Senator Tolu Odebiyi, Senator representing Ogun West Senatorial district (Yewa-land) has continued to receive encomiums both home and abroad for the Establishment of the Border Institute in Yewa-land.
The Asiwaju of Yewa-land and Erudite Historian Emeritus Professor, Anthony Asiwaju, MFR has also joined the leagues of prominent Nigerians who have commended the lawmaker.
The renowned Academia commended Senator Tolu Odebiyi for the brilliant initiative of crafting and sponsorship the Bill for the Act for the Establishment of the Border Studies, Imeko, Ogun State.
The Border institute which is going to be the first in Africa is expected to provide Teaching, Research, Instruction and Training of Students in Border Management and for other related Matters
Prof. Asiwaju, who is also an expert in Border Studies expressed his excitement during the presentation of Birthday cake and an official letter from Sen. Odebiyi to celebrate the 82nd birthday anniversary of the Emeritus Professor in Abuja.
While appreciating Sen. Odebiyi, Prof. Asiwaju said, “I want to thank most sincerely, our Distinguished Son from Ogun West, Sen. Tolu Odebiyi for the excellent arrangement right from the Airport to the hotel and at the National Assembly in Abuja”.
“For me, no Birthday present can be more than the reunion that he facilitated. He brought all my friends and colleagues that I have not seen for many years to the National Assembly for the Public Hearing on the Bill to Establish the National Institute for Border Studies, sponsored by him. This gave me the opportunity to interact with my colleagues from Maiduguri, Ife, Calabar, Ibadan, Ilorin and Kano. I also received Memoranda of support from Kigali in Rwanda, Bamako in Mali and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. It was an historic day”.
The highly respected elder Statesman also donated a set of Literature on Border Studies to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND at the Public Hearing, disclosed that the Public Hearing that coincided with his birthday happened by accident.
“I didn’t have any inkling that the Public Hearing was going to fall within my Birthday. My initial plan was to remain in Imeko and quietly spend the day with family and friends under my mango tree but then the information came from the Distinguished Senator Odebiyi that the Public Hearing on the Bill will be on the 26th of April 2021 which was a day before my birthday. So I had to leave Imeko and headed for Abuja via Lagos”.
The Africa’s most prominent Border Management expert who has received many accolades in the area of Regional Integration, noted that the Public Hearing was an unexpected Birthday present for which credit should be given to Senator Tolu Odebiyi for sponsoring such a fantastic Bill to establish the National Institute for Border Studies in Imeko, Ogun State.