flerl.n Tribune 18 "Wedm°.,dfw. 24 October. 2012
OPI NION
Celebrating Egbokhare at 50! By 'Fisayo Soyombo T was In 2007 - an unforgeltable afternoon headlined by the ruthles5 descent of the sizzling sun. Three very amblUous campus Jou.mallsts bent on founding a campus tabloid had embarked on a trek to Ule house of a profes· sor on a help-seeking mlMlon. Being the least academically placed of the trio. I listened as the other duo convened on the muUng ahead. One said the profC580r had Just been re cenUy displaced as the youngest professor In the presugtous UnlveTSlty of lbadan tUI). And the other added : he had recenUy been appointed the dlrtttor of Ule unlvenslty's Distance !.A';'rIllng Centre IDLel. When we reached I II IInuse . Ohlmal Godwin AmaiZe Inow the Special Advlser,Advocacy, to th, \ llIIlster of Youth} and Ablmbola OJenlke (now a brilliant aUomey with Lagos-based cross-border law firm, 51mmonsCoopcrs Partnersl eased Into their waiting scats while I lagged behind. fumbling wllh my lIllacs at Ule door. -You can come In wHh your shoes: boomed a hoarse voice from InSide. ·My housc IS not a mosquelTIle follow1ng minutes tumed out an antithesis of the scenes thai we had plAyed out In our heads: the professor joked and smiled and laughed With us as though we had been frie n ds for eterntly, amidst a grilly and mesmerislngly pithy message on the Importance of a vtrile campus Journall.sm Lo the sutteSsful running of lhe unlvenslty. It was difficult to Imagine that this was a lecturer who httame professor at Just 37, who was heading an InsUtule that some of his own lecturers had fallen over one another to have, whose well-documented brilliance eastly melted the hearu of UI students who treasured excellence IrrespecUve of their discipline; tt ~ difficult to beliC'VC Lhat he hosled some lowly undergraduates - In hIS house and not hl.s officer five }'eaB after. at 50 years old laJbelt with looks belying the agel. Professor f<' rancls Egbokhare has not changed one bit, and continues to live a life shorn of the trappings or proressorial power, maJnla1nlng a very rarely seen bond - In fact. fl1end!!hlp - with students, In addition to Inspiring them as a teacher. writer, broadcaster, preacher. role model and mentor. In the evening of 2.2nd September 2012 when Prof clocked 50, he had managed a walk-on appeara n ce: at the wedding of a ronner student of his, Which held on campus, runntng Into a 'common' security man whose teleph one number he sought and saved with a promLsc to call later In the even ing. But Is Egbokhare such a lowly figure aa to be undeservtng or exhibiting even Just one of the many big-man syndromes that h ave literally become de rigueur In Nigeria? Not exacUyl Dam Francis Olsagh nede Egbokhare on 22n d September 1962 In Edo Slate. he attended Our Lady of Apostles Secondary Sch ool, Auchl. and the Un iversity of Dcnln1 1979) where he nn lshed In 1983 as the best graduand of t h e set at Just 21 yean!l . ArrIving UI In 1984 In pursuit of a Master's degree, he was flamed
I
~essor
afiu anOlfier 1.5 yeam, and has 2IQ.W wt.U.lco lens of scholarly artk.Ies In learned Journals. delivered lens of lead paper.!. published many books and supervlsed successful doctor.He programmes. In his earlier ye~ as a professor. the granLS he enjoyed from the US Slale Department -funded Colleges and Unlversltks Affiliations Programme for UI I SlUE InterdIsCiplinary research and exchange from 2002 to 2004 birthed it Memo<randum of Union between Southern 1I1lnols University and UI. with more than 20 academics and administrative !llalT and sluden15 already benefiting from IL His tenun': as director of urs Distance Lcanllng wu hugely successful In
many regards. In less lhan
n~
years, he Increased !.he programmes from
fOUf
to morc lhan 30 without compromising standards. transforming the C(!ntre the best open dl5tanct: learning outnt In Nlger1a, as acknowledged by the Open University of United KIngdom tOUUKI and the NaUonal UnlverslUes Commission (NUCI_ Today, Professor Egbokhare is a member of the presllglous Nigerian Academy of [.euers (2012). Fellow of the Inlllltule Development Admlnlslrnllon of Nlgcrla (2007), Fellow of Alexander Von I!umboldl-Suflung_and he has received hordes of awards rrom associationll In UI and UNIBEN, where. ror example . the Library of the Department of Llngulsllc:!l Is named aner him. 11 IS such a shame, from the studenl pcrsllCCUve. that a man of Professor Egbok h arc's standlng and Impeccable values lost Oul In last year's race for lhe vice chancellorship of UI. emerging the third favourite candidate. Ills viSions. tolerance for dl~ntlng opinions. respect for the strengthS of everyone around him, dislike for InJusUec notw1thstandlng the height of the oppressive Indl· vlduaJ or aulhortty. and passion for standards are qualities that would have served thc genuine Interest3 of both the staff and studcnt community of the unlverslly. SUII. Egbokhare continues to maintain a leading rolt: In the evoluUon of a new UI and NIgerta. particularly from the standpoint of helping students Im bibe some of the values very rarely sec.n In the unlvenlty's and country's pub-IIc Ufe. One example. despite the utter unattnu:tlveness of the responsibility, he continues to staff-advise the Union of Campus Joumall.sU IUCJI - an organisation that has, for many years. never really been like the darling of unlyerslty authortUes. So, It Is not a surprtse that even before he waa 50, Prof. had reached the zenith of hls career, nol exactly tn tenns of scholarly a c hlevemenu bul rather. aa It concerned the true essence or the lecturing profession - knowledge impartaUon . Thousand!! of a lumni and alumnae of UI wtlliook back at their Ume on campus, and aJlocate a 1I0n's share of their heart for lecturers 10 Ihe likes of Professor Egbokhare. And I am one of Ulem : when a graduate of Animal Science wriles on a Professor of LlngulllUcs, the story of a professor's versalility In knowledge s h aring and d issemination Is. at om:e, expllclUy toldl -Soyombo wrote (nfrom Lag05.
