Diary: One week that made one weak

Let me start with a confession: I am one guy that was so weak at the end of the activity-packed last week (11- 15 May, 2015) that I got home last Friday night and fell soundly asleep on the sofa till Saturday morning! I don’t know of anyone else.

Really, the activities of last week were a further demonstration of the greatness of the University of Ilorin as an institution that never sleeps, a University that ever works. I am not aware of any other University here that could have successfully packed so many high-profile events in one week as the University did and this partly accounts for why the University stands far ahead of others.

Last Monday, the week started with the formal opening ceremony of the 5^th Nigeria International Poultry Summit (NIPS), themed “Innovation for Poultry Production and Good Health” at the University Auditorium. The summit, which drew participants to the University from as far as Brazil, was one huge success and The Alma Mater salutes the organisational acumen of Dr Ayo Toye.

On Tuesday, the Auditorium came alive again and the occasion was the Special Public Lecture of the Centre for International Education. It was stimulating to listen to Dr Patrick Oseloka Ezepua of Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom, who ably addressed the topic, “Higher Education Research-Training Excellence, Engaged Scholarship and High Impact Socio-Economic Development”. It was a nice one on the part of the Director of the Centre, the amiable Prof. Muhammed O. Ibrahim, who is passionate about driving the Centre to greater excellence.

The following day, (i.e. Wednesday), the University hosted the Pro-Chancellor and former Vice-Chancellor of Durham University, United Kingdom, Prof. C. F. Higgins, courtesy of the Faculties of Life Sciences and Physical Sciences. It was eye-opening to me listening to the molecular biologist and Professor of Regenerative Medicine on “Stem Cell Research: Science, Medicine and Ethics”, which was the theme of the 11^th Mosobalaje Oyawoye Endowed Lecture.

The University Auditorium was filled to the brim for the lecture such that there was no space left for a pin even in the upper chamber. Both Prof. A. Sani and Prof. Isaac Adimula who co-hosted the Lecture deserve kudos on its success just like our innovative Vice-Chancellor, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali OON, who facilitated the whole process. Of special importance was the Vice-Chancellor’s reminder in his address, “Just and True”, that what is morally wrong cannot be politically right, a crucial message to our political gladiators moving their bags to Government Houses and Abuja.

On Thursday, the Auditorium also beamed to life for the 6^th International Students’ Day Celebration. Dr Ezepue was on hand again to present an engaging lecture on “International Education in Higher Institutions: Prospects and Challenges”. Besides, it was also exciting to watch the presentation of the international students. Though I didn’t taste their delicacy, the jovial insistence of the esteemed Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Yisa Fakunle, that he be told the recipe was an attestation to the culinary skills of the students apart from their dramatic proficiency.

After the lecture, it was my honour to host the Guest Lecturer and his friend at the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, where we explored new ideas on interdisciplinary research together with the Director of the Centre of Linguistic Immersion, Dr Elisabeth De Campos, and the Director of the Technical and Entrepreneurship Centre, Dr Umar Gunu. It was a wonderful discussion and our “discussion continues”, like that Honda brand.

Friday was not free of its own activities. The morning hours were spent at the 22^nd Armoured Brigade, Sobi Cantonment, Ilorin, where a meeting was held with the Commandant of the Nigerian Army School of Education (NASE). In the evening, it was at the Auditorium of the University again where the presidential aspirants of the Students’ Union faced the mammoth crowd of largely the undergraduates of the University preparatory to their elections slated for tomorrow (Tuesday May 19, 2015).

A brilliant initiative of AbdurRahman Jogbojogbo’s “7^th Sense Concepts”, the Unilorin Students’ Union Presidential Debate was full of fun and frills as there was no dull moment listening to the aspirants and their colleagues. I was so impressed and amused by the responses that the words of Hugh Kerr in his book, “The Spirituality of Imperfection”, kept on assailing my psyche: “All wisdom is plagiarism, only stupidity is original”. If the mood of the students based on the debate was anything to go by, you could easily predict the best winner and determine the “least winner”, a good euphemism for the weakest aspirant.

