Former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has paid tribute to the Late Pa (Chief) Samuel Olatunde Fadahunsi, a foremost Civil Engineer who died on August 12, 2014, aged 94.
TOP MEDIA reports that Fadahunsi is a former President of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN)—an engineering regulation body in the colossal West African nation.
Obasanjo, who disclosed his cordial friendship with the late Engr Fadahunsi, described him as “my own personal mentor”.
The former Nigerian leader spoke on Thursday, August 15, 2024, at the 7th Late Engr (Chief) S.O Pa Fadahunsi memorial lecture held in Ikeja, Lagos state.
He said amid applause:
“I pay tribute to a great Nigerian, a great engineer, my own personal mentor.
“Engr. Fadahunsi is in every sense one who needs to be respected.”
At the event, Obasanjo, 87, explained the role of food security in national development and how engineers need to be determined about proffering solutions to the crisis.
‘OBJ’ as Obasanjo is fondly called, continued:
“Those people who tell us ‘you shouldn’t subsidise agriculture’, they are subsidising.
“A former prime minister of the UK who is into rearing of sheep, he said he was getting two and a half dollars in a year to keep the sheep as subsidy. And they say we shouldn’t subsidies agriculture. And yet, agriculture is seen by them as a security issue.
“Anybody who feeds you can enslave you.”
Meanwhile, delivering the keynote address, Engr Nureni Adegboyega Ogunyemi, the national chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Environmental Engineers (NIEE), expressed worry about the nation’s food security landscape.
Despite Nigeria’s abundant natural resources, Ogunyemi stressed that deforestation, desertification, pollution, and unsustainable agricultural practices are disrupting food production systems.
Ogunyemi warned:
“The consequences are stark: declining crop yields, loss of fertile land, and increased vulnerability to extreme weather events.
“These challenges are manifesting in soaring food prices and scarcity of essential commodities, placing immense hardship on Nigerians.”
Dignitaries at the programme include Professor Jacob Ademola Shonibare of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun state; Engr (Mrs.) Margaret Oguntala, the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE); Engr. Yusuf Oladimeji Majolagbe, the chairman of the NIEE, Lagos state chapter, among others.
Certified engineers, scientists, food companies, civil servants, and students also attended.
Apart from the memorial lecture, new NIEE fellows were inducted into the association.
Check out some photos from the event below: