Prof. Mahfouz Adedimeji

Vice Chancellor of Ahman Patigi, Nigeria
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.
person holding iPhone

The nonsense of technoference

Some time in 2018, a group of children filed out on the streets of Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany, to protest against how smart phones had distracted their parents from taking care of them. Their protest chant was, ...

man standing in front of the window

Mental health and its ABCDE

With the removal of petrol subsidy by President Bola Tinubu and its immediate effect of people’s finances and standards of living, it is certain that many Nigerians are on edge. Though the development is a bitter pill to swallow, it ...

Nigerian media space needs repositioning for peace and prosperity — APU VC

A professor of Pragmatics and Applied Linguistics, and the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of Ahman Pategi University (APU), Pategi, Kwara State, Mahfouz Adebola Adedimeji, has identified media as a powerful tool that cannot be ignored by serious-minded people. Professor Mahfouz made this remark at the ...

Agenda for Tinubu

It is the dawn of a new era as the new President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, begins work. Having received the “baton of leadership” during his conferment with the highest honour in the land, ...

Between the media and the rest of us

The second national conference of the Muslim Media Watch Group of Nigeria was held last Saturday, May 13, 2023 in Ilorin. As guest speaker at the event, I spoke on the theme, “Redefining the media space for Nigeria’s peace and ...

JAMB and the New Nigeria Agenda

That Nigeria has not been able to achieve her full potential has been a major concern for all those who are genuinely interested in the giant of Africa. Reference has often been made to countries in Asia and South America ...

Sustain lessons of Ramadan as Eid-el-fitr beckons, muslims urged

As Nigerian Muslims prepare to celebrate Eid-el-Fitr this week, marking the end of the month-long Ramadan fasting, Muslim clerics have stressed the need for the faithful to consolidate the lessons learnt during the period. They have also reminded political leaders ...

What to do before going to Eid?

Eid is the festival held by Muslims to celebrate the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, where Muslims fast between dawn and dusk every day for 29 or 30 days. Known as Eid ul-fitr, which means ‘Feast of breaking ...

Ahead 2023 polls: Ahman-Pategi VC charges Muslims to shun apathy

AS the 2023 elections approach, there should be no passivity among the Muslims of the South-West and Nigeria in general. The vice-chancellor of Ahman Pategi University, Pategi, Kwara State, Professor Mahfouz Adedimeji, made this submission last weekend while delivering the ...

Ahman Pategi University matriculates 269 pioneer students, as VC charges them to pursue excellence, embrace positivity

A budding private university in Patigi, Kwara State, Ahman Pategi University (APU) has successfully organised a matriculation ceremony for no fewer than 269 pioneer students. The ceremony, attended by the Etsu Patigi, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Ibrahim Umar Bologi, was ...

Gbajabiamila, VC disagree over NASS expenses

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and the Vice-Chancellor, Ahman Pategi University, Pategi, Kwara State, Prof. Mahfouz Adedimeji, yesterday, expressed divergent views on the claim that the National Assembly runs the most expensive legislature in the world. ...

My marriage… with Professor Mahfouz Adedimeji, Vice Chancellor, Ahman Pategi University, Patigi, Kwara State

For how long have you been married? I have been married for 21 years now. Where and how did you meet your wife? I have known her since when she was a little girl as her dad operated a patent ...