5Th and 6Th Convocation- Addresses

FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE

5TH AND 6TH CONVOCATION- ADDRESSES

;2NDNOVEMBER, 1991 AND 18TH AND 19TH DECEMBER, 1992 - '- CONTENTS

Page *Goodwill message from the President, General Ibrahim B. Babangida on the occasion of the 5th Convocation Ceremony on 2nd November, 1991 1 *Address by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Chief G. A. E. Longe on the occasion of the 5th Convocation Ceremony held on Saturday, 2nd November, 1991 7 *Address by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Albert A. Ilemobade on the occasion of the 5th Convocation, on Saturday, November 2, 1991 11 *An address by the President, General Ibrahim B. Babangida on the Sixth Convocation Ceremony held on 19th December, 1992. 19 *Address by the Pro-Chancellor, Chief G. A. E. Longe on the first day of the 6th Convocation held on 18th December, 1992 . 24 *An address by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. A. A. Ilemobade on the first day of the 6th Convocation -Ceremony, 18th December, 1992( 26 *Address by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Chief G. A. E. Longe on the occasion ofthe 6th Convocation Ceremony held ou the 19th December, 1992 35 *An address delivered by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. A. A. Ilemobade on the second day of the University's Sixth Convocation held on Saturday, 19th December, 1992 38 *Education and Development in Nigeria by General Olusegun Obasanjo at the

Convocation Ceremony of FUTA, 19th Decemberf 1992 46 *Citation on Conferment of Doctor of Science(Honoris Causa) upon -General Olusegun Obasanjo (Rtd) 52 -Prof. Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe (CON) 56 -Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin . 59 -Prof. Samuel Adepoju Aluko 63 -Prof. Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi (OFR) 67 GOODWILL MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES, GENERAL IBRAHIM BADAMASI BABANGIDA CFR, FSS, mni, ON THE OCCASION OF THE 5TH CONVOCATION CEREMONY OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE ON 2ND NOVEMBER, 1991 Members of the Armed Forces Ruling Council, Members of the Federal Executive Council, The Military Governor of Ondo State, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, The Chancellor, Chancellors of other Nigerian Universities, Distinguished Honorary Graduands, The Vice-Chancellor, Your Royal Highnesses, Emirs and Chiefs, My Lords, Spiritual and Temporal, Members of Council, Staff and Students, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen. So soon, another year has rolled by since I paid my maiden visit to your budding University and had the opportunity of participating in the ceremony which climaxed your epoch-making quadruple convocation ceremony. On that occasion, it was clear to me that yours was a community where all-the Chancellor, the Governing Council, the Vice-Chancellor and his Principal Officers, staff and students-were working in unison to achieve the ideals of a progressive, result- oriented, modern University. During my address then and at every other subsequent opportunity, I have expressed my admiration and satisfaction with your performance and pace of development. Not only have you made giant strides in the area of your academic programmes, you have also continued to be a shining example to others in peaceful and orderly existence, prudent management of scarce resources and methodical and systematic laying. of a solid and lasting foundation of excellence. I am particularly delighted that reports reaching me since I was last in your campus continue to confirm and strengthen my confidence that your enviable tradition and reputation of a peaceful, dynamic institution has become entrenched. I appeal to you to continue in the same vein and to pursue your well-articulated objectives with a sense of mission that will ensure the speedy realization of the dreams of the founding fathers of the Universities of Technology. I am sure that you have started on the right footing and if, as I hope, you maintain 'the same momentum, you will surely become not only a model for others to emulate but also an envy of other universities, both old and new. I implore you not to relent in your effort to establish and maintain the highest standards of teaching, learning, research and improved infrastructural facilities. By so dOing, you would have demonstrated that where there is a will, there is always a way. I believe that, as a University of Technology, you are already exploring the possibilities of improvising many of the tools and equipment that you require for the pro- secution of your teaching and research activities. The nation, naturally, looks up to universities such as yours to blaze the trail in innovations, adaptations, inventions and copy technology. In the true spirit of your motto, which is "Technology for Self- 1 IBRAHIM BADAMASI BABANGIDA CFR fssmni PRESIDENT, COMMANDER·IN·CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA Reliance". you should lead the way in looking more and more.Inwards for your flnancial salvation and generate substantial revenue to supplement the subvention from Govern- ment which is necessarily limited by other equally weighty competing demands. These are in addition to lump-sum grants to some universities for specific proiects;: and to the generous donation by Government to endowment funds launched by individual universities. Moreover. as you are all aware. the Government set up the Gray Longe Commis- sion to take a critical look at all the ramifications of the university system in Nigeria and come up with concrete proposals. The report has just been submitted and is being critical- ly studied. It is hoped that the recommendations of the Commission will constitute a ma- . jor blueprint for-this and subsequent Administration to tackle the problems of universities on a more permanent basis. Admittedly. on the short term. there is still room for a lot more to be done. At the same time. however. oneshould not relent in reminding everyone that it will be totally unrealistic to expect Government to bear the burden of funding universities alone. ThiS explains our persistent appeal to the universities to be more resourceful and widen their revenue-generating base considerably in order to narrow the gap between their needs and available Government subvention. This is a challenge that the universities have to con- front. We believe that with the requisite will and determination. they have the expertise and the energy to fully exploit the abundant avenues for generating substantial additional revenue. Once again. I want to reiterate my appeal to our wealthy citizens. corporate bodies. particularly industrial and commercial concerns. and philanthropists all over the nation and beyond. to assist the university system financially. in order to ensure a reasonable level of funding at all times. Students' In~ipllne aud Unrest: At this juncture, I would like to touch on an issue thai has gradually developed into a cause of great concern to this Administration. This Administration, as we have often underscored, is fully committed to the transition programme which is scheduled to ter- minate sometime in 1992. In spite of the pervadingatmosphere and culture of cynicism and doubt, we in Governnient believe that the programme is well on course ana-no group or individual will be allowed to derail it. It is the certainty of military hand over to civil rule in 1992 that makes it even more worrying that some of our youths, as epitomized by our articulate university students, do not. yet seem to have imbibed the right spirit of patriotism, decent societal values and high moral principles. Our youths, who are the leaders of tomorrow, seem to be exhibiting, more and more, some of the worst traits of in- discipline, criininaiity IU)dmoral decadence. A number-of our higher institutions of learning are becoming less and less citadels of learning and respectable factories Of invaluable human capital. Rather, they are fast acquiring the colour of the most deplorable hide-outs for blood-letting secret cults and fertile breeding grounds for violence. All these call for sober reflection. Apologists for the situation put the blame on the economic situation. This, to me, is tantamount to begging the issue. A relevant question, as far as the universities are concerned, is to what extent do the universities take seriously their responsibility of turning our people who can be adjudged to be "sound in learning and character"? To a lay on-looker, it would seem that at-best, the universities' exclusive concern is soundness in learning. Through our united effort to lay a sound foundation for a greater tomorrow, this trend must be reversed. I am pleased to note that reports from FUT, Akure, give us hope to believe that our youth can be at the vanguard of a peaceful era. 3 FeUcitatioD~. It now remains for me to congratulate the celebrants of today, You undoubtedly have every cause to feel elated and proud of yourselves for successfully scaling your first major hurdle in life. You are the fifth crop of this unique experiment in technological education, and I believe that you have found your education and training here a particularly rewar- ding and highly enriching experience. I have been told that all your predecessors are already making their impact felt within the larger Nigerian society, through their innovative and resourceful approach to their duties. Many of them are not only self- employed but are actively generating employment for others. I am sure that you, too, are looking forward to facing and tackling the daunting challenges that await you in the outside world. Nigeria, particularly at these most trying times, is in dire need of young men and women of your calibre with the technological orientation and expertise that would assist in ushering the nation into a new era of rapid national development and economic self-reliance. I am confident that you are all up to the task and that you will not disappoint us-the Government, your parents, your alma mater and the larger Nigerian society. You are expected to promote the good image of your alma mater and be its worthy ambassadors so that you may remain a beacon of light to generations coming behind you. It is my ardent prayer that the Almighty God may continue to guide you in all your endeavours. Finally, I heartily congratulate the Pro-Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor and his dedicated team of teachers, administrators and other staff, for their assiduity and achievements in ensuring the progress of this institution. I commend them all for another successful academic year and for making the events of today possible. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you all for your attention. .\

~-----..•...... --.-~ H.R.H. ALHAJI ZULKARNAINI GAMBARI MOHAMMED, CFR. Hon. LL.D Hon. LL.D. (Akurel Hon. LL.D. (Ilorin) Aiyelabowo V. Emir of ttorin Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure ADDRESS BY THE PRO-CHANCELLOR AND CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE, CHIEF G. A. E. LONGE, CFR, ON THE OCCASION OF THE 5TH CONVOCATION CEREMONY OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE, HELD ON SATURDAY, 2ND NOVEMBER, 1991 General Ibrahim Babangida, President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Service Chiefs, Members of the Armed Forces Ruling Council, The Military Governor of Ondo State, Honourable Minister of Education, Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Honourable Ministers and Commissioners, Your Excellencies, Honourable Visiting Chancellors and Pro-Chancellors, The Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology Akure, The Visiting Vice-Chancellors, Your Royal Highnesses, My Lords, Spiritual and Temporal, Members of Council and Senate, Graduands, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. Forthe fifth year running, it has fallen to my lot to have the rare privilege of welcom- ing you to yet another convocation ceremony. On behalf of Council, Senate and the entire staff and students of this University, I thank you all for honouring our invitation. My special thanks and welcome go first of all to our highly respected Visitor who is very ably represented here by the Military Governor of Ondo State, Navy Captain. Abiodun Olukoya. On this occasion last year, we had the unique privilege of hosting the Visitor himself who was paying his maiden visit to our University. That occasion has ever since then remained very green in our memory. We would be grateful, Sir, if you would convey our sincerest gratitude to the Visitor for his presence, generous donation and weighty words of encouragement at last year's activities, we salute him on his single- minded pursuit of the transition programme. We assure him of our loyalty, cooperation and total support at all times and wish him continued good health and God's guidance. Next, my thanks go to the Military Governor of Ondo State, Navy Captain Sunday Abiodun Olukoya, for his attendance at this convocation and particularly for his in valuable support and encouragement at all times. We are pleased that, like his predecessors in office, he has stretched his hands of fellowship out to us and given.us due attention when required. To our Commissioners, Royal Fathers, My Lords, temporal and spiritual and other distinguished guests, I say a hearty welcome and a big thank you for being with us. I recall with very deep regret, the loss of our Royal Father, our great benefactor, dependable friend and reverred alumnus, His Royal Highness, Oba Adelegan Adesida, 7 -

CHIEF GRAY A. E. LONGE, CFR, B.A., LL.B (London), B.L. Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Federal University of Technology, Akure the late Deji of Akure. His name is inscribed in the annals of this University in letters of gold. From the inception of this University, he stood firmly by us and fostered a most cor- di~ relationship between us and the entire people of Akure. In acknowledgement of his immense contribution to the growth of this University, we conferred on him the honorary degree of this university in1989. His delight was undisguised. He wore his crown and gown with dignity and pride. We miss his warmth and generosity. He was a good father to us in F. U. T. A. May I respectfully, Mr Visitor, Sir, enjoin all present here to stand up and observe one minute's silence in honour of the late Deji of Akure, His Royal Highness, Oba Adelegan Adesida. May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace (Amen).

Activities and Achievements Since the Last Convocation In my last convocation address, I indicated that a new Governing Council had come into office in August 1990, and I had the singular honour of being re-appointed as its Chairman. This new Council has endeavoured to give the University the type of leadership which should make it unique in the Nigerian university system. I wish to seize this opportunity to thank the members of Council for their commitment to the cause of F. U. T. A. Since the commissioning of some projects during the last convocation ceremonies, the University has embarked on a few other projects, including the first phase of the University Community Centre which will serve students and staff, the Administration Block and the Power House. The University Stadium is now nearing completion. I am pleased to say that the University continues to grow from strength to strength not only in terms o~ physical facilities, but also in academic activities. We-have recorded increases both in students and staff numbers. In line with our reputation, we have main- tained peace and tranquility on our campus. The credit for this state of affairs goes first and foremost to the Vice-Chancellor and his immediate lieutenants who, through mature judgement, and commendable leadership have successfully sustained calm and cordiality within the University community throughout the year. I also commend the entire staff and students for their cooperation and understanding. The Visitor, Sir, we are highly appreciative of the efforts of the Government to improve the conditions of our universities, and to find solutions to their multifarious problems. Let me here publicly acknowledge the many laudable measures which the government has introduced in recent times to further improve the lot of both staff and students of Nigerian universities. Not entirely satisfied with this fire brigade approach, the Govern- ment has itself, set out to find a permanent solution to the recurring problems of our universities through the Commission on the review of higher education in Nigeria, of which I was privileged to be the Chairman, Suffice it to say that the Commission recently submitted its report titled "Higher Education in the 90s and beyond" to Mr President. The Commission responded vigorously to Mr President's injunction to "be. bold, im- aginative, creative but realistic in its recommendations" Congratulatory Messages: I now turn to the students who are the main celebrants of today. I congratulate you all for emerging victorious at the end of a long journey. Your experience here at F, U. T. A. should have prepared you to face the challenges of life outside the university. The most enduring challenge out there is for you to be resilient and innovative, taking, advantage of 9 any, and all opportunities which pi esent themselves for honest gamful employment. There is no place for the diffident and overly calculating. The prize awaits those who think big and act boldly. Your predecessors are, happily ,giving a good account of themselves in various fields of endeavour. Go out there and join them, and be a source of pride to yourselves, your parents, this university and the nation at large. I wish you tbe best of luck. Once again, I congratulate the Vice-Chancellor, all his staff and the students, all of whom have made the event of today possible. I also wish to publicly congratulate Pro- fessor E. A. Adeyemi for his re-appointment for another two-year term as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, I wish him a successful tenure of office. Finally, I thank everyone present here and wish you God's travelling mercies as you return to your various destinations after this ceremony. . May God bless you all. ADDRESS BY THE VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE, PROFESSOR ALBERT A. ILEMOBADE, ON THE OC- CASION OF THE 5TH CONVOCATION OF THE UNIVERSITY, ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2.1991 Representative of the Visitor, The Military Governor of Ondo State, Nayy Captain Sunday Abiodun Olukoya, Honourable Chancellor; Representative of the Honourable Minister of Educanon, Representative of the Honourable Minister of Science and Technology; Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Honourable Commissioner of Education of Ondo State, Honourable Ministers, Honourable Commissioners, Secretary to the State Government, Your Excellencies, My Lords, Spiritual and Temporal, Honourable Visiting Chancellors and Pro-Chancellors, Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Visiting Vice-Chancellors, Rectors and. Provosts, Our Reverted Traditional Rulers, Directors-General and Top Government Functionaries, Members of Council, Members of Senate, Staff and Students of F. U. T. A., Toe Graduands of today, Friends of the University, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. It gives me great pleasure to join my Pro-Chancellor in extending warm welcome to all of you, our esteemed' guests, to this year's convocation. As you are aware, this is our fifth convocation and we should soon be celebrating our tenth anniversary. It is therefore, an auspicious time for us to look back and thank the Lord for the blessings He has bestowed on us these past years .•We rejoice with and congratulate the Class of 1991, who have weathered the storm of academic pursuit and have been found worthy both in character and learning to be presented for the award of degress in their respective disciplines today. We are confident that, like their worthy predecessors, they are set to make their marks in the larger society. This time last year, we had the distinct privilege of having the Visitor, and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Generai Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, CFR, fss, mni, with us to commission. some of the projects completed with the special Presidential grant of H20 million, launch our HSO million Endowment Fund and present an address. We want to use this opportunity to again thank Mr President for his interest in and support for the university system,for his exhortation on that occasion and for the commendation which he gave us for which vyeremain proud and grateful. We also appreciate subsequent commendations which we have received fromMr President, the latest one being at his SOth birthday interview given to a national daily. I wish to assure Mr President that we shall 1) continue to strive to remain a model university where the pursuit of excellence will be the hall mark. We also remain grateful to ~r President for his generous contribution, on behalf of the Federal Government, to our Endowment Fund. We want to use tbis opportunity to express our deep and sincere appreciation and thanks to those who (Yt'dus proud by contributing generously to our Endowment Fund launching, and event which led some national dailies in their headlines on the following day to scream out thus: "Naira Rain at FUTA" among others. It was indeed a "rain" and we wished the rain never stopped I Bashorun M. K. O. Abiola, the Chief Launcher on that occasion had, in pledging Nl.lm to the fund, iridicated that this amount would be spread over 6 months. Happily, however, Bashorun Abiola decided, -having seen the need for us to maintain a high tempo of work, to give out the entire fund within 1 month of the "ledge, we remain grateful to hUn. We have been fortunate in having most of the pledges redeemed, a development which has enabled us to complete phase I of our network of roads, commence the building of the University Community Centre and Power House, both of which are nearing completion and are expected to be commissioned before the end of the year, and present winners of the prizes endowed at that launching at this convocation.I should mention that the 19prizes endowed by Bashorun M. K. O. Abiola at the last convocation in honour of 19 eminent Nigerians are listed in the order of today's proceedings (Nos, 12-30: pages 30-31). We remain grateful to all those who did us proud by their contributions to the development of this University and we appeal to all of ycu to continue to support us. Indeed, the Endowment Fund remains open to those who have contributed and those who have not done so and we expect the rain of Naira to continue. The University was also fortunate to have its Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Coun- cil, Chief Gray Longe, CFR, appointed as Chairman of the Commission on the Review of Higher Education in Nigeria. The last review of higher education in Nigeria was that carried out under the Chairmanship of Sir Eric Ashby. The report commonly referred to as "Ashby Report", was submitted to the Federal Government in September, 1960, thirty- one years ago. We are delighted that our Pro-Chancellor was considered worthy to be appointed as Chairman of this monumental Review Commission. We salute him for leading his team successfully, and for submitting the report of his Commission last month. We look forward to the report and the "goodies" it may contain for the upliftment of the university system in Nigeria. It is meet and proper that I should, at this juncture, acknowledge with deep gratitude, the co-operation and support which I have received from 'the Governing Council of the University under the able leadership of Chief Gray Longe, CFR, the Senate, Staff 'and students of this University. Their efforts have contributed greatly to the enviable position the University has attained. I should now like to turn briefly to review the activities of the University in the past year. Academic Development: In the area of academic development, the University has continued to prosecute with increased vigour and determination our undergraduate programmes. The new programmes in Engineering, namely, Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical and Electronic Engineer- ing, and Environmehtal Technology, namely; Architecture, Estate Management, Quanti- ty Surveying, and Orban and Regional Planning are into their fourth year this session.

