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Foundation honours Prof Ashiru, GTBank chairman

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1 year ago

From left, wife of honoree, Mrs Ashiru; award recipient, Prof Oladapo Ashiru and Dr sonny Kuku, at the award ceremony in Lagos, on Tuesday.

A non-governmental organisation, the Stephen Oluwole Awokoya Foundation for Science Education (SOAFSE), has conferred distinguished honorary awards on three eminent Nigerians for their sterling contributions to their chosen professions, humanity, and the national economy.

The three honorees are Professor Oladapo Ashiru, a consultant reproductive endocrinologist and President of the Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria (AMSN); Rear Admiral Afolabi Macaulay (retd), who is the chairman of Oakwood Heights Ltd. and grandson of the foremost nationalist, Herbert Macaulay; and Mr Sola Oyinlola, the chairman of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

They were conferred with honours at this year’s edition (the 26th in the series) of the foundation’s annual lecture and award of honours and postgraduate scholarships in Lagos on Tuesday.

No fewer than 33 persons, including Otunba Segun Jawando, Chairman of Lekki Free Zone; Dr Wale Babalakin, Chairman of Bi-Courtney Ltd; Dr Bamanga Tukur, Executive President of African Business Roundtable; Sen. Daisy Danjuma, executive vice chairman of South Atlantic Petroleum; Dr Winifred Awosika, chairman of Chrisland Schools; Dr Olumide Phillips, founder of Dowen College; Lady Maiden Alex Ibru, chairman of Guardian Newspapers; Dr A. B.C. Orjiako, chairman of Seplat Petroleum Devt Company, among others, were former recipients of the award.

According to the foundation, all the awardees were found worthy of the honour because they distinguished themselves in their chosen professions and contributed significantly to national development.

Giving reference, Dr. Folarin Awokoya, a member of the Board of Trustees, said Prof. Ashiru, for example, had contributed so much to medicine and science education in Nigeria and at the global level.

According to him, Prof. Ashiru’s team pioneered the IVF treatment method in Africa, and he is the President of the Academy of Medicine Specialties and the Africa Reproductive Care Society.

“He is also the youngest person to be appointed a professor of medicine in Africa and the first black person to become the Secretary-General of the International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS), a non-state global organisation on fertility with an official relationship with WHO.

He said the foundation congratulated them all and urged them to do more work.

Similarly, at the event, five brilliant students who won the postgraduate scholarship awards of the foundation for 2024 from the pool of 110 nominations received nationwide were unveiled.

They are Mr Saidu Saidu from the Federal University of Technology, Minna; Mr Gbenga Awojinrin from the University of Ibadan; Miss Faith Umo from Akwa Ibom State University; Mr Miracle Chukwuma from Nnamdi Azikiwe University; and Mr Oluwatobiloba Osedimilehin from the University of Lagos.

Awokoya said the foundation instituted the annual award, which is open to all students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related courses across Nigerian universities, to recognise excellence and also encourage the study of those courses.

He noted that each of the scholars would receive N500,000 annually and for three years if they maintained high grades in their studies.

He pointed out that a total of 128 students from across Nigeria had so far benefited from the scholarship since its inception in 1996, with them doing well in their areas of specialisation.

He congratulated them and charged them to remain determined and focused as they went on with their studies.

Earlier in their separate speeches, the chairman of the board of trustees of the foundation, Prof. Oye Ogunye, and the chairman on the occasion, Dr. Oladele Fajemirokun, extolled the virtues of the late Awokoya, whose foundation is named after him, particularly his contribution to the development of education in Nigeria and Africa at large.

They said the late educationist and Minister of Education in the old Western Region of Nigeria was indeed one of the unsung heroes Nigeria ever produced.

Delivering a lecture on the topic “A look into the future, providing fit-for-purpose education for national development,” the guest lecturer, who is the vice-chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, highlighted the importance of formal education, particularly the award of degrees in various disciplines.

She said such is fantastic, but the change of events globally to changing economic reality, especially in the 21st century with the evolution of artificial intelligence, has really brought a great challenge to academic qualifications as a means to food tickets.

She said some companies, particularly in the high-tech sector, such as IBM, Dell, Accenture, and even Delta Airlines and Bank of America, no longer base their recruitment for most roles on degrees acquired.

She said employers of labour nowadays want people who are skilled and competent to add values to human lives and society by solving their problems, not just for certificate carriers.

Ogunsola noted that the consequence of this is manifested as a serious threat posed to university degrees

According to her, university degrees are under siege because there is a huge gap between the graduates universities are producing and the needs of industries, as the latter is moving faster than the former.

Whereas, she added, both town and gown are supposed to move side by side and interface to bring solutions to societal challenges.

Ogunsola, however, pointed out that while open and distance learning is the future of education, the acquisition of the right knowledge, skills, and behaviours, blended with ‘AI’, is the future of the world of work anywhere globally.

She said even though the future looks uncertain as a new discovery may emanate before the next century, both the public and private sectors should come together to find solutions to the problems of education that will produce fit-for-purpose graduates for genuine national development.

She thanked the foundation for giving her the opportunity to share her thoughts and perspective on the topic of the day and congratulated all the award recipients.

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