*Osinbajo, Fayemi, Obasi, others hail scholar

Foremost scholar in public administration, Prof. Ladipo Adamolekun, was yesterday, eulogised for his consistency and ethical orientation – values which he stood for over the years.

Speaking at at the public presentation of the autobiographical work of Adamolekun titled, I Remember, in Abuja, Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, said values were critical to development, adding that for many years, Adamolekun had stood for such values and had been imparting them on his students and mentees.

Other dignitaries who spoke at the event include, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; former Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo; Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, Mr. Ekpo Nta; and the book reviewer, Prof. Isaac Obasi.

Dr. Kayode Fayemi praised the author for standing for scholarship and for distinguishing himself in all the places he had worked including the Obafemi Awolowo University, the United Nations and the World Bank.

Describing the author as a world-class scholar, Prof. Obasi said, “The demonstration of passion for advancing the frontiers of public administration research has been a way of life for Adamolekun for close to five decades.

File: Prof Adamolekun

“He has sustained his love for research and publication in public administration as evidenced by his authorship and co-authorship of over 30 books and 110 articles and chapters in books.”

Speaking to newsmen, Adamolekun said though the integrity of President Muhammadu Buhari was important in the fight against corruption, it was not enough.

Adamolekun said, “The importance of public administration lies in its critical role in ensuring effective implementation of government policies and programmes. When there is a weak capacity in public administration, delivery of services is largely unsatisfactory.

“Corruption hates transparency. Transparency and accountability help to reduce corruption. That is why I talk about strategy for corruption. The Vice-President has taken that on board. He said the document on strategy will soon be finalised so that the war will have a strategy with which to execute it.”

Speaking on the education sector, Adamolekun said, “I spent close to 20 years in the academia at the tertiary level. I benefited from quality higher education. That is no longer the case today. I am not saying the NUC alone is responsible but I am saying that when an organisation that should be a buffer becomes a powerful, controlling and limiting organisation, it is not good.

“Why should vice-chancellors be coming to Abuja to the NUC and to the Federal Ministry of Education instead of building their campuses? They are coming to Abuja because things are centralised. Universities should have their autonomy; different characteristics and culture. All this uniformity is not good for our universities. Overhauling means reducing the activities of the NUC. There are so many things they do that should not be done.

“I am for total, quick dismantling of JAMB. Universities should admit their own students. That is part of university autonomy. The school certificate we took in our time is what they still take; a minimum of five credits. Then, universities organise their own admission examinations. A student should decide whether they want to apply to two or three places.”