•Prof Niniola Akinwande
Professor Niniola Ife Oluwa Akinwande of the Department of Mathematics Federal University of Technology, Minna, is a Fellow of the Nigerian Mathematical Society. The father of three children speaks in this interview on the advocacy he has engaged by organising international conferences to propose mathematical modelling as part of solutions to socio-economic problems, reports Sunday Tribune.
Excerpts:
Sir, don’t you think it is time for our academics to develop models that can solve our own local problems in Nigeria, for instance, the health issues like HIV/ AIDS, Lassa fever, among others, and stop relying on foreign donors especially against the background of the United States of America’s president, Donald Trump’s decision to stop aids to Nigeria and some other African countries?
Well, you will agree with me that we should not depend on palliatives because we are already like people living in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs )camps and living below poverty lines. The truth of the matter is, as much as we are bringing things from the left, right and everywhere, government will still try to be collecting the dole-outs. The truth of the matter is that Nigeria is rich with human and material resources; all we need to do is to develop our own resources. You cannot depend on aids. Aids tie the receiver to the donors because whosoever gives the piper, will [call] the tune. There is no aid that will not have something attached to it and you cannot have aid that will not have strings attached to it. So, when you collect it, first and foremost they will tell you how to disburse it or how you can utilize it and what you can do with the aids. Underneath these demands, there will be some other demands and conditions that may not even be published or be publishable.
My friend, I don’t believe that Nigeria is poor. Rather, Nigeria is rich in minerals; we are rich in human resources and we are rich in land. I think part of the component of TETFund is to support innovations When people develop tools that can be multiplied, they should be encouraged. Companies should be encouraged to take those tools and multiply them. Otherwise, even some of these things, the developed countries would go there, take them away in raw materials and will come back to come and sell them to us, so that there will be changes in our foreign reserves. In the research we are doing, all that is needed to be done is to harness research outputs and implement them. That is why collaborations should be encouraged. I am sure we have enough brilliant people in this country that can bring us to the Promised Land. But the question is whether there is a political will to articulate what we have modelled and adopt it by utilizing it. What I am saying is that the best should be supported and encouraged.
Are you not worried by the way Nigerian elite travel abroad for medical tourism instead of using the local tertiary health institutions?
Well, nobody, especially any intelligent person will support that. We have tertiary medical institutions located in the six geopolitical zones that can be equipped and supported to provide any kind of medical treatment. It is just a misplacement of priorities. Now, our doctors have been trooping out of the country and a lot of people are jetting out. There is no ailment that cannot be treated in places like the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Samaru, Zaria and the one that University of Nigeria Nzukka has. If there is the political will, the resources that are being wasted through medical tourism, maybe 10 percent of it, will do fantastic work in Nigeria. If there is a law that makes it impossible for the elite to go out for medical treatment or medical tourism, maybe they will pay attention to the [poor state] of our hospitals. Travelling abroad for medical treatment is a waste of resources. And you will be surprised that in most of these places they’re travelling to, it is Nigerian doctors that will be treating them.
Do you think taking proper care of our health care personnel and professionals in other critical sectors will stop them from emigrating to other countries?
Yes, I support the idea that they should be made comfortable and secured because these are the major things that is driving people out. If there is security and people are relatively comfortable, I am sure they won’t troop out of the country because there are some basic minimum needs that people expect. But when those things are not there and there is attraction outside, what happens next is a loss to the system. If you have used the local resources to train that person to this level and that person may not be useful to you, it means a great loss to the system. So, that is the major challenge. There should be political will to ensure adequate security, proper remuneration of people and the tools for working should be available. Resources should be available, where sound minds in the academics and other sectors can deliver.
There were reports of instances where some lecturers applied for sabbatical abroad, but refused to return to the country and take up their jobs…
Well, it is part of what I said earlier. When you leave where you are and go to a comfort zone, of course, even if it is an animal, the animal may not want to leave the comfort zone. So, let us make our environment attractive, conducive and and make things work. All these things that they are taken for granted abroad, let them be made available here. It is then you can be able to compare. In our own little way, we are trying to organize a standardised Mathematical Modelling International Conference to standardised preparation of papers and the disseminations of Research outputs. So, that is part of our contribution.
