Prof. Siyan Oyeweso and Prof. Sola Akinrinade Celebrate Olu Aina @80 with a new book: Perspectives on Higher Education and Good Governance in Nigeria.
Foreword
It is a delight to write the Foreword to Perspectives on Higher Education and Good Governance in Nigeria: A Festschrift for Professor Olu Aina.
Professor Olu Aina is a distinguished and highly renowned academic, an anti-corruption crusader of distinction and a global icon of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
A more careful analysis of his personal life and career would reveal his progression in three different but socially-oriented areas in which Nigerians will continue to appreciate his sacrifices.
These are: Higher Education; Technical and Vocational Education; and the Anti-Corruption fight. No doubt, a Festschrift for him at the age of 80 is a befitting acknowledgement of his phenomenal contributions to our national life.
I congratulate him on this epochal milestone and wish him many more years of happiness in his work on Higher Education, Technical and Vocational Education, Training and war against Corruption.
Professor Olu Aina has consistently stressed that technical and vocational education is not just the major panacea for poverty reduction but also an avenue for making education services relevant to both urban and rural dwellers. He has also been consistent in his position that for Nigeria to achieve positive and sustainable national agenda on education, government and its agencies must adopt a strong strategic approach in recruiting and retraining quality teachers.
Professor Olu Aina is a critical stakeholder in the higher education sector. His life can offer virtues and benefits of immense significance for coming generations. This book will allow us to arrive at a more meaningful understanding and appreciation of a man who gave his all to the growth and development of his country. In reading this book, we will also see and experience more than his life; the period in which he worked, but also what he had in mind in giving his life to his beloved country. His life career will definitely enrich our lives and future.
The Editors, Professor Siyan Oyeweso and Professor Sola Akinrinade, both First Class historians, deserve commendation for their ability to attract a good number of eminent Professors like Ayodeji Olukoju, Labode Popoola, Olutayo Adesina, Suleiman Ajala, Kola Babarinde and Sheriff Folarin, as contributors to this Festschrift. Indeed, the inclusion of some past and serving Vice-Chancellors as contributors has no, doubt, enriched the quality of the book as they have been able to draw from their own personal experience in managing higher education.
The book is a recommended reading for university administrators, staff of government parastatals and agencies such as National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), National Teachers Institute (NTI) and others with focus on education and, indeed, all persons interested in the improvement of the tertiary education sector in Nigeria.
Peter A. Okebukola DSc, PhD, FSAN, FSTAN, FIAE, DSSE, OFR
Distinguished Professor of Science and Computer Education, Lagos State University
Chairman of Council, Crawford University, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Caleb University, Chairman of Council, National Open University of Nigeria
President, Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi-Africa)