12 School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology: The School continues to pursue its academic programmes with vigour. It has also continued to assist farmers and other bodies in the extension of research results into prac- tical use for the improvement of agricultural productivity. The research efforts in. the School continue to attract support from both national and international organizations. The International Foundation of Science (IFS) is currently supporting two projects in Farm Management and in Snail Management. The Commission of European Com- munities (BEC) Lome III continues to support the project on the control of African Animal Trypanosomiasis in six centres in the country in which the School is one; The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) has approved the siting of a Centre for Ecological Monitoring estimated at $3.8 million in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and a new project on onchocerciasis is being initiated between the University and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, U. S. A.and is expected to come on stream soon. The Post-Harvest Technology Unit which is supported by the Union Bank's endowment of MlOO,OOO.OO per annum, has made signficant progress in the designing and production of a number of harvesting and storage facilities, e.g., maize dehusker/sheller; solar dryer for small-scale farmers and processors and multiproduce storage bin for storing different grains, useful to housewives, small, medium and large-scale farmers and feedmillers. As part of its staff development, two academic staff of the School are current beneficiaries of the Association of Commonwealth Universities Fellowship and the Alex- ander Von Humboldt Research Fellowship, respectively. Another was a recipient of the McNamara Research Fellowship sponsored by the World Bank, to research into the "recycling of fish processing wastes into low-cost fish feeds"

School of Engineering and Engineering Technology: This School, though relatively young, has been making its mark both in teaching, .research and service. Only in June this year, the Military Governor of Ondo State, Navy Captain Sunday Abiodun Olukoya, commissioned a water hyacinth harvester designed jointly by experts in the Department of Agricultural Engineering and the Nigerian Society of Engineers,' Ondo State Branch and fabricated by the Department. The harvester was considered an important contribution to the national efforts at controlling the seaweeds which have invaded the coastal areas of the country, particularly those of Ondo State. In order to fully test and use the seaweed-harvester, we need a barge and we call on the Federal and.Ondo State Governments to fund the purchase of this facility which can be made available by the Defence Industries Corporation in Kaduna. The Department of Agricultural Engineering has also succeeded in designing and fabricating a medium-sized cocoa-processing machine. The Department of Metallurgical arid Materials Engineering has continued to pursue, with vigour, its research into the properties of local clays which are expected to be useful for foundry purposes. I am glad to report that the linkage arrangement between the Department of Miniug Engineering and Cambourne School of Mines in England has finally taken off and we are grateful to the British Council in Nigeria through whose instrumentality the Overseas Development Administration of the British GOvernment decided to fund the linkage programme.

13 PROFESSOR A. A. ILEMOBADE, D.V.M. '(ABU/Jbadan), MS (Oklahoma) Ph.D. (ABU) J Vice-Chancellor,~ •• Federal .r... University of Technology, Akure

El School of Environmental Technology:

This School, which is into its founn year, is making modest progress and efforts at recruiting competent academics have yielded encouraging results. However, as noted earlier, there are hardship areas where it has proved difficult to recruit adequate staff. We therefore appeal to professional bodies. like those of Quaritity Surveying and Estate Management to encourage their members to get more involved in academics so that production of graduates will-be facilitated. School of Sciences: The School of Sciences has continued to consolidate its gains and extend its services in teaching, research and service. It is vigorously pursuing its bid at generating additional income through the production of low-cost laboratory and teaching equipment for secondary schools. Research activities in the School include the studies of the phenomena affec- ting radio wave propagation in the tropics and the use of locally available materials for the production of dyestuffs. The research on dyestuffs has led to the extraction of indigo from some plant species and their application to cotton and polyester fibres using caustic soda extracted from cocoa pods. The School has also developed some techniques for con- centrating and studying the functional properties of protein fraction from plant and animal waste sources for the fortification of protein-deficient foods. Other areas of research include the investigation of underground water sources in Ondo State and the studies of the boundary layer of the atmosphere in the south-western region of Nigeria. During the year, the Department of Meteorology initiated a collaborative research programme with the Federal Meteorological Department. The project is aimed at easing meteorogical forecasts for agricultural and aviation purposes. Postgraduate Programmes: The University has continued to run postgraduate programmes in line with the approval of the National Universities Commission. As the production of high level manpower for technological development is a core objective of the University, it is hoped that the National Universities Commission will soon grant us full status to run a full-fledged postgraduate school. Such an approval will not only boost the University's efforts in securing staff, but will enable us to provide opportunity for at least a few of those who seek admission to our postgraduate programmes.

The University library: The University Library is maintaining a steady growth in its acquisition bids. The Library has increased its book stock to more than 28,000 volumes, while the journal subscription is above 300 core titles. It is hoped that the Universitywill soon be able to increase the volume of bonks and periodicals as soon as it begins to draw -from the $120 million World Bank loan Students Enrolment: The total student enrolment during the 1990/91 session was 1,846. As in the past, we were able to maintain a wide geographical spread in our admission profile, attracting students from 15 out of 21 states of the country, and a few foreign countries. Today, we are graduating a total of 231 students. A breakdown, according to class of degrees, is as follows: - is TABLE I: Results of the Degree Examination ~990/91

School 1st 2nd Class 2nd Class Third Pass Total Class Upper Lower Class SAAT 1 13 43 5 62 SEET 3 32 5 40 SOS 2 10 87 29 1 129 Total 3 26 162 39 1 231

With the number of graduands of today, the University has graduated a total of 799 students (including 1 M. Tech. candidate) since its inception. In line with the motto of our University, many of the graduates are taking the advantage of the prevailing economy to be self-employed and beyond this, to be job creators rather than job seekers. During the last service year of the National Youth Service, two of our graduates, following the performance of 'some of their predecessors, distinguished themselves in their primary assignment and brought honour to the University. They are: (a) Mr F. I. Olonimoyo-who won a national award for "producing livestock feeds with 96 per cent local content from local waste". He was presented with a cheque of N20,OOO.00 and a gold plaque and automatic employement. (b) Mr B. O. Nwanze-who won the Ondo State award. We heartily congratulate these students and pray that their tribe will continue in this University. It is pertinent that I should mention here that I am proud of the quality of. our students which has been attested to by many establishments and employers to whom they have been attached either during their industrial attachment (SIWES) or during the NYSC service period. Some employers have even demonstrated preference for our students because of the outstanding performance of the early sets of students.

Physical Development: I am happy to report that the core of the University activities is shifting to Obanla, that is, the immediate vicinity of this auditorium. With the limited funds at our disposal, we shall, for the foreseeable future, concentrate our physical development to' this mini- campus which was originally conceived as nuclear campus. This is in 'line with our masterplan approved by the National Universities Commission. The larger site, along Akure-Owo Road, is for the expansion of the University and it is hoped that the proposed Centre for Industrial Studies approved in our academic brief and the Farm Complex will be the first set of structures that will be located on this site. As reported earlier, the proceeds from last year's endowment fund launching have already been put to the use for which they were endowed. The. University Community Centre which is nearing completion is being funded from our Endowment Fund as well as the N500,OOO.00 grant from the National Monitoring Committee (NMC) for which we are grateful. The NMC also gave us an additional grant of Nl.4 million to complete drainage in the new hostels and academic blocks and provide furniture for the academic blocks. We remain grateful to the NMC for this gesture. When completed, the Community Centre

16 will provide facilities for a cafeteria, a super-market, conference hall, students facilities and lockable shops. We have also embarked on the building of power generation house to enable us cen- tralize our power distribution units presently scattered allover the campus, and have in addition, purchased a 630KVa generator to enable us hook the new buildings to a source of electricity supply-when NEPA fails. The first phase of the road networks has been completed while work has just commenced on the building of the new administration block. .Our requirement for additional workshops and laboratories remains critical and we look forward to the Federal Government through the NUC for an enhanced capital allocation to enable us complete the new projects embarked upon and to be able.to construct additional facilities that will enable us to fulfill our mandate as a University of Technology. University Finandal Resources: Our financial situation remains precarious in the face of dwindling resources ..In my report last year, I indicated our efforts at generating additional Income by floating a company. I am happy to report that the Company, FUTA Ventures, has been incorporated and the first few months of its operation have shown that the Company has a lot of potential to ratse our revenue. No matter how much we try to generate revenue however, the support of Government and Industry remains critical for our growth. That is why we look forward to the Longe Commission's report for the strategy to bail us out of the financial quagmire.

I would like, at this juncture, to reiterate my call, during last years convocation, for proper coordination of efforts of the Federal Universities of Technology, Industry, Financial Institutions, Labour organizations, Federal Ministries of Science and Technology and Industry, and Industrial Training Fund, so that strategies for the generation and application of enabling technologies can be developed. It is, however, heartening to note the efforts of the Federal Government towards the establishment of Engineering infrastructures to assist us in revolutionizing our industries, a development that will surely assist the FUTs in generating substantial portion of their recurrent expenditure. Benefadion: I wish to acknowledge the continued support of a Chair of Agricultural Technology by the Union Bank of Nigeria PIc, in the University to the tune of NlOO,OOO.OOperannum, the endowed prizes of the FUT A Staff Cooperative Multipurpose Society Limited, the Nigerian Breweries, the Ondo State Farmers Congress, Livestock Feeds, FUTA Women's Club, His Grace, Most Rev. Abiodun Adetiloye, Rt. Hon. Dr. Akinola Aguda and the scholarship endowed by Chemical and Allied Products PIc in Mining Engineering. Last year, at the launching of the N50million Endowment Fund, Bashorun M. K. O Abiola endowed prizes worth NlOO,OOO.OOinthe names of several eminent Nigerians, majority of whom are indigenes of Ondo State. These prizes and many' others endowed by several notable Nigerians at that endowment are being awarded at this convocation. The Univer- sity is deeply grateful for these endowments. I should also acknowledge and thank many international agencies and organisations which have continued to support us. Among these-are the Mlociation of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), Association of African Universitifl (AAU). the International Centre .lor Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, International LivCfltock for Africa (lLCA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, International Laboratory f(n research of Animal Diseases

17 (ILRAD) in Nairobi, Kenya, and lately, the UNESCO which has chosen the University as the Headquarters of its Man and Biosphere (MAD) project. fit conclusion, Representative of the Visitor, the Military Governor of Ondo State, Your, Excellencies, Your Highnesses, My Lords, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for listening to me and wish you God's travelling mercies as you return to your different destinations and His abundant blessings on you the rest of this year and throughout the coming year.

18 AN ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF nrn FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, GENERAL IBRAHIM BADAMASI BABANGIDA, CFR. fss, mni, ON THE SIXTH CONVOCATION CEREMONY OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE, ON 19TH DECEMBER, 1992 Members of the AFRC, The Executive Governor of Ondo State, Members of the Federal Executive Council, Members of the State Executive Council, Honourable Chancellor, PUT A, Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, My Lords, Your Highnesses, The pro-Chancellor and Members of the Governing Council. The Vice Chancellor, Honorary Graduands, Other Principal Officers of PUT A, Visiting Academic Leaders, Members of the Congregation and other Staff, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, _1. It is time once again to join you in celebrating your convocation, the 6th in the life of this great University. I note that this year's convocation is with a difference, being significant in that it coincides with the tenth anniversary of your existence. There is good cause, therefore, to mark the occasion with much pomp and pageantry, and for all well- wishers to come together to share in your well-deserved joy and sense of achievement. Ten years, one might say, is a very short time in the life of an institution, but in your own particular case, you have recorded so many successes within the period that, you can justifiably mark the passing of a decade as an important milestone in the history of your institution. The Joy of Hope Fulfilled: 2. When slightly over a decade ago, the idea of specialised universities of technology was mooted, 'it generated a lot of heated controversies, with distinguished and respected intellectuals lining up on opposite sides of the argument. Interestingly, the most vehement opponents of the-idea came from within the existing tertiary institutions, ,andtheir opposi- tion then was premised on the belief that .the proposed universities would merely duplicate the activities and responsibilities of the many Faculties of Engineering and Technology in our universities, and also of the Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology. They considered the proposal as being capable of constituting an unwarranted waste of scarce resources which could have been deployed to strengthen the existing institutions and facilities most of which, according to them, were serlouslyunder-4unded and under-utilized.

19 Cynics among the critics even labtlled the idea as a devious gimmick, designed to spread political patronage at the expense' of the health of the higher educational system of the country. 3. However, with the benefit of hindsight, one should praise the courage arid foresight of the then policy makers who remained resolute in their determination to oversee the establishment of seven universities Oftechnology between 1980 and 1983. The protagonists of the idea were fully aware that, for Nigeria to be propelled into the jet age and, for it to graduate into a modern nation, it was imperative that much greater emphasis should be placed on science and technology as the bedrock of our national developmental efforts. It was equally obvious that if this objective of rapid technological development were to be attained, specialised universities of technology and agriculture with clearly defined mandates and objectives needed to be established to serve as the vanguard of this revolutionary crusade.

4. Such specialized institutions, because of the limited but intensive scope of their assignments, would be much better placed than the conventional universities to produce the required technologically-oriented high-level manpower and also engage in activities that would, in no time, transform our society into a technologically conscious and self- reliant one. I am happy to say that the universities of technology, and especially yours, have not disappointed our hopes. Even though it might yet be too early to assess the full impact of your existence, there are already very positive and encouraging signs that most of these schools have started on the right footing and that you are making sure and steady progress towards the realization of the lofty dreams of the founding fathers. On the whole, one caa confidently award you all more than a pass mark. Commendadon: S. As I have done on many occasions in the past, I must single out your university for special praise and commendation. Your progress.ion all fronts, has been very impressive and gives areat cause for joy and optimism. You have set a shining example in areas of not only academic excellence, but also prudent resource management, maximum capacity utilization, solid physical development, peaceful and harmonious co-existence and remarkable contribution to national development. Your graduates have been widely acclaimed to be of the highest standard not only in the quality of their education and training but also in character. They have, I am told, continued to shine in' every field of their endeavour and have thus contributed immensely to promoting and enhancing the good image of your university as well as those of other universities of technology in Nigeria. For all these, I congratulate you and wish-you well in the years ahead. 6. May I, however, ask you to remain mindful of the fact lhat your contributions and achievements so far, like those of your sister universities of technology, should be seen only as an assuring beginning of greater things to come. in other words, you still have a long way to go to appreciably justify the hopes and aspirations of the relevant consti- tuencies and the general Nigerian populace. So far, your claim of full contribution to national development can rightly be made only in the area of manpower production. You are yet to prove your mettle in the field of research, leading to important discoveries, innovations and inventions. Needless to say, it is your achievement in these areas that would constitute a significant breakthrough in ous.quest for technological transformation.

