Ex-UI Audit Director, Davidson shares life story of INEC chairman, Joash Amupitan

Femi Fabunmi

Kenway Davidson, the immediate past Director of Audit at the University of Ibadan, has shared an intimate recollection of his long-standing friendship and shared educational journey with Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN  the newly appointed NEC/INEC Chairman, PM News can confirm.

In a heartfelt narrative titled “My knowledge of Prof Joash Amupitan, SAN from primary school to university,”

Davidson recounted how their paths intertwined from their earliest years in Aiyetoro Gbede, Kogi State, to their respective university days.
According to Davidson:

“Joash is my childhood friend from the same hometown, and we remain bosom friends till date. We attended the same primary school  LEA 2, Aiyetoro Gbede and were classmates all through, starting in 1973.”

He fondly recalled their family backgrounds, noting that both of their fathers were teachers who rose to become headmasters, while Amupitan’s father later joined the judiciary as a local judge.

“Joash, an exceptionally brilliant pupil, left for St. Barnabas Secondary School, Kabba, from primary five in 1977. My father insisted I complete primary six despite my excellent common entrance result.

So, while he started secondary school at 10, I finished primary school a year later,” he explained.

Davidson detailed their academic timelines, highlighting that Amupitan attended the School of Basic Studies at the then Kwara State College of Technology, Ilorin (now Kwara Polytechnic), between 1982 and 1984, while he himself joined a year later, from 1983 to 1985.

“That one-year advantage he gained by skipping primary six remained till we both graduated,” Davidson noted.

The future legal luminary, he continued, gained admission to the University of Jos in 1984 to study Law and graduated in 1987 at just 20 years of age, sweeping all faculty prizes.

Davidson, on the other hand, pursued Accounting at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, between 1985 and 1988, where he also earned academic awards.

In an interesting twist, Davidson revealed that Amupitan’s younger sister, Mrs. Toyin Ayeni (née Amupitan), was his classmate from Kwara Tech to ABU Zaria, where they graduated together in 1988.

“Toyin was very young then, only 19 when we graduated. She recently retired as Director of Finance at the ICPC,” he added.

Davidson concluded by affirming that his account represents an authentic recollection of Professor Amupitan’s educational journey from primary school to university, adding with nostalgia, “The rest, as they say, is history.”