The eleventh (11th) and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Professsor Rahamon Bello, FAEng has delivered the first of the two Jubilee Lectures slated for the celebration of the 50th Year Anniversary of the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering.
The accomplished academic and administrator delivered the lecture, titled, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, UNILAG: The Past Fifty Years and Looking Forward on Tuesday, October 17, 2023 at the departmental hall, UNILAG Main Campus, Akoka.
Tracing the evolution of the department from its earliest days in 1973, Prof. Bello highlighted the many successes it has recorded in terms human capital production, which has greatly impacted on the industrial development of the country.
He outlined the department’s growth from a single-lecturer, single-programme academic unit to one that has produced hundreds of Chemical Engineers. According to him, a sizeable number of these products returned to join its Faculty, while many others went ahead to exploits in the industry.
“The Department has come of age at 50 and has contributed immensely to the economy of Nigeria. It has graduated 2,434 students with B.Sc (Chemical Engineering) and 544 with B.Sc (Petroleum and Gas Engineering) degrees. The Department has similarly produced 633 M.Sc graduates as well as 38 Ph.D holders, who are making waves, both in the industry and in academia all over the world”, he declared.
Prof. Bello lauded the selfless inputs of people who have contributed to the growth and development of the department, starting from the pioneer Head of Department, Retired Prof. A.F Ogunye and his many successors in office. He charged the leadership of the department to forge closer relations with its alumni in order to attract more benefits to the department.
His words, “The Department has got to the point where its alumni relations should be taken up seriously. It should have its own organ for interfacing with its alumni directly and in liaison with the Alumni Office of the university. We should re-organise our baseline relationships with both our current students and the alumni. If this is properly done, the glorious years of the Department would surely return”.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services), Prof. Lucian Chukwu, represented the Vice-Chancellor at the event. He congratulated the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering on the occasion of their Jubilee, highlighting the significant milestone achievements in academic excellence, research, and community service by staff and students of the Department since inception. He conveyed the felicitations of the Vice-Chancellor on behalf of the entire university and wished the Department more successful years of service and impact.
The founding Head of the Department, Prof. Ayodele Francis Ogunye, was also present to share with the gathering how the journey of the formation of the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering at the University of Lagos all began.
Alumni, staff, and students of the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering Department were present at the lecture. Programmes scheduled for the commemoration of the Jubilee celebration of the department is scheduled to continue on Wednesday, October 18, 2023 with another lecture on The Crucial Role of Alumni in Departmental Development. The celebrations began on Monday, October 16, 2023 with an Awareness Walk and Press Conference. Please click http://196.45.48.45/?p=27568 for more.