20 The Constraints and Government's Efforts: 7. One must admit, of course, that apart from your relatively young age, financial problems have, unfortunately but inevitably, constituted a serious limiting factor to your success. Your university was born at a time when the economic fortunes of the country had started its precipitate downturn and you have since then, like other sectors of the Nigerian society, had to struggle for existence under rather harsh and difficult conditions. These conditions, you will recall, have been the major cause of frictions between the universities and the government in recent times. 8. Some critics have erroneously accused this Administration of insensitivity to the problems of the universities and, indeed, some were uncharitable enough to insinuate that it was a hidden government policy to progressively emasculate and ultimately destroy the university system through financial strangulation. Let me assure you, with all due emphasis, that nothing could be farther from the truth. 9. The rather poor condition of the universities did not start with this Administra- tion. Rather, it has resulted from many years of inadequate funding which, obviously, was more unavoidable than intentional. Since the inception of the present Administra- tion, many far-reaching measures have been taken to ameliorate the situation, of course, within the limits of the resources available to the Government. This is not to deny that the precarious economic climate and particularly the ever-galloping inflation often rendered available financial provisions to universities grossly inadequate. This fact, I can assure you, was fully appreciated by Government all along and, indeed, was a constant cause of concern and worry to us, as much as it was to you. But while, by and large, the universities might not have received as much as they deserve, yet they have received more attention during this administration than any before it. 10. It is a matter of joy that the recent impasse between the government and university workers has been resolved amicably and, I hope, to the satisfaction of both parties. I .expect the universities, therefore not only to now heave a sigh of relief, but more impor- tantly to sit up and review their roles and activities so that they can effectively take on the more challenging task of leading the way in transforming our nation technologically and economically within a short time. In order to encourage the universities and reduce drastically, if not totally, the hitherto much-publicized constraints in their way, Govern- ment has pledged to invest the sum of Hll. 74 billion as recurrent expenditure and H4.86 billion as capital expenditure, all totalling H16.6O billion, on universities between now and 1995. It is hoped that this huge outlay, alongside several other resource commitments made from time to time, would suffice to keep the universities afloat and enable them to take their rightful place in the scheme of things. A Challenge: 11. The modern university, as the intellectual cream of the society, has a unique duty and challenge to tackle. Our country is still going through a most difficult experience on the economic, political and sociological fronts and it is for the universities to come to the nation's rescue by proffering viable solutions to our seemingly intractable problems. 12. I sincerely hope that you will all brace up to your responsibilities and live up to the expectations of the society that, even in these hard times, provides for your sustenance. The nation looks forward to profit more concretely from the huge in-

21 vestments on our universities by way of their invaluable and immeasurable contributions to our goal of rapid technological and economic advancement. As the popular saying goes, "to whom much is given, much is certainly expected". It should be the resolve of you all-staff and students alike-to stem the increasing and destructive trend of incessant campus unrests and the ensuing university closures. w'e must henceforth adopt a policy of peaceful dialogue on ali matters, whether internal or external ..It is only when peace and understanding reign supreme on our university campuses that the nation can reap maximum benefits from our higher institutions. Greetings and Congratulations: 13. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I share in the joy of this occasion and congratulate the celebrants oftoday First and foremost, my congratulations go to the Coun- cil anti Senate, and the entire University community, for witnessing this historic occasion and for their contributions towards the success of the series of celebrations culminating in today's events. You have all worked hard to ensure the survival and growth of this university. Please accept my hearty congratulations. 14. We must also remember our predecessors, both students, staff and council members, who bore the brunt of the pioneering efforts that have seen this university through thick and thin. To those of them who have been translated to the great beyond-Alhaji (Dr) Zulkarnaini Gambari Mohammed, the late Emir of Ilorin and the first Chancellor; Chief Gabriel Akin-Deko, the first Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council and Professor Theodore ldibiye Francis, the founding Vice-Chancellor-, we:owe- . everlasting gratitude and wish them eternal peaceful rest in the bosom of Allah. To those who are, fortunately, still alive, we say a big 'Thank you'and implore you all to continue to give of your best to the university in whatever way you find' possible and necessary. 15. The University will continue to rely on the goodwill, assistance, guidance and cooperation of everyone concerned at all times. In this regard, I would like to specially congratulate the incumbent Vice-Chancellor for the success of this occasion and for his well- deserved re-appointment. I also wish to use this medium to congratulate the Pro- Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Chief Gray Longe, CFR. who led the Commission on Higher Education and produced an excellent report which has formed a basis for. the Federal Government's far-reaching policy decision on tertiary education in Nigeria beyond the year 2000. 16. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, the star-studded cast that make up the honorary graduands of today says a lot about the pedestal on which this school Has found itself after only a decade of its existence. When I see the-array of World-acclaimed statesmen and intellectual giants who have accepted to associate their reverred names withyour institution as honorary graduands, I feel very proud on your behalf for having earned the respect and honour of such eminent national and international personalities. 17. Distinguishe.d Ladies and Gentlemen, permit me at this point to heartily congratulate General Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Michael Ajasin, Professor Sam Aluko, Pro- fessor Oladipo Akinkugbe and Professor G. O. P. Obasi for the great honour of today. It would be an understatement to say that each of you richly deserve the recognition and honour being bestowed on you today. You are all men of distinction in every respect and it is my hope that your being counted among the graduates of this university will serve as 22 an incentive for the graduates of the university, both past, present and future, to emulate you and strive to attain the loftiest heights in all their fields of endeavour. I am confident that you will continually put at the disposal of the university your wealth of experience, invaluable advice and all other forms of assistance that will promote its well-being and accelerate its march towards academic excellence. Charge to Graduands: 18. Lastly, I extend my warmest felicitations to the main celebrants of today-the recipients of postgraduate and first degrees. I rejoice with them for having fought the good fight. They have successfully weathered the turbulent storms of university life all these years and have now safely swum ashore. Without doubt, the road has been rough and the struggle has been daunting, but through sheer determination and patience, you have overcome all obstacles to arrive at this sweet moment of victory. My dear graduands, let me quickly warn you that Out there in the real world, greater challenges await you which will certainly task your doggedness and toughness. I am convinced that with the type of specialized education and thorough training which you have received here, you will be more than up to the task of surmounting the obstacles on your way to a life of fulfilment and great achievements both for yourselves and for the society at large. 19. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for YOUI kind attention. God bless you all, God bless Nigeria.

23 ADDRESS BY THE PRO-CHANCELLOR OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE, CHIEF G. A. E. LONGE, eFR. ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE 6TH CONVOCATION OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE, HELD ON 18TH DECEMBER, 1992

The Visitor General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Members of the Armed Forces Ruling Council, The Executive Governor of Ondo State. Your Excellencies, Honourable Minister of Education and Youth Development, Honourable Ministers and Commissioners, Honourable Visiting Chancellors and Pro-Chancellors, The Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure, The Visiting Vice-Chancellors, Your Royal Highnesses, My Lords, Spiritual and Temporal, Members of Council and Senate, Graduands, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, On behalf of Council, Senate and the entire members of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, I welcome you all to this first day of our 6th Convocation, I have had the great honour and privilege for 6 years running, beginning from the first convocation in 1987 to now, to welcome parents, guardians and friends of the University, We celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Univer-sity this year. Today, we rejoice with our deserving graduands as they celebrate success in their academic endeavour. First, I would like to recall our humble beginning in 1982 when we opened our doors to commence academic programmes. At that time, we enrolled a mere 149 students into the then existing foundation Schools of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, Earth and Mineral Sciences and Pure and Applied Sciences. We had very few academic staff on the ground. We looked forward to a steady growth even though the turbulence of an economy on a downward turn was on the horizon. The total number of students has grown from the initial 149 to 2,089 today and Schools from three to four. Second, let us commend those whose vision led to the establishment. of the Univer- sities of Technology and, especially, our staff and students who were involved in this pioneering experiment: Alhaji Shehu Shagari, our first executive President whose administration established the University in 1982, the foundation Chancellor, Alhaji Zulkar- naini Gambari Mohammed, the late Emir of Ilorin, the foundation Pro-Chancellor, late Chief Akin Deko and the foundation Vice-Chancellor, late Professor Theodore Idibiye

24 Francis, FAS,my predecessors in office, the pioneer students and staff. This University stands today as a fitting tribute to their courage and dedication. The mission of Universities of Technology is clear and can be summarized as the production of manpower and appropriate technology to launch the country on the path of technological self-sufficiency. We have spent the first ten years primarily in the production of manpower which is one leg of the mandate. We continue to receive good reports of the performances of our graduates in the world of work. Many of them, in the tradition of our motto "Technology for Self-Reliance" have established their own enterprises which are flourishing and provide employment to many Nigerians. The other aspect of our mandate is the production of appropriate technology, an area in which we have made some progress but where much remains to be done. The major constraint is that Universities of Technology, by their nature, are both capital and equipment intensive, thus requiring a massive injection of funds. The federal Government has accepted the recommendation of the Commission on the Review of Higher Education in Nigeria to establish for universities of Technology, work centres or Centres for industrial studies "with the specific objective of design, construction of prototype machines identified to be needed for our industries". The provision of adequate funds for the implementation of this recommendation should lead to the early achievement of the objectives of establishing Universities of Technology. On behalf of the Council and Senate of the University, I congratulate our graduating students. You have been sufficiently trained and exposed in your respective areas of discipline to make you worthy of your peers anywhere in the world. Please be good ambassadors of this great University. I wish you success and prosperity in your future endeavours. In conclusion, I wish to express my appreciation to all staff of the University for making this year's Convocation a success.

CHIEF G. A. E. LONGE;CFR PRO-CHANCELLOR

18th December, 1992

2S AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE VICE-CHANCELLOR, FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE, PROFESSOR A. A. ILEMOBADE ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE 6TH CONVOCATION CEREMONY OF THE UNIVERSITY ON FRIDAY, 18TH I;:>ECEMBER, 1992

Representative of our President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and Visitor to the University, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida His Excellency, the Governor of Ondo State, Mr Bamidele Isola Olumilua Hon. Federal Minister of Education and Youth Development Hon. Commissioner of Education, Ondo State Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the Federal University of Technology, Akure Your Excellencies Your Lordships Hon. Visiting Chancellors and Pro-Chancellors Visiting Vice-Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts Our Reverred Traditional Rulers Members of Council and Senate Staff and Students Friends of the University Parents and Guardians Distinguished Guests Ladies ami Gentlemen, I am privileged and honoured once again to join my Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council in extending a most warm welcome to our distinguished guests, parents, guardians and friends of the University on this occasion which marks our 6th Convocation. This Convocation is·special to us because it is the climax of the celebrations which were started in April to mark the tenth anniversary of our University. We recall with fondness that in September 1981, the then President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, announced the establishment of the Federal University of Technology in Ondo State. Then followed a spate of agitations by different communities for the location of the University on their soil and the subsequent decision of the Federal Government to site the University at the State capital, Akure. The foundation Vice-Chancellor, the late Professor Theodore Idibiye Francis, who was appointed on November 19, 1981 assumed duties January 1, 1982. The 13-man Governing Council which had been appointed earlier and headed by the late High Chief Gabriel Akin Deko of blessed memory, was inaugurated on January 27, 1982, and commenced activities thereafter. On April 29, 1982 the then president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, turned the sod at the maxi site of the University on the Akure-Owo Road and by November of that year, the University was suificiently strong to admit its first batch of students. Thus, on November 22, 1982, the gates ofthe University were thrown open to receive the pioneer students numbering 149. Out of this crop of students, majority of 26 whom graduated in the 1986/87 session, six are presently on the academic staff of 'this University, one of whom recently obtained her Ph. D. in Applied Geophysics, the first to do so of the University alumni. The other five who are studying for the Ph. D. degree are being conferred with Masters degree tomorrow. We have, in our decade of existence, grown from a student population of 149 to 2,089 in the 1991/92 session, and we should be about 3,000 in the 1992/93 session; our staff strength has increased froma handful to 742 persons, we have also progressed in' our physical stature, from a tenant of the Federal Polytechnic, then in Akure, to a landlord both of this site and the maxi-site on Akure-Owo Road. As we look back, therefore, and ponder over our first decade, we can, like the Biblical Samuel, raise our Ebenezer and proclaim that "Thus far the Lord has helped us". I pay tribute to our pioneer Chancellor, the late Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Zulkarnaini Gambari Mohammed, CFR who passed away in February this year, our pioneer Pro- Chancellor and Chairman of Council, the late High Chief Akin Deko and his successors, Alhaji Y. A. B. Olatunji andMr. S. M. Onekutu, our pioneer Vice-Chancellor, the late Professor Theodore Idibiye Francis, FAS, pioneer members of Council and pioneer staff (academic and non-academic) and pioneer students. They have all made signiftcant contribution to our humble beginning and subsequent developments, and we thank them. As noted above, our pioneer Chancellor, Alhaji (Dr) Zulkarnaini Gambari Moham- med, the Emir of Ilorin passed away in the Republic of Germany on 23rd February, 1992 and was buried in Ilorin subsequently. The University was fully represented at his funeral. Our late Chancellor was great in life as he was in death. He was beloved by staff and students and will be sadly missed. May his gentle soul rest in peace. While we were still -I- mourning the death of our Chancellor came the news of the death of the University first Vice-Chancellor (1982-1988), Professor Theodore Idibiye Francis, FAS in far away Lon- don on March 16, 1992. It was good fortune for all of us, and Professor Francis that he had many productive years. Those who did not know him will remember him for his achievements in teaching, research and administration. Those of us who knew him will, in addition, remember him for a great deal more. We will remember him for his patience, his humility and modesty, for his interest in others and his readiness to help, for his keen en- joyment of life. He will be sadly missed. May his soul rest in peace. Only last month, the wife of our benefactor, Alhaja Simbiat Atinuke Abiola passed away. We mourn with her husband, Bashorun Moshood Abiola, the death of this illustrious wife and mother and pray that her soul may rest in perfect peace.

Today, first degrees and prizes will be awarded, tomorrow Masters degrees will be conferred on 8, and Ph.D. on.2 students, while five eminent Nigerians and scholars will be admitted to the honorary degrees of the University. We are pleased to be able to make our modest contributions in man-power development and the recognition of excellence. This ceremony marks the graduation of 248 students from three of our four Schools, namely: - School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology with 64 students; - School of Engineering and Engineering Technology with S8 students; ~ School of Sciences with 126 students. The breakdown into classes of degree is as fQ11ows: Table I:Results of the Degree Examination 1991/92

School 1st 2nd Class 2nd Class Third Pass Total Class Upper Lower Class SAAT 5 55 4 64 SEET 1 4 42 7 4 58 SOS 2 13 74 32 5 126 Total 3 II 171 93 9 148 At the end of this convocation we would have graduated a total of 1,048 persons with first degrees and 9 with Masters and two with Doctoral degrees since our inception. This past session, the University system experienced a lot of disruptions brought about by the parlous state of our economy, deterioration in the earnings of University staff and decay in the infrastructures of the entire University system. These distruptions were characterised by violent demonstrations by students resulting in closure of Univer- sities, and strike action by academic and non-academic staff of Universities. The Federal University of Technology, Akure was of course, not spared this unhappy development which, therefore, led to the extension of the second semester from August to October and the shifting of our Convocation dates from the traditional first week of November to today. Our ability, to maintain peace on campus was stretched to the limit by a cycle of industrial actions by staff, students agitation and .demonstration on issues connected with our national problems. Some respite was achieved by the agreement between the Federal Government and the academic staff of Nigerian Universities on the improvement in the conditions of service of staff of Universities, radical improvement in funding of Univer- sities, autonomyand academic freedom. The implementation of this accord, however, both in the academic and non-academic sectors of the University, continues to be dogged by problems of major dimension. Unless these problems are resolved, and speedly too, the new session, of 1992193, may not be spared the experience of last session. I should like to briefly review notable developments in the University in the past session 1991/92 .

. Academic Development: As mentioned in previous addresses; Universities of Technology all over the world are, by design, capital intensive in terms of equipment because they have a major role to play in national development. As has been pointed out by this year's convocation lecturer, Dr. Abel Guobadia, Nigerian Universities of Technology are bedevilled by severe shortage of equipment due to the harsh economic conditions which started in the early 1980s and which have been aggravated by the continuing fail of the Naira in the Foregin Exchange Market, thus reducing markedly the value of whatever funds are provided for equipment. To compound matters, Universities of Technology have not been given significant preferential treatment in the allocation of funds by the NUC for equipment. Of the recent University sector World Bank Loan, however, the Universities of Technology have been allocated what could be regarded as a fair proportion of the loan for overseas purchase of teaching and research equipment and they could start drawing from the loan once they met the conditionalities. I ani happy to report that we are among thefirst batch of Univer-

28 sities to meet the conditionalities and we are hopeful that the equipment ordered will start arriving before long. Up till now, we have been allowed to run postgraduate courses primarily to assist us in our Staff Development programme, but not to establish a Post Graduate School. I am happy to report that the National Universities Commission has, based on our performance to successfully run Postgraduate courses, approved the establishment of a full- fledged School of Postgraduate Studies in this University with effect from this session. Also our request to mount a degree programme in Food Sciences and Technology in the School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology was approved by the Commission effective 1992/93 session. We are grateful to the National Universities Commission for considering favourably our requests. It will be recalled that the School of Environmental Technology offering programmes in Architecture, Estate Management, Building, Quantity Surveying and Industrial Design came on stream in the 1988/89 session. Three of the programmes, namely Architecture, Estate Management and Quantity Surveying are well on course and will be presenting candidates for the first time, for the award of degrees next year. Similarly, the three programmes in the School of Engineering and Engineering Technology started in the 1988/89 session which are yet to produce graduates, viz, Civil Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, are also on course, and win be presenting their first set of graduates next session. Physical Development: You will recall that at our convocation in 1990, the N50 million Endowment Fund was launched with the aim of raising funds for vital projects in the University. Three of the projcts, namely a network of roads, a Community Centre and a Power Station have since been embarked upon and completed. One of the projects, the Community Centre completed at a cost of N3.8 million was commissioned in April by the. Honourable Minister of Education and Youth Development Professor Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa. As a mark of recognition of the contributions of our late Chancellor, Alhaji Zulkarnaini Gambari Mohammed, the Emir of Ilorin, the University has named the Community Centre Zulkar- naini Centre, after this illustrous son of Nigeria and Africa. The cost of completing these projects amounting to about N14 million was financed, in the main, through the Endow- ment Funds (700/0) with the rest coming from our normal Capital Grants. We remain grateful to our benefactors who made this possible. The 1991/92 session also witnessed the allocation, by the President, Commander-in- Chief of the Armed Forces and Visitor to the University, General Ibrahim Babangida, to each Federal University, a sum of N25 million as special grant for capital and recurrent purposes. We are deeply grateful to Mr. President and the Federal Government which he heads for this generous allocation. This grant could not have come at a better time than now when the construction of the administration building which was commenced early last year in anticipation of immediate release of the pledge made by Mr. President in 1990 but which was delayed, got stalled. The building is progressing satisfactorily, and barring any unforseen circumstances, should be ready for commission within the next 6.months.

