Going by the giant strides of the women folk in recent times and their benchmark of excellence in the academia, there has been the understanding among members of, and key followers of nuances of the Federal University of Technology Akure, FUTA, Nigeria's leading university of technology, that sometimes in the foreseeable future, an erudite female scholar would emerge as the first female Vice Chancellor of the institution. Well, that future is now!
Two years ago, Adenike Temidayo Oladiji, Professor of Biochemistry and Fellow of Academy of Science, took over the reins of leadership at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) as the first female Vice Chancellor after a rigorous selection process. The erudite scholar from the University of Ilorin was inaugurated as the eighth substantive Vice Chancellor of FUTA on May 24, 2022.
Unveiling her agenda while being inaugurated, Professor Oladiji promised to, “Ensure that the gains of FUTA in the past years are sustained and improved upon.” She also said she would lead, “The evolution of new strategies to secure the future, while delivering a rebranded FUTA.” She also promised that her focus will be to intensify capacity-building and staff development and expand the frontiers of research and learning while ensuring that students have a better learning experience in FUTA.
In the last two years, Professor Oladiji has kept faith with the promises and the gains of her focused leadership are already clearly discernible with appreciable progress in all the facets of the University life. Teaching, Research and Community Service, the tripod of the University system, have been given needed fillip. And we now have a rebranded FUTA that is better able to deliver on its core mandates of training the needed manpower in science and technology and carrying out cutting edge research that benefit country and mankind. There is also an intentional rejuvenation of critical infrastructure and expansion of academic programmes and support for teaching and research.
In a landmark initiative and in consonance with her mantra of engendering research and product development, the Vice Chancellor approved the pilot test-run of a software application developed by FUTA students for access control at the Albert Ilemobade Library. The software, named TouchNut, developed by a team led by a 400-level student of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Daniel Adeniyi, is now being used to regulate the entry and exit of students into the university library and to monitor activities.
Perhaps buoyed by the support from the Vice Chancellor, more students and faculty members are also involved in product research and development more than ever before. A group of students under the guidance of their lecturer, Ayobami Adedokun, are putting finishing touches to the development of Smoke and Alcohol Detection Devices. According to the team lead from FUTA’s Computer Engineering Department, the “microcontroller-based system aimed at monitoring illegal smoking and drinking activities on campus. This innovative device sends location data to the law enforcement department, promoting a safer university environment and enhancing the quality of education. With successful testing, we're now exploring AI integration to identify various substances detected by the device."
Prof. Oladiji, who said steps will be taken for the deployment of the software to other relevant areas, including campus shuttle transportation, reiterated that the university will continue to support students and faculty members to translate their research into concrete reality through product development, registration of their intellectual property, and its commercialization.
Prominent among other achievements of the last two years is the recent ranking of FUTA as the Third-best university in Nigeria by the Times Higher Education’s 2024 World University Rankings (WUR), which includes 1,904 universities across 108 countries and regions. Also, FUTA in the last ranking conducted by the National Universities Commission is ranked Number 2 among Federal Universities and retains the position of the country’s best University of Technology.
Underscoring the global recognition of its academic giant strides under the leadership of Professor Oladiji, FUTA has also been ranked as the fourth-best university in Nigeria in the 2024 edition of the Alper-Doger (AD) Scientific Index Ranking out of the 282 participating institutions. Also, Professor Ganiyu Oboh of the department of biochemistry at FUTA was ranked the fourth-best scientist in the country.
And just in January 2024 FUTA led other Universities in the National Research Fund Grants. Researchers from FUTA won the highest number of grants, 17, out of the 185 research proposals scheduled for funding under the 2023 Grant Cycle by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund’s (TETFund) National Research Fund (NRF) initiative. By that token FUTA is Nigeria’s leading University in Research.
In December 2022 two dons from the University, Professor Peter Ayodeji and Dr Emmanuel Olutomilola were joint winners of the country’s most prestigious Award in the Sciences, the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Science.
Also in May 2024, Doctoral student in the Department of Biochemistry, Mopelola Dele-Joshua was named winner of the 2024 Fulbright Foreign Student Program award for research in the United States of America for 2024/2025 academic year. Dele-Joshua whose PhD research is titled “Development of Recombinant Bifunctional Chimeric Enzyme from Bacillus subtilis CFB-09 for Efficient Simultaneous Delignification and Saccharification of Corncob” will carry out part of her PhD research at U.S. Department of Energy: Joint Bioenergy Institute in Emeryville, California, United States of America.
Professor Oladiji has also sustained and improved on the partnership FUTA has with the industries and related research institutions and relevant organisations. Currently a team of researchers from the University, under the aegis of the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer/Information Exchange between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Czech Republic, is working on the development of a Bioethanol Plant. The team led by Prof. Olayinka O. Awopetu is working with Nigerian partners from the industries to build the plant in FUTA.
And following the exploratory visit of officials of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA to FUTA Central Laboratory on Thursday, 17th August 2023 a Memorandum of Understanding to add further fillip to the agreed collaboration between both institutions was officially signed on 26th January 2024 at the IITA Office with Professor Oladiji leading the FUTA team. Also, the University currently hosts The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Centre of Excellence for Geology and Geophysical Studies, further consolidating its leading position in the Nigerian University system.
The focus on intra and inter University research is deliberate. The FUTA Vice Chancellor believes that despite the present challenges the nation is facing, there are abundant human and natural resources which if optimally explored and exploited can place the country on a global pedestal which can lead to growth and development and better quality of life for the people. According to her the University must continue to lead the search for solutions to the country’s myriads of problems. And FUTA is showing the way through collaborative partnership to generate ideas and products to solve some of these problems.
Professor Oladiji has also deepened the University’s relationship with its alumni worldwide. To her the support of alumni is a major source of funding for university education anywhere in the world. According to the Vice Chancellor, “It is a thing of joy that FUTA and some institutions in this clime are gradually tapping into the model and it is a win-win situation with more alumni giving back to their institution and ensuring that they support the provision and rejuvenation of infrastructure in hostels and classes and other critical areas.” Through her deliberate effort, FUTA now has more sets of graduating classes identifying with the needs of the University, and the burden of Management has become lighter, and more resources is now available and being channelled to research, innovation and expansion.
Without doubt, Professor Oladiji has consolidated the leading position of FUTA as a foremost research-intensive University, ensured the sustenance and deepening of collaboration with key local and international universities and institutions, championed the rejuvenation of critical infrastructure and human capital development thereby creating a conducive atmosphere for Teaching, Research and Community Service. Under her watch, a Greater FUTA is in the Making.
Professor Oladiji with a keen sense of dedication to duty and pragmatic leadership style is certainly sustaining the legacy of excellence FUTA is known for and breaking new frontiers. Her tenure has been characterized by high ethical standards in her relationship with all and sundries through a sheer display of courage, fairness, integrity, transparency, professionalism, and exemplary leadership.
As she continues her tenure, this is her promise; “FUTA will not relent in its quest for excellence and relevance in the comity of global universities. Our students and eminent scholars and scientists can continue to count on getting the best support in all their endeavours to deepen FUTA's position as a citadel of academic excellence, LEADING RESEACH INTENSIVE University where technology for self-reliance is the norm.”
Under the watch of Professor Oladiji, FUTA has continued to thrive and hold its own among the comity of universities both on the local and global stage, making it an academic destination of choice and a citadel of academic and technological excellence. Professor Oladiji is indeed a trailblazer whose imprimatur of excellence now permeates the entire ambience of the University.
FUTA is primed for greater heights in the years ahead as Professor Adenike Temidayo Oladiji continues her pragmatic and result-oriented leadership as Vice Chancellor