So, if there is the political will and the tools are there for these professionals to do the work and when they are well remunerated and made relatively comfortable, they will definitely stay back to do the job. In the developed countries, if you are in the academic environment, you don’t have to worry about electricity supply nor Internet facility; you don’t have to worry about water; you don’t have to worry about your transportation to your place of work and back at home. You have minimum comfort around you; so you are able to focus on what you are doing. But our own situation is not like that in Nigeria. In the early 1990s and between 1990 and 1992 when I was at the University of Ibadan, we had some semblance of sanity then. You can be in your office, even if you want to stay in your office, overnight to do your work. There was light; there was water and there was security, and almost all of the university staff were living on the campus ( if not all.) But now, we have a university that cannot accommodate the students. A lecturer will get to the office at 9:00 am and close latest by 4:00 pm and while he or she is there, there may be no light, water and no Internet facility and you want that system to compete with a university in the United States of America. In fact, it won’t happen. So, we keep establishing universities with the intention of creating more universities that will only bear titles and cannot produce anything.
Having worked very hard to leave a legacy behind in the academic environment in Nigeria as a former President, Mathematical Society of Nigeria, leader of Mathematics Research Modelling Group at FUT Minna’s Mathematics department, what are your plans after your retirement?
Well, some of us have lectured some students and I am proud of these people I am mentoring in our Group. For instance, our research group comprises some lecturers from six universities. We have lecturers from Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa states and some other departments. These are rich academicians that can take over from us, and we will keep on encouraging them, that their focus shouldn’t be on money but what they can do for humanity. We have people around that we have developed and they are developing. It will surprise you that very many times [students] will come and meet me and say thank you, sir. Somebody is going to do a presentation somewhere and we will sit down, they will bring people to my home here in Minna because we want some quiet environment and we will sit down to assist them in proffering solutions to the problems. So, we are contributing our quota. But when you talked of retirement, well the retirement age is now fixed at 70 years and I am looking forward to that in a few years time. And I am looking forward to that. People like us, we are just looking forward to it, though we cannot Japa again, we want to do the little we can do to help our people. I have been to the USA and I came back. I went to several places and came back. I have been to Kenya, Italy and wherever I travelled to in any part of the world, I have always come back to Nigeria. It is unfortunate that many people are being forced out, but the unfortunate thing is that the moment you leave the shores of Nigeria, you will become a second-class citizen . Whatever you carry, you will become a second-class citizen. It is good to be in your country and contribute your quota. But the political system need to be looked into as far as Politics is concerned.
What would you like to tell the people you’re mentoring?
My message to them is that Nigeria belongs to us; we should make up our minds that this country, especially being in the academics, we should contribute our own quota. I will also keep encouraging the younger generations to pay due attention to academics and develop some knowledge. Without knowledge no society can raise its head in the comity of nations. So, we will keep encouraging them because in the long run, there will be the place of money and there will be place of dignity and honour. There is honour and dignity in academics. I have been honoured to visit very many parts of Nigeria because at a time I was the president of Mathematics Society of Nigeria. We are contributing our quota and they are still consulting us and we believe in Nigeria.
And we believe that we have good minds, sound brain in this country. It is evident because even when Nigerians go out of the country to other countries, they are outstanding. We just wish that the environment can be better, that people can be well taken care of across board, in medicine, engineering, the academics and that facilities should be provided and then functions and ideally, Universities should be a community but not like a secondary school where people come in the morning and leave in the afternoon. In fact, you cannot treat universities like that if you must rank among the best universities in the world. And you should not allow other developed countries to come and dump its finished goods in Nigeria. There are local problems that must be fixed locally because what works in America may not work in Nigeria.
When you talk of diseases, what works in another country may not work in Nigeria because of our structure, because of our system and because of the way we cluster. So, there is a need to develop locally, to introduce our findings locally.
Beyond being a professor of Mathematics, who, really, is Professor Niniola Ife- Oluwa Akinwande?
Well, I was born in Abeokuta, Ogun State some 56 years ago and I was privileged to attend the prestigious Baptist Grammar School, Abeokuta and after that I attended Pankshin College of Education in Plateau State and then later after teaching in some secondary schools, I attended the University of Ibadan and at the University of Ibadan, after I graduated, because I had already observed my NYSC in 1980- 1981, I was just able to continue with my Master’s degree. I was employed by the University of Ibadan in May 1990 as an Assistant Lecturer after the completion of my Master’s programme. I did my PhD there and after my PhD, I visited Legon, University in Ghana. I transferred my employment to the Federal University of Technology Minna in 2,000, then as a Senior Lecturer and I rose to the rank of a Professor in 2007. At sometimes, I was the Head of Department, and I have held some offices in the university. Now, my attention is just to mentor the people that are around me and that are interested in me.
