It was a history making day at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) as Professor Philip Achimugu delivered AFIT’s first ever inaugural lecture titled “Poverty Amidst Riches: Can Software and Information Technology Renew our Hope?” The lecture came at a time policy makers in Nigeria look at information communication technology as a pathway to national growth.
According to Professor Achimugu, software has become critical to advancement in almost all areas of human endeavour, noting that its adoption in Nigeria was slow due to conflict of interest, inadequate infrastructure, reluctance to embrace digital transformations and lack of government support. He stated that software and information technology could be applied to the Eight-Point Agenda of Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which he declared on assumption of office on 29 May, 2023. Achimugu therefore recommended nine specific ways the Federal Government of Nigeria could apply information technology to renew the hopes of Nigerians.
It will be recalled that inaugural lectures are usually conducted to showcase the academic prowess of an institution and its commitment and contribution to the academic world once in the academic circle of a university. Consequently, due to the limited number of opportunities to deliver such lectures in the academic environment, only very few professors with valuable knowledge often get the opportunity to deliver inaugural lectures and that makes it increasingly difficult for some professors to achieve that feat. AFIT as a hybrid institution of learning, was granted authority to offer degree, diploma and certificate programmes and there are several professors already within the Institute who are looking forward to the opportunity to present their inaugural lecture.
The Commandant, AFIT, Air Vice Marshal Sani Labaran Rabe, remarked that the alignment of this year’s lecture with President Tinubu’s vision of renewed hope, was in recognition of the ability of information technology to facilitate the development of technical talents that will facilitate the creation of jobs for teeming youths in the country. As an Institute of Technology, the commandant stated that AFIT has the capacity and competence to contribute meaningfully to the actualization of the President’s vision.
AVM Rabe further commended the guest lecturer, Professor Phillip Achimugu, for breaking the ice on this maiden inaugural lecture at the Institute. He said that the significance of the lecture was its focus on the importance of software and communication technology in the area of digital economy and development agenda which were the new frontiers of economic development. He remarked that Achimugu, as a professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering, has over 1,670 citations recognized by the goggle data base and has published over 100 research articles. He was recognized in April 2022 as the Best Scientist in AFIT by the Alper-Doger Scientific Ranking Index based on high impact factor journal publications and citation rates which made him the ideal professional to deliver the lecture.
The Provost of the Institute, Professor Auwal Kasim, expressed appreciation to members of the academic community who came in from various parts of the country to attend the inaugural lecture. He stated that AFIT was known for excellence and the tradition will continue to be maintained in all the activities of the Institute. He stated that the lecture will be beneficial to policy makers and will be an invaluable research resource for academics in the the various institutions of higher learning in Nigeria.
Bassey Ibiang Okon PhD
Wing Commander
AFIT Director of Public Relations