29 Part of the N25million grant has gone into the construction of 10 units junior staff quarters which were completed only last week. We have also commenced the construction of the first phase of science laboratory blocks end second phase of Zulkarnairii Centre. Overall, we are making steady progress in our march to fulfilling our objectives in the area of capital development. Staff and Students' Welfare: In the area of staff welfare, we continue to make steady progress and if funds are made available to fully implement the recently approved welfare packages, disenchant- ment and loss of self-esteem by University staff will be minimised to the point that they will no longer be critical issues. Until now, the University operates a housing loan scheme which is Limited due to the size of the money available. Recently, however, the Federal Government released a sum of N2.75 million to us to fund a revolving housing loan scheme. This, we are told, is the first phase. It is hoped therefore that the additional fund promised by the Federal Government would soon be released so that many more staff would be able to enjoy owning a house to retire into after an active working life. It is vitally important that those who are expected to train students who will tomorrow provide leadership in politics and different sectors of our economy be themselves provided adequate insurance against their retirement, and a house is an important one. In 1990 when Mr. President commissioned the first phase of our students hostels, it was generally believed that a number of accomodation problems would be solved. This is correct. At that time, we had about 1,500 students. But now we expect to have a total of 3,000 students in the 1992/93 session and accommodation will become a sore point again, unless we are able to provide additional bed spaces or private enterpreneurs and local Governments heed our appeal to build commercial hosteles for students. We are in total agreement with the view expressed in the report of Longe Commission on Higher Educa- tion in the nineties that: ... there are usually strong contrasting views as to whether or not institution should provide accommodation and if in the affirmative what proportion of students in any given institution should be housed. The Commission deems it highly desirable for any institution to develop in-campus accommodation for at least a proportion of its students. The proportion to be accommodated should generally be left to the discretion of the institution in relation to living facilities in town. In any event, each institution should aim at accommodating at least a third of its total enrolment at any given time .... We have it as a policy that all new entrants into the University and to some extent" final year students, should automatically be qualified for hostel accommodation. While' whatever spaces are left are given out based on approved criteria like handicap students, foreign students, sportsmen and women and Union leaders. We believe this is a desirable policy, but we have now reached a point where it is becoming difficult to implement it, unless we have additional bed spaces. While we are therefore working on private enterpreneurs and local Government to invest on students accommodation, to ease the, burden of the University in this area, we must plead for more money from the Federal Govern- ment to implement the second phase of our hostel project. We also appeal to the Akure Local Government who, during our Endowment-Fund launching in 1990 promised to put up a block of hostel which our students could rent.

30 Internal Revenue Generation: In my address at the Convocation of 1989, I indicated our efforts at generating additional funds in order to meet some of our commitments on recurrent expenditure. One of the efforts was to reorganise our Consultancy Unit which has since been incorporated into a full-fledged company, the FUTA Ventures Ltd. Last session, the Ventures made significant progress. Among many projects carried out.vl would like to mention a few: The Company was awarded the consultancy for the Architectural, Structural, Mechanical and Electrical works of two new hostel blocks at a sister University, the University of Benin. The buildings were completed in record time and were commissioned only this week. Another sister University, the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University also awarded the Ar- chitectural, Mechanical and Electrical consultancy of its Students Centre to the ventures and the building is presently nearing completion. The company was also awarded the con- tract for drawing up the Master Plan of the National Mathematical Centre in Abuja, a feat that was achieved in 3 months. The Federal University of Technology, Akure has received commendation for its excellent performances in all these assignments and we are grateful for the opportunity given to FUT A Ventures to demonstrate its capabilities in different areas of its operation. Please try our FUT A Ventures, a trial, they' say, will con- vince you. The import of the toregoing is not to sing our own praise, but to.let you know that with such performance we can expect a handsome dividend from the company at the end of its operating year to assist us in our financial needs. 1 must also add, that the existence of FUT A Ventures has enabled many academic staff to put their expertise into practice in a manner consistent with our objectives. The Graduating Students: 1 should, at this juncture, pause to congratulate very heartily my dear students who are graduating today. You have all worked hard these past five years or so to merit the degrees being conferred on you, being worthy in character and in learning. Your predecessors have not disappointed our hopes that they will serve as good ambassadors of FUTA to the nooks and crannies of this great country: industries have shown preference for them in their needs of manpower, and those on their own are doing well and prosper- ing. Many of them who went in for postgraduate studies both in Nigeria and abroad were admitted without any difficulty. Among the eight postgraduate students to be coaferred with Masters degree tomorrow, seven obtained their first degrees from FUT A. The difference between you and those from conventional Universities must necessarily be clear, otherwise our mission will stand to be questioned. 1 said some years ago that you have always referred to those of your teachers affectionately as the "oppressors" and you the "oppressed". 1 am happy, you have now joined the group of oppressors. As you go into the world of work, 1 want to wish you God's mercies and abundant blessings. Please always remember that whatever you say or do will reflect either favourably or un- favourably on your alma mater, FUT A. 1 trust you will keep our flag flying high as always. Acknowledgement: It is now left for me to acknowledge publicly that whatever we may have achieved in FUTA is due mainly to the fact that we regard ourselves as one family. 1 am thankful to the Principal Officers, Deans Heads of Departments and Units, all Staff and Students who have made it possible for the success we are celebrating today. It has been my fortune 31 to work with an excellent Council whose Chairman, Chief Gray Longe,cFR is a source of consistently wise counsel, mature judgement and inspiration. The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Visitor to our University, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.crn, fss, mni, graciously and speedily approved the recommendation of Senate and Council for my re-appointment for a second term of four years from November 14, 1992. I am grateful to President Babangida for the confidence he has shown in my leadership and would want to use this opportunity to assure him of my unalloyed service to the cause for which he has re-appointed me. The Union Bank of Nigeria continues to support the Chair of Agricultural Technology in the School of Agriculture-and Agricultural Technology. We are grateful to the Bank, as we are to individuals who have endowed prizes in different disciplines of learning in the University, the latest being Mr. Joseph Sanusi, the Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria Pic who endowed a prize in Physics in perpetuity; and the family of the late Pa Adamolekun of blessed memory who endowed a prize in Crop Production, also in perpetuity. We thank them all. We thank the British Government thtough the British Council for continued support of the linkage programme between the University and Camborne School of Mines in the area of Mining Engineering and the donation of academic books to our Library. The International Foundation for Science continues to support research projects in this University and the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy has continued to support our staff development efforts. Finally, Representatives of the Visitor, the Executive Governor of Ondo State, Your Excellencies, Your Highnesses, My Lords, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to thank all of you who have come from far a.nd near to join us in this celebration. I wish you all God's travelling mercies as you return to your different destinations and His abundant blessings at this Christmas season and throughout the coming year. God bless FUTA, God bless Nigeria.

.. 32 MR B. A. ADEBAYO B.A. (Lagos) MPA (ICe). Registrar, The Federal University of Technology, Akure. ADDRESS BY THE PRO-CHANCELLOR AND CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE, CHIEF G. A. E. LONGEcFR. ON THE OCCASION OF THE 6TH CONVOCATION CEREMONY OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE,HELD ON 19TH DECEMBER, 1992. The Visitor, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Members of the Armed Forces Ruling; CoWlCU; The Executive Governor of Ondo State; Your Excellencies; Honourable Minister of Education; Honourable Ministers and Commissioners; Honourable Visiting Chancellors and Pro-Chancellors; . The Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure; The Visiting Vice-Chancellors; Your Royal Highnesses; My Lords, Spiritual and Temporal; Members of Council and Senate; Graduands; Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen. Today marks the 6th Convocation Ceremony of the Federal University of Technology, Akure. It also marks the peak of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the University. It is therefore with great pleasure that I welcome you to the occasion, and thank you all on behalf of the Council, Senate, the entire staff and students of the Univer- sity for your presence. At the time of our Sth Convocation last year, the Visitor was ably represented by the then Military Governor of Ondo State, Navy Captain Abiodun Olukoya. Today, we are privileged to have Ambassador Bamidele Isola Olumilua, the Executive Governor of On- do State with us. This is the first time that he will be visiting us in his capacity as the Ex- ecutive Governor of Ondo State. We believe that before long he would pay us a formal visit. On behalf of Council, staff and students of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, I wish to congratulate your Excellency on your election as the civillian governor of Ondo State. We wish you a successful tenure of office. We have had very cordial relationship with your Excellency's predecessors in office and we have reason to believe that we will receive even greater support and encouragement from your administration, An

35 evidence of this is your prompt action, on assuming office, in addressing the issues of our Certificate of Occupancy both on this campus and the larger one. I acknowledge with gratitude the presence ofall Federal and State functionaries, our reverred traditional rulers, my lords spiritual and temporal and other distinguished guests. Please accept our hearty welcome to the 6th Convocation ceremony of the Federal Univer- sity of Technology, Akure. At our 4th convocation in 1990, I publicly acknowledged the presence of our Chancellor, Alhaji (Dr.) Zulkarnaini Gambari Mohammed,Aiyelabowo II, CFR, Emir of Ilorin. I did not then know that he was doing so for the last time. Our reverred and sagely Chancellor passed away to the great beyond on 23rd February, J 992. We mourn his death and pray that God will grant his relations the fortitude to bear the Ioss, As a way of'im- mortalising his name, the University decided to name the University Community Centre after him as Zulkarnaini Centre. At its commissioning by the Honourable Minister of Education, Professor Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa, in April 1992, the Chancellor's relations were formally represented. I now wish to request that this august assembly rise for a minute silence in honour of this illustrious son of Nigeria May his gentle soul rest in peace. The first half of the year 1992 was not a very happy one for us in the University. On the 16th of March, 1992, death came knocking again. This time, the first Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor T. I. Francis died in far away London, after a brief illness. Once more, I crave your indulgence to request that we all rise in silence for a minute in honour of the departed soul...... May his gentle soul rest in peace. State of The University: By November, 1992, Professor A. A. Ilemobade completed his first term as Vice- Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure. I am happy to announce that Mr. President has promptly approved the recommendation of the Council to renew his appointment as Vice-Chancellor for a second term of four years with effect from November 1992. The speed with which the Visitor responded to Our recommendation is a measure of his confidence in our Council and in the person of Professor Ilemobade. I wish therefore to congratulate Professor Ilemobade very heartily for an appointment so well deserved and wish him a successful second tenure. A special feature of this year's convocation ceremony is the marking of the tenth anniversary of the University. There will also be the conferment of Honorary Degrees on five eminent and distinguished personalities in Nigeria. They are: General Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin Professor Oladipo O. Akinkugbe Professor Godwin O. P. Obasi Professor Samuel A. Aluko. I congratulate them very heartily for deserving an accolade from this University which has achieved the distinction of a most careful choice of persons to be awarded honorary degrees. The 1991/92 Session was a most difficult time both for students and staff of Nigerian universities. The hardship caused by the economic situation in the Country was worsened by the effects of violent demonstrations by students r~ulting in the destruction of property and a prolonged industrial action by academic and non-academic staff. Some of the ·36 student demonstrations could have been avoided if there had been a greater degree of har- mony between the student body and management. For instance, an interruption in electricity or water supply should not necessarily result in such anger as to justify vandalization of property. The ideal is, of course, that there should be twenty-four hour supply of electricity and water. But this ideal is difficult to achieve. Our University will continue to do its"_best to cater for the welfare and academic needs of the students. Where students are dissatisfied with what the University has been able to do, they should bring the reason for their dissatisfaction to the notice of 'management. I assure you that every effort will be made to rectify the situation promptly. Where perceived lapses continue, be patient. Bear with us. At the time of our last convocation, the Commission on the Review of Higher Educa- tion in Nigeria, of which I had the privilege to be the Chairman, had just presented its report to Government. A White Paper has since been issued and a Committee has been set lIP to implement the White Paper. Its Chairman is my distinguished colleague on the Commission and one of the honorary graduands of today, Professor O. O. Akinkugbe. The recommendations of the report as approved in the white Paper and the subsequent agreement painfully negotiated inch by inch between the Federal Government and ASUU have effected considerable improvements in the salaries and fringe benefits, autonomy and academic freedom of the universities. A bold attempt has been made to highlight the role of the universities in national development. The developmental problems of our country are enormous and require the active contribution by all Nigerians to the search for viable solutions. Academics must endeavour to be in the forefront with constructive criticism and suggestions of policy op- tions derived from mature thinking. I have no doubt that Government will, on its part, continue to be receptive to good ideas. Your excellencies, distingushed ladies and gentlemen, one again, I welcome you all and wish you God's travelling mercies as you return to your various destinations.

37 AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE VICE-CHANCELLOR. FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE, PROFESSOR A. A. ILEMOBADE ON THE SECOND DAY OF THE UNIVERSltY~S SIXTH CONVOCATION HELD ON SATURDAY, 19TH DECEMBER, 1992. Representative of our President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and Visitor to the University, General Ibrahim B. Babangida. His Excellency ,the Governor of Ondo State, Mr Bamidele Isola Olumilua, Hon. Federal Minister of Education and Youth Development, Hon. Commissioner of Education, Ondo State, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the Federal University of Technology, Akure Your Excellencies, Your.Lordships, Hon. Visiting Chancellors and Pro-Chancellors, Visiting Vice-Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts, Our Reverred Traditional Rulers, Members of Council and Senate, Staff and Students, Friends of the University, Parents and Guardians, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am privileged once again to join my Pro-Chancellor in extending our traditional warm welcome to our distinguished guests to the second day of our 6th Convocation. Yesterday, the first degrees and prizes were awarded and today we should be conferring the postgraduate and honorary degrees. I wish to recognise the presence of the representative of our Visitor, President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. of Nigeria, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, CFR, fss, mni. We appreciate his special interest in this Vniversity and his commendation of-our humble efforts. I wish to publicly express my deep gratitude to the President for giving me the opportunity of a second term of office as the Vice-Chancellor of this great University. It is a measure of the confidence he has in my ability to perform and I promise not to disappoint his hopes. We request that you convey our best wishes and the assurance of our support and highest regards to Mr President. Next, I wish to pay homage to His Excellency, the Governor of Ondo State, Mr Bamidele Isola Olumilua. He, Immediately after he was sworn in as Governor, took a deep interest in the development of this University and one of the rust issues we took up with him was that of the Certificates of Occupancy on the mini-campus 8Ild..tb~larger site