Agric extensi9n as recipe for food crisis By Adewuyi Adelblte '''5 ptecc .Is an elucldaUon or the theme or an Inaugural lecture deltvered by f'roI'es.oJor A.B. OgunwaJc, I"ormer Dean. faculty or AgJ1cuIturaiSdena:s, LAIJTECH. Qgborno8o. on August 23. 2OL2.. TIle Iect:ure. which wasactuaIlytl1led Rt:posffb"" AgrIaJUwol Extenst:n: The umbItmI am rt" sustDInabIe bnlfood pnxfudtn the 12th d Its kind atlAllTECH, was an ~ op..uo 00 the I'ood crts.Is the nation is grupp/log with and haw It oouJd be 80Ived by reposi.UOI1lng Agr1cultural extenstorL AgrIcultural at.enslon was aptly defined by lhe lecturer as a set of actMues which In\.dve commwllcation. Informauon. demonstraUon, leduUcal tJatnIng geared \(M-anM; dis.semlnathtg \mpro'vttl fann lc:dudlgles to farmers and translOrming their skills, JulOW\cdge. and alUludc IO\II3l"ds Inlpnwa:II"an:n producUon and standard or Jtvtng. AgrIcultural exknslon l5a wlM:rsal pI ......... 101OI1 wWch bWoIYcs dlfferenl acttvtlics In dlfferent counU1c8 but a ll aimed at educat.Ing agriCultural pracUtionerS on how to Improve their standard d living. through thd:r own efforts by ut.tlJstng to lhe maximum. resources at Uldr disposal foc better system of farmIng and home mak1ng foc the bencO! or Ule tndhrIdual agrtculturtsL famBy, community and the naUon at large. In a nulShdl, exterlSOl ~ about charJges. tlvtlugh educaum on 1ilrTnem' altltude and skJIliJ. In other words. 3fP1culturai e:ru:nsIon 9Q"\IIa:s serve as a vdllcle lOr information d1s8emInaUon, building capacity or fa~, tllrougtJ the U9(: of different COinnlUrdrolD"l rndhocIs and Iillrne;Is tn making Informed decisions. I\grk:uItural extension as a vdUdc for improving agrICultural pracuces In Ntgma dated back to tile colonial perIOd, prttlSdy In 192 1. TIle need 10 establish II unified department 01 agr1cultun: roc tllC: Northern and Southern parts of the country led to tJle establishment or a department 01 agrtcult.ure saddled with the provtslon of crop! on owlronmental and tr1al basts, tmprovtng and ma.lntaInIrJg soil rertillty, marketing of ~tural ~ and prtJ\'l'JIOn ofag1CUltural trnintnglilr Ntgenan. through ~ ~tural educaUon programmes. As a matter of fact... dJorts were geared by the Ntga1an ~t to adopt tJeVeraI public sector extension approaches to achJt:w:: 8ustnlnabk agricultural dc-vclopment In the coun try. lronk.'any. the 19708. which wUrlCSSCd the vtrtuaI colla.pec of OUJ"" ~tural economy, due to oil boom (doom?) cqualIy witnessed ~tcd bmulatlon ofnew agrtcullural polk:Ics. programmes. establishment 01 tnsUlutloos In wu1d history. Some or tile poltdc:s. prognunmes and InsUtutlons estahltshcd tndude conventJonal approach. community type extension approach, Intcgtated rural deveIopmc:nt approach. Integrated rural devdopm ent extensiOn approach. fanntng system resea.rclJ and extension approach. gttn revoIuUon_ untva"sIty organised extcn510n system. rivabasin dC\ldopma1t aulhoriUc8, agncutturaJ. development programme. amon g others. In spit.. or the various extension appruadles embarked upon by tile p-anmcnt and al Urnes In conJuncUon.wltll8tlpranaUona1 bodies, agJ1cullumJ pnlClIcC:8 In Nigerta have not soI~ the n aUon'a food crisis. Consequently, the extension prognunmes wen:: far from being a success. Thercf~ the extension efforts need to be repo5lUonc:d. ntis Is tile kenJd d tlle s u bmission d Professor Ogunwale. TIle failure or tJle agricultural extension In Nigeria Is evident In the shocking rc-velallons on Ntga1a's food lmport~' bills. ~ 2007 and 2010. NIgct1a spent a
