PROFESSOR JEGEDE, OLUGBEMIRO
A top flight academician, administrator and community leader
Professor Jegede Olugbemiro hails from Ogori in Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. He was born on the 2nd March, 1952 into a God’s fearing family. He kick-started his journey into western education right in his community, Ogori where he attended St. Peter’s Primary School between 1958 and 1964. He proceeded to Crowther Memorial College, Lokoja for his secondary school education and finished in 1969. Young Olugbemiro was admitted to the Federal Government College, Warri, Delta State for his ‘A’ level. In 1972, he was offered admission to the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria. Later in his academic life, he proceeded to University of Wales, Cardiff, United Kingdom for further studies in 1979.
He once served as an Instructor at the Nigerian Military School, Zaria in 1972. He had his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme as a lecturer at the Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri (1975-76). From 1977, Professor Jegede was at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria as a lecturer and rose to become a professor in 1990.
He served as External Examiner to several universities around the globe. He was a consultant to the World Bank and Commonwealth on Learning between 2000 and 2001, UNESCO 1999-2001, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 1997.
Professor Jegede, Olugbemiro was one time the Secretary to the Government of Kogi State of Nigeria, the immediate past Secretary-General and Chief Executive of the Association of African Universities (AAU) and at the invitation of Federal Government of Nigeria, was the foundation Vice Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in 2003. By the time he completed his tenure in 2010, he had developed the University to the position of the 7th best University in Nigeria as rated by the Webometric global ranking of universities.
Professor Jegede serves as Vice President (African Region) on the Governing Board of the International Council on Education of Teaching (ICET) and was President of the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE) and, now its global Ambassador. 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), Kwame Nkrumah Africa Leadership Award, the 2010 Hitachi Software of Japan Award of Hitachi Prominent African Leaders for Change in Education, and the 2009 African Leadership Star Award for Excellence in Tertiary Education. As a seasoned scholar and administrator, he has made numerous presentations, and demonstrable expertise, in many areas which include Psycho-Social Environment and Learning, Knowledge Engineering and Cognitive Science, Virtual Reality and ODL Research. As stated in his 97 paged Curriculum Vitae, in addition to 161 invited keynote addresses at world conferences, University Convocation ceremonies, and public lectures, he has published more than 25 books and over 190 articles in foremost journals in the world. He is one of the few distinguished academics in the world with two Professorial Chairs. He was appointed Professor of Science Education in 1990 and was appointed Professor of Open and Distance Learning in 1997.
A major global landmark and significant contribution to education and knowledge by Professor Jegede is 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. Jegede’s Theory of Collateral Learning, which has been cited over 5,000 times in global scientific literature has attracted over 56 post graduate studies world-wide. Professor Jegede was a co-founder of the e-Journal in Instructional Science and Technology in 1995 as the first electronic journal in ODL in Australia.
Professor Jegede is the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of The Governing Council of the Littoral University, Porto-Novo, Republic of Benin; and honoured with PhD (honoris causa) of the University. He is a 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 prestigious International Council for Distance Education (ICDE) Prize of Excellence for Lifelong Contribution to the field. Jegede Olugbemiro is Emeritus Professor at the National Open University of Nigeria and consultant to many agencies including AAU, EU, UNESCO, COL World Bank, AfDB and Association of Nigeria (COSFAN), a member of the Board of Fintech Institute, Building Bridges International, Chairman of the Boards of E-Surfers Paradise Ltd, FutureX Ltd, Teckplus Technology Ltd, and eUniversity Africa.
Prof. Jegede is a traditional title-holder in his community-the Ogurefa of Ogoriland. Ogori Community will ever be grateful to him for siting a branch of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in their land which has helped to reshape the lives and activities of the people of the area.
Prof. Jegede enjoys helping, visiting and attending to people. He is happily married.
By Felix Adejumo Udebu (JP)
Publisher TheReflection Newspaper lokoja Kogi State