By: Adedokun Seyi
In order to reduce the foreign medicine reliance, Emeritus Prof. Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe, a world renowned medical doctor and one of the oldest alumni of the University of Ibadan has challenged University of Ibadan to publish books, emphasizing that “local authors will greatly promote scholarship better than the foreign authors as problems in our local environment will be better addressed.
The Emeritus made the call during a transfer of authorship of his book on Medicine to the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan on January 14, 2019. He recently hung his stethoscope after 50 years of medical practice, and decided to donate books part of his legacies bequeathed to the University where he graduated in 1968.
Co-authored with Professor Ayodele Falase, a one-time student and Vice Chancellor of the institution, the book is in its fourth edition, published by Spectrum Books Limited, Ibadan.
“some of us who studied Medicine in those days did not have the privilege of reading any local authors in Medicine. We had to rely on foreign monographs which our foreign students counterparts used to put in their pockets. It then dawned on me that I must document my scholarly efforts for the coming generations to read”, Professor Akinkugbe said
He further noted a University does not retain it’s name because of the properties it has but by the virtue of the legacy left behind by its scholars. He said “What makes a University are not gigantic, glossy buildings, but an initiative of this nature, in which a seasoned scholar leaves behind worthy legacies for the coming generations to benefit from. I am very sure this will greatly assist the present medical students who do not need to suffer the dearth of books which we suffered”.
He has therefore begged academics of the institution that their research works should be publish to the benefit of their students and society at large, saying “books are the worthy legacies any scholar worth his salt can leave behind for the coming generation.
Professor Falase who is the co-author also noted that “UI has the intellectual wherewithal to set examples for other universities to follow, stressing that it is high time Africans developed their own medical books.
The extant Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka was delighted at the development while receiving the books on behalf of the institution and noted that “this type of initiative has never happened to UI in the last 71 years of its existence”
The Vice Chancellor thanked the duo of Emeritus Professors Akinkugbe and Falase, describing them as special breeds and gifts to humanity.
TheProvost of College of Medicine, Professor Olapade Olaopa had paid glowing tribute to the eminent scholars, describing them as doyens of medical profession.
