OAU Professor slump, dies during Departmental meeting

The Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) community in Ile-Ife, Osun State, has been thrown into mourning following the sudden death of a senior professor, Jimoh Olanipekun, who fell ill during a departmental meeting.

A statement issued by the university’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, confirmed that the professor became unwell during a meeting on Wednesday.

“During a departmental meeting this morning (Wednesday, March 5, 2025), his colleagues noticed that he was breathing abnormally. He was immediately rushed to the University Health and Medical Centre,” Olarewaju stated.

Following a medical examination by the doctors on duty, he was referred to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), also in Ile-Ife, where he was later pronounced dead.

OAU’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Adebayo Bamire, led a condolence visit to the widow and children of the late professor, expressing shock over his sudden passing.

“It is shocking and unbelievable that such a brilliant scholar could die so suddenly in the line of duty,” Bamire said.

He urged the bereaved family to find comfort in the professor’s impactful life, stating, “As Christians, we should know that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away as He pleases.”

The Vice Chancellor also prayed for strength for the professor’s immediate family, the Department of Philosophy, the Faculty of Arts, and the entire university community to bear the irreparable loss.