Professor AbdulGaniyu Ambali, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, has died at the age of 68.
The renowned veterinary medicine scholar and university administrator died early Saturday morning at his home in Oloje Estate, Ilorin, Kwara State’s capital.
In a statement, the university’s director of corporate affairs, Kunle Akogun, confirmed his death and stated that the vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, has announced the death of the university’s 9th vice chancellor, 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 pm today, Saturday, June 6, 2026.”
Ambali was the chairman and pro-chancellor of Kwara State University prior to his death, having previously served at the University of Ilorin.
The late professor was born on November 29, 1957, in Ilorin, Kwara State. He attended Pakata Primary School before moving on to Government Secondary School in Jalingo.
He received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Ahmadu Bello University in 1981, followed by a master’s and PhD in veterinary medicine from the University of Liverpool.
He taught at the University of Maiduguri before joining the University of Ilorin, where he progressed through the ranks to become professor of veterinary medicine and, eventually, the first dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
Ambali also served as chairman of the Association of West African Universities and was a fellow of Nigeria’s College of Veterinary Surgeons.
