An alumnus of the University and Director, Grants of Management, Professor Kolawole Adebayo, would deliver the 52nd Inaugural Lecture of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. The lecture is titled, “Mercenaries and Merchants: The Dialectics of Rural Development in Nigeria", and would hold on Wednesday, April 20, 2016, at the FUNAAB Ceremonial Building, beginning at 2pm. The Vice - Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole, is expected to be the Chairman and Chief Host at the event.
An expert in Rural Development Communication in the College of Agricultural Management and Rural Development (COLAMRUD), Professor Adebayo' s research interest covers the uptake and dissemination of agricultural innovations in smallholder farming systems, management and sustainable funding of rural development as well as rural livelihoods and management of the environment. Professor Adebayo's lecture is expected to x - ray the historical perspective of funding the Nigerian Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) from the era of World Bank support to their full transfer to state government funding and recommending the options to take in sustaining these public extension organisations.
According to him, when a country takes a loan from the World Bank, it is best to use it as an income-making venture, because the bank expects a return in its investments. Unfortunately, when a nation like Nigeria, takes a World Bank loan and it is eventually stashed away in foreign accounts, those responsible have simply mortgaged the future of the country. Therefore, to be an equal partner and a net beneficiary with other merchants in the rural development business, Nigeria needs to invest more than it borrows, use borrowed funds to create wealth for the nation and be firm in handling cases of stolen monies.
Professor Adebayo bagged a Diploma in Agriculture with distinction from the School of Agriculture, Akure, now known as the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, in 1986 before proceeding, through Direct Entry admission, into the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (UNAAB) in 1989, where graduated with a First Class Degree during the 1992/93 Academic Session, as the Best All- Round Graduating Student.
After his National Service at the Ekori High School, Ekori, Yakurr local council of Cross River State, Professor Adebayo was employed in the University in 1995 as a Graduate Assistant and commenced his Master of Agriculture (M. Agric) studies in 1996 under both UNAAB and the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) postgraduate scholarships. He obtained his PhD in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development in 2002 with a split-site doctoral scholarship from the Commonwealth Commission in the United Kingdom, which he utilised at the University of Reading, United Kingdom.
Professor Kola Adebayo is well recognised as a rural and international development expert, having won three consecutive research grants from the International Foundation for Science (IFS), between 2004 and 2014; the Junior Chambers International (JCI) Outstanding Young Persons Award in 2006 as well as the World Bank Development Marketplace Competitive Grant in 2008. He is an External Assessor for the University of Ghana and a Visiting Professor at the University of Greenwich, United Kingdom. He has also consulted for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID ), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Federal Ministry of Environment (Nigeria) and the National Fadama Development Programme (FADAMA III).
He has bagged the FUNAAB Research Productivity Award (Senior Category) in 2014, 2015 Times Higher Education Award, as part of the cassava development team at the University of Greenwich, United Kingdom and the 2016 Queens Anniversary Award for development of the cassava sector, as part of the team, at the University of Greenwich, United Kingdom.
Professor Adebayo has held several key positions within and outside the University such as the Project Director of the second phase of the multi- million dollar, multinational CAVA II Project and Pioneer President, UNAAB Alumni Association. He has authored and co-authored more than 38 journal articles, four books, seven chapters in books, 17 published conference proceedings, four video documentaries and eight published technical reports.
Professor Adebayo' s community service efforts include the establishment of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that focuses on livelihoods enhancement, formal education and rural development (SLIDEN AFRICA) in 2000 and the implementation of development projects such as: Trade liberalisation and sustainable environment in the export crop sector in Nigeria sponsored by UNEP in 1999-2000; commercialisation of traditional foods and sustainable rural livelihoods, sponsored by UK's DfID 1999-2000; and the development of small and medium scale enterprise sector producing cassava based products to meet emerging urban demand in West Africa, as sponsored by the European Union in 2003-2006.
Other achievements include researching into rural-urban migration, poverty and sustainable environment, as sponsored by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2003-2005; dynamics of the technology adoption process in rural-based cassava processing systems in Southwest, Nigeria, as sponsored by International Foundation for Science (IFS), Sweden in 2004-2006; Adding Value to Waste in the Cassava Processing-Goat Keeping Systems in Nigeria for the World Bank, 2009-2011 and Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA), on secondment to the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom and sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2008-2013, among others.
Culled from funaab.edu.ng
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