Foluso Ogunmodede (PRO)
Amidst intermittent sobs, the Vice-Chancellor Federal University Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, university community, colleagues, associates and family members gathered at a Commendation Service and Joint Session of the Senate at the University Faculty of Science to bid one of Nigeria’s finest academic, Professor John Okhienaiye Agbenin a farewell.
Professor Agbenin died on January 4, 2024 at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin, Edo State after a brief illness.
Until his sudden death on January 4, Professor Agbenin was of Soil and Land Resources Management at FUOYE Faculty of Agriculture.
The university Registrar, Mr. Mufutau Adeshina Ibrahim in a statement announced the death of the Professor.
In the statement, entitled “Notification of death: Prof John. O. Agbenin, the university Registrar described the late Professor’s death as not only shocking but unexpected.
It reads: “The university management wishes to announce the death of Prof. John. O. Agbenin of the Department of Soil and Land Resources Management, Faculty of Agriculture.
“According to information, Prof. Agbenin died on Thursday 4th January, 2024 after a brief illness at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin, Edo State.
“The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Abayomi Sunday Fasina, members of the university and the entire university community commiserate with the family of the late Prof. Agbenin on this great and irreparable loss.
“It’s our prayer that GOD should grant his family and the entire FUOYE community the courage to bear the loss.”
However, at the Commendation Service and the Joint Session of the Senate, there were a torrent of tributes for the late Professor.
All described Prof. Agbenin as a finest academic, who pursued his callings meticulously in order to achieve desired results.
To the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Fasina, he had lost a jolly and personal friend.
According to him, Prof. Agbenin’s death was not just a personal loss but the university’s. “We have lost a gem in the university,” he said.
In an emotion-laden voice, the Vice-Chancellor described the departed Prof. Agbenin as not only a ” very sound and principled Professor” but a detailed man.”
He went on: “Professor Agbenin was one of the best Chemists in the world. We have lost a gem in the university. Even in death , I still respect him. We would find a way to immortalise him even if naming a Laboratory after him would make his legacy live on.”
Accordingly, Prof. Fasina while eulogising the late Professor Agbenin, he enjoined members of the university community to live everyday of their lives as their last day.
He, however, encouraged all and sundry to prioritize their health while commiserating with the immediate family of the late Professor Agbenin.
In its tribute, FUOYE ASUU, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Dr. Akinyemi Gabriel Omonijo, described Professor Agbenin as an academic colossus, whose death took the university community like a volcano.
The academic union said it was saddened by the death of the Professor, who it described as “one of the finest academic around the Federal University Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) in his lifetime.”
ASUU said: “The loss of Prof John Agbenin on the 4th day of January, 2024 at the unripe age of 64 further confirms that good things hardly last.
“He was a Grand Commander in his chosen area of Soil Chemistry and recorded numerous ground–breaking and impactful researches in very highly rated journals. He was just the academic to beat in his area across the globe.
“However, ASUU-FUOYE is equally aware of Prof. John Okhienaiye Agbenin’s firm belief in God Almighty. As the Branch hopes to reunite with Prof. John Okhienaiye Agbenin on the resurrection morning, it sincerely condoles with the immediate family and the university management for this loss too many.”
Photo credit: Nifesimi Ogungbe
