By joshua 
Ogori-Magongo LGA Born Former Kogi SSG, Prof. Olugbemiro Jegede Honoured As Gbadeniyi of Apata Land.
The immediate past, Secretary to Kogi State Government, Emeritus Professor, Olugbemiro Jegede was today honoured as the Gbadeniyi of Apata Land.
The recognition was made at the Ceremony of the 10th year coronation anniversary of the Olu of Apata, Oba Dr Frederick Durojaiye Balogun F.CIBMA, JP.
Prof. Jegede was among ten personality conferred with chieftaincy titles. Other recipients include Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, Kogi State Governor.
Other who got honoured with the prestigous Chieftaincy titles include; Gov. Ahmed Usman Ododo (AARE ATULUSE OF APATALAND)
2 Alh Aliko Dangote (AARE TAYESE OF APATALAND)
3 Emeritus Prof. Olugbemiro jegede (GBADENIYI OF APATALAND)
4 Engr. Edwin Devakumar (AARE AFIWAJOYE OF APATALAND)
5 Engr. Gugune Prakash (ATUWASE OF APATALAND)
6 Dr. Onimode Abdullahi Bandele (BOBAGUNWA OF APATALAND)
7, Mal. Dauda O. Momoh (MAYEGUN OF APATALAND)
8. Barr. Funmilayo Schule (ERELU OF APATA LAND)
9. Chief Olusegun Foluwaso Obania (BOBASELU OF APATALAND)
Various speakers at the ceremony, including the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Usman Ahmed Ododo, who was represented by the Secretary to Government of Kogi State, Dr. Mrs. Folashade Arike Ayoade, the Speaker, Kogi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Umar Aliyu, described Prof. Jegede as a global citizen of Kogi State extraction, described him a a pride to the State.
Prof. Jegede who stole the show at the ceremony for his immense contributions to the development of education, particularly in the area of Long distance learning, was described as a positive brand.
In her remarks, the representative of Gov. Ododo, said, ” You’re a gift to the world and we are proud that you are from Kogi State”.
According to the Speaker, ” You have proven to be a rare breed by putting the State on the global map with your outstanding accomplishments”.
Conferring the title on Prof. Jegede, the Olu of Apata, Oba Frederick, said the conferment of the title on the former secretary to the State Government, was a way of rewarding hardwork and exceptional contribution Prof. Jegede has made in the area of distance learning.
Responding after the recognition, Prof. Olugbemiro Jegede said he will continue to offer selfless service to Nigeria as a whole, expressed appreciation to the Apata Community for finding him worthy to be honoured.
In the short biography Profile on Emeritus Professor Olugbemiro Jegede read at the ceremony, shows that
Emeritus Professor Olugbemiro Jegede is the immediate past Secretary to the Government of Kogi State of Nigeria, a past Secretary-General and Chief Executive of the Association of African Universities (AAU) and at the invitation of Federal Government of Nigeria, was the National Co-ordinator for National Open and Distance Learning Programme (NODLP) from 2001 to 2003, and foundation Vice Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) 2003-2010.
The biography said by the time Prof. Jegede completed his tenure in 2010, he had developed the National Open University to be position as the 7th best University in Nigeria as rated by the Webometric global ranking of universities. NOUN has as at today registered over 700,000 students.
Professor Jegede holds a double professorship in two academic areas of Science Education and ODL (digital learning). He is well regarded and respected globally as a result of his numerous and monumental contributions to teaching and learning.
FIVE out of these major global landmarks and significant contributions to education and the development of knowledge by Professor Jegede are:
his Theory of Collateral Learning propounded in 1995, to explain how non-Western science learners attempt to cope within a classroom environment not very receptive to their indigenous knowledge; This Theory of Collateral Learning which, along with other publications has been cited over 7,000 times in global scientific literature at the last count, has been studied by over 56 doctoral graduates world-wide, his Theory of Webagogy for the development of a web-based E-Learning course materials development.
