Following his appointment, on Monday, by Lead City University, Ibadan, as emeritus professor in the humanities, Professor Toyin Falola, a University Distinguished Teaching Professor, and the Jacob and Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, the University of Texas at Austin, has described his new status as both symbolic and metaphoric.
Falola whose proclamation at the university’s 15th Convocation Ceremonies as professor emeritus was greeted a rousing ovation stated that the honor done him is a celebration of his over four decades of research, mentorship and teaching.
According to him, ““It is the first time in the history of the Lead City University tradition that this will be done. I have to see the proclamation both in its metaphor and symbolism to honor a history of productivity close to 50 years now. This is a pioneer effort by the university and I am sure they will continue to keep it meritorious, unblemished.
“I had this nostalgia as I looked at the congregation with some of them bagging their PhD. I bagged my PhD in 1981. I was also imagining a very bright future for all of them. I was also praying for them in my mind that they will succeed, and that the contributions of their parents will not go wasted.
“The Yoruba concept of destiny could be applied to me. If I had remained in Nigeria, perhaps I would not have produced that number of research efforts. The comparative intellectual output would not have been possible with the limited facilities here in Nigeria, the strike actions, the lack of electricity. Location does affect what you do and what I do. You will be more productive if you are not thinking about electricity, generator, water, and bad roads. These will affect every job everywhere in the world.”
While saluting the integrity and entrepreneurial acumen of the founder of the university, Falola harped on the need for transparency and excellence both in corporate and private endeavours. “The founder of Lead City University, Professor Jide Owoeye and I were lecturers at the Obafemi Awolowo University together. The impressive Lead City University that you see today was built without corruption; it was built without any stolen money; it was built without any state funding and it is better than the majority of state universities built with state funds in Nigeria. My life is also like that. Everything I have achieved is without blemish, without corruption. My message to all my mentees is that they should not be tempted; they should not get involved in corrupt practices. If you have an opportunity to work for a day, do your work to the best of your abilities. Ask God to bless you in his way; we are not all going to be blessed the same way. For it to be glorious, for that glory to last, we cannot control it. There is no god that will bless everybody the same way. Some people may be blessed with good health but without wealth. For others, it may be with successful children. Why don’t you allow God to bless you in his own way? It is more rewarding, more enduring, more lasting, and more glorious,” he said.
At the convocation ceremony, Professor Falola’s scholarship and humanity were the focal point of celebration. Falola began his academic career as a schoolteacher in Pahayi, Ogun State, in 1970 and by 1981 he was a lecturer at the University of Ife. He earned his B.A. and Ph.D. (1981) in History at the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), in Nigeria.
He joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin in 1991, and has also held short-term teaching appointments at the University of Cambridge in England, York University in Canada, Smith College, Massachusetts, in the United States, The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, and the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos, Nigeria.
In November 2021, he earned an academic D.Litt. in Humanities from the University of Ibadan.
His research interest is African History since the 19th century in the tradition of the Ibadan School; his geographic areas of interest include Africa, Latin America and the United States; and his thematic fields include Atlantic history, diaspora and migration, empire and globalization, intellectual history, international relations, religion and culture. Falola is author and editor of more than one hundred books, and he is the general editor of the Cambria African Studies Series (Cambria Press).
He has received honorary doctorates, lifetime career awards and honors in various parts of the world, including: The Lincoln Award, Nigerian Diaspora Academic Prize, Cheikh Anta Diop Award, Amistad Award, SIRAS Award for Outstanding Contribution to African Studies, Africana Studies Distinguished Global Scholar Lifetime Achievement Award, Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, Fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria, and The Distinguished Africanist Award.
He has also received honorary degree of doctors of letters from several universities, both within and outside Nigeria.