38 on the Akure-Owo road which have been hanging.for the past five years. He promptly took this up and has now approved the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy for the mini- campus. We are pursuing very vigorously.the issue of compensation to the owners of the land on the Akure-Owo road and we hope the Certificate of Occupancy on this land too will soon be approved so as to assist our efforts in getting the Federal Government to settle the compensation. 'We"thank your excellency for your abiding interest in FUT A I recognise the presence of Representative of the Governor of Oyo State, His Excellency Chief Kolapo. Ishola, representatives of their Excellencies in other States and . thank them. I recognise the presence of the Honourable Minister of Education and Youth Development, Professor Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa. Only in April, the Honourable Minister was with us to formally commission the Zulkarnaini Centre. We deeply appreciate his support and that of his officials. I also recognise the presence of the Honourable Commissioner of Education, Dr Israel Adelola who is a friend of the Univer- sity and other Commissioners here present. I pay homage to our traditional rulers, and in particular, I wish to extend' a special welcome to Kabiyesi, Oba Atayese Adebobajo Adesida IV, the Deji of Akureland who is attending this convocation for the first time in his new capacity as the Deji. Only last week, Kabiyesi paid us a special visit as one of the activities marking his first year on the throne and endowed a prize in perpetuity in the Department of Mechanical Engineering - his area of special interest .. We congratulate Kabiyesi for his first anniversary on the throne. Ki ade ko pe lori, ki bata pe lese; igba yin a sanwa 0 (Amin). Our honorary graduands of today deserve special mention. It is not my intention to pre-empt the University orator, but it is probably pertinent to state that General Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Professor Oladipo Akinkugbe, Professor Samuel Aluko and Professor Godwin Obasi, through their distinguished public life and scholarship have demonstrated the virtues we would like our students to emulate. They have done this country proud and we are glad they agreed to identify with us as honorary alumni. We can say, without any risk of contradiction, that blessed are the ears which hear them and blessed are the eyes which see them. The University salutes them. Last but by no' means the least, I' recognise and welcome all Chancellors, Pro- Chancellors and our brother Vice-Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts whose presence here is a source of support and encouragement to us. Representative of the Visitor, this Convocation is very special to us in at least two respects. First, it is the climax of the 10th anniversary celebrations of our founding. When on November 22, 1982, the University opened its gates to receive the first batch of 147 students, it was doing so with a lot of courage and faith, the indication for survival were not particularly good because the economy had started showing distress signs and the funds promised were not forthcoming; the University was to take over the campus of the Federal Polytechnic, then in Akure, as emergency campus, but the Federal Polytechnic could not move because it had no campus in its new site at Ado-Ekiti to move into, and so the University became, so to speak, a "squater" on its own land with few buildings initial- ly released to it by the Federal Polytechnic to serve as laboratories, classrooms, office, library and drawing rooms. This co-habitation of the Polytechnic and the University was' a source of great concern in view of the likelihood of confrontation between students of the Polytechnic and those of the University in the sharing of facilities, which mercifully, did not take place. The raging debate on whether Universities of Technology CFUTs) 39 should remain or not was being fuelled with gusto by intellectuals, most of whom were from the existing conventional Universites. Most argued that the Universities of Technology were, at best a duplication of faculties of Engineering and Technology in conventional Universities and should not have been established to compete for scarce resources which would have been used to revamp and expand existing facilities, of engineering and technology in the conventional Universities. With the benefit of hindsight, it is doubtful if the then existing Universities would have been given the funds that went into building the PUTs. Some, like ourselves, hold the view that investment in technology which is probably the most productive investment, is best achieved, in the area of manpower production, in the establishment of Universities of Technology. The spate of negative views on the establishment of Universities of Technology and the fear that such Universities might not last did not help in the recruitment of academic staff for the Universities, a situation which led to people who have accepted academic appointments to later turn them down because of perceived uncertainty of the continuing existence of our University. As if to confirm the fears of the opponents of the establishment of Federal Universities of Technology, the Buhari Government, in 1984, in a night of long knives merged four of the PUTs with existing conventional Universities,a decision which was later reversed by the present administration. PUT Akure, was spared the merger, which one of our admirers described as being akin to escaping' "assassination". The Federal Polytechnic finally moved out of this campus in January 1986 to' Ado- Ekiti, its permanent campus after which the University technologically transformed the site! We are now fully established on this campus. Second, we are graduating today 10postgraduate students, 8 with Masters and 2 with Ph.D. Before now we have only graduated one Mechanical Technical degree student. Seven out of the 8 Masters students who are graduating today are our own students, and the two doctoral candidates are our own staff who have benefitted from our local staff development programme. One of the doctoral candidates was supported financially by the Rockefeller Foundation grant through the agency of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (lIT A) in Ibadan. This is a landmark development and an indication that we are maturing fast. As a. mark of our progress on successfully running postgraduate courses, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has given us permission to establish a full-fledged School of Postgraduate Studies effectivefrom this session. As we look back over this past decade of the existence of the University, therefore, we have great cause to thank and praise God for.His goodness and loving kindness to us. Indeed we areesurer of reaching the promised land now than we were when we started in 1982. Our journey thus far would not have been possible without the support and sacrifices of many people, all of whom I would have loved to mention by name but cannot because of time constraint. I can assure them, however, that their names would appear in the book on the ten years of the University which we plan to launch at our convocation next year. One must praise the courage of the Shagari Government for bringing about the establishment of the Universities of Technology, and especially our own in spite of the raging criticisms alluded to earlier. Our pioneer Chancellor, the late Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Zulkarnairii Gambari Mohammed, our pioneer Pro-Chancellor; the late High Chief Akin Deko and his successors, our first Vice-Chancellor, late Professor Theodore Idibiye Fran- 40 cis, FAS and the pioneer Council, Senate and Staff of the University deserve our praise and gratitude. I have, in my convocation address yesterday, paid tribute to our late Chancellor and late Vice-Chancellor. It only remains for me to join my Pro-Chancellor in praying for their peaceful repose in the bosom of God Almighty. Academic Development: Students enrolment last session was 2,089 out of whom 248 graduated yesterday, with 3 in first class, 22 in the second class upper division while 171 passed in the second class lower division, 93 in third class and 9 obtained the pass degree. We expect that at the end of this year's admission exercise, we would have a total enrollment of 3,000 students. In- creasing number of students have continued to show preference for this University in their application through JAMB. As I have had cause to report in the past, the University has always striven to attract students from allover the Federation in our admission drive. Last session, we enrolled students from 22 out of the 30 states of the Federation. As noted earlier, we are conferring higher degrees on 10 postgraduate students at today's convocation, 8 Masters and 2 Ph.D. Our academic staff strength has improved tremendously both in number and stature. Although appointment of Professors is not nowadays great news, yet when this concerns the first set of home-grown staff, it ought to be broadcast. Two of our pioneer staff, Pro- fessors Gerrard Iremiren and S. A. Fashuyi were promoted to the Chair of Crop Produc- tion and Biology respectively. Professor Fashuyi was on time to take over from Professor Kolawole who was just completing his two terms as the Dean of the School of Sciences. We congratulate them. Because of the increasing strength of our staff, it has been possible for us to release, without much hesitation, some of our 'academic staff for national assignments. Professor E. A. Adeyemi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, is on leave of absence, to serve as the Chairman of the National Monitoring Committee on the N25 million special grant generously provided to each Federal University by the President, General Ibrahim Babangida. Mrs G. T. Fatunla, a reader in the Department of General Studies was appointed by His Excellency, the Governor of Ondo State as Director-General to head the newly created Economics Department in the Governor's Office. Our linkages with Camborne School of Mines in the United Kingdom and with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. continue to wax stronger. While our research activities have been limited by the low level of research funding and lack of equipment and other facilities, yet some progress is being made in the design and fabrica- tion of agricultural implements, providing solution to some post-harvest losses, in- vestigating mineral resources in Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Kogi and Kwara States, in the production of low-cost laboratory and teaching equipment for secondary schools and breeding of wildlife in captivity. The International Foundation of Science (lFS) is presently supporting three projects in Farm Management, Snail Management and Fish Nutrition in the School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology. The Department of Mechanical .Engineering in collaboration with the Department of Meteorology designed and fabricated solar cookers which could serve as an alternative to other cooking methods and ease the problem of rural dwellers in cooking, thus facilitating the preservation of the forest resources which are currently being depleted as energy sources for cooking in the rural areas. The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has chosen the University as the Headquarters of its Man and Biosphere (MAB) Project in Nigeria and the Centre for ecological monitoring in Nigeria.

41 Plans have reached an advanced stage to make the Department of Meteorology a Regional Meteorological Training Centre for Class One Meteorologists in Africa. Towards this end, the World Meteorological Organisation has already sent a team of experts to assess training facilities available for the training of Meteorologists in the Univer- sity. The Department has also been nominated as the Zonal Co-ordinator for the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) assisted Agro-Climatological and Ecology Zone Study of Ondo State. The experience we have gained and the achievements we have had with our post-harvest technology programme have enabled us to request and be granted permission by the NUC to run a degree programme in Food Sciences and Technologr in the School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology effective this 1992/93 session. As I mentioned yesterday, Nigerian Universities experienced a lot of disruptions in academic activities last session due to the parlous state of our economy, deterioration in the value of the earnings of University staff brought about by the declining value of the Naira, and the decay of the physical infrastructures in Universities. FUT A of course, was not spared this unhappy development which led to the extension of the second semester and the shifting of our traditional convocation dates to now. We should thank the Presi- dent and the Federal Government for agreeing to negotiate with the striking workers of Universities, for the concessions granted and for agreeing to implement the package of salary and allowances proposed by the negotiating team of which I had the privilege of serving as a member, and indeed for having begun to implement the agreement. For peace to reign on University campus and for Universities to achieve the objectives for which they were set up, however, it is important that funds. to fully implement the agreement, be provided. Capital Development: I am happy to report that some of the projects for which we sought financial support through our endowment fund launched in 1990, have now been completed. Among these are: 1. The University Community Centre built at·a cost.of N3.8 million which was commissioned on April 22, 1992 by the Honourable Minister of Education and Youth Development, Professor Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa. The Centre has been named after our pioneer Chancellor, Alhaji (Dr.) Zulkarnaini Gambari Mohammed, as Zulkarnaini Centre, in recognition of his contribution to the growth and development of the University; 2. The university Power Station completed ata cost of about N7 million; and 3. The road network completed at a cost of approximately N2.8 million. We are grateful to those who contributed to our endowment fund and in particular the Federal Government, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, former Bendel now Edo and Delta' and Plateau States, Bashorun Abiola, and staff of the Federal University of Technology, Akure. The President, General Ibrahim Babangida had, earlier this year, granted a sum of N2S million to each Federal University in the country to meet Capital and, to some degree, recurrent expenditures. We appreciate this kind gesture of Mr President. Part of the N2S million was allocated to the construction of l

42 the first phase of our Science laboratory blocks and the second phase of Zulkarnaini Cen- tre. The construction of the Administration building, which we started last year, thanks to the N25 million special grant, is progressing satisfactorily and, all being equal, should be completed within the next 6 months. I am also delighted to report that the University is one of the first set of Universites to qualify to draw from the World Bank University sector loan facility. Our equipment order has been completed and we should soon start to receive the items. The movement from the nursery part of this mini-campus to the centre core where this ceremony is taking place, started last year with the commissioning in November 1990 by Mr President, of the academic blocks housing the Schools. Because of lack of funds, the library, presently located in temporary accommodation, will have to remain on the nursery campus, an undersirable situation. We have made proposal for the building of a new library to the NUC and do hope that the Federal Government will be favourably disposed to our request. Staff and Students Welfare: Significant progress has been made in addressing staff welfare issues following the accord reached during the recent negotiation between the Federal Government and academic staff of Nigerian Universities on matters pertaining to conditions of service, University funding, autonomy and academic freedom. Loan to refurbish vehicles has been increased, for individual staff, from NIO,OOOto N20,000 and housing loan from N80,000 to N200,000. An initial sum of N2.75 million was recently released by the Federal Government to fund the University's housing loan scheme which we started on our own four years ago. As part of efforts to accentuate staff welfare, I am happy to announce that Council has approved the establishment of FUT A Secondary School and this approval has been implemented by the University with the admission of the first set of JSS I students who started Classes last November. It is hoped that this development will reduce the burden on members of staff who seek good secondary schools to train their children. We have continued to support the welfare programmes already in place for students in the University. Because of the increased enrolment, however, and the scarcity of good accommodation around the campus, the problem of students accomodation, is back with us. We appeal to the Akure Local Government to fulfill its promise of building hostel accommodation which our students can rent and appeal to other Local Governments in the State and private enterpreneurs to assist us in providing solutions on this problem. On our part we remain optimistic that the Federal Government will provide funds to embark on the second phase of our student accommodation project, the first phase having been commissioned in 1990 by Mr President. Technological Education and Manpower Supply and Demand: Representative of the Visitor, please permit me to dilate briefly on an issue that may have escaped attention in the Longe Report on Higher Education but which bears repeating. Our University has no problem with the 60:40 ratio in favour of Science/Technology in students enrollment in Universities since we are already 100 percent science and technology. But we are concerned with the use of technological manpower (including womanpower) skills of the graduates we produce after they leave us. The Longe Report referred to a study carried out which showed that in "the 1986/87 and 1987/88 sessions the proportion of science-based output (nationally) was 30 percent and.

43 28.2 percent of total output respectively while non-science based areas of study had 70 percent and 71.8 percent of the University output respectively". In other words, the ratio was more like 70:30 in favour of social science and humanities and is distant from Government expectation of 60:40 ratio in favour of science. The Polytechnics and Col- leges of Education Systems, though expected to turn out 70:30 in favour of science, were in actual performance, closer to 40:60 in favour of non-science. The report goes further to say, and I quote:

... A close look at supply and demand patterns has three basic points which require consideration. The first is that there is a seeming (underline mine) over- production of high level (senior level) manpower and the second is that the m~ddle level manpower is under-produced. The third point is the issue of sc~ence-based versus non-science based areas of study. The government policy stipulates a 60:40 ratio in favour of science-based areas but our finding as reported earlier was different. The Universities, producers of high-level manpower) .wereproducing at about 30:70, the Polytechnics 39:61 and Colleges of Education at about 43:57, all in favour of non-science areas of study by 1989/90 asfound in Yoloye's report. It was argued that the students were 'Only responsive to the structure of the economy ... " The Commission then tried to ascertain the reason why the structure of the economy led to non-achievement of Government policy, and found that because of the economic environment, the level of production in most industries had gone down leading to severe capacity under utilization and retrenchment. Whereas, the service sector which does not require science- or technology-based individuals has been growing by leaps and bounds leading to increased manpower demands. The consequence of this development is that science and technology-based graduates would rather seek employment in the service sector (Banks, Insurance and Finance Houses, Marketing companies, sales and distributive trade, etc) where there are vacancies and where the remuneration is higher than the productive sector where there are, at best, only few vacancies and where stability of employment is hardly assured. The 60:40 ratio of enrolment in favour of science/technology based area may, therefore, come to grief in the world of work unless significant and dramatic improvement occurs in our productive sector. If the situation has arrived when even the United States of America, one of the most developed countries of the world, and easily the most powerful country, came to the realization that they were moving away from production-oriented economy to consumer- oriented economy and that their strength lies in the productive sector rather than in the service sector, how much more our dear country Nigeria. which is struggling to lead Africa. No wonder, Bill Clinton got elected as the U.S. President on the promise of getting Americans back to work through massive support of the productive sector of the economy. The support for the productive sector in Nigeria will translate into support for our technological development and therefore the Universities of Technology. And we may come to the realisation of the truism of the observation which Professor Sam Aluko, an honorary graduand of today, made in his convocation address at this University in 1989 that "it is possible that, on examination, the shortage or misapplication of the existing labour manpower (including woman power) skills and leadership is a greater constraint to our technological.growth than the shortage of Capital". Our plea is that while we may not

44 be producing enough technological manpower, we should not allow, by acts of commission or omission, the skill of the few we produce to be misapplied. Tbe Graduating Students: I wish to congratulate our postgraduate students who are being conferred with their respective postgraduate degrees today. Their graduation today is a landmark in the history of the University which up till now has graduated only one postgraduate student, and that was in 1987. They are all our staff and we like to hope that they will remain in the academia to promote scholarship and excellence for which this University is dedicated. We congratulate our honorary graduands of today and welcome them to the fold of FUT A fellowship. Conclusion: In conclusion, Representative of our Visitor, Your Excellencies, Your Highnesses, My Lords, Honorary graduands, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you all for honouring our invitation to this convocation and for listening to me. I wish you God's travelling mercies as you return to your different destinations and His peace and joy during this festive season of Christmas and throughout the coming year. EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA: BY GENERAL OLUSEGUN OBASANJO AT THE CONVOCATION CEREMONY OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AKURE, 19TH DECEMBER, 1992

Introduction: Your Excellency, the Governor of Ondo State, Mr Bamidele Olumilua, The Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor, Co-Honoraries, and Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen. Let me on behalf of my co-awardees and myself express my sincere appreciation to the authorities of the Federal University of Technology, Akure for the kind honour done to us. As "a frustrated" chicken farmer whose professional forte and usual concern is with matters of the stomach one would naturally feel out of place in this gathering of egg mass and University dons. But then, realizing that stomach care is also contingent upon knowledge, one may with diminished trepidation be able to relax in company of men and women of letters and knowledge as are gathered here. Let me congratulate all the graduating students of this University for their success. But apart from an unsuccessful chicken farmer, here are four distinguished and eminent Nigerian of world standard who deserve recognition and who are being so recognised by your University. In the field of education, only few, if any can surpass the fine and distinguished record of Papa Ajasin. Professor Sam Aluko has combined distinguished academic career in economics with advice at micro and macro level. Thank goodness he is not a sapping economist. Professor Godwin Obasi has made his mark not only irl Nigeria but also on the International scene.as an accomplished meteorologist. Professor Oladapo Akinkugbe, a man of excellence, has achieved excellence in medicine and University administration. With men like these and there are women equivalent of them, why are we collectively under-performing as a nation? While you are chewing up the question and trying to provide answers to it in your mind let me seize this opportunity to comment on the current crisis in the African educational system in general and Nigeria in particular. The importance of quality education to global growth and development is no longer a matter of conjecture. Trained and skilled manpower is our most valued tool for development. Today, however, we face the danger that the younger generation is being educated inadequately for the tasks ahead. The generation that will be responsible for raising the level of development in the next millennium in our society may well fail. Crisis in African Education: Undeniably, the prevailing socio-political and economic climate presents us with a confusing and limiting state of affairs. Although, the current crisis in our educational system may have been seriously aggravated by the decline in our economic fortunes, the foundation for the crisis actually goes back further in time to the colonial era and our immediate post independence action.

46 Letme say here that in-spite of the current problems confronting our educational system, we are far away from our position at-independence at least in terms of growth. If we compare current statistics with the statistics at independence a lot of water has no doubt passed under the bridge. In quantitative terms, there has been a remarkable improvement in African educational system between the sixties and now. According to a 1988 World Bank Study on Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, between 1960 and 1983 the total number of students enrolled in African institutions at all levels increased five times to about 63 million students. The report also pointed out that the 9% per annum increase in the rate of enrolment between 1970 and 1980 is twice and thrice the rate in Asia and Latin America respectively. That report also confirmed that such a growth rate remains historically unparalleled in time and place. That in itself is no mean feat. Regrettably however, what we have witnessed has been growth without development. In consequence our educational system has been growing at variance withthe realities and demands of our development process. To fully understand the impact of our current dilemma, it is also necessary to ask what is the philosophy for our education. To put it dif- ferently, education. for what? From available observations one may conclude that the whole essence has been to produce a salary oriented education. Thus once you were certified as literate or at times numerate, it was deemed enough to earn you a regular meal. The ideals of productivity and enhancement of the quality of life in the country was'given a back seat. The Stamp of History: Yet in pre-colonial Africa, education was purposeful. It was not, so to speak, the transmission of knowledge for knowledge sake. Education was meant to prepare one for full productive adult 'live. Islam and Christianity emerged with potent effect on African education. The advent of colonialism with all its attendant paraphernalia literally cut short the focus. Other elements of social relations emerged. Western education took the front seat and depicted our pre-colonial structures and processes as primitive and retrogressive. We embraced it almost without reservation. Yet colonial form of education was meant to produce merely literate staff who could execute the orders and instructions of jhe colonial governors and his retinue of bureaucrats. There began the emphasis on literacy as against competence; certificates as against productivity; formal schooling as against experience, expertise and knowledge and with it was the foundation of our current structural dilemma. At independence, our political leaders were concerned with seeking the politcal kingdom and adding unto themselves the emphasis of their "bigmanism". They were in- terested in capturing the white man's seat replacing him and becoining the bigman. Not enough consideration was given to dismantling the appurtenances of colonial domination and subjugation. Either they knew no better or it simply coincided with the pursuance of their enlightened selfish-interest. In effect we embraced with vigour the production of more graduates adept, informed and certified in liberal arts, classics and Latin and less in - medicine, engineering, agriculture, pure sciences etc. We had apparently set the stage for the eventual and inescapable irrelevance of our educational system to deal with our present economic transformation.

