One year on: Ezekiel Imoleayo Adeniran, “the Registrar who did not shout to be heard but worked to be remembered”
By Steve Ovirih.
One year ago today, Mr. Ezekiel Imoleayo Adeniran, the 3rd substantive Registrar of UNIMED, died in his home at the age of 41 under a bizarre circumstances.He had served barely 6 months in office. Six months that the university community still talks about as “too short to forget, too impactful to ignore.”
A Career Built on Service
Ezekiel didn’t stumble into administration. He walked into it with purpose.
With over 16 years across federal, state and private universities, he had cut his teeth in every division of the registry. Colleagues say he knew the rules, but more importantly, he knew the people the rules were meant to serve.
At UNIMED, he was not new. He had earned a Master’s in Health Law & Policy from the same university he later led as Registrar. He also held an MBA and Diploma from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, and a B.Sc. in Political Science from Adekunle Ajasin University,Akungba Akoko, AAUA.
He was a Fellow of the Institute of Professional Managers and Administrators of Nigeria, and a member of ANUPA. Awards followed him too — the Sunshine Role Model Award and AAUA Distinguished Alumni Award. But those who worked with him remember something else: his calm voice in crisis, his insistence on due process, and his habit of being the first to arrive and last to leave.
Six Months That Mattered
Appointed on August 22, 2024 and sworn in on January 6, 2025, Ezekiel became Registrar at a delicate time for the young specialized university.
“He was still at his duty post on Monday, July 14, 2025,” the university said in its statement after his death. Three days later, he was gone. Gone permanently…
In that short window, staff recall a man who pushed for professionalism in the registry, who believed administration should be invisible when done right, and visible in its impact. The Head of Human Resources described him as “dedicated and hardworking… whose contributions to the growth of the university will be long remembered.”
The Unanswered Questions
His death threw UNIMED and Ondo State into mourning. Police described it as assassination. A coroner’s inquest was convened to unravel the contradictions — family alleging foul play, other accounts suggesting suicide amid an ongoing investigation.
One year on, the grief has not faded because the answers are still being sought. But for his wife, children, colleagues and students, the legal process is separate from the memory of the man and his memory lives on. When an icon departs but his memory still lingers in the heart of those who treasured his well spent life, such an icon has not really died but has only translated to the realm of the saints where life is not short, brutish and a rat race.
What was Lost –
Ezekiel was 41. He believed in young people. He believed institutions could work if the people in them chose integrity.
A former colleague put it simply at his candlelight: “He didn’t shout to be heard. He worked to be remembered.”
The registry today still runs on some of the templates he reviewed. Students who never met him benefit from policies he signed. That is the quiet legacy of a registrar.
Rest in Power!
One year later, UNIMED is still healing. His seat in Council is filled, but his example lingers.
To his family: he is remember with you.
To his colleagues: he is remembered for how he served in honor no matter how short his stay was.
_“Well done, good and faithful servant.”_
Sleep on, Mr. Registrar; eternal rest I pray God continue to grant your gentle soul.
