Ayodele Awojobi
Encyclopedia
Ayodele Oluwatuminu Awojobi (March 12, 1937 – September 23, 1984), also known by the nicknames "Dead Easy", "The Akoka Giant", and "Macbeth", was a Nigerian academic, author, inventor, social crusader and activist.
He was considered a scholarly genius by his teachers and peers alike.
He quickly advanced in his field to become the youngest professor in Mechanical Engineering
at the University of Lagos
, Nigeria in 1974. Earlier the same year, he became the first African to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Science
(DSc) in Mechanical Engineering
at the then Imperial College of Science and Technology, London (now Imperial College London
).
His research papers, particularly in the field of Vibration
, are still cited by international research fellows in Engineering as lately as the year 2010, and are archived by such publishers as the Royal Society
.
, Awojobi’s father, Chief Daniel Adekoya Awojobi, was a stationmaster at the Nigerian Railway who hailed from Ikorodu in Lagos State. His mother, Comfort Bamidele Awojobi (née Adetunji), was a petty trader who hailed from Modakeke, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Between 1942 and 1947, he attended St. Peter’s Primary School, Faji, Lagos
.
It was while at his secondary school, the CMS Grammar School, Lagos
, that his academic traits began to manifest. Not only was he seen to be gifted in mathematics and the sciences, he was comfortable also in the arts
, becoming a member of the school’s literary and debating society. It was during this period that he earned the nickname, "Macbeth": William Shakespeare
’s famous play, Macbeth
, was to be staged in the school. The lead-actor took ill a week before, and so Ayodele was called upon to play the lead-role in his stead. It is said that not only did Ayodele master his lines as lead-actor, but also the entire play, such that he was able to prompt the cast whenever they forgot their lines.
He proceeded to the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Ibadan, for his General Certificate of Examinations, GCE (Advanced Level), where in 1958 he sat for, and obtained distinctions in all his papers: Physics, Pure Mathematics and Applied Mathematics.
In 1962 Awojobi was awarded his first degree in Mechanical Engineering – a BSc (Eng) London, with first class honours, at the then Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria
(now Ahmadu Bello University
, Zaria).
He had studied there on a federal government scholarship won on the merit of his performance in the GCE (Advanced Level) examinations of 1958.
It was said by Akintola Ajai (himself an engineering graduate of the University of London
), that when Awojobi arrived at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria, he boasted openly saying that it was his intention to finish the whole course within a period of three years only; an impracticable feat due to the fact that nowhere was the BSc Mechanical Engineering curriculum designed to run less than four years. Ayodele accomplished it in three years just as he had predicted.
The federal government awarded Awojobi another scholarship in 1962 to study further at the post-graduate level in the field of Mechanical Engineering at the Imperial College of the University of London (now Imperial College London). He completed the course, successfully defending his thesis, and was awarded a PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 1966.
, he returned to the Imperial College London for a research study in the field of Vibration
, and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science, Dsc. He was the first African to be awarded the Doctor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, at the Imperial College London.
The first University to admit an individual to this degree was in fact the University of London in 1860.
The status of the degree has declined, however, because it is not widely understood but in former times the doctorate in science was regarded as a greater distinction than a professorial chair.
It is in fact a higher tier of research doctorates, awarded on the basis of a formally submitted portfolio of published research of a very high standard.
Awojobi went back to London to study for his Doctorate. He returned in 1974 and was made an associate professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Lagos. However, one week after having been appointed associate professor, the University of Lagos Senate, after receiving news that Awojobi had just been awarded the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc), immediately appointed him professor in Mechanical Engineering, making him the youngest professor in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos and the first ever to be expressly promoted from associate to full professorship within a week.
By nature, Ayodele Awojobi was a teacher. He imparted knowledge at various other levels, even as he contended with his day job as a full-time professor and university lecturer. He envisaged his country as a whole becoming more advanced, technologically – this was exemplified when he refused lucrative offers from commercial outfits for his Autonov 1
invention, he rather preferring to preserve his design for his country's future benefit.
He engaged with great educators of his, and earlier generations, such as the late nationalist and Yoruba leader, Obafemi Awolowo
(who forwarded several of Ayodele’s educational books), the late activist, social crusader and educator, Tai Solarin
, and the once Lagos State governor, Lateef Kayode Jakande, who achieved free education at all educational levels in Lagos State, Nigeria.
Jakande believed in Awolowo's visionary ideas about the way forward for the nation, particularly in Awolowo's resounding theme of qualitative and quantitative education across the nation, free of over-bearing school fees.
Ayodele Awojobi became, at one time, the chairman, Lagos State School’s Management Board, out of his concern for ways to better improve the problems inherent in secondary school education in Lagos State, Nigeria.