47 THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION

Yet education is a major catalyst in the ability of the people LO manage and induce

necessary changes in their life and society. Such changes are expected to enamour the peo- I ple in confronting headlong the challenges of making choices and increasing the variety of the choice. In addition, education for us in Africa must seek to fulfil the following objectives: (0) It must train the individual for a better appreciation of his own cultural traditions whilst at the same time equipping him with the ability to absorb new ideas, new information and new data for resolving the constantly changing problems of his environment; (b) It-must train the individual to relate to and interact meaningfully with other individuals in the society and to appreciate the importance of effective organisation for human progress; (c) It must develop the creative ability of individuals especially in the cultural and technological realms; (d) It must foster in the individual those values which make for good citizenship, such as honesty, selflessness, tolerance, dedication, hard-work and personal integrity, all of which provide the rich soil from which good leadership is spawned; (e) It must promote the culture of productivity by enabling every individual to discover the creative genius in him and apply it to the improvement of the existing skill and technique of performing specific tasks thereby increasing the efficiency of his personal and societal efforts. Most important of all, political stability and economic prosperity in Africa and elsewhere cannot be sustained without a fun- damental revision in the way developing societies educate. What is Education? Having at least denoted the purpose of education, the important point for now therefore must be our conceptualization of education. What really is education, for us as communities, countries and as a continent? The Second Farm House Dialogue of the Africa Leadership Forum on "Education and Development" defined education "as en- tailing a life long formal and informal process of equipping an individual to be fully aware of his environment and to exploit and manage same for the benefit of himself and the society at large". The former President of the World Bank, Barber Connable aptly observ- ed that "without education, development will not occur. Only an educated people can command the skills necessary for sustainable economic growth and for a better quality of life". I will add that it is the proper, right and correct form of education that is necessary for development and transformation. To me so profound is the relevance of education to the life of everyone that as the advertisement for American Express card goes, the basic injunction must be "don't leave home without it." The Current Defects in our Education: Commenting on the observable defects of our educational system in Africa, the WorId Bank report referred to earlier argued that two major defects are the main afflic- tions of our educational system. These are: (i) Stagnation of enrolment (ii) Decline in standards and quality. 48 Our problems, I believe, are also compounded by internal and external inefficiency. The educational system is said to be externally efficient only if the schools, Universities, or training institutions provide the required and necessary skills for the smooth running of the economy and school leavers or graduates are easily absorbed.into the labour market and are able to find the jobs and the earnings they expect and are able to use their skills in productive employment. The external efficiency of education is also a function of the social rate of return, i.e the balance between the costs of investment in education and the economic benefit as measured by the higher productivity of educated workers. In 1988 we were advised to reduce the running cost of higher education in Nigeria, in 1992 we have created a situation wherein, for instance, each of our Colleges of Education requires annually about N3.5 million naira on staff emoluments alone. We have 31 polytechnics and 36 Universities. To these must be added technical and vocational schools. I wonder what the carrying capacity of the economy is. Interestingly enough, the total student population as at 1990 in our Universities stood at 180,871 students. For the polytechnics excluding Ikeja, Nasarawa and Kaura Namoda the population was put at 60,533 as at 1986/87. I doubt if we really need such a large number of Universities and Polytechnics for our current student Population. I say this because if you take a minimum size University like Corrlell University in the United States of America, it has a total student population of about 35,000 and Michigan University has a student population of about 40,000 between them holding just under 50% of the student population of the 36 Universities in Nigeria. Shouldn't We have increased the carrying capacity of universities and upgrade the facilities in them rather than multiply the number as we seemed to have being doing? It is really a matter of serious concern when one views the rate at which higher educational institutions are created. Let me illustrate my worry with the case of Oyo State. This is a State that at the moment, cannot conveniently pay teachers salaries as and when due, either because of the administrative complexities or simply because of a serious lack of the resource base to finance it. Yet this is a state when at a time it had two universities one polytechnic with about 4 satellite campuses, three colleges of education and in spite of the huge financial outlay requirement imposed by the burden of these institutions the state officials and indigenes still saw wisdom in establishing a state university. At times I wonder. I really wonder at the thinking behind the conceptualization. Mr. Vice-chancellor, your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, such is the pride and thrust of our policy makers. Let me add however that the case of Oyo State is neither peculiar nor an exception to the rule. In actual fact we have not too dissimilar situations dotting the country. Getting our Priorities Right: While a lot has been said about the current brain and brawn drain from Africa, let me comment briefly by illustrating with my experience of a friend of mine. He happens to be the first dermatologist in Nigeria and who normally is a patriotic citizen and has amply demonstrated his un-alloyed patriotism over the years. He was confronted with serious economic problems and professional frustration. He agonized for quite a while before joining the Saudi Arabia train. Feeling quite guilty at first he was amazed and relieved upon arrival in the emirate to discover that the second Nigerian dermatologist was already in the same country and the third was on his way coming.

49 Undoubtedly and regardless of the causes we may have adduced as being responsible, the emigration of such highly trained and skilled people from the African continent is doub~ debilitating. The issue for now must remain that of a modality for re-attracting them back to our continent. It is within such a context that we can properly pursue with vigour the acquisition of technology. We all know that technology is culture specific and value laden. Every technology has its product (s). Such products are a function of the subjective preference of the cultural social milieu of the techonology. Inability to effectively grasp this basic reality has been the main scourge of our frustrations on the whole issue of technology acquisition in Africa. In the 70' s we wrongly embraced the concept of technology transfer. I say wrongly because our emphasis was on the '!know how". We were hardly concerned with the "know why" We cannot hope to acquire any technology without understanding the know why. Yet at this age of technology and information we cannot afford to do less. Our acquisition of technology must-be informed by our seeking to unravel the basic knowledge and foundation of the technology, the reasoning behind the technology and the demand that informed the technology. It is only within this process that we can have a technology that is inter- nally induced, generated and adapted. In the interest of the future of Nigeria the universities have to be saved. They have to epitomize the best and the most ideal within the society. They have to be rationalized, made relevant and adequate.

Financing Education: Who Pays?: The issue of who. should bear the brunt of the cost of education has always been a tes- ty one. The prolonged Nigerian economic crisis has sharpened this dilemma of cost aad cost bearing. The result for Nigerian education has been disastrous.: Formal education is again becoming an expense beyond the means of the ordinary Nigerian. Equally damaging is the deterioration in the equality of education. The situation is stark. We now have school buildings without staff or equipment. Elsewhere. desks and blackboards are placed under the trees for lack of school buildings or other instructional aids. Secondary schools often lack science teachers, or may have a science teacher and no laboratory. Universities are seriously under-funded, research has- suffered, and medical schools have sometime resorted to simulations because teaching hospitals lack the means to provide facilities. Regardless of the sophistication of several arguments that have been advanced in the past, the current mode of financing of higher education in Nigeria like most of Africa is socially inequitable, unjust and economically in~fficient. .I am convinced that since the marginal social benefit of education is both public and private the cost of education should be borne by both the public and. private sectors of our national life. It should not be lopsided on either side of the public private divide. We must as a matter of urgency get out of our usual thinking and belief in free education. As we all know nothing is free in nature except life which is always taken by the Giver. The concept of free education is therefore a misleading concept because somebody somewhere must pay and this inust be emphasized; and what we must do is to democratize access to educational opportunities. In addition, it isnecessary that from the kindergarten to tertiary levels the cost of education must be proportionately shared among the federal, state and local governments the community, parents and the students. Everybody must bear his own part of the burden to fully realise the value and to prevent the current level of waste within the education sector. The private sector must as a matter of priority seek to influence positively the equality of the products from our tertiary institutions. I'believe that time has come for the corporate bodies and individuals to also sow where they will reap. The enormity of the costs should not be left to the government alone. Your excellencies, the Chancellor, the pro-Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen. Let me conclude my remarks here by saying that the future of Africa and its salvation lie in expanded popular education, with a built-in attention to quality relevance, excellence, and economic integration. Education is human resource development and deserves pride of place in assistance programmes. But whatever we do, education must go beyond the meal ticket and capacity - building must go hand-in- hand with capacity - retention. The answer to my first question of why we under-perform is leadership and critical mass in which education has a major role to play. On behalf of my fellow awardees and myself, we are happy to be the recipients of the honorary degrees of the Federal University of Technology at Akure and we are grateful to the authorities and to you all. Thank you all.

5J CITATION- ON CONFERMENT OF DOCTOR OF SCIENCE (HONORIS CAUSA) OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY,AKURE UPON GENERAL OLUSEGUN OBASANJO (Rtd) (GCFR; D.Se; o.uai

Mr Chancellor Sir, It is my considered honour, pleasure and rare privilege to present to you, for the conferment of Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa, of the Federal University of Technology Akure, General Olusegun Obasanjo (Rtd), Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chartered (Civil) Engineer, Fellow, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Distinguished Fellow, University of Ibadan, Honorary Doctor of Science, University of Ibadan, Honorary Doctor of Letters, Howard University, Washington D.C. Honorary Doctor of Law, Ahmadu Bello University, Chairman, Obasanjo Farms Nigeria Limited, Elder Statesman, National and International giant, distinguished soldier and successful farmer, an accomplished author, a rare and unusual African leader whose name and fame trans- cend the sun - bathed coastlines of Africa, a man destined and dedicated to reshape the lives of his fellow men. General Olusegun Obasanjo was born in Ibogun Olaogun, Ogun State of Nigeria, on March 5, 1937. He entered an Anglican Missionary Primary School in January 1946 and was immediately made to skip two classes due to his exceptional brillance. In 1951, he transferred to Baptist Day Primary School at Abeokuta. General Obasanjo entered Baptist Boys' High School, Abeokuta In 1952 and four years later, he took the London' General Certificate examination as a private candidate. He passed, graduating one year earlier than his classmates in 1956. He worked as a clerk and as a High School teacher before stumbling on an advertisement for officer cadets in the Nigerian Army. He enlisted immediately in 1958. Without giving a thought to its implication or even knowing what the army was all about. He spent six months each at the Regular Officers' Special Training School, in Teshie, Ghana and Britain's Mons Officers Cadet School, Aldershot. On his return to Nigeria in 1959, he was commissioned a Lieutenant. A year letter, he was in the Congo as part of the Nigerian contingent to the United Nations Peace' - Keeping Force. There, his performance and that of his bosom friend, Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, won the admiration of his seniors. He joined the Army Engineering Corps upon his return from the Congo and in 1962, he left for the Royal College of Military Engineering, Chatham, England, for the young officers Military Engineering course. He won a citation as the best commonwealth student ever at his graduation. He registered privately for the society of Engineers' Professional examination, completing it within a record time of one year and he was chartered as a Civil Engineer. He was never to see his beloved mother again, for while he was in England, Madam Ashabi Obasanjo passed away. His father Pa Amos Adigun followed barely a year later. On June 22, 1963, while studying in England, he married 21 year - old Oluremi Okanlawon, a girl he had dated for seven years. She is today the mother of six successful children. The eldest, Iyabo, 25 holds a Doctorate in Veterinary medicine; her Sister, Busola, 24 holds an M.B.A degree, their brother Olusegun jnr 23 is a graduate student of Architecture in Chicago, the second son, Gbenga 21 is a medical student, his Sister, Bola 16 is in high school and her nine year old Sister, Damilola is an elementary school pupil. In 1980, General Obasanjo married former Miss Stella Abebe with whom he has a son . .When General Obasanjo returned from England in 1964, he worked briefly in Kaduna before being sent again for another course at the India Defence College, India in 1965 where, on graduation in January 1966, he was voted the best officer ever sent from Nigeria. Two days after his return home, the first military coup in Nigeria, led by his in- timate friend, Chukuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, terminated the civilian rule at the time. It was a coup which has for good or for bad, changed the course of Nigerian history. A series of devastating political crises followed this coup and culminated in a three -year secessionist war waged by the Igbos for a Biafran Republic. General Obasanjo, already a Brigadier then, led a Federal offensive that finally ended the civil war in January 1970. His handling of the final phase of the war was described even by the Biafran rebels as fair, just and humane. He became a national figure and was soon invited, in 1975, to the Federal Cabinet as Federal Commissioner (Minister) for Works and Housing. General Obasanjo spent only six months as Commissioner in Gowon's cabinet before another coup disbanded the visionless and prevacating government and handed over power to a triumvirate of Obasanjo, Murtala Muhammed and T. Y. Danjuma. General Murtala Muhammed lasted only 200 days as Head of State before he was assassinated in a failed coup on Friday 13th February 1976. His death so shattered General Obasanjo that he decided to quit the army and the government. He was persuad- ed back into the army and to accept the position of Head of State on February 14, 1976. He came face - to - face with his destiny. His reformist administration initiated several visionary programmes such as· land reforms, Universal Free Primary Education; iron/and steel industry, massive road con- struc~ion, particularly expressways, public housing projects and petrol ,. chemical industries. For the first time in our nation's history, Nigeria began to assert herself in the in- te~~ational ar~na. ~fric~ became the centre - piece of the nation's foreign policy. Massive military and financial aids were given to African Freedom Fighters and this ensured the independence of Zimbabwe, Angola and Mozambique. 53 General Obasanjo is a man of his words. They may be bitter, they may be blunt, they may be long or they may be short: but he will stand by them. Not for him the unenviable game of prevarication. Promises, afterall, he felt; are not like eggs. They should not be broken with impunity, they consistute a measure of integrity, a veritable yardstick by which sincerity can be measured. Thus, on assumption of office in 1976, he reaffirmed his predecessor's promise to organise elections and end the Military's thirteen year hold on power. He kept that promise in 1979 despite the advice of some fellow African leaders and even his millitary colleagues to renege on his promise. On October 1, 1979, history was made in Nigeria. On.October 1, 1979 history was . made in Africa. General Olusegun Obasanjo, honest and true - to - type, voluntarily handed over power to democratically elected civilian government, becoming the first ever (and so far the only) African Mili~ ruler to have done so. Mr Chancellor, Sir, this is no mean achievement. On an African landscape, littered with red - eyed, blood-thirsty dictators, sit - tight monsters and transmogrifying anarchists and pseudo-visionaries, General ObasaIijo's example has remained, for the thirteenth year running, the lone bright star in the African horizon. always reminding Africans that there is nothing inherently bad in being black, that Africans exist still, who can keep their promise and that the changing of political batons is not afterall an alien, UnAfrican phenomenon. This unparalleled example has even assumed a form of its own, armed as it were with a gong conscience, sermonising over the socially, economically and politically wasted landscape of Africa, with just one message to all; "you are what you think you are". A true man of his words, General Obasanjo brought integrity, straight-forwardness and predictability into governance. He understood properly the meaning and essence of power that although the attain- ment and acquisition of power are a daily preoccupation of man, all power in the long run, belongs to Olodumare. He gives. He takes. General Obasanjo understood properly that power was useless if in the end, it left the lives of men in tatters or if it did not seek to elevate man's inner virtues. He, successfully, blended all the attributes of power (credibili- ty, predictability, fairness, firmness and justice) to give Nigeria, the blackman's largest nation on earth, a rare era of political direction now affectionately referred to as the Mur- tala/Obasanjo era. It is an era from which all subsequent military regimes have sought to draw inspiration and acceptability upon coming to power. It is an era which Nigerians will not forget in a hurry. Sensing that a hungry nation was an angry nation, General Obasan- [o put food where it was needed most; not in the imaginations of children, not on the pages of newpapers, not in well-bound agricultural conference proceedings, but right there in the stomach of Nigerians. A leader with tremendous fiscal acumen, he brought in- to government, responsible financial management and a frugality never before known in the history of this nation. A frugality which contrasted sharply with the prodigal venality of both the previous and subsequent administrations. On handing over power, he also left behind billions of dollars for the in - coming administration. Since leaving office in 1979, General Obasanjo has devoted his life to promoting world peace, security and development. He has projected himself as an international stateman whose agenda are not constrained by micro-ethnic, tribal, national or even con- tinental boundaries. He has a globalistic view of the problems of man and views hunger, disease, thirst and famine as the borderless monsters of out time. In our world today, very few men can be credited with global vision and fewer still have selflessly put themselves in 54 the service of mankind, with the kind of energy, commitment and enthusiasm of General Obasanjo. His global vision is that of a strong, peaceful, safe, healthy, secure and pro- sperous, democratic family where no man woulo be discriminated against because of his colour or creed and where the intrinsic worth of every human being is recognised, utilized and respected. General Obasanjo's best known international assignment so far is his co- chairmanship (with former Australian Prime Minister Malcom Fraser) of the Com- monwealth Eminent Persons Group on South Africa in 1985. The group was mandated to seek a peaceful solution to the racial problem of South Africa as well as to quicken the demise of apartheid. General Obasanjo's contribution won the commendations of a large number of people, including President F. W. de Klerk. Diplomats allover the world have variously described him as a pragmatist. a man with tremendous ability to build international bridges, a man who is always ready to put his past experience in the service of humanity, the personification of the concept of leadership beyond power, a man willing to render service to humanity without the vested interest of acquiring power, either in Nigeria, Africa or the world; a man wanting to help people without wanting the status of power; besides, a credible man. General T. Y. Danjuma in 1986 described him as easily the best Head of State Nigeria has had since independence. Mr Chancellor Sir, it is this .great man; this humble man of intellects, this, man of integrity, this man of his words, this witty and amiable blunt and fearless, kind and humarie, firm and resolute soldier and stateman par-excellence, this proud son of Nigeria and Africa, this international messenger of peace, security and development, this defender of suffering fellowmen. this courageous farmer who pleaded that a human face be moulded on SAP, this exemplary advocate of self-reliance and hardwork that I present to you and request you, in the name of the Governing Council and Senate, to give the a~ard of Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, and to receive him as a member of this great technological Uhiversity with all its rights and privileges. .

