Dignitaries honour Akinkugbe, first youngest African professor
By Odita Sunday, Bosede Ojo, Fausat Adelanwa and Akinleye Remilekun
PROMINENT Nigerians yesterday gathered in Lagos to honour Prof. Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe, the first youngest professor in Africa. He became a professor at the age of 35 years.
Akinkugbe was honoured by Hallmark of Labour Foundation for his contributions to medicine and University Administration with the prestigious Hallmark of Labour Role Model Award.
Health Minister, Prof. Eyitayo Lambo, almost turned an orator when he led others in showering encomiums on the professor emeritus.
According to Lambo, Prof. Akinkugbe "is a symbol of humility and a God-fearing person," declaring that with the likes of him in Nigeria, the future of the country would be brighter.
He said: "Excellence needs no polish, a man like Prof. Akinkugbe has been excellent in the past, he is excellent now and will be excellent in the future because he is an instrument and an agent of change.
Lambo urged all Nigerians to aspire and become change agents because only such personalities could change the battered image of the country, stressing that we need an army of people like Prof. Akinkugbe to change the image of Nigeria."
Akinkugbe was appointed professor of medicine at the University of Ibadan in 1968, where he became the youngest professor in the continent with the award. He has joined other achievers like renowned industrialist, Mr. Gamaliel Onosode, Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson (rtd), Retired Supreme Court Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, Prof. Grace Alele-Williams' famous mathematicians and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) and Justice Mohammed Lambo among others.
The chairman of Eko Hospital Chief Sonny Kuku said that "Akinkugbe is a fantastic man in the field of medicine, he is an intellectual of great repute and he is humble and gentle."
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe in his remarks, noted that "Akinkugbe is someone interested in the progress of young people who will take after him and everybody in the academia respects him a lot."
Justice Omotayo Onalaja whose new book was reviewed by Akinkugbe described him as a man "who was born great that also achieved greatness".
Onalaja praised him for reviewing a book in law despite the fact that he is a medical practitioner. He stated that Akinkugbe had contributed a lot to the medical profession in Nigeria, remarking that while others were busy moving out of the country, he remained at home to uplift the country.
Akinkugbe is a recipient of the famous Boehringer Ingelhein Award on International Society of Hypertension in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
He was the foundation chairman of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Akinkugbe was also the foundation Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin and later Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria. He was equally the secretary to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Technical Discussions on University and Health for All.
Other offices held by him are the chairman, planning committee, University of Abuja, Chairman of Council, University of Port-Harcourt and a member WHO advisory committee on Health research.
When asked how he felt being a professor at 35, Akinkugbe said that although he felt accomplished, he also saw it as a challenge.
As the first chairman of the JAMB, Akinkugbe said that the examination body started with the best intentions which have been destroyed by self-centred people.
He also blamed JAMB woes on invigilators, the management and parents.
Akinkugbe said that JAMB could be salvaged by correcting certain errors and instilling discipline among the workers and invigilators.
He insisted that the scrapping of JAMB would not mark the end of examination fraud. "What the country needs is a change of mind set and orientation," he stated.
The professor described himself as an unrepentant optimist in Nigeria's greatness because the country "can do better and can continue to do better."
The Executive Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Hallmark of Labour Foundation Patricia Dede Otuedon, said that awardees are selected after extensive research into their lives, successes and contributions to humanity.
