– A Concocted, Illogical and Pedestrian Story from the Pit of Hell
The attention of the Federal University, Lokoja, been drawn to a malicious, illogical and pedestrian news report credited to one Emmanuel Adeyemi and published in the sunnewsonline to the effect that the Vice Chancellor, Professor Olayemi Akinwumi, has made the presentation of Inaugural Lectures a criterion for the attainment of the rank of Professor.
We would have ignored the report because of its sheer laughable, illogical and implausible contents, but we consider it imperative to put the event of the 3rd Inaugural Lecture in proper perspective so as to correct the erroneous impression caused by the misleading contents in the minds of the public who expect universities to be the territories for elevated thoughts.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Vice Chancellor’s remarks at the 3rd Inaugural Lecture was a clear reference in the demonstration of such elevated thoughts as he emphasised:
1. The intellectual value of the inaugural lecture as a time honoured academic tradition.
2. That the Inaugural Lecture would be institutionalised in the University as a regular and calendarised event.
3. That every Professor should take up the challenge of presenting their inaugural lectures, WHICH WOULD SUBSEQUENTLY BE A CRITERION FOR APPOINTMENTS INTO OFFICES IN THE UNIVERSITY.
For the sake of reference, the video (with the accompanying audio) of the Vice Chancellor’s remark was streamed live via Zoom and the Facebook Page of the University and is still available on the Facebook page and the University website as transparently uploaded, unedited.
Perhaps, it is the aspect of the Vice Chancellor’s remarks in respect of appointments into offices (in caps above) that the reporter equated with promotion to the rank of Professor.
What the reporter and the medium should know is that, in universities, there are certain offices that only Professors can occupy, and that the Vice Chancellor only made the presentation of Inaugural Lecture a condition for appointments into those offices. His noble intention is to use the appointments to encourage Professors in the University to fulfill the cherished academic tradition.
The reporter and the media establishment in question also need to be educated that:
1. Attainment of Professorial rank, either by appointment or promotion, is subject to both internal and external assessment, and that presentation of Inaugural Lecture has never been a condition;
2. That it is only academics who have attained the FULL RANK of Professor that are qualified to deliver Inaugural Lectures;
3. That consequent upon 2 above, it is illogical and unthinkable to consider the delivery of Inaugural Lectures a criterion for attainment of Professional rank – rather, it is the attainment of the FULL RANK of Professor that qualifies academics for the delivery of the Lecture.
For further education of the reporter and the medium in question, we would like to state that the Vice Chancellor has practically spent his entire adult life teaching and conducting research at the University level, attained the FULL RANK of Professor in 2005 and delivered his Inaugural Lecture in 2009.
It is therefore illogical, baffling and insulting to suggest or insinuate that such a vastly experienced academic could ever come close to making such unthinkable pronouncement.
As a University we are strongly convinced that the laughable and miserable report was a demonstration of the reporter’s lack of knowledge of the University tradition in respect of the attainment of the Rank of Professor and delivery of Inaugural Lectures. Otherwise, the reporter would not have released such a patently and pitiably unfounded, baseless and questionable report which, to all intents and purposes, is meant to embarrass and misrepresent the noble intention of the Vice Chancellor.
We have to stress once more that the intention and actions of the Vice are, and will be, to institute the Inaugural Lecture series at FUL as one of the avenues to showcase the scholarly engagements and outputs of the University Professors.
The general public is therefore invited to disregard this shallow and baseless report of this obviously lazy armchair reporter in its entirety.
Signed: