Two academic prizes have been endowed in honour of the former Governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) to celebrate him as he clocks 77 years.

The two academic prizes were endowed by some of Akande’s political sons to honour him at 77.

A statement issued on Friday by Dr. Femi Adu, said a letter addressed to Prof. Biyi Daramola, FUTA Vice Chancellor and Prof. Peter Aborisade, Director of Advancement Centre of the institution, conveyed that “the gesture is in honour of Chief Akande on his 77th birthday as he has remained a sterling example of statesmanship and integrity”.

The awards target overall best graduating student in Agricultural and Environmental Engineering and the newly introduced Bachelor’s degree programme in Accounting.

While the former applies to the overall best student at convocation regardless of state of origin, the latter would only apply to a scholar from Osun State that has the highest cumulative grade-point average in each graduation year.

Akande, reputed for his integrity and discipline was governor of Osun State between 1999 and 2003.

He later served as National Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Akande successfully led the party’s merger talks with the President Muhammadu Buhari-led CPC, an action that ultimately resulted in the defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the 2015 general elections.‎