Two Nigerian academics will Thursday be bejewelled as the latest honorees of the prestigious Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM). They are Professor Tanure Ojaide and Professor Sadik Omowunmi. In line with the tradition, the awards go to two major categories, Science and the Humanities.
Also, in accordance with the law and convention of the awards, the president, Muhammadu Buhari, will adorn the distinguished academics with the award. The NNOM is Nigeria’s top award for academics conferred by the Federal Government.
The records and doings of the two professors remind us that Nigeria is not yet lost and we still have within us the seeds and potential of greatness. The irony though is that the two are not transmitting their knowledge here on our shores. Both incidentally are in universities in the United States. Professor Omowunmi is a chemist and director at the centre for advanced sensor and environmental Systems at the State University of New York, Binghamton. On the other hand, Professor Ojaide is the Frank Porter Professor of Africana Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, North Carolina.
According to Professor Etim Essien, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Nigerian Merit Award, the honour does not carry any political baggage and lives up to its high regard as a symbol of intellectual rigour and industry.
“The NNMA which is an agency charged to seek out the best intellectual and creative Nigerian minds, was set up to seek accolades at home, and help in directing their energies, to finding solutions to Nigeria’s problem and thus promote national development and enhance good national image internationally, “ he said.
Professor Ojaide has been known as an award-winning poet of international standing whose works have not only challenged standard norms but reflect a deep Nigerian flavour, especially in the Niger Delta region where he grew up.
He is also known for a rigorous body of critical work on imperialism, religion and some aspects of levity of the Nigerian culture. His major awards include the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for the African Region in 1987, the BBC Arts and Africa Poetry Award in 1988, the All-Africa Okigbo Prize for Poetry in 1988 and 1997 as well as the Association of Nigerian Author’s Prize of 1988 and 1994. He has published about 20 volumes of poetry, about half a dozen works of fiction, a critical work and an autobiographical work.
Born in 1948 to two Urhobo parents, he attended the University of Ibadan. He later taught literature at the University of Maiduguri before he was appointed a professor at North Carolina.
Professor Omowunmi has received accolades for her work, including a 2005-2006 NSF Discovery Corps Senior Fellowship, 2003-2004 Distinguished Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard University, 2002 Chancellor’s Award for Premier Inventions at SUNY, 2001 Chancellor’s Award for Research in Science and Medicine at SUNY, 2000 National Research Council (NRC) COBASE Fellowship as well as Australian Merit Award.
Professor Omowunmi has developed microelectrode biosensors for detection of drugs and explosives. She is still at work to develop technologies to recycle metal ions from waste. She has also turned the research work into a cause as she is co-founder of the Sustainable Nanotechnology Organisation, a non-profit organisation.
Born in June 1964 to a family of scientists, she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from the University of Lagos before proceeding to Australia where she earned her doctorate from the Wollongong University.
The two distinguished scholars will bring the number of awardees so far to 73 since its inception.
The awards should also awaken our state and federal governments to the high value of education here at home. The lack of research grants and facilities and the brain drain of our valuable minds account for why our universities lag behind the best in the world and we honour our own who have done well outside our shores.