From Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
The Vice Chancellor, Federal University Lokoja (FUL), Professor Olayemi Akinwumi has declared that presentation of inaugural lecture by professors of the university would now be a Criteria for appointments in the institution.
Professor Akinwumi stated this during the 8th inaugural lecture with the topic “If you wish to go FAR, go FAIRy: Reconnoitering an Emerging Computing Paradigm” presented by Prof. Francisca Onaolapo Oladipo at Adankolo campus of the university, Lokoja.
He lamented that many professors in FUL were yet to present their inaugural lectures which is one of the university cultures stressing that he would not relent in his effort to ensure that there is total compliance in order to uphold the culture in the university.
“Many university in Nigeria are gradually losing most of university’s culture and one of the tradition is the inaugural lecture expected of any university academics bestow with professorship to present immediately after such landmark achievement.”
“Inaugural lecture is sacrosanct to university education and we must make sure that all professors in our university deliver their inaugural lecture because of its significant.”
“Elective and appointed positions in this university will henceforth be base on presentation of inaugural lecture this I believe will encourage and motivate our professors to prepare and deliver the lecture” he stated.
The Vice Chancellor who described the 8th inaugural lecture as one of the best in the history of the institution, averred that the topic was a difficult area of studies, but the presenter Prof. Oladipo simplified it for the understanding of the audience.
He commended Prof. Oladipo for a well researched job and charged other professors in the institution who are yet to present their inaugural lecture to do so without further delay.
The presenter of the lecture, Prof. Francisca Onaolapo, Oladipo, a computer scientist who is the current Vice Chancellor of Thomas Adewumi University, Oko in Kwara state, charged researchers in the country to develop passion and tenacity before embarking on research work in order to achieve the desired goals.
She also admonished African researchers to always ensure that the data they collected during research work are made available for prospective researchers, advising that the data must be findable , accessable, interoperable and reusable.
Speaking on the FAIR Data management principles which is one of the core areas of the research, Prof. Oladipo said data collections and analysis can lead to a world of limitless possibilities.
She noted that data collected can be used in many ways to impact on everyone’s lives positively through creation of personalized services by recommendations, drive strategies , assess impacts , ensure safety among others.