By Olajire Ishola
Dr. Abdulkarim Oloyede is the first son of Professor Is’haq Oloyede, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin now the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB). He is also a lecturer at the same university. He spoke with Daily Sun recently. Excerpts:
Your father in the past Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin and now Registrar of Joint Admission and Matriculation Board; How has it affected your growing up?
My dad’s position doesn’t influence me in any form, I grew up like any other child. My dad did not allow us his children to misbehave because of his position. He is somebody that does his job with conscience. He doesn’t believe in using his position to influence any of his children’s careers. My dad did not influence my upbringing.
The only area one can say he influenced my life is in the area of giving me sound education. He likes doing things to the best of his ability. That is the reason his way of life is a motivation to we his children.
What has been your father’s influence in your going into academics?
My dad didn’t directly influence my going into academics. My environment influenced me. I have lived my entire life in an academics environment. I went to the University of Ilorin Primary school, which is within the university campus, I also went to the University of Ilorin Secondary School, which is also within the University of Ilorin community, obviously I also went to the University of Ilorin for my first degree. So I have been living within the university, which now informed why I decided to embraced academics as a career. I started from the University of Ilorin, then got transfared to Bayero University in Kano, where I bagged my first degree in Electrical Engineering. After my first degree I wanted to go into the industry, before going for my Masters degree, but opportunity came for me to go to the United Kingdom for my Master and I decided to opt for my Masters immediately. At the end of my Masters I felt I have learned more than what I learned in Nigeria. Telecommunication was just coming up when I was going for my Masters, I then decided to go into telecommunication, which is an aspect of Electrical Engineering, by the time I finished my Masters, which is just one year. I felt I have learned so much that I now decided to face my PhD immediately. I then decided to go for my PhD at the same university where I did my Masters under the same supervisor that supervised my Masters to learn more from him.
During this period, my dad gave me a lot of challenges about what I want to do in life and I then said yes let me tow the line of academics. After bagging my PhD, I said to myself, yes I want to be a lecturer and put in my application at the University of Ilorin and I got employed there.
I wanted to go to the industry, but immediately I finished my PhD, I then opted for lecturing job. There was this conference I went to in Morocco, where we got introduced to how to carry out research. So all these lured me into academics.
There was this story about fraud perpetrated at the University of Ilorin, in which you were alleged to have fraudulently got N17million scholarship for your Ph.D programme, can you shed more light on it?
I will talk briefly on it because the case is before the law court. Some people somewhere just wanted to malign my name in other to tarnish my image, I will call it a piece of nonsense. I want to say categorically that at no point in time did I approach anybody or any institution for financial assistance to run my Ph.D programme.
Before I was employed by the university I had assisted the school in one way or the other. When I finished my first degree, my dad called me and challenged me that what did I think I could do. I told him: “I can design a transmitter for a radio station.”
He then asked me how much would it cost to design one? I told him that I would need between N15,000 and N20,000 to design a modest one, he gave me a cheque of N15,000. I called my friends and within two weeks, we came up with one. It is this transmitter that the University of Ilorin used as a pilot test for the UNILORIN FM Radio.
When we first designed the transmitter, my dad said, “yes, it is fine.” We started using it first in our house before my dad donated it for the commencement of the UNILORIN FM Radio. Before he donated it, he approached the committee set up to come up with how the UNILORIN would set up its own FM radio. He told the members that his son had designed a transmitter, which we were using at home and promised to donate it free of charge.
After this, the Head of Department of the Electrical Engineering approached me several times that do I want to work for the University of Ilorin, I said no. Before my getting job at the university, I had been approached many times. So, I do not know what the mischief makers wanted to achieve with this.
May be, they thought that I am not competent enough to work at the institution. Or, they thought I would have to depend on my dad to be able to work there. Or. my dad was not competent enough to foot the bill of my Ph.D.
There are many things I achieved without the influence of my dad. I remember when I was in the UK, I was the president of the Graduates Association, member of the university Senate, university council and the committee that selected and appointed the present vice chancellor of the University of York in the UK.
When the publication came up with the story, I wrote the organization to do retraction and apologise within seven days or face the legal action from my lawyers, the newspaper refused.
When did you finish your PhD?
I finished my PhD in 2015
Can rate the University of Ilorin during the tenure of your father.
During the tenure of my father as the VC of the institution, I can tell you that the man really transformed the school. I can recall that UNILORIN was adjudged the best university in Nigeria by the National Universities Commission (NUC), about two to three times; the records are there for verification My dad during his tenure was passionate about the university and transformed it to an enviable position it is today.
The UNILORIN FM was established during his tenure. The Computer Based Test was introduced during his tenure. In fact it is UNILORIN that first started it in this country. I remember that I was in Kaduna for a test which I informed my father. I told him I wrote the exam and got the result immediately.
He was surprised, he asked me to go back to the venue of the test because I had already left the place before calling him. When I got there, I called him and he spoke with them about the process. After following the description given to him, the university started it after putting the necessary machineries in place.
Many people discouraged him on CBT, but he insisted on going ahead and today, it is on record that UNILORIN started CBT in Nigeria. He tried many new things, which many believed would not work, but because of his resilience, he succeeded.
As a devout Muslim, how many wives are in your father’s house?
It is true that my father is a devout Muslim, but it will surprise you that my father marries only one wife, who happens to be my mother. He gave birth to four of us, my elder sister, who is a medical doctor, she is about to round up her PhD. Next to her is me, I have finished my PhD; twins followed me, boys, one is Hassan and the other is Hussein, one is a medical doctor, while the other is a lawyer that is almost through with his PhD.
My mother is also a PhD holder, she has her PhD in Guidance and Counseling. At the moment, she works with National Open University, she is the coordinator of the university in Ilorin. My mother is the best mother anybody will want to have. She is a fantastic mother.