ADDRESS BY THE ACTING VICE-CHANCELLOR
PROFESSOR G. M. EDINGTON

MR CHANCELLOR, PRO-CHANCELLOR AND CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL, YOUR EXCELLENCIES, MY LORDS, KABIYESIS, DISTINGUISHED GUESTS_, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

First of all, I should like to welcome and thank our guests who are present this morning, particularly those who have travelled from distant places, including our Honorary Graduands. We are honoured to have you here this morning to pay tribute to our successful students who have been found worthy to be awarded degrees and certificates of this University.

Vice-Chancellor Lambo, in last year's Foundation Day address, reviewed in depth the history of this University. My address this year, therefore, will be limited to a review of the progress of the University during the past academic session with some speculations, perhaps, on our future plans in the decade to come.

Firstly, however, I should like to refer to the resignation of Professor T. A. Lambo, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, and of Mr N. K. Adamolekun, the Registrar. Professor Lambo was the recipient last session of the Haille Selasie I African Research award in recognition of the merits of his research and achievements in Africa. In addition, he was selected by the Jacques Parisot Foundation as the 1971 Parisot lecturer. Professor Lambo is a member of numerous international scientific committees, including the Chairman-ship of the Scientific Council for Africa. He has now been appointed to the Assistant Director-Generalship of the World Health Organisation, and I am sure that Congregation would wish me, on their behalf, to send their warmest greetings and heartiest congratulations to him on this appointment.

Mr Adamolekun resigned after nineteen years service in the University of Ibadan and he has been the Registrar of the University for the last eleven years. He is desirous of con­tinuing his legal career and I am sure we all wish him well in this admirable profession. His sage advice and pithy and incisive comments will be sadly missed in the higher admini­stration of this University.

May I say at this stage, how deeply honoured I myself feel at having been given the privilege to act as Vice-Chancellor even for a short time of this internationally recognised and, indeed, world famous University. I shall earnestly try to do all that I can during my tenure of office to enhance this reputa­tion and am deeply conscious of the confidence which higher authority has shown in allowing me to act in this capacity. I would also like to pay tribute to the staff, at all levels, in the University for the support and help they have given me in these first few weeks in office. I should also like to say that during this interim period, I am extremely happy to have as the Acting Registrar Mr S. J. Okudu-who is well known to most of you here today. The machinery for the election of a successor to the Vice-Chancellor is already under way and the post of Registrar has been advertised.

This morning, 37 Doctorates and 15 Masters degrees are being awarded-a total of 52 higher degrees. It should be mentioned that, for the first time, Doctorates of Philosophy are being awarded in the Departments of Forestry, Political Science and Sociology. We extend to them our congratula­tions. Yesterday, a total of 220 Diplomas and Certificates were awarded in our six Faculties. The previous highest total of postgraduate degrees awarded was 28 in 1968/69. When we consider that there are also a number of our postgraduate students studying and obtaining higher degrees overseas, it is evident that the postgraduate programmes so carefully planned in the sixties by Dr Dike and continued by Mr J. Harris and Professor Lambo, supported by a generous grant from the Ford Foundation, are indeed reaching fruition-and

I think it can be said that this University is fulfilling its duty in training high-level manpower for the expanding educational programmes in Nigeria both at the University and College levels.

We are also honouring 801 students who have successfully obtained their Bachelors degrees. For the first time, over 50-indeed 56-doctors have qualified with the M.B.,B.S. (I badan) and it isnoteworthythat there are 598 undergraduates in the Faculty of Medicine and the intake this year exceeded 120. In the Faculty of Agriculture, the intake has exceeded 150. A total of 1,230 new students have been admitted this session and our undergraduate enrolment stands at 3,600. This is, of course, creating problems within the University both for the administration and the students.

