In a world quick to cast blame, carbon has long stood trial; vilified as the villain of ecological woes. However, at the 19th Inaugural Lecture in the 2024/2025 Academic Session of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) held on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, Professor Mohammed Awwalu Usman, the inaugural lecturer, turned the tide with research-based conviction.
In his enlightening inaugural lecture titled: Is Carbon Truly as Guilty as Charged? The Perspective of a Process Systems Engineer on Sustainability, Professor Usman brought before the gathering a compelling argument, one that challenges convention, invites a more nuanced conversation about the future of sustainability, and stirred a rethink.
With the precision of a systems engineer and the clarity of a scholar deeply immersed in his field, Professor Usman re-examined carbon’s place in the climate change narrative. Rather than joining the chorus that vilifies carbon, he made a strong case for context by placing the spotlight instead on in-efficient human systems and indulgent practices that waste resources and damage the environment.
Drawing from years of meticulous research, Professor Usman shared insights from five (5) major studies; each one a testimony to what is possible when engineering meets foresight. From retrofitting refineries and integrating food-energy policies, to valorising waste and innovating greener industrial processes, his lecture showed that sustainability is not an illusion; it is achievable, measurable, and, with the right tools, scalable.
Professor Usman’s daring verdict at the end of his lecture was to exonerate carbon as not being the culprit the world has masked it to be. He instead held up a mirror to humanity; to human excesses, greed, and careless march toward unsustainability.
Beyond the data and models, embedded throughout his lecture was the reminder that nature wastes nothing, and neither should humans. In advocating for a shift from net zero to net wisdom, Professor Usman called on all sectors: policy, industry, academia among others, to rethink approach. Sustainability, he urged, must move beyond buzzwords into systems, behaviours, and design thinking.
Professor Usman’s lecture is a call to strategic stewardship, with an enduring value challenging humans to be more responsible in building a world where engineering aligns with ethics, where waste is minimised, and where sustainability is no longer an abstract goal, but an intentional practice embedded in policy, industry, and education.
Born on Sunday, February 25, 1968, into the family of Alhaji Dademoh Usman and Mrs Aishatu Usman, at Idiche in Okene, Kogi State, Professor Mohammed Awwalu Usman is an astute Professor of Process Systems Engineering at the University of Lagos.
He trailed the path of emerging best among his peers. He was the overall best in the final certificate examination in primary school (1980); emerged overall best in the WAEC examination (1985); had the overall best Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB) result for his A’level (1986); and graduated as the overall best student when he obtained his B.Eng. Chemical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1990).
After his NYSC in 1991, he proceeded to the University of Lagos (UNILAG) where he obtained his M.Sc. (1993) and PhD (2003) in Chemical Engineering.
In 1994, Prof. Usman began his career by joining the services of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) as a Graduate Assistant in the Department of Chemical Engineering and rose through the ranks to become Professor in 2020.
Renowned in his chosen profession, Professor Usman’s area of specialisation is Process Systems Engineering (Sustainable Process Technology); Biofuels and Development of catalyst for sustainable energy; Adsorption, Catalysis and Chemical Reaction Engineering; Polymer and Composite Materials. His major research area is in Process Systems Engineering with focus on resources conservation. His other research interests are in Reaction Engineering and Polymer composites.
Professor Usman is happily married and blessed with children.
Author: Nike Ogunshakin
Photographer: Ayomide Oloyede
Article Editor: Adejoke Alaga-Ibraheem
One Response
It was a good outing, I trust prof usman any time any day. Am happy to have passed under his tutelage.