It was a time of celebration at the Faculty of Engineering Board of Studies meeting as the Former Dean, Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos and President, African Engineering Education Association (AEEA), Prof. Funso Falade delivered his exaugural lecture ahead of his departure from active service at the University of Lagos on Monday, February 5, 2024.
Delivering the lecture, titled: The Beginning and End of a Project, at the Rahamon Adisa Bello Auditorium, UNILAG, on Thursday, January 25, 2024, Prof. Falade took his colleagues through the journey of his life from his early years of going to the farm with his parents to the rigours of pursuing education, his brief foray into accounting and quantity surveying and his eventual sojourn as an academic at the University of Lagos, despite that not being part of the plan for his life. He also shared stories of his initial travails and eventual successes in the global world as an academic at UNILAG.
While highlighting his contributions to his Department, Faculty, the University at large and Africa as a whole, Prof. Falade decried the poor state of the Nigerian education sector. He noted that when he joined the university system in 1986, there were 27 universities comprising the Federal and State universities, however, as at 2024, there were 262 universities in Nigeria comprising 147 private, 52 federal and 63 state universities. Prof. Falade pointed out with dismay that despite this, the “funding of universities, resources to run universities and the welfare of staff have followed negative trends over the years.”
His words:
“The poor conditions of service including poor salary were among the reasons for my instability when I joined academics in 1986. I reached the bar of the professorial salary scale in 2011. My salary was N420,167.43. The exchange rate then was N155.71 to $1 in November 2011, meaning that my salary was $2,698.40. As I was finalizing this exaugural lecture on 22nd January 2024. My salary (take home) stood at N395,500.00 and the exchange rate was N1355 to a dollar showing that my salary in Dollar was $291.88 having spent more than twenty (20) years as a professor. What a tragic development!”
The civil engineer also shared several factors behind his success in academia and life in general and encouraged early career academics to imbibe these attributes. These include: cultivating good relationships; building bridges within and outside the Faculty and University; being good to students, developing a desire to learn new things; and creating an enabling environment for himself.
Born to Chief Dosumu and Mrs. Aina Falade on February 5, 1954, Prof. Funso Falade attended Yaba College of Technology (1976-1978), Moscow Institute of Automobile Engineering, Moscow, USSR (1979-1980), Moscow Institute of Civil Engineering, Moscow, USSR (1980-1984), and University of Lagos (1993-1998), where he bagged his OND in Quantity Surveying, Certificate in Russian Language, M.Sc. in Civil Engineering (Structures) and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Structures) respectively.
He joined the services of the University in 1992 as Lecturer 1 at the Department of Civil Engineering and rose through the ranks to become a professor in 2001. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, The Nigerian Society of Engineers, African Engineering Education Association, to mention a few. He is also a registered member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria and a member of several other engineering associations.
Prof. Funso Falade is married to Dr. (Mrs.) Titilayo Falade and blessed with children and grandchildren.
The full text of Prof. Falade’s Exaugural Lecture is available here
Report: Ndidi J. Odinikaeze
Photography: Solomon Adelumola