Saturday December 19, 1992.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY ORATOR Dr. Idowu B. Odeyemi, Bsc. Ph.D. D.G.S. MNMGS, MGSA, is currently Acting Head of Department of Applied Geology, Federal University of Technology, Akure. He teaches Structural Geology, Gemstones Technology and Remote Sensing. He is currently Exesutive Secretary, Third World Association for Remote Sensing (T.W.A.R.S).

55 CITATION OF THE AWARD OF HONORARY DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF SCIENCE (HONORIS CAUSA) TO

PROFESSOR OLADIPO OLUJIMI AKINKUGBE, cON.

Honourable Vice-Chancellor, I present to you for the conferment of the Degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa of the Federal University of Technology Akure, an eminent Nigerian in the person of Pro- fessor Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe, Professor of Medicine, Commander of the Order of the Niger, Federal Republic, of Nigeria, Officer de L'order National. de la Republique de Cote d'Ivoire, the Atobase of. Ile-Ife, cradle of the Yoruba race and the Babalofin of \ Ijebu-Igbo. Professor Akinkugbe was born on 17th July 1933 in Ondo Town. This collosus, this giant of a being, this natural leader of men, was the third of the six children born to the late Chief David Akinkugbe, the Odofin of Ondo and Chief (Mrs) Grace Akinkugbe, the Iya Ijo of St Stephen's Cathedral Church Ondo. No doubt, his parents were eminent leaders in Ondo Town. It is therefore' not surprising that Professor Akinkugbe's life has been characterised by commendable service in various leadership positions. From early life, he chose the path of Education, partly as a result of the inspiration he received from his primary school Headmaster in the person of D. A. Odukunle, now His Royal .Highness, the Oluoke of Okeigbo. Having decided on a career in Education, he was deter- mined that only the best was good enough, both in terms of the institutions attended and the discipline, Medicine, which he finally chose to study. He entered the Government College Ibadan in 1946 with a Class of some other 23 boys that included Professor Wole Soyinka, Professor Muyiwa Awe, Dr Christopher Kolade and Ambassador Abel Guobadia. He ended up being a House' Prefect in his final year. At the University Level, he studied in top class institutions which include the Univer- sity College, Ibadan in Nigeria, the London University, Liverpool University and the Balliol College of Oxford University; all in the United Kingdom. Professor Akinkugbe is a distinguished Physician, an outstanding Medical Scientist and Educationist and a renowned National and International Public Servant. Having qualified.as a Medical Doctor from the University of London in 1958, before the British Colonialists left the shores of Nigeria, he has vigorously continued to remain in the forefront.of the pursuit of academic excellence. In this regard, he attended many. more leading S6 Medical Schools and acquired various degrees, certificates, distinctions, and honours including the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, DTM & H (1960), Doctor of , Philosophy (1964), Fellow of the Royal.College of Physicians, FRCP (1968), Fellow of the West African College of Physicians, FWACP (1975), Fellow of the Nigerian academy of Science, FA9 (1980). In 1982, he was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of Ilorin partly in appreciation of his impressive performance as the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of the institution. He has had very wide and extensive professional experience both as a Medical Practi- tioner and Medical Educator. From the relatively modest beginning of a House Surgeon in the London Hospital in 1958, he rose to become a Professor of Medicine and Head of the Department of Medicine at the University College, Ibadan in 1968, barely four years after joining the department as a Lecturer in Medicine and Consultant Physician. A tall man by nature's endowment, Professor Akinkugbe's achievements have been even taller. The Professorship, though a notable landmark, only served as the spring-board towards other laudable achievments and a lot more service to humanity. He was a: visiting Fellow of the University of Cambridge, the University of London and the University of Man- chester in 1969; a Visiting Professor of Medicine at Harvard University between 1974 and 1975 and also a Visiting Fellow of Balliol College his alma mater, between 1981 and 1982. Since 1972, Prof. Akinkugbe has served on the World Health Organisation Expert Ad- visory Panels on Cadio-Vasscular diseases and on Health Manpower Development. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel, CIBA Foundation, London. He served as Secretary to the World Health Organisation Technical discussions in 1984 and since 1990, he has been serving as a member of the World Health Organisation Advisory Council. on Health Research. On the home front, Prof. Akinkugbe's impact has been no less striking. Between 1987 and 1989, he was the President of Nigerian Society of Nephrology. He served as an Adviser to the Federal Government on Post-graduate Medical Education from 1972 to 1975. In 1978, he served the nation as Chairman, National Task Force on non- communicable diseases. In all these assignments, Prof. Akinkugbe recorded laudable achievements. Not only -has Professor. Akinkugbe been a distinguished Medical Scholar and Teacher, he has, in addition, proved to be one of the most outstanding University Ad- ministrators in this country. He was Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ibadan from 1970-1974. He was Principal, University College, Ilorin and-later the Foundation Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin from 1975-1978. He served as Vice-Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria between 1978 and 1979. When it was decided that admissions into the Universities should be centralised, the nation again called on Pro- fessor Akinkugbe to serve as the foundation Chairman of the newly created Joint Admis- sions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in 1977. This call placed a round peg in a round hole as it resulted in an organisation that was well set up. He served as fro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Port-Harcourt from 1986 to 1990. In deference to his sterling leadership qualities, his fellow Pro-Chancellors made him the Chairman of the committee of Pro-Chancellors during the period. In consideration of his. vast experience in University administration, it was only just fitting and proper that he be appointed Chirman of the Planning Committees of the Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti and the University of Abuja respectively in 1981 and 1983. That these two University exist today on very sound footing is an eloquent testimony to his knowledge, vision and hard-

57 work. In 1991, he was again called upon to serve on the Commission on the)~ev!ew of Higher Education. As it were, this Commission was cal~5!~upo.nto r~~Guethe, University System from imminent collapse. Currently, he is the Qh~rmim of,~he ~ation~l ~nml~!Den- tation Committee on the Review of Higher Education. That w~·. . " . Professor Akinkugbe is married toProfessorFolasade Modupeore and the marriage is blessed with two children, both males. A man of. regal bearing, his hobbies include Music, Gardening and Bird-watching. Vice-Chancellor, Sir, the catalogue of achievements of Professor Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe is as clear asIt is compeling. It 'is in recognition ..of -these outstanding achievements in theMedical field-iin Education and generally in Community, National and International service that I ask you, in the- name of the Senate and Council of this University to receive and honour Professor Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe as a Member of the University holding the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY ORATOR DR JOSEPH KAYODE OGUNMOYELA is currently Head of the Department of Industrial Mathematics and Computer Science. He is a member of the Governing Council of the University. '

S8 CITATION ON CONFERMENT OF DOCTOR OF LITERATURE (HONORIS CAUSA) OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY~AKURE UPON CHIEF MICHAEL; ADEKUNLE AJASIN) (B.A; PGDE,· C.F.R,· F. C.E.I,· D.Litt)

Mr Chancellor Sir, I am highly honoured, privileged and pleased today, to present to you, for the conferment of the Doctor of Literature, Honoris Causa, of the Federal University of Technology Akure. (D. Litt), Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Bachelor of Arts in English, Modern History and Economics, Post Graduate Diploma in Education, i Honorary Doctor of Letters, Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti, Fellowship of Ondo State College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti (FCEI), Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFR), First Civilian Governor of Ondo State, the first Scout Patrol leader for Ondo troupe, an indefatigable politician, a seasoned educator, a distinguished schoolmaster, a meticulous planner; a kind, gentle and honest man, a famous and legendary leader of men. Born in Owo on November 28, 1908 to late Mr Peter Ajasin and Mrs Deborah Adeesa Ajasin, Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin had his early education at the St Paul's C.M.S. Primary School, Owo between 1914 and·1921. Thereafter, he attended the renowned St. Andrew's College, Oyo where he passed out in 1927. In 1927, he obtained the Third Class Teachers' Certificate, in 1928 the Second Class Teachers' Certiijglte and in 1935, the Senior Teachers' Certificate. H~ later proceeded. to the Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone, University -of Durham (1943-1946) where in 1946, he obtained the Bachelor of Arts Degree in English, Modern History and Economic. He also attended the Institute of Education of the University of London in 1947, where he obtained his Post- Graduate Diploma in Education. Chief Ajasin formally entered the teaching profession in 1927 as.an assistant teacher shortly after graduating from the College at St. Ahdrew's. Within three years, he had risen to the post of Headmaster of St. Luke's C.M.S. School, Sapele, (1930) a post which he held for thirteen years until his sojourn to Fourah Bay Col- S9 lege in pursuit.of the golden fleece in 1943. On-his return from Sierra Leone in 1947, he was appointed the first substantive Principal of Imade College, Owo (September 1947 to December 1962). As a result of unsavoury political developments in Owo at the time, Chief Ajasin quited Imade College as Principal in 1962 and went ahead to establish his own school,' Owo High School in January 1963. He remained the proprietor and first principal of that famous school from 1963 to 1975. Being the first graduate of Owo origin and due to his deep concern for the progress of the community, it was difficult for him to confine himself exclusively to teaching. The period between 1948 and independence in 1960 posed a crucial challenge to every literate person in our small communities in the hinterland. The constitutional reviews in Nigeria after the Second World War demanded the best brains and the most enlightened minds to project the self-assertion of towns and villages previously regarded as inconsequential. It was Chief Ajasin who wrote the proposal in 1954 on which the free Education Programme of the Action Group Government of the defunct Western Nigeria was based. He also wrote the proposal for the 6-3-3-4 system for Professor Onabamiro, then Minister for Education under the Action Group Government of Western Nigeria. A leader and a motivator of men, Chief Ajasin became the Chairman of Owo District Council in 1954, a pest he held for four solid years before he moved up the political ladder in 1959 to become a Member of the House of Representatives (1959-1966) When in 1977, the Nigeria Army, under the leadership of General Olusegun Obasanjo reorganised and reformed the Local Government Administration in preparation for a handover to civilian rule, Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin was again elected as Chairman of Owo Local Government, a.post he held until 1978, when he quited to contest the first Gubernatorial elections in Ondo State, an election which he won in 1979 with over 1.1 million votes. This massive electoral victory made him the most popular Governor in the entire Federation. Chief Ajasin's greatness lies in his personal qualities and character. Such was the confidence of the people in his integrity that those who knew him openly denied the charge of dishonesty for which he was unfortunately tried in 1984 by a junk military tribunal. Peo- ple were therefore not surprised at the verdict of acquittal returned by the Tribunal. In four years, he spent less than one percent of what other Governors spent in one year!. Chief Ajasin 'has an abundance of God's blessing in his age and health. Only a negligible few of his age group show as much agility to contribute to .socio-political in- teractions as he does. At 84, he still goes to Ibadan on a day return trip to attend ope ceremony or the other. His scholarly disposition and exemplary character, his robust sense of honesty and hatdwork, his high level of foresight and his WIdeconceptual horizon have always marked him out as a leader of men; a patrol leader of the first Ondo Troupe in Scouting in 1992; the House Captain of Philip's House at St Andrew's 1927, the President of Nigeria Union of Students of Great Britain and Ireland (1947); The first. Principal Imade College, Owo and the first Principal of Owo High School, Owo. As a result of Chief Ajasin's tremendous organisational and management abilities, he has been involved in the formulation and execution of government policy since the fifties. He served as member of the First Revenue Allocation. Committee in Nigeria, member, Provisional Council of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), , member, General Conference of the Review of Richard's Constitution which led to self-

60 government in Western, Eastern and Northern Regions of Nigeria, initiator and co- founder of the Nigeria Union of Students in Great Britain and Ireland, member, House of Representatives (1954-1966), member, Nigerian Union of Eminent citizens, co-founder and first Vice-President ofthedefunct Action Group (1951); Co-founder and President of Egbe Omo Oduduwa; Chairman, proscribed Unity Party of Nigeria and life member since 1953, of the Nigerian Red Cross Society. In the service of his nation and fellowmen, Chief Ajasin has been diligent, humble, honest and hate - free. He is a shining example to his generation and ours in selfless service to the fatherland. He felt that his education, knowledge and wisdom were useless and incomplete if they could not be used to elevate the lives of fellowmen and if in the end he could not leave planet Earth better than he met it. He shared his knowledge and experience at will, believing that in doing so, he was also multiplying them. As a politician, he never sought to impose his political views or preferences on anyone. He refused to mix politics with education. Once he publicly chided a teacher at Imade College who, believing this would please Chief Ajasin, pinned an Action Group emblem on his shirt to school. The teacher was publicly asked to remove the badge! Chief Ajasin, a democratic of the first order, believed that, In politics, people should be granted the freedom to hold on to their views without force -.He .was acutely aware of the potency of knowledge and power as indispensable tools in politics and national development. He sought both and got both, and, in blending them together in leadership, he projected himself as a man of deep wisdom, a perennial stream of experience from which all could drink to their fill. As the first civilian Governor of Ondo State between 1979 and 1983, Chief Adekunle Ajasin brought to bear on governance, the tremendous wealth of experience which he had accumulated over the years. He saw in the Governorship, a chance to fulfill his ordained mission to bring development to the neglected, side-tracked and down-trodden people of Ondo State for whom he had fought tirelessly at the House of Representatives. He immediately set about the rapid development of the State, educationally, socially, and economically. In this, he also scored a series of Firsts. Today, the establishment of Ondo State University, Ado-Bkiti, Ondo State.Polytecnnic, Owo, Oluwa Glass PIc, Igbokoda, Nigerian - Italian Ceramic Products Liniited (NICEPTS), Ifon, Owena Bank PIc, Cocoa Processing Factory, Ile-Oluji and the Confidence Insurance Company, bear undying testimony to his managerial competence and dexterity. After he left the scene for the cor- rective soldiers in December, 1983 hardly a pin lias been added to the fortunes of Ondo State. Ail accomplished' educator of men, among the long list of his very distinguished and successful students today are Professor Albert Adeoye Ilemobade, the Vice-chancellor of this young but great University, Justice Eliab Ekerushe (Former Chief Judge of Old Bendel State), Professor Agbede, Professor Ijalaiye, Late Senator Atake, Justice S. F. Aldeloye (the Chief Judge of Ondo State-whose father, late Chief Adeloye, the Aboluwodi of Owo, had graciously come to the assistance of Chief Ajasin when he lost his father in 1928). These are worthy and eminent Nigerians who have had the rare privilege of bathing in Chief Ajasin's pool of knowledge and wisdom. Never volcanic, exuberant or violent, Chief Ajasin exudes an unusual inner serenity and peace, a lofty infective mien that radiates far away from its source and positively af-

61 fects those along. its path. A teacher of teachers, a leader of men, Chief Ajasin has positively affected the lives of Ondo State citizens more than anybody else in its almost seventeen-year history. Married in 1939 to former Miss Babafunke Tenabe, Chief Aja!in is blessed with four successful children. His first child, a male; is a consultant medical doctor who is now so- journing in Saudi Arabia; the second, a female, is a civil servant; the third a male, is an Accountant and a successful Businessman while the last child a female is an accomplished lawyer. So humble and so meek, inspite of his gargantuan achievements in life, Chief Ajasin is a veritable lighthouse of truth, honesty and selfless service tohumanity. Mr Chancellor, Sir, It is this great man, this achiever, this humble man of intellect, ideas and great learning, this fountain of wisdom and experience, this great disciplinarian, this exemplary political leader, this pace-setter of our time, this unwavering democratic, this welfarist defender of the poor and dispossessed, this man of purpose and drive, this hardworking educator and man of peace, this assidous, thorough, meticulous and successful teacher, this pioneer among men, this quiet and soft-spoken man, this team player, , this embodiment of nationalism and selfless service, this man of integrity, this advocate of education for all, this motivator and innovator that I present to you and request you in the name of the Governing Council and Senate, to give the award of Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) of the Federal University of Technology, Akure to receive him as a member of this great technological University with all its rights and privileges.

