By Taofeek LAWAL, Abuja
All is set for the 489th in the series of the University of Ibadan inaugural lecture to be delivered by Afis Ayinde Oladosu, a Professor in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies and Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan.
The lecture will be held on Thursday April 15, 2021 under the chairmanship of the Acting Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. A.B. Ekanola, at the Trenchard Hall of the university.
A cultural critic, Oladosu scholarly horizon and expertise cover Arab-Islamism, Arab-Muslim Modernities and Middle-Eastern and North African Studies.
Oladosu will be speaking on the topic: “Arab-Islamism, Afrabism and Contrapuntal Criticism”.
Oladosu, a member of the Governing Board, National University Commission (NUC), has also participated in and presented papers in local and international conferences and seminars on Arab-Islamic culture, terrorism, peace-building, gender in Arab societies, law and religion and on globalization.
He has served and still serves as external examiner for under- graduate programmes and as assessor for professorial promotions for universities in and outside Nigeria including the International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM) and University of The Gambia, Banjul.
Before his promotion to the rank of Professor at the University of Ibadan in 2011, Oladosu had competed for and won the following international fellowships and scholarships: 2006 Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Southern Maine and Southern Maine Community College (SMCC), United States; 2007 Bill Gates Scholarship and Fellowship of African Scholar Program among others.
He is also a member of many learned societies including American Studies Association (ASA), United States, Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL), Nigerian Association of Teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies (NATAIS), Association of Professional Translators of English-Arabic in Universities (APETAU) and so on.
According to the erudite scholar, Nigeria will realise its destiny and achieve its potentials only when concerted efforts are made by Ministries, Directorates and Agencies (MDAs) of government to remove all policies and regulations that constitute infractions of the nation’s constitution.
He added that the promotion of peaceful relationships among the various ethnic and religious identities and communities in Nigeria by government agencies is a sine- qua-non for development and advancement.
According to him, one of his philosophies in life is to always be committed to the production of human capital without which no nation can develop.