Awojobi desired that all his children go to public schools. The older ones all did. Such was his vision and hope that the country would some day attain equitable distribution in the quality of education cutting across different social strata.
Ayodele authored several books for both the secondary and tertiary levels of education in Nigeria.
His natural propensity to inform, to educate, drove him to become, in the early 1970s, a quiz-master on national television. The quiz-show, Mastermind, consisted of weekly contestants taking turns in isolation on "the hot-seat" whereupon various categories of questions would be thrown at them. Otunba Gbenga Daniel, currently the sitting governor of Ogun State
, Nigeria, was a returning winner and champion on Mastermind for several episodes over; he being in his undergraduate years at the time.
He tinkered further with motor engines when he acquired an army-type jeep and proceeded to invent a second steering wheel mechanism, adjoined to the pre-existing engine at the rear end, so that the vehicle was able to move in both forward and backward directions with all four pre-existing gears.
This gave the hybrid vehicle, which he christened Autonov 1
, the ability to achieve its highest speeds at a moment's notice, in the normal reverse direction. He highlighted the advantage this might offer to army vehicles, as an example, that might need to make a fast retreat, in a cul-de-sac or ambush situation.
, Shehu Shagari
as President in the Nigerian Second Republic
, became very vocal in the national newspapers and magazines, going as far as suing the Federal Government of Nigeria for what he strongly believed was a widespread election rigging.
With all his court cases against the Nigerian government thrown out of court, he delved into the law books, himself being only a mechanical engineer, claiming that he would earn his law degrees in record time, to enable him better argue with the opposition at the federal courts.
He used the universities as a bastion, going from campus to campus to make speeches at student-rallies, hoping to sensitize them to what he perceived as the ills of a corrupt government.
Ayodele Awojobi authored several political books over the course of his ideological struggles against a perceived, corrupt federal government. These books were usually made available during his public rallies or symposiums.
He was survived by his wife, Mrs Iyabode Mabel Awojobi (née Odetunde), and children.
In October 2009, the governor of Lagos State Babatunde Fashola
dedicated a statue of Awojobi at Onike Roundabout, Yaba, Lagos in a garden named after him.
On September 23, 2010, Birrel street – a prominent street in Yaba Local Government Council Area – was re-named Prof. Ayodele Awojobi Avenue; a further tribute to Awojobi's memory.
He was considered a scholarly genius by his teachers and peers alike.
He quickly advanced in his field to become the youngest professor in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
at the University of Lagos
University of Lagos
The University of Lagos - popularly known as Unilag - is a federal government university with a main campus located at Akoka, Yaba and a college of medicine located at Idi-Araba, all in Lagos, Lagos State, southern Nigeria...
, Nigeria in 1974. Earlier the same year, he became the first African to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
(DSc) in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
at the then Imperial College of Science and Technology, London (now Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
).
His research papers, particularly in the field of Vibration
Vibration
Vibration refers to mechanical oscillations about an equilibrium point. The oscillations may be periodic such as the motion of a pendulum or random such as the movement of a tire on a gravel road.Vibration is occasionally "desirable"...
, are still cited by international research fellows in Engineering as lately as the year 2010, and are archived by such publishers as the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
.
Early life
Born in Oshodi, Lagos StateLagos State
Lagos State is an administrative division of Nigeria, located in the southwestern part of the country. The smallest in area of Nigeria's states, Lagos State is the most populous state in Nigeria and arguably the most economically important state of the country and west Africa, containing Lagos, the...
, Awojobi’s father, Chief Daniel Adekoya Awojobi, was a stationmaster at the Nigerian Railway who hailed from Ikorodu in Lagos State. His mother, Comfort Bamidele Awojobi (née Adetunji), was a petty trader who hailed from Modakeke, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Between 1942 and 1947, he attended St. Peter’s Primary School, Faji, Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
.
It was while at his secondary school, the CMS Grammar School, Lagos
CMS Grammar School, Lagos
The CMS Grammar School in the Bariga district of Lagos is the oldest secondary school in Nigeria, founded on 6 June 1859 by the Church Missionary Society...
, that his academic traits began to manifest. Not only was he seen to be gifted in mathematics and the sciences, he was comfortable also in the arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
, becoming a member of the school’s literary and debating society. It was during this period that he earned the nickname, "Macbeth": William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
’s famous play, Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, was to be staged in the school. The lead-actor took ill a week before, and so Ayodele was called upon to play the lead-role in his stead. It is said that not only did Ayodele master his lines as lead-actor, but also the entire play, such that he was able to prompt the cast whenever they forgot their lines.
