just three faculties has today towered above most of its peers with 15 accredited faculties. And three of them, as recorded by Akogun in this book, were created under the stewardship of Professor Ambali. But while the author lists several notable accomplishments of the outgoing vice chancellor, the one that struck me the most is that by the time he assumed office about 3000 students were on-campus residents but today, there are about 8,000 on-campus students. That is a big leap for which Professor Ambali deserves accolades.
The author also chronicles other developmental projects of Professor Ambali, notably in the area of infrastructural developments, staff and students welfare, teaching and research etc. Those who worked with the professor were also given voice through published interviews though many of them were saying basically the same thing while a whole chapter was devoted to listing the laurels won by the outgoing vice chancellor.
The author also gives the reader a brief history of the University of Ilorin and provides information as to who held what positions and when.Even though the book could have dwelt a bit about the profiles of some of these men, the mere mention of their names it is still useful in a society where people easily forget.