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From Birthday Celebration to Lasting Legacy: How Tunji Bello Built an Auditorium for LASU

Posted by: Benjamin Onuorah

By Tony Onyima, Ph.D.
When the ribbon was cut to unveil a gleaming new auditorium at Lagos State University (LASU), the following applause was more than just for the tall bricks and mortar. It was a celebration of vision, sacrifice, and an uncommon choice: one man deciding that his milestone birthday would not be about champagne or luxury cars, but about planting a seed that generations of students would harvest.

That man is Tunji Bello, a lawyer, journalist, environmentalist, former commissioner at Lagos State, and now Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). At 60, he chose to build an auditorium for LASU, a project born not of wealth flaunted, but of faith tested and proven.
“Let it be recognised that we are not just commissioning a chamber to impact knowledge,” Bello said at the opening, his voice carrying pride and humility. “We are also witnessing, firsthand, the force of faith, the prophetic power of the tongue, and what is possible when we all commit to the pursuit of public good.”
For him, this auditorium was never merely about concrete and steel. It was about proving that audacity of vision, coupled with relentless push, could transform the seemingly impossible into reality.

Bello’s journey toward this legacy began ten years earlier. On his 50th birthday in 2011, he launched a scholarship programme for indigent but brilliant Lagos students across five disciplines: Law, Mass Communication, Social Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. His goal was simple: to prevent young talents from dropping out because of poverty. “To the glory of God Almighty, we have been able to sustain that programme till date,” he noted.

But as his 60th birthday approached in 2021, Bello wrestled with what else he could do. Throwing a lavish party, he said, was “completely off the table.” His wife, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, now Vice Chancellor of LASU, suggested a lasting gift.

“She was not yet VC then,” he recalled. “But she suggested I build something for the university. I did not give much thought immediately, until a few days later when it began to stir within me.”

Eventually, he agreed. It had to be an auditorium, “truly befitting and fit for purpose.”
The dream, however, collided with reality. When the architect, Kunmi Ayinla, presented the cost implications, Bello was shaken. “I was frightened when I saw the budget,” he admitted. “I was immediately confused about the feasibility of going ahead.” But faith sustained him. “When God gives you a vision,” he said, “God Almighty will also provide the means in miraculous ways.”

That miracle came in unexpected forms. Instead of receiving birthday gifts, Bello asked friends and associates to convert them into cash donations for the project. One wealthy friend, who had planned to surprise him with a brand-new Toyota Land Cruiser, handed him the cash equivalent. With contributions from others, the project began in 2021. The path was not smooth. Inflation and the collapse of the naira in late 2023 nearly tripled the cost of finishing materials. Work threatened to stall. “It was the toughest moment,” Bello confessed. “But our faith never wavered.”
He made a difficult decision to keep the project alive: he sold his property at Magodo Estate. “I had to, so the workers would remain on site and the project would not become abandoned after three years of labour.” Bello reflected deeply on his choice. “There is always a consequential choice between transient enjoyment and posterity,” he said. “By sowing this seed in the vineyard of knowledge, I believe we are preserving my 60th birthday cake in a way that it will be shared and savoured by many generations to come.”

To him, the auditorium also states that private individuals must step up to support public universities. “Certainly, government alone cannot do it,” he insisted. “Private individuals who have the means should invest in public tertiary education to create more opportunities, as is prevalent in developed countries.”
Bello draws his giving spirit from those who came before him. He remembers his late father, Alhaji Azeez Olatunji Bello, who donated land in the 1950s to establish Ansar Ud Deen College in Isolo. “To my dad, there was no better way to demonstrate faith in the power of education to transform society,” he said.
He also acknowledges his late boss, Chief MKO Abiola, who, in the late 1980s, announced endowments for universities across Nigeria, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, as Lagos governor, donated his salaries to charity and, years later, established a ₦1 billion endowment for LASU.
“These examples,” Bello said, “inspired me to do my little part.” Beyond the building itself, Bello added thoughtful touches. Courtesy of VDT Communications, students will enjoy free Wi-Fi in the auditorium. “We are committed to your academic success,” he told the students.
He also announced a one-year private maintenance arrangement, funded by another friend, to ensure the facility is well-managed before LASU authorities take over.

At the entrance, he left a message for posterity: a marble engraving of Benjamin Franklin’s timeless words—“Investment in education pays the best interest.” Bello's message is clear to the students who will fill the auditorium: seize the opportunity. “As you begin to take your seat and hear the voices of your lecturers echo through the sound system,” he said, “I hope this auditorium will inspire you to double your zeal to excel and become the next Ayodele Awojobi, Wole Soyinka, Chike Obi, or Olikoye Ransome-Kuti. Our fervent prayer is that you will be greater than us.”
He reminded them that today's students carry entire libraries on their phones, unlike his generation, which had to trek to libraries. So, you have no excuse or reason not to excel,” he challenged them. For Bello, this project also involves repaying a debt. “This auditorium is my token of appreciation to God Almighty for His grace and my dear Lagos State for the opportunities given to me,” he said.
He recalled benefitting from a Lagos State Government scholarship while studying at the University of Ibadan in the 1980s, before serving in public office. “I am simply giving back what was once given to me.” In the end, what Tunji Bello has built is not just an auditorium, but a monument to what one man’s choice can mean for generations.

Where others would have chosen fleeting pleasures, he chose posterity. Where others might have given up at the sight of obstacles, he pressed on. And where others might have marked a birthday with a fleeting celebration, he built one that will echo through lectures, debates, and discoveries for decades.
This auditorium reminds every student who walks through its doors that greatness often begins with sacrifice, vision, and faith. And in that sense, Tunji Bello’s 60th birthday is not over. It is still being celebrated—one lecture, one idea, one dream at a time.

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