Professor Jegede was a co-founder of the e-Journal Instructional Science and Technology in 1995 as the first electronic journal in ODL in Australia.
He co-organised the first ever Video-conferenced general session at the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) on Scientific literacy: Contextual realities and postmodern controversies with a multi-point linkage with Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Africa and the conference site at Radisson Hotel, New Orleans, LA, USA held from 10.30 am to 12 noon on Saturday, April 29, 2000. This is what is now globally known as zoom.
Professor Jegede was the first in Australia and most probably in the world to successfully run two electronic/online conferences from October 1993 to January 1994 at the University of Southern Queensland to promote campus-wide dialogue on instructional design and its contribution to the development of distance education study materials and, also held a globally acclaimed online conference for the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia as RESODLAA-L on the topic ‘Instructional Design in Distance and Open Education’ from 2 September -7 October 1994.
Among his national and international awards Professor Jegede cherishes most are: the Best Vice-Chancellor in Nigeria 2009 by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), the 2010 Hitachi Software of Japan Award of Hitachi Prominent African Leaders for Change in Education, 2023 AAU Higher Education Ambassador for Open and Distance Learning, the 2009 African Leadership Star Award for Excellence in Tertiary Education, and the AAU Award as Higher Education Ambassador for Open and Distance Learning, July 2023.
As a seasoned scholar and administrator, he has made numerous presentations, and demonstrable expertise, in many areas which include Instructional Design, Psycho-Social Environment and Learning, Knowledge Engineering and Cognitive Science, Assessment and Evaluation of Learning, Information and Communication Technologies in Instructional Delivery, Virtual Reality in flexible delivery of instruction.
In addition to over 160 invited keynote addresses at conferences, workshops, summits, retreats and convocation/graduation ceremonies, he has published more than 25 books and over 173 refereed articles in foremost journals in the world.
Emeritus Professor Jegede served in various higher education capacities in outstanding institutions in Africa, Asia and Europe including Curtin University of Technology, Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Perth, Australia; The University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia; The Open University of Hong Kong; Manager of the East Asia Regional Node for the World Bank Global Distance Education Network at its inception in 1998; and received the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) approval and funding to establish in 2005 the Regional Training and Research Institute for Open and Distance Learning (RETRIDOL) to support capacity building and research in ODL in the West African Sub region.
He was a Member of the Advisory Board of the United Nations University/ L’Université des Nations Unies Institute for Natural Resources in Africa/Institut des Ressources Naturelles en Afrique.
He is the Chancellor of the Littoral University, Porto-Novo, Republic of Benin; and honoured with PhD (honoris causa) of that university. He was conferred in 2013 by Salem University with the degree of D.Sc in Public Administration (honoris causa).
He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Education (FNAE), Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning (FCOL), Fellow of the African Academy of Science (FAAS) and Fellow of the Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (FSTAN).
He is the 2015 recipient of the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE) Prize of Excellence for Lifelong Contribution to the field.
Olugbemiro Jegede is currently the Chairman, TETFund Advisory Committee on Digital Literacy, Productivity and Emerging Skills to, amongst others, work towards promoting and setting up centres of excellence for Digital Literacy in Nigeria.
Olugbemiro Jegede was appointed Emeritus Professor (the first and only two Emeritus Professors) at the National Open University of Nigeria in 2015. He serves as a Consultant to many agencies including AAU, EU, UNESCO, COL, World Bank, AfDB and UNDP.
Emeritus Professor Jegede is a people-oriented, development-focused and humility personified Chief who holds the honorary chieftaincy title of the Ogurefa of Ogori which was conferred in 2010.
He is a well-rounded family person, married and has 4 surviving children, enjoys mentoring young and positive achievers, loves cooking Chinese cuisine, mountaineering, squash racket game, reading, generating ideas and an expert in strategic thinking.
Above all, Emeritus professor Olugbemiro Jegede is a simple, God-fearing gentleman and a devout Christian.