Academic achievements
Ayodele was a straight-‘A’s secondary school student, while at the CMS Grammar school, passing his West African School Certificate examinations with a record eight distinctions in 1955.He proceeded to the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Ibadan, for his General Certificate of Examinations, GCE (Advanced Level), where in 1958 he sat for, and obtained distinctions in all his papers: Physics, Pure Mathematics and Applied Mathematics.
In 1962 Awojobi was awarded his first degree in Mechanical Engineering – a BSc (Eng) London, with first class honours, at the then Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria
Zaria
Zaria may refer to:*Zaria, a city in Kaduna State, Nigeria*Zaria , or Zoria, the Slavic goddess of beauty*Countess Zaria of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg, a member of the Dutch royal family...
(now Ahmadu Bello University
Ahmadu Bello University
Ahmadu Bello University is the largest university in Nigeria and second largest in Africa, second only to Cairo University, Egypt. It is situated in Zaria. It was founded on October 4, 1962 as the University of Northern Nigeria....
, Zaria).
He had studied there on a federal government scholarship won on the merit of his performance in the GCE (Advanced Level) examinations of 1958.
It was said by Akintola Ajai (himself an engineering graduate of the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
), that when Awojobi arrived at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria, he boasted openly saying that it was his intention to finish the whole course within a period of three years only; an impracticable feat due to the fact that nowhere was the BSc Mechanical Engineering curriculum designed to run less than four years. Ayodele accomplished it in three years just as he had predicted.
The federal government awarded Awojobi another scholarship in 1962 to study further at the post-graduate level in the field of Mechanical Engineering at the Imperial College of the University of London (now Imperial College London). He completed the course, successfully defending his thesis, and was awarded a PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 1966.
Landmark degree award
After a period teaching at the University of LagosUniversity of Lagos
The University of Lagos - popularly known as Unilag - is a federal government university with a main campus located at Akoka, Yaba and a college of medicine located at Idi-Araba, all in Lagos, Lagos State, southern Nigeria...
, he returned to the Imperial College London for a research study in the field of Vibration
Vibration
Vibration refers to mechanical oscillations about an equilibrium point. The oscillations may be periodic such as the motion of a pendulum or random such as the movement of a tire on a gravel road.Vibration is occasionally "desirable"...
, and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science, Dsc. He was the first African to be awarded the Doctor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, at the Imperial College London.
The first University to admit an individual to this degree was in fact the University of London in 1860.
The status of the degree has declined, however, because it is not widely understood but in former times the doctorate in science was regarded as a greater distinction than a professorial chair.
It is in fact a higher tier of research doctorates, awarded on the basis of a formally submitted portfolio of published research of a very high standard.
Educator
On his return from England in 1966 Awojobi enrolled as a lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos, Akoka. His teaching methods endeared him to his engineering students, whose public chants: “Dead easy... Dead easy...”, would often be heard shouted in his direction as he went along the campus grounds. He quickly rose in the ranks amongst his colleagues and would later become the Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering, University of Lagos.Awojobi went back to London to study for his Doctorate. He returned in 1974 and was made an associate professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Lagos. However, one week after having been appointed associate professor, the University of Lagos Senate, after receiving news that Awojobi had just been awarded the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc), immediately appointed him professor in Mechanical Engineering, making him the youngest professor in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos and the first ever to be expressly promoted from associate to full professorship within a week.
By nature, Ayodele Awojobi was a teacher. He imparted knowledge at various other levels, even as he contended with his day job as a full-time professor and university lecturer. He envisaged his country as a whole becoming more advanced, technologically – this was exemplified when he refused lucrative offers from commercial outfits for his Autonov 1
Autonov 1
Autonov 1 is the name given to the automobile novelty that was created sometime in the 1970s, by making a once regular motor vehicle engine able to run in both the forward and backward directions, utilizing all four pre-existing gears in whichever direction.- Purpose of design :Its inventor, the...
invention, he rather preferring to preserve his design for his country's future benefit.
He engaged with great educators of his, and earlier generations, such as the late nationalist and Yoruba leader, Obafemi Awolowo
Obafemi Awolowo
Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo was a Nigerian politician, trade unionist, author and statesman. A Yoruba and native of Ikenne in Ogun State of Nigeria, he started his career as a regional political leader like most of his pre-independence contemporaries and was responsible for much of the progressive...
(who forwarded several of Ayodele’s educational books), the late activist, social crusader and educator, Tai Solarin
Tai Solarin
Augustus Taiwo "Tai" Solarin was a Nigerian educator and author. He established the famous Mayflower School, Ikenne, Ogun State in 1956....
, and the once Lagos State governor, Lateef Kayode Jakande, who achieved free education at all educational levels in Lagos State, Nigeria.
