What I have become today is a product of the help and support I received from several people at every stage of my life

In this exclusive interview with ValidViewNetwork, Prof. Kolawole Adebayo (Amsterdam), a proud Alumnus of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta and outgoing Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Development of the University, shares his thoughts on his formative stage and how he ended up as an Agricultural Economist. He also shared his views on the University and his activities as the DVC (Development) among other issues.

Can we meet you, Sir?

I am Kola Adebayo, a graduate of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Professor in the same University and current Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development) of the prestigious University.

Could you please share a brief of your journey with us?

I am from  Ode-Remo area in Ogun State, My mum is from Ibadan, I attended Ayodele Memorial Grammar school in Ibadan. I am a product of a polygamous family. Unfortunately, my mum left my dad while I was in my tender age, and the responsibility of my care and well-being fell on my stepmother. I must confess that what I have become today is a product of the help and support I received from several people at every stage of my life. My family, friends, tutors and others have contributed immensely to who I am.  

I grew up at Ibadan where I was born and had my primary and secondary education there having spectacular three years at Ode Remo High School in between. I had my National Diploma at Federal College of Agriculture, Akure where I graduated with Distinction. I had my first degree to PhD at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (now Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta)

On completion of my first degree, I had my mandatory National Youth Service (NYSC) programme at Cross Rivers State and thereafter returned to Abeokuta for my Masters degree.

My academic journey started immediately after my NYSC as I was employed as a Graduate Assistant in FUNAAB. My academic background is in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, and undoubtedly that is my professional calling. I have been with FUNAAB as a staff since 1995.

What is your reflection of your University days?

Of a truth, it was tough, very tough! I was a self sponsored student. From undergraduate, to PhD, I had to combine work with my academics otherwise there was no way I could cope with the finances as little as they were. This is the major reason why till today, I provide scholarships to brilliant students who are not financially okay.  I consider this a challenge to students to buckle up. I have been there before and knows how it feels to be poor.

 I got a Commonwealth scholarship for PhD  in the United Kingdom and that marked a turning point in my life and career.

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What initially inspired your interest in your field of expertise ?

My initial vision, dream, and ambition were to be an agriculturist and a large-scale commercial farmer. However, by the time I finished my studies in the Agricultural Extension Department at FUNAAB, I began to see some other juicy parts of agriculture.  Note that I enrolled for Plant Science in FUNAAB through Direct Entry, but was offered Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, which I later identified as a lucrative part of Agriculture that has been neglected and decided to carve a niche for myself there. Today, I do not regret it.

You are a man of many parts; family man, researcher, administrator, sportsman, public analyst, community leader and silent philanthropist, how are you able to strike a balance? What is the drive behind your philanthropic gesture?

I have always done multiple things at the same time. I am a man of many parts. What I do is effective time management. There are 24hrs in a day, I have to eat, I have to pray, I have to attend to my family, I do sports too, I am a Golfer, I’m a Kegite, I resume to office every day by 7am and maximize my time effectively and I do academic work too.

On philanthropic gestures, I have a passion for primary education and that is where most of my philanthropic gestures go. For me, primary education is the most important but unfortunately, we waste so much time in university education.

 We push many students who should be in technical school to university, wasting their precious time. If our primary education is solid, then we are good to go in life. When that is solid, we can release them into the economy, and it will thrive. This strengthens my belief that primary school teachers need to be paid well. Sadly, they are poorly compensated.

 I am not saying that we should underplay the other levels like secondary schools, Colleges of Education and Universities, I am saying if we have a solid foundation, our children would do well. For Nigeria to move forward, we need to strengthen our technical education, have professional plumbers, tilers, mechanics etc.

I also sponsor secondary and university students while I facilitate job opportunities for the PhD students.

 How has FUNAAB evolved since your time as a student here?