I feel that, here, I must mention the tragic events of 1 February 1971 in which a student lost his life. The University is deeply conscious of its duties to students and has been and is thinking seriously of the actions it should take to prevent such an occurrence ever again happening in the University. Our hands, unfortunately, are still somewhat tied as we are still awaiting the publication of the results of the Kazeem Commission which we presume will make some recommen­dations which will, no doubt, affect certain aspects of students life in the University. We in the University, however, cannot wait much longer as we consider it essential that early in this session, the administration should have frank and open dialogue with the student executive in order that some of the outstanding problems can be solved. There is no doubt in my mind that increased student participation in many facets of this University's administration-using the term in its broadest sense-is justified and necessary.

Apart from the problems of students accommodation, accommodation within the University campus is continuing to exercise the minds of the authorities. Agricultural land for expansion is an urgent necessity and has been for some considerable time the subject of negotiations with the

Government of the Western State of Nigeria. New building complexes have been grouped around the playing field and the most recent of which, Phase one of the Faculty of Social Sciences, has just been completed. The University is grateful to the early planners and architects for the excellent detail and overall unifying concept which has made this University one of the most admired in tropical Africa. Nevertheless, we have to think of the future and there are many problems. Serious thought is being given to them at present by the Building, Works and Sites Committee in order that orderly planned expansion for an enlarged student body can be similarly successfully achieved.

The buildings of the first phase of the new Faculty of Agriculture complex whose foundation stone was laid by General Yakubu Gowon, Head of the Federal Military Government, at last year's Foundation Day ceremony are nearing completion and it is hoped will be occupied before the end of this academic year. The second and third phases, at a total cost of £0.8 million, are due to commence in a few weeks time and will provide the permanent home for the departments of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Sciences and, it is hoped, release the temporary buildings in which they have been housed for the last 21 years-for nothing is more permanent than a temporary building-for other urgent projects.

The Medical School is embarking on a major expansion programme which will include the provision of the Pathology/ Clinical Science complex, a new Medical Library, a lecture theatre, animal house and postgraduate centre. Some capital funds are already available for part of the complex and outside support for the others is being actively sought.

Expansion in Faculties and Departments

During the last session, a number of new projects have been instituted-two of these perhaps holding pride of place. I refer to the Jos Campus Project and the Institute of Applied Science

and Technology. The Jos Campus Project has now been care-fully considered by Senate and Council and unanimous appro­val has been given to the initial planning. The University of lbadan welcomed the invitation of the Government of the Benue-Plateau State to extend the University's academic activities to the State by establishing this campus. This deve­lopment is in line with the University of lbadan Act which states that it shall be the general function of the University to encourage the advancement of learning throughout Nigeria.

The University over the years, has increasingly concentrated on graduate training and research. It is hoped that the Jos Campus, for the first few years, will relieve the University of lbadan, to some extent, of the load of undergraduate teaching in order that even greater attention can be paid to graduate development. Secondly, the Campus at Jos should make it possible for the large North-Eastern part of Nigeria to have easily available a centre of learning which will provide a strong incentive for more scholars to take an interest in the education of the people, its cultures and its economic possibi­lities. It is also hoped that the Jos Campus will widen the horizon of students being trained there and that new friend-ships and new relationships will prove of everlasting value not only to the students themselves, but to Nigeria as a whole. We are grateful to the Government of the Benue-Plateau State for providing the financial assistance which has made this project feasible.

I have been authorised to appoint an acting Principal of the Jos Campus, and I am happy to say that Professor E. A. Ayandele has kindly agreed to undertake this task. It is hoped that classes in preliminary Arts subjects will commence in January 1972 and in Science and Education shortly after-wards. I should like to pay tribute to the many members of the University who have worked so hard to bring this scheme to fruition, especially Vice-Chancellor Lambo, Professors

Ayandele, Barbour and Bamgbose, the Chief Engineer Mr Igiehon, and the Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor, Mr A. M. Babalola, to name but a few.

To further emphasise the role which this University feels it should play in the advancement of learning throughout Nigeria, the Institute of Education is involved in the planning and administration of the new Advanced Teacher's College in the Rivers State in Port Harcourt which is affiliated with this University.

