TITLE OF LECTURE: TWO WORDS THAT DO NOT FIT-STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE: MY VIEWPOINTS, AND THE PARADOX OF ENGINEERING TRAINING AND PRACTICE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

wenty-six (26) years ago, I was shortlisted to undergo the SHELL Intensive T raining P rogramme ( SITP). P rovidence d id n ot m ake t hat happen, instead I decided to accept the offer granted me by the Ambrose Alli U niversity a s G raduate Assistant, p articularly b ecause I w as n ot s o c onfident S HELL would a bsorb m e a fter c ompletion o f the training. In 2006, barely into the second year of my Ph.D programme u nder t he s upervision o f Prof. J oseph O . Afolayan a t t he Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), something very dramatic e nsued. I w as t o b e f ramed u p f or a n u njust d isengagement. On that fateful S aturday, I did not know God was redirecting my Ph.D study f rom F UTAto t he U niversity o f Manchester, U nited K ingdom. An i ndividual h ad o rchestrated a w ay t o i mplicate m e i n t he l eakage of examination q uestions. I w as g iven t he q uestion p apers, s ealed i n an envelope two hours before commencement of the examination. The o bjective, I l ater d iscovered, was to provide a mple time f or me to open t he e nvelope b efore c ommencement o f the e xamination. W hile this machination failed, I was told to my face that I must face the diciplinary committee.

sayoungAcademic,Iwastroubledbeyondmeasure.Moreover,the following d ay w as e armarked f or m y d aughter - Mandy's d edication. This spiritual programme was perturbed and nearly marred by this development. I thought the world was mad at me. However, by Monday morning, it was discovered that there was no leakage and I was e xonerated. The e nergy that was d evoted f or s uch purpose by the individual was enormous. For this singular reason, I decided to run away by applying to Universities in the UK and US for my Ph.D pursuit. I w as o ffered m ultiple a dmissions, w hich I d eferred b ecause of financial c onstraints. T hereafter, I t ook l oans f rom ASUU W elfare and Cooperative Society such that my net take-home pay could no longer take me home. That was when God suddenly showed up for me.