FUNAAB has witnessed tremendous transformation. The founding fathers of FUNAAB did a great job, and successive administrations have built on that solid and beautiful foundation laid by the pioneer Vice-Chancellor, Late Prof. Nurudeen Adedipe and his team. FUNAAB was conceived to have a maximum capacity of 5,000 students, but now we have more than 22,000 students. We have grown in leaps and bounds. In terms of infrastructure, we are not doing badly, our academic programmes are flourishing, and we are never without winning awards both as individuals and as a University. Today, we are self-determining in generating our electricity. Certainly, we have come a long way, but we still need to do more. For instance, many of our internal roads are bad, and we are working on them to improve our efficiency. We are maximising our land, calling on investors to take advantage of our large dam, which is the largest in any Nigerian university as of today.

FUNAAB recently boasted of its potential to solve the problem of food security in the country. By your estimations when will this begin to materialize?

FUNAAB is on an upward trajectory. It is a continuous project. It is a university that has been branded for excellence right from its inception, and any administrator cannot afford to do otherwise. We have so many projects at hand that would not only liberate the state but the country as a whole. I speak from the strength of one who knows.  Our cassava production has been the best so far in Africa.  We have lots of sources of internally generated revenue, such that if the Federal government wants universities in Nigeria to be autonomous, FUNAAB would be one of the few universities that would survive and take care of itself.

What are your key accomplishments as DVC (Development)

I have been the DVC for almost 2 years now. My tenure ends on May 1, 2025.. It has been a worthwhile and rewarding experience. Most importantly, I have enjoyed maximum support and fellowship from all well-meaning stakeholders in the FUNAAB project. The way the university is structured just like Nigeria; the Deputy Vice-Chancellors do not have a vision as they marry into the vision of the Vice-Chancellor. It is the Vice-Chancellor who goes through the interview process,  gave his vision towards the university, and we all follow his direction. I am the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Development, and my role is to look at how we can be fruitful in the critical areas of research, commercialization, the development of the university, engagement with local communities and many more. If there is any development in the university in the last two years, the credit goes to the Vice- Chancellor.

Significantly, the Vice- Chancellor, Prof. Olusola Babatunde Kehinde has enabled us to liberate the university in terms of societal development, to partner with private organizations to develop our farms. If you come to the university now, almost all the 10,000 hectares of land in the institution is being put to some form of productive assignment in collaboration with some meaningful organizations. For me, that was a productive contribution, a number of our income generating units have been restructured to make them more efficient. Most of the income generating unit in the university are supervised by the DVC Development. We continue to privatise or commercialise any Unit of the University where we intend to drive higher profit.

What were the major challenges you confronted  as DVC Development?

I think the most daunting challenge is revenue generation. It is a big challenge because this is the only way government institutions like us can survive.  It is the vision of our Vice-Chancellor that the income generating units become more profitable, so that the money we get from our internally generated revenue  is then used to support the subvention we get from government.

What we get from government is salary. 100% of our salaries are being paid for, others are being catered for by the university, for instance our electricity bill amount to like 20 million every month, our diesel bill has increased to 30 to 40 million every month, so when you have those huge expenses and what you get from government every month is like 12 million per month, how are you going to cope without generating revenue. In order to avoid some embarrassments like electricity providers disconnecting the university, you have to buckle up. I give kudos to the Vice- Chancellor. The Vice-Chancellor has taken it upon it himself to raise the bar of excellence of the university in every areas.

You are pioneer National President of UNAAB Alumni, can you share the transformative stages of the association with us, please?

Three of us who are graduates of FUNAAB and staff of the university, led the formation of the Alumni Association. We charged ourselves that we did not have to wait till the university is 30 or 40 years before forming the Alumni association. Our action was a product of great commitment and determination.

I was selected as the Chairman to facilitate the birth of the Association. At the first convention of the Association in 1998, I was elected as the pioneer President of the Association.  We ensured that we set a solid foundation for the Association, and today we have many Branches all over the world.  We even have Alumni Association organized by set and the Alumni Association has taken great responsibilities in supporting the university. I look back with great satisfaction and joy that our efforts of yesteryears have multiplied. I think that the spirit of excellence of the University rubbed on the Alumni as we have done creditably better than contemporaries. I am optimistic that the current leadership will take the excellence further.