Ilorin Emirate Staff Association of Kwara State University, IESA-KWASU, has congratulated Prof. Binta Ajibola Sulyman for successfully delivering KWASU’s 21st inaugural lecture on June 3, 2026.
Titled _‘The Ilorin Royal Dance Tradition (Ijo Ọlọḿọ Ọba): A Catalyst for Cultural Identity, Artistic Expression, and Creative Economy’_, the lecture chronicled her academic journey and contributions to visual and performing arts.
Prof. Sulyman began her education at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in the 1970s. She earned a B.A. in Fine Arts in 1982, a Master’s degree between 1984 and 1986 after NYSC in Kano, and a Ph.D. from ABU in 2015.
She taught for 10 years at Federal Government College, Ogidi, Ilorin, before lecturing for 14 years at Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin. She joined KWASU in 2012 at the invitation of then Vice-Chancellor Prof. AbdulRasheed Na’Allah to establish the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, the first department in the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at Osi Campus.
The Association in a Congratulatory Message by its General Secretary Dr Abdullahi Bakare said Prof. Sulyman was instrumental to the creation of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, approved by the NUC in 2015.
According to the statement, she served as pioneer coordinator and head of department, and is currently pioneer dean of the faculty and pioneer head of Osi Campus. Under her leadership, the department secured approval for master’s, Ph.D., top-up, and diploma programmes.
The statement noted that Prof. Sulyman was also pioneer director of KWASU’s Centre for Archives and Documentation in 2014 and developed the KWASU Recreational Art Garden.
It pointed out that the Scholar attained the rank of professor in 2020 under late VC Prof. M.M. Akanbi SAN, becoming KWASU’s first female professor, first female emirate professor at the university, and first female professor of Fine Arts in Kwara State.
She founded and remains pioneer president of the Association of Women in Academics at KWASU. Prof. Sulyman also facilitated the establishment of a National Gallery of Arts branch in Kwara State and has curated exhibitions locally and internationally in Ghana, Egypt, Dubai, and Western Germany.
In her lecture, she called for efforts to safeguard “Ijo Ọlọ́mọ Ọba” as part of Ilorin’s cultural heritage.
IESA-KWASU described the lecture as historic and praised her “legacy of firsts” as a standard for future generations.