In addition, the Institute of African Studies is maintaining two field studies of Nigerian traditional culture at Nri in the East Central State and at Oturkpo in the Benue-Plateau State. During the past year, the Institute has also launched a new series of high-fidelity gramophone discs, called Nigerian Cultural Records. In this series, there have already appeared complete recordings of three Yoruba operas, traditional Ogun drum-music and chants, and a record of traditional Idoma music from the Benue-Plateau State. These recordings are accompanied by full vernacular texts and translations, and they make possible a far deeper study of Nigerian poetry and music than heretofore. In this connection, I might also mention that the Institute has a large and valuable collection of traditional art and that the provision of proper museum facilities on our campus is an outstanding problem.

With regard to the Institute of Applied Science, we are hoping to obtain considerable outside aid for this project which is being discussed, at the moment, and the formative plans are already far advanced.

At a special meeting of Senate on 8 November, it was agreed that a Board of Management of the Institute of Applied Science and Technology be set up to recommend to Senate courses and syllabuses of study within the Institute for its consideration. It was approved that the following programmes be established :

Agricultural Engineering; Forestry Engineering;

Wood Technology;

Petroleum Technology; and Food Technology.

Here, I must pay tribute to Dr Andrew Stewart and the Canadian Government for the help they have given-at our request-to the initial planning of this project which we hope will increase the efficiency of the utilisation of the enormous potential in this country of food, wood, petroleum and other natural resources-thus obviating the need to import expensive processed materials and reducing the necessity to recruit experts from overseas.

In addition to these projects, this year the M.Med-a higher professional qualification-has been initiated in the Faculty of Medicine to enable young Nigerian doctors to obtain their professional qualifications in Nigeria without the necessity of taking overseas examinations which has been the standard practice to date. The M.Med. course will, in content, be virtually the same as the Fellowship of the Nigerian Medical Council.

The New Department of Archaeology in the Faculty of Science is now teaching students drawn from the three Faculties of Arts, Science and the Social Sciences, so helping to bridge the gulf between the Arts and the Sciences. It is hoped that the training of Nigerian archaeologists will lead to more intensive exploration and the preservation of Nigeria's heritage.

In the Faculty of Arts, in addition to the Degree courses in Hausa and Yoruba, teaching in Igbo has now been implemented.

A B.Ed. degree with Adult Education as one of its subjects has been approved and, of great importance to the Univer­sity, and in-service training scheme for the Intermediate and Junior Staff in general education has been instituted in the same department this year. Assistance is also being given in the teaching of Science as an extra-mural subject at the G.C.E. (0) level throughout Nigeria. A new certifi­cate course in Trade Unionism and Industrial Relations has also been established.

The Department of Library Studies is aware of the national need for highly trained librarians and an expansion prog­ramme has been initiated both at graduate and non-graduate levels. The new certificate course in Library Studies has been well supported.

Postgraduate Diplomas in Crop Protection in the Faculty of Agriculture and in Nutrition in the Faculty of Medicine have also been established during the session.

Lastly, in this context, in addition to new Diploma and Certificate courses instituted in the various Faculties, I should mention that this is the first year in which our students will complete their full clinical training in Veteri­nary Medicine in the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Science in the University of Ibadan.

Tribute to Distinguished Colleagues

Many of our staff have been appointed to National and International Councils and have attained Fellowships in many learned societies during the past session. It would be impossible to mention all so honoured but, this connec­tion, I would like to make an exception-namely, our Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Sir Samuel Manuwa, who has been elected, in his own right, as a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. May we extend our heartiest congratulations to him today.

We must congratulate Professor D. A. H. Taylor, Professor and Head of the Department of Chemistry, who has been awarded the Doctor of Science degree by Oxford University for research work done at the University of Ibadan.

Professor Thurstan Shaw, Head of the Department of Archaeology, has been awarded the Amaury Talbot Prize

of the Royal Anthropological Institute for 1970 for his book entitled "Igbo-Ukwu". The prize is awarded to the author or authors of the most valuable of the works of anthropological research which are submitted in the Competition.