T:
awnutural
whopptng sum of N9B lrtIllon on food Importatnl. As a mauer or fact.. tJle country tn 20 10 alone, spent N635 billion on wheat Importauon, N356 bWIon In rice, N217btllDn 00 sugar. N97 bWIon on fish, In spite of tJle avallablc resouJ"Ce!l-martnc, rIw:r.i, lake. cn:eks. ThJs IS a Up d the ICeberg. factcn responsible for I.ncmlSC food ImportatJon In NtgerLa indude. low labour productMty, Inadequate inCOltive roc farmers, law n::tums on Investment in agrtcu.Iture. IndTcctlVe e:xt.c:nsion scmccs and low ~ In\~tmc:nt In agrtc:uItW"e. Among all the afon;mc:nt.Joned facton. ogunwale 51ngkd out indfeClh'e exl.c:nsIon servk:e as the prtme factor for tnabUity 01 agrtcullural practices in Nigeria to saM: our food crisIS. As an aulhority In this 8dd. lle believes that If" reposttioncd. agricultural extension service would ~ as a cata1yst for massive kx:al food pm:tucUon In Ntgo::rta. Thill Is what he calkd the umbUk:aI cord or 8tl5talnablc food production In Nigeria. In achievtng this, that 15, n:poslt.k.mlng agrtculturaJ extcnston, he puls forward certa1n n::commendaUon which Include the rotloWlr~: I'11oI1USlng research agenda In line with f3rTJl(n' needs. em~ tJlC f~' unions and assodaUons to speak on behalf or generality or fanner.! which will hdp Ule policy makJ::rs to know what prot*ms the fanner'S are factng and solutions to the problems based on their expe.r1ences. nils Will help sclc:nUStl!l to concentrate their efforts and resc:an:h proce:ss on products Utat will fulfill genuine nc«Is or U1(: fnrmers, ratilCl' tlmn comJngupwllh tcch nologles Uwllnay 1101 be n:adtly adaptable by getJCrnllty or fall"llCB. This Is thC: bMls for demand-drtw;r resc:an..;1 anywtlCn'.. TIle policy makCf"5 at UIC kx:a\, state and fcdcml govemment Ic:vels should priori Usc fanners' needs and combine tllon wlUt the local, state and national needs of UlI! oountry. This should Indude tJle needs or the furmC1'5 In the major poUdcs 0( thl: country. being crucial for successful agrtcultural extenskln StTategles. to enSUR: sustaInable local food productIon In NIgeI1B. The extension agenl.s shoukl haYC the opportun ity to enjoy a par1lcIpatory cJttenslon work. Exln15ion agents should be onpov.~ through educational and partldpatory mdhods that Imdve expa1enual Icamlng through atalSkIn agenlS to fanner3' exchange 01 k:JloI!..1edge. Adequate and ~ funding or extenskJn servtce ts or ~t Importance. There should be a U1par1.J.lc funding pattern £rom Fcdcnll. state and IocaJ ~~ in a cooperative manner to n:poslUOll agncultural extension scrvk.'e in Ntgerta. In addIUon. tile donor agenctes. such as the World Bank. Intcmal.lonal fund (or Agr1cuIturai Dcvdopmmt (If'ADL Food and AgrIcultural Organlsauons or the United Nations {FAO} and other prtvatc IOuncIatJons should 85St5I. NIgerta to funding agrtcuItural extensOl aervk:es more than ew:r bcf~. Organ1!;tng I"armers' 8dd days, agJ1Cultwai shows. fkkI trips and loum, workshops and conrr:n:ncc:s. r8llTlCl1"l and extcnskln agcrtts alike. will be more IIkdy to change thetr beh aviour If they discovered lOr U"lCf1l8elves IIml the knowledge and Insight g;uncd from past apukliCtS arc no longer adoquaL .. to deal with wrrall problems or agrtcullU~ Extension admin l5tmtoc should, tllerefore, organise dlfferenl avenues through which extension personnel and f8llTlCl1"l can Interact and gain n"l()f!: knowtcdge on new development around the world -Adegbtte wrote Infrom Ogbomoso, Oyo State.