Saturday December 19,1992.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY ORATOR

Dr Idowu B. Odeyemi, BSc., Ph. D., D. G. S. MNMGS, MGSA, is currently Acting Head of Department of Applied Geology, Federal University of Technology, Akure. He teaches Structural Geology, Gemstones Technology and Remote Sensing. He is currently Executive Secretary, Third World Association for Remote Sensing (T. W. A. R. S.).

62 CITATION

ON CONFERMENT OF

DOCTOR OF SCIENCE (HONORIS CAUSA)

OF THE ! FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE

UPON

PROFESSOR SAMUEL ADEPOJU ALUKO

Mr Chancellor, Sir, It is with great honour and pleasure that I present to your for the conferment of Doc- tor of Sci,ence, Honoris Causa of the Federal University of Technology Akure, Professor Samuel Adepoju Aluko, Professor (Emeritus) of Economics, Fellow of the Nigerian Economic Society; Member, Massachussets Insitute of Technology;Centre for Develop- ment Studies in Cambridge U.S.A, Member, Royal Economic Society of London, Con- sultant Member, United Nations Development Programme for Africa, foundation Presi- dent, Nigerian Economic Society, National and State Economic Adviser, Member, Chris- tian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Internationally Renowned economist, Member, Ad- visory Committee on Technical Services (ACTS) of the World Council of Churches, Member, International Association of Small Businesses, Member, International Institute of Public Finance, a seasoned educator, a devout and practising christian, a happy family man, a simple, honest and straightforward academic whose name and fame resonate loud- ly across the world.

63 Professor, Samuel Aluko was born on August 18, 1929 at Ode-Ekiti, Ondo State Nigeria, a poor peasant community in the bowel of the thick rain forest belt of pre- colocial Western Nigeria. He had his early primary School education at home and after his standard six, he took and passed the entrance examination to Christ's School, Ado- Ekiti. On account of his outstanding performance, the then young boy was asked to start in class III instead of class I, a privilege reserved only for exceptionally brilliant students. Unfortunately, as a result of his humble and poor background, Professor Aluko could only spend two years in Secondary School, leaving School in class IV to face the vicissitudes of life, abandoned as it were to the buffeting winds of fate ..He went to teach in a Primary School at Ekpoma, Edo State where he met his beloved wife Joyce in 1947. There, he studied privately for the Cambridge School Certificate examination and passed in flying colours. It was no mean achievement in those days, one that instantly catapulted him into local fame and glory. The whole of 1948 was rather uneventful, spent largely to savour the scent o-f success of an unusual village boy who spent only two years in school and passed the school certificate! For him, all his goals had been achieved. He would now remain a teacher and rise gradually, perhaps until he became a local headmaster. Fate, however, intervened through the shining example of another townsman and mentor, Chief Akinyemi. Chief Akinyemi, then based in Lagos, had earlier on prepared himself privately for and passed the London L. L. B· examination, thus becoming a Lawyer without stepping the four walls of a University. This was sufficient in 1949 to send the young Samuel Adepoju back to private studies. Being a naturally brilliant student, he quickly passed the matriculation intermediate examination in 1949, the inter BSc examination in 1951 and the Bsc (Economics) examination in 1953 all at home. In 1954 he was officially awarded the Bsc degree in Economics (External Candidate) with second class honours. He taught briefly at City College in 1955 where he was privileged to have taught Ike Nwachukwu, now Major General and Nigeria's current Minister for External Affairs. In the same year, he left for further studies at the London School of Economics, London University, in 1957, where he obtained his Master's degree in economics with distinction. Two years later in 1959, he obtained his Ph. D degree in Economics. Although he studied in England between 1955 and 1957 on the ticket of the Western Nigerian Govern- ment scholarship, the London School of Economics was to later award him a scholarship of its own to study for his Ph. D on account of his distinctive performance at the Msc examination. He returned to Nigeria, in 1959 and was immediately appointed lecturer in Economics at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology. He left in 1962 for the newly established University of He (Ibadan Branch) nowObafemi Awolowo Universi- ty. Following the devastating political crises that rocked the then Western region as well as the new University, Dr Sam Aluko, already a fiery economic critic, migrated as it were, to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1964, as a senior lecturer in Economics. He was promoted Associate Professor in 1967. By 1967, the echoes of war we~e ringing in Eastern Nigeria and vultures, the birds of death, had started circling the Biafran landscape. A war zone was and still is no place for academic development, Professor Aluko had to return to the University of He, in 1967 as a Professor of Economics and he remained there until his retirement in 1979. Since then, he has been appointed visiting Professor at various . Nigerian universities.

64 An administrator par excellence, it was always difficult to ignore his leadership abilities everywhere he worked. At the then University of Ife, he was Acting Head of Department of Economics from 1962to 1964; at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka he was Acting Head of Department of Economics from 1964 to 1965 and substantive Head from 1965. Back at the University of Ife (now O. A. U.) he was Head of Department of Economics again from 1967 to 1969, a post he held until his retirement ten years later in 1979. When the College of Humanities was established in that great institution, Professor Aluko became the chairman for two years 1972 and 1973. On the installation of the first civilian administration in his native Ondo State; Professor Aluko was appointed the Economic Adviser to the State Governor. In that capacity he helped to shape the economic future of the State and guided the path of the Governor, Chief Michel Adekunle Ajasin, who by providence, we are also honouring today. It is not by accident, therefore, that, while other Second Republic Governors were jailed for mismanaging the funds in their care, Chief Ajasin was the only civilian Governor found to have come out economically clean! Professor Samuel Adepoju Aluko is a man full of insight, a man who has consistently lived ahead of his time, a rare economic sage, guru, prophet and critic who is always a few economic steps ahead of his nation and who bestrides the economic terrain like a collosus, 'in equo pacis' with his contemporaries. He is humane and kind, simple and unassuming. Professor Aluko is a man who would not only allow human talents flourish, without let or hindrance, but who also believed and had practically ensured that dormant, latent energies in fellow men are un- tied and unchained so that they could be of greater usefulness to society. Abhorrent of otiose and indolent behaviour, he does not believe in the innate pre-natal subservience of man. He does not believe that poverty is innate and insurmountable. A man given to hardwork, he, rather than shift his burden on his neighbours - the witch next door, the jealous relation or colleague, phantom enemies and all has, as the centre point of his philosophical thought, the notion that man is the architect of his own fortune; that he ought to take responsibility for his existence on this small, floating globe. Early in life, he broke through the benumbing socio-cultural psychosis that forever tied not a few of his peers down to village fears, myths and superstitions. He pondered the meaning of life and his place in the cosmos; he sought to carve an enviable niche for himself and posterity. The extent of his success can be gauged by the quality of honour bestowed on him nationally and internationally. Professor Aluko realized the liberating value of education from youth. He knew that education was the only cause with which he could pierce the bloated excess of ignorance, poverty and fear. He believed that light and knowledge were interchangeable concepts; you have knowledge therefore you have light; you are enljghtened, therefore you are knowledgeable. For him, the opposite of light and knowledge was darkness and ignorance. No grey zones. No transition. The more knowledge you acquire, the further the threshold of fear and superstition will recede. Professor Aluko is a simple and humble academic. The academic's academic. Not for him lies, not for him genuflection at the corridors of power. Not for him unbridled osten- tation and uncanny, ·meretricious behaviour. He considers as anomalous, aberrant and disdainfully incompatible, the notion of a Professor becoming a honorary local chief. No! he could not imagine himself as Mr/Dr/Professor/Chief X~ the Bobayiwe of Gond- 6S wanaland. An academic, pure and undiluted, straight from the bottle of knowledge. No praises attached. Just an honest and simple academic who believes that knowledge is multiplied by sharing and who shares knowledge abundantly. With renowned economists like Professor Aluko, foreigners who visit these shores have continued to wonder why Nigeria is what it still is today, a nation blessed beyond imagination whose citizens are hungry in the midst of plenty and thirsty at the source of a spring. A veritable fountain of knowledge. Professor Aluko has provided intellectual and academic illumination for former students who today are eminent Nigerians in the corridors of power. Leaders like General Ike Nwachukwu, the Nations External Affairs Minister, Chief Rufus Ada George, Chartered Accountant and Governor of River State, Chief Obadan; Deputy Governor of Edo State, Chief Ogbonaiya Onu, Abia State Governor, Alhaji Abdulkadir Ahmed, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, have tasted from Professor Aluko's milk of knowledge. Included in the endless list are Professors, Managing Directors of Banks, successful businessmen, countless chartered accountants and manufacturers. A devout christian and happy family man, Professor Aluko not only trained the children of others, he also trained his children and trained them well. His first child •.a male, graduated with a first class degree in Chemical Enginerring and he is now a Pro- fessor of Chemical Engineering in Howard University, U. S. A. His second child, also a male, is an accomplished lawyer; his third, a female is an Accountarit; his fourth, a male is a London based businessman, having earlier graduated in Urban and Regional Planning; his fifth, also a female, holds a degree in Money and Banking while the last child, a male who entered University at the age of fourteen,also graduated with a First Class degree in Mechanical Engineering. such a man, such a collosus. Under his roof and outside it, at peace with himself and blessed with a good wife and family. An upright, righteous and hate-free man,Professor Aluko is a man of good and kind disposition who has turned many a houseboy and girl into graduates. He is contended with what he has and what he does not have. It is this great economist, this academic guru, this international economic giant, this amiable and benevolent self-made man, this teacher of teachers, academic of academics, Professor of professors, economist of economists, this contented family man; this national and international economic adviser, this moulder of lives, this selfless, urbanized Nigerian, that I present to you and request you, in the name of the Governing Council and Senate, to award the Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa, of the Federal University of Technology Akure and to receive him as a member of this great University with all its rights and privileges.

Saturday, December, 19 1992.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY ORATOR

Dr Idowu B. Odeyemi, BSc., Ph. D., O.S. MNMOS, MOSA, is currently Acting Head of Department of Applied Geology, Federal University of Technology, Akure. He teaches Structural Geology, Gemstones Technology and Remote Sensing. He is currently Ex- ecutive Secretary, Third World Association for Remote Sensing (T. W. A R. S.). CITATION

FOR THE AWARD

DOCTOR ·OF SCIENCE

(HONORIS CAUSA)

PROFESSOR GODWIN OLU PATRICK OBASI OFR

Honourable Vice-Chancellor, I present to you for the conferment of the Degree of Doctor of Science (honoris causa) of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, a distinguished scholar and doyen of Meteorology and an acclaimed international Public Servant in the person of Professor Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi, Officer of the Order of Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was born in Okene, Kogi State on December 24th, 1933. He attended the Government College (BAREWA), Zaria where he obtained the G. C. E. 'A' Level Certificate in Physics and Mathematics with distinction in 1956. He then proceeded to the Mcgill University, Mon- treal, Canada, where he obtained a B. Sc, Honours degree in Mathematics and Physics in 1959. From there, he went to the Massachusets Institute of Technology in the United States of America where he obtained the Masters Degree with distinction in 1960. He obtained the Doctor of Science degree in Meteorology from the same University in 1963. On his return .home in 1963, he was appointed Senior Meteorologist in charge of Research and Training by the Nigerian Meteorological Department. From 1964-1965, he was the Senior Meteorologist in charge of Meteorological Services at the Lagos Airport in Ikeja. As an expert under the aegis of the W orId Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Development Programme, he worked as a Senior Lecturer in Meteorology at the University of Nairobi, Kenya from 1964-1974. He was appointed Professor of Meteorology in 1974 and served as the Dean of the Faculty of Science in the same Univer- 67 sity from 1974-1976. On his arrival in Nairobi, he found a Department of Meteorology which was more or less inconsequential. By the time he left, the Department had become a core department with almost all other Departments in the University offering a course of Meteorology or the other. He returned to Nigeria and in September 1976 he was appointed Adviser in Meteorological Research and Training. In 1978, he was made Director of the Education and Training Department with the World Meteorological Organisation Secretariat in Geneva. In 1983, he was appointed the Secretary-General by the Ninth Con- gress of the World Meteorological Organisation. By this appointment, he became the first African to occupy the post. The appointment was for a period of four years and it took effect from 1st January, 1984. His performance was outstanding, so much so that the tenth congress unanimously re-appointed him for another period of four years starting from 1st January, 1988. The second term ended on the 31st of December 1991. Prior to the end of the second term, tile Executive Council recommended to the eleventh Congress as follows: ,'Considering 1. That the Secretary-General has performed his duties in a manner which inerits the highest commendation. 2. That he has in particular shown outstanding initiative and skill in meeting his increasingly important duties and that he has demonstrated at all times high qualities of under-standing and impartiality. 3. That it would be entirely to the advantage of the Organisation if the Secretary- General were to continue in office.

Council RENEWS the expression of its complete confidence in the Secretary-General, Prof. G. O. P. Obasi and its appreciation of his service. Council Recommends to eleventh Congress that Prof. G. O. P. Obasi be appointed Secretary-General for a further period of four years." Even the Good Lord would have answered such a prayer. Professor Obasi is now serving as Secretary-General for a record third term. Professor Obasi has received several awards and honours in.different countries of the World. He received these on account of his diligence and outstanding contributions to Meteorology. These awards and honours include the Carl Rossby Award for the best Doc- torate degree thesis in Meteorology of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U. S. A. He was honoured by the Nigerian Government with the OFR (Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria) in 1983. He received the Gold Plaque Award of the Czechoslovakian Academy of Science in 1986. In 1988, he received the Gold Medal Decoration for Meteorology and Hydrology awarded by the Government of Paraguay, In addition, in 1989, he was decorated with the Cross Medal of the Air Force by the Govern- ment of Venezuela. This honour is the highest by the Air Force of the Venezuela. In that same year, the Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water management honoured him with a Certificate of Appreciation and a Medal. He was also given the Climate Institute Award in 1990. The Ogori Community of Kogi State, Nigeria, conferred on him the "Ogori Merit Award" in 1990. The honour here today will certainly make him a classical case of Prophet honoured both at home and abroad. He has professional affiliations with several societies and institutions. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Meteorological Society, a Fellow of the Colombian Meteorological Socie-

68 ty, a Fellow of the Dominican Republic Meteorological Society, a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society and a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. He is also a member of the British Institute of Statisticians and a member of the Board of Advisers of the Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science of the Benjamin Franklin Memorial. The special professional assignments he has undertaken attest to his wide experience, professional expertise and rare talent. From 1965-1967, he was Chairman of the Work- ing Group on Tropical Meteorology under the eagis of the Commission of Aerology. He was also Chairman of the Editorial Committee of the International Meeting in Tropical Meteorology. In 1975, he was Chairman of the Editorial Committee on the Symposium on Flood Hydrology in Africa. He was Representative of the International Association of Meteorology and At- mospherePhysics from 1974-1977; In addition, he was a Consultant of the Global At- mospheric Research Programme (GARP), a programme under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organisation. In 1977, he served' as a Consultant with World Meteorological Organisation' on its Education and Training Programme. Between 1976-1978, he was Co-ordinator in West Africa of the Drought Programme of the Inter- national Federation of the Institute of Advanced Studies. You will recall that one of the greatest climatic problems of the middle 70s in West Africa was the problem of the Sahelian drought. It is delightful to note that Professor Obasi was at the Vanguard of Scientific efforts to tackle the problems. He went on missions to many donor countries to encourage high government officials to support the project activities in Africa. As an articulate and respected Scientist, he recorded laudable success in this endeavour. Also he was the Nigerian Principal' Delegate on the Inter-Governmental Panel for the WHOlIC- SU GARP Global Experiment. Between 1976 and 1978, he.was Chairman of the Nigerian National Committee on the West African Monsoon Experiment. From 1984 till the present moment,he has been serving as a member of the Administrative Committee on Co- ordination of the United Nations. A prolific and productive writer ,Professor Obasi has over 60 scientific and technical papers in the fields of Meteorology and Hydrology. He has also given formal lectures and addresses on various subjects relating to the activities of the wor!· .vleteorolcgical Organisation. Through his dynamism, charisma and patriotism, many significant benefits have come to developing countries during the stewardship of Professor Obasi as Secretary- General of the World Meteorological Organisation. Some of the benefits that have ac- crued to Nigeria include the following: 1. WHO participation to the tune of US $700,000 in the strengthening of the Agrometeorological unit of the Department of Meteorological services. 2. WHO execution of the Hydrological Forecasting System for the River Niger Basin, Phases I and II, About US $9 million was committed to this. 3. The installation of 18 data collection platforms, one data receiving station, spares, vehicles and training of staff in hydrological forecasting, data processing and equipment mairitenance. 4. . Provision of 12 fellowships for higher educational studies and the sponsoring of several Nigerians to attend several meetings, Seminars and Conferences. This University is the only Nigerian University offering degree courses in Meteorology. Professor Obasi has been a staunch supporter of our programmes.

69 Vice-Chancellor, Sir, it is glaring that this eminent Meteorologist and International Scientist has contributed immensely to humanity. His achievements stand out clearly for all to see. In honouring him today, honour will certainly be given to whom it is due. I ask you therefore, in the name oftheSenate and the Council of this University to receive and honour Professor Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi, OfR as a member of the University holding the degree of Doctor or Science, honoris causa.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY ORATOR DR JOSEPH KAYODE OGUNMOYELA is currently Head of the Department of . Industrial Mathematics and computer science. He is a member of Governing Council of University