When the debate ended at dusk and I had a need to leave from there to another meeting off-campus that lasted till 9:30 p.m., I returned home so knackered that I collapsed on the sofa after my meal. I woke up early on Saturday morning and realised I had to fill this page. God, the only thing that came to mind was one week in Unilorin that made someone like me so weak.

About the Author

Aptly described by the Independent newspaper as “a man of many parts”, Prof. Mahfouz A. Adedimeji is a Fulbright scholar, interdisciplinary researcher, university don, public affairs analyst, communication consultant, peace advocate, interfaith worker and public intellectual. He obtained his academic degrees from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, where he was a Professor of English (Pragmatics and Applied Linguistics) before his appointment as Vice Chancellor as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Ahman Patigi, Nigeria, in February 2021. He started his academic career in 2000 at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, shortly after which he joined the services of his alma mater, the University of Ilorin. A man of eclectic academic background, Prof. Adedimeji was educated in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Markaz Shabaabil Islam, Iwo, Osun State and Markaz Ta’aleemil Araby, Agege, Lagos. He obtained advanced training in Education, Political Science, Communication and Media, Research and Peace Studies at the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) Virtual Institute for Higher Education Pedagogy (VIHEP); the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) Virtual Institute for Higher Education in Africa (VIHEAF); Governors State University, University Park, Illinois, USA; University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana; and Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, USA. Apart from serving as a cultural ambassador to the US under the auspices of the Institute of International Education (IIE), New York, Prof. Adedimeji had won or co-won the research and conference awards/grants of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) of the National Research Council, Nigeria, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). He has written extensively for a wide range of newspapers and periodicals including “Unilorin Bulletin”, “Unilorin Watch”, “DeLight”, “National Pilot”, “Daily Independent”, “Daily Newswatch”, “New York Parrot” and “New Telegraph”, among others. A versatile academic and award-winning scholar, Prof. Adedimeji has attended academic conferences and undertaken research in several universities across Nigeria as well as in Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Australia, France and United States of America, among others. His hundreds of academic, Islamic and general/opinion articles have been published across outlets in Nigeria and beyond. He has also facilitated and participated in seminars and workshops both nationally and internationally. A former Head of the Directorate of Corporate Affairs of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Adedimeji was the Director of the Centre for Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, between 2013 and 2017. Apart from serving as Rapporteur-General to the Presidential Committee that organised the 2017 Federal Executive Council’s Retreat on Education in Nigeria, he has consulted for the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence and Corps (NSCDC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). For years, he was a Coordinator and Facilitator of the Executive Management Course of the Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC) and Editor-in-Chief of the “Journal of Peace, Security and Development”, University of Ilorin. He has also served as a resource person to agencies like the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Orientation Agency (NOA), National Institute for Security Studies as well as a number of Civil Society Organisations. He is a recipient of several awards and honours including those of the International Chartered World Learned Society, American Biographical Institute, National Congress of Nigerian Students (NACONS), Union of Campus Journalists, University of Ilorin, the Nigerian Army Education Corps, Postgraduate Students Association, UNILORIN, Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), UNILORIN, Students’ Union, UNILORIN, and National Association of Osun State Students (NAOSS), just to mention a few. A Fellow of bodies like the International Association of Research Scholars and Administrators (FIARSA), Institute of Corporate Administration, Nigeria, (FICAN), Society for Peace Studies and Practice (fspsp) and World Institute for Peace (FWIP) , Prof. Adedimeji is a former Member of the Governing Council of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) and until recently a Member of the Executive Council of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN). He is a member of the Editorial Boards of Research in Pragmatics, journal of the Pragmatics Association of Nigeria (PrAN) and ANUJAT, an international multidisciplinary journal of the All Nations University, Koforidua, Ghana. He has about 15 books to his credit as author, co-author, editor and co-editor.