From Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
The Vice chancellor of the Federal University Lokoja, Prof Olayemi Akimwumi has said henceforth no lecturer of the university will be considered for any academic positions such as Deans and Heads of department without delivering Inaugural lecture.
The new Vice chancellor who gave this disclosure recently at the 3rd inagural lecture of the university expressed worry that the Egg heads of the university seems not to be so excited in delivering Inaugural lectures and other seminar papers saying that is the hallmark of scholartic 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 while other faculties seem to be docile
He however expressed pleasure that within few months of his assumption into office , he was able to organise the third Inaugural lecture and challenged other faculties that are yet to have scholars deliver such lectures to do so.
He expressed his commitment towards improving the academic actovities 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, has identified water as an important resources without which human beings can exist.
Water, the university don said, is a basic necessity and it is important to life, saying 78% of human blood is water and that the bones consists of 30% water.
Prof 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 studies water interfacing with the atmosphere. The hydrologist considers aspects of evaluation, forecasting,planning and storage of flood waters.
“The limnologists study lake water; groundwater hydrologist study the movement of groundwater through previous media and the agriculturist engineers and Hydrogeologist deal with surface water for the purposes they should serve in those fields,” he emphasised.
He described Inaugural Lectures as important to the academics and 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, Prof Olayemi Akinwunmi and his colleagues for giving him the opportunity.
Highlights of the event was the presentation of certificates by the VC of the university to all presenters of inaugural lectures, including Prof Bala.