The renowned veterinary medicine scholar and university administrator, Professor AbdulGaniyu Ambali, OON, died in the early hours of Saturday at his residence in Oloje Estate, Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

Confirming his death in a statement, the University of Ilorin's Director of Corporate Affairs, Kunle Akogun, stated that the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, has announced the death of the 9th Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof AbdulGaniyu Ambali, OON.

The statement read: "Prof Ambali, who headed the University from 2012 to 2017, died earlier this morning after a brief illness. He was 68.

"The death of Prof Ambali, according to the Vice-Chancellor, is a huge loss not only to the University of Ilorin and the Kwara State University, Malete, which he currently serves as Pro-Chancellor, but also to the entire nation and humanity.

"Prof Egbewole, who has sympathised with the family of the great scholar and the people of the Ilorin Emirate, enjoined sympathisers, particularly members of the UNILORIN community, to attend the Janazah for the late ex-Vice-Chancellor at his Oloje Housing Estate, Ilorin, by 4 p.m. today, Saturday, 6 June 2026."

Before his demise, Ambali was the Chairman and Pro-Chancellor of Kwara State University, a position he held after completing his tenure at the University of Ilorin.

The late academic was born on 29 November 1957, in Ilorin, Kwara State, where he began his education at Pakata Primary School before attending Government Secondary School, Jalingo.

He obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Ahmadu Bello University in 1981 and later earned both Master's degree and PhD in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Liverpool.

He lectured at the University of Maiduguri before joining the University of Ilorin, where he rose through the ranks to become Professor of Veterinary Medicine and later the pioneer Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

Ambali had also served as Chairman of the Association of West African Universities and was a Fellow of the College of Veterinary Surgeons of Nigeria.