The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali (OON), has commended the efforts of the leaders of the institution's Students' Union in tackling some challenges facing their fellow students.

Prof. Ambali gave the commendation last Monday (January 4, 2015) while receiving a 78-seater bus facilitated by the Students Union Executive Council to mitigate the transportation challenges facing the students. The bus, tagged "Unilorin Students' Union Intervention Scheme", is a collaborative effort between the Union and a private transporter, Alhaji Mohammed Kabir Olayiwola.

Prof. Ambali told the students' leaders, "I am very delighted that your effort is going a long way in solving the problems of your fellow students". "We also acknowledge what you are doing behind the scene to douse potential tension among students on campus", he added.

The Vice-Chancellor pointed out that the students' initiative was an evidence that "what we are teaching both within and outside the classrooms is working", adding that the Students' Union Intervention Bus is a clear example of "how we can solve societal problem without raising dust."

Prof. Ambali also commended the transporter, saying that he has demonstrated that "the more endowed you are, the better for everybody around you". The Vice-Chancellor, who recalled that Alhaji Olayiwola had earlier built a hostel on the campus, said that "the bus is an additional cap to the intervention you have made in tackling critical challenges facing our students."

Prof. Ambali assured the businessman that the University management would work out modalities on how to make the project viable so that he would not have any cause to regret his intervention.

Earlier, the Sub-Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. A. Yusuf, had appreciated the University Students' Union for "their foresight and visionary leadership".

Dr. Yusuf informed the Vice-Chancellor that apart from the 78-seater bus intervention scheme, "the students' leaders had gone a step further to contact some private entrepreneurs in Osun State for partnership in the provision of transport facilities on campus".

The President of the Students' Union, Comrade Alao Idris, said that in its sustained bid to make life more bearable for the generality of the students of the University, the Students' Union Executive Council approached Alhaji Olayiwola, who had earlier been involved in solving the accommodation problem of the students.

"So, given that he had provided hostel accommodation for a reasonable number of our students, we approached him and he promptly keyed-in into our proposal and the result is this 78-seater bus we have here today."

In his remarks, Alhaji Olayiwola, who is the Proprietor of El-Mubarak Hostel on the University campus, said that the first time he came to the campus with his daughter, who had just secured admission, he found out that there was accommodation problem, adding that right there and then he thought that he should do something about it by way of intervention.

He said he was able to complete the hostel within four months, adding that it was in the course of building the hostel that the students' leaders discussed the possibility of partnering them in the area of transportation.