Lokoja varsity makes inaugural lectures prerequisite for professorship | EduCeleb
EduCeleb
8th April 2021
The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Lokoja, Prof Olayemi Akinwumi, has said that henceforth no lecturer of the university will be awarded a professorship without first delivering an inaugural lecture.
The Vice Chancellor, who made the declaration recently at the 3rd inaugural lecture of the university, expressed concerns that lecturers at the university seem not to be so interested in delivering inaugural lectures and seminar papers, both hallmarks of scholastic credibility.
The VC said since the establishment of the university nine years ago, and with the three inaugural lectures so far delivered, only scholars from the Faculty of Science have been able to actively participate.
He, however, expressed pleasure that within a few months of his assumption of office, he has been able to organise the third inaugural lecture, challenging other faculties that are yet to produce scholars to deliver such lectures to do so.
He expressed his commitment towards improving the academic activities of the university and noted that the institution would soon be a cynosure of all eyes.
In his inaugural lecture entitled “The Hydrogeologist and Sustainable Groundwater Supply”, Professor Abdullahi Emmanuel Bala identified water as an important resource without which human beings cannot exist.
Water, the university don said, is a basic necessity and is important to all life, saying 78% of human blood is composed of water and that the bones consists of 30% water.
Bala stressed that water as a necessity for life applied to both plants and animals, adding that human settlements have often been influenced by the availability of fresh water, which occurs naturally on the earth surface and beneath it.
“Different professionals study water in the different domains related to their disciplines. For instance, the meteorologist study water interfacing with the atmosphere. The hydrologist considers aspects of evaluation, forecasting, planning and storage of flood waters.
“The limnologists study lake water; groundwater hydrologists study the movement of groundwater through previous media and the agriculturist engineers and hydrogeologists deal with surface water for the purposes they should serve in those fields,’ he explained.
He described inaugural lectures as important to the the academic environment because it serves as an opportunity for a professor to showcase his capabilities in his area of specialty, and thanked the Vice-Chancellor of the university and his colleagues for giving him the opportunity to speak.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of certificates by VC Prof Akinwumi to all presenters of inaugural lectures, including Professor Bala.