Durodoye : The Mathematician With The Roadmap To A New Era In Osun State-Olalere Fagbola
Affectionately called and known as ‘ Duro’ among friends and family members, Professor Raufu Durodoye, a Professor of Mathematics, had long dreamed of giving back to his country and particularly, his homeland, Osun State, having been constructively critical of the way the nation has squandered legacies and witnessed a wasted generation of potential geniuses .
The belief of Professor Durodoye is that the education we acquire as citizens of the world, should not be used almost exclusively for personal gain, in view of the fact that a person’s development should not strictly be an internal matter which can altogether be divorced from the social, economic and political life of the society in which he lives ; not even when the whole world itself has shrunk into a global community.
Professor Durodoye had regrettably watched the ways too many youths are living lives bereft of hope and had ruminated on the one-time resolve of Abraham Lincoln, who as a young man at a slave market, had whispered to himself : ‘If I have the chance to hit this thing (slavery) I shall hit it hard .
Shaped by his moral opposition to the inhuman activity, and with strong belief in the principles of liberty and equality, Lincoln, as America’s President, later solidified his commitment to ending slavery.
Conversely, the best moment Professor Durodoye had been waiting for and working assiduously to achieve however came ,when he seized an opportunity to facilitate Nigeria’s membership of GLOBE, and promptly set the stage for sustenance of the educational reform in the country and the development of a roadmap for future generations of scientists.
He did not however attain the lofty height by mere sudden flight but through the educational system he encountered and the right approach given the teaching of Mathematics by his one- time College tutor whose efforts he identified as having impacted on him tremendously .
‘I credit my high school teacher, Mr. Akinola who taught mathematics straight from memory ,with no reference to textbook except for reinforcement and assignment.
We are blessed with the system of education in Nigeria as the knowledge and the training we underwent provided solid foundation to compete anywhere in the world. My background at Saint Charles High School, Osogbo and the University of Ibadan, Ibadan gave me easy and smooth academic ride at Marshall University.
I was a Part two student at the University of Ibadan when I was offered scholarship, but with the right counselling from my academic father, Professor B.B. Adeleke, I transferred to Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia to complete my Bachelor’s degree, Masters at Texas A&M University, Commerce, TX and Doctorate at National American University’ he said.
Durodoye, indeed represents a combination of future and success, in view of his belief that the future belongs to the patient and diligent individuals, no wonder why his name is an abridged symbol of Persistence and Patience, all of which epitomizes Innovation, struggles and achievements.
Professor Durodoye, who facilitated Global Learning and Observation To Benefit The Environment (GLOBE) to Nigeria, is a Professor of Mathematics at North Lake College in Texas, USA .He is from Osogbo, Osun State and he has worked with experts in America and with officials of the Federal Ministry of Education in Nigeria on developing educational materials to improve the teaching of maths and science in schools in both countries.
Durodoye, a Professor of Mathematics, and Dr. Jim Roberts, Professor of Physics and Material Science, Projector Director of the Regional Collaborative for Excellence in Science Teaching UNT and Director of the Center for Nonlinear Science UNT have been collaborating for over ten years on developing the educational materials and sharing their experiences with teachers in Nigeria as well as developing collaboration between schools in the two countries.
Towards this end, Professor Durodoye utilized a grant he received from Allied Consulting and Educational Partnership of Texas to organize workshops in which teachers from Nigeria participated at workshops held at the University of North Texas in 2002 and in 2005.
GLOBE was an essential component of the teaching materials used in the workshops, with Dr. Rebecca Boger ,GLOBE Deputy Director, International/U.S. Partnerships and Outreach and International Project Scientist teaching many of the protocols in the Atmosphere, Phenology, Soils ,Hydrology and Land Cover / Biology investigations .
According to a release by the U.S. Embassy, Public Affairs Information Section, GLOBE, as an education programme for K-12 students all over the world, has provided an inquiry-based, non-advocacy partnership encompassing over 11,000 GLOBE schools in 97 countries.
Dr Roberts corroborated the assertion and described GLOBE as the great integrator of science ,adding: ‘In more than three decades of teaching physics to all levels, pre-medical engineers, physicist and teachers of science, I have come to the conclusion that the GLOBE Programme is the greatest vehicle to deliver science knowledge and to show the relevance of science to the needs of mankind that I have experienced during those years’.
Former Minister of Education, Professor Babalola Borisade at the agreement signing ceremony expressed hope that Nigeria becoming a GLOBE member and joining 88 other countries there, would become an important partner in international environmental research while enhancing the scientific and mathematics skills of students and teachers in the country.
He also acknowledged the efforts of Professor Durodoye through whose commitment, assiduity and tenacity, Nigeria had become a member of GLOBE, positing that the country had joined the organization because of its belief in the initiator of the programme, former U.S. Vice President, Al Gore and the United States itself.
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At the 2006 Ondo State workshop in which 80 participants drawn from over 30 schools attended, Professor Durodoye described the period as ‘ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE’, adding that the workshop which followed in Osun State in which more than 60 University Professors, graduate students and Ministry of Education representatives participated was a fulfillment of his long-term ambition to give back to Osun State .
‘I found home in a progressive community in which academic-assisted talent plays vital role. Improving the quality of humanity through education, health care delivery, economic development and agricultural mechanization are the focal points’ the Professor of Mathematics remarked.
Dr. Olusegun Agagu, the former Governor of Ondo State and Professor Rafiu Durodoye had taken the first giant step forward by hosting the first GLOBE Nigeria Trainer Workshop in Ondo State.
‘With this workshop, Ondo State has developed a roadmap for the creation of a future generation of scientists by providing access and opportunity in Mathematics, science and technology, and a sustained professional development programme for teachers. This roadmap will be implemented in the next workshop in Osun State!’ Professor Durodoye remarked at the occasion.
True to his word, a week-long second GLOBE workshop was subsequently held in 2007 at the African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education , Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State .
At the workshop, Mrs Tiffany Litton , one of the members of the International team, described the forum as ‘a model of an international collaborative effort’.
To ensure long-term sustainability of GLOBE in Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola , the then governor of the State of the Living Spring, equally provided 20 schools with the necessary equipment to implement Atmosphere, Soil and Hydrology protocols while including funding of the programme in the state budget to support future GLOBE workshops.
Professor Durodoye explained that his motive for facilitating Nigeria’s membership of GLOBE was to afford him the opportunity to ‘serve boys and girls in Mathematics, science and technology ( STEM), starting from Osun State’ ,adding that : the original plan was the expansion of the project to over 36 states in the country and link them with over 144 countries.
‘With this strategy, we develop alumni as role models for the programme while serving as networking towards academic interactions and solicitation of financial resources’ Professor Durodoye said.
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According to him, the partnership between GLOBE students in Nigeria and other countries is partly intended to supplement research equipment, and provide autonomy and confidence in the research experiments and protocols.
‘The independent knowledge and skills will serve as paradigm of global integrity for our students’ he asserted-Mr. Olalere Fagbola, a veteran journalist, writes from Osogbo, Osun State