Professor J. F. A. Ajayi, in the Department of History, was honoured by being asked to give the inaugural lecture at the formal inauguration of the University of Makerere, Uganda. The title of his lecture was "African Universities and the African Tradition".

Dr F. B. A. Giwa, Lecturer in the Department of Physics, has been awarded the First W.H.O. Research Award for Regional Association on the basis of the merit of his paper on "Response Curves in the Theory of Atmospheric Oscilla­tions". Mr M. S. Ibianga, a Postgraduate Diploma student in the Department of Forestry, is among the winners of this year's world-wide essay competition on The Student's Views on Forestry Education.

Dr A. S. Sagoe, Medical Research Training Fellow in the Opac% \ o tiaama\o\o% was b^pe~ aua~dea 'se Charlotte Brown Prize by the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine London for published work which has been undertaken in lbadan.

Professor H. C. Kodilinye, Head of the Department of Ophthalmology, has been appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Professor T. A. I. Grillo, Head of the Department of Anatomy, has been named as Dean of the new Faculty of Health Sciences at the Univer­sity of Ife.

Dr E. U. Emovon has been appointed Professor and Head of Department of Chemistry in the Institute of Technology, Benin City. Dr S. J. Una has been appointed Professor and Head of Department of Chemistry and the first Deputy Rector of the College of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt.

The University congratulates all its members on these outstanding achievements.

Benefactions

We are grateful to the Federal Military Government which, through the National Universities Commission, is responsible for our recurrent and capital income. However, our resources are limited and our staff development and postgraduate programmes would have had to be seriously curtailed if it were not for the generous help given to us by various Governments, Foundations, International Agen­cies, Companies and individuals. We are especially grateful to the British, Canadian, French, Japanese and West German Governments for their help in staff and agricul­tural development during the year. The Ford and Rockefeller Foundations have continued their generous help in the fields of Virology, rural health, agriculture, and supported research and training programmes in the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research. A strong link has been forged between the Faculty of Agriculture and the Inter-national Institute of Tropical Agriculture which adjoins our campus.

The Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom has helped in research projects in the Faculty of Medicine. The World Health Organization, UNESCO and F.A.O. have continued their support.

The Oil companies-especially Shell-BP, Gulf Oil, and Mobil Producing Nigeria have given generous help in the fields of Geology and Petroleum Technology. Mrs Ransome-Kuti and Bishop S. C. Phillips have donated generously to the Library, and Miss J. M. Bray, a visiting lecturer in the Department of Geography, has donated a bursary to that Department.

To all our benefactors may we express our sincere appre­ciation and thanks.

Many Universities throughout the world are anxious to have student and staff exchange programmes with us-mainly in the field of African Studies-this is especially so

in the United States. We are anxious to foster these inter-national links but problems of funds and accommodation have of necessity drastically curtailed our response in this direction-and indeed we have had to refuse many approa­ches made to us. We are anxiously seeking outside support in order that these programmes can be extended.

Before I close, may I re-echo the Chancellor's good wishes to all our graduating students and to those of you fortunate enough to have obtained the "golden fleece^" of a postgraduate degree. I would emphazise that this Univer­sity does not consider that its responsibility to its students ends with the granting of such degrees. We have a Careers Board which, I hope, may be of help to you in the future. We are most anxious to strengthen the Alumni Associa­tion and the administration is thinking seriously about how it can keep more closely in touch with its graduates-perhaps through a newsletter or perhaps by enlarging the scope of the excellent journal "Ibadan".

At last we have managed to obtain finance through the generosity of the Rockefeller Foundation to undertake research into the careers of our graduates from the date of the foundation of this University. This information should be most helpful to our Careers Board, to the University and, I hope, to the Alumni Association. I would commend this association to you as a means of preserving the friend-ships you have made during the course of your studies here and also of extending permanently your contacts with graduates on a national basis.

Finally, on behalf of the entire staff and students of this University, may I wish all of you the greatest success in your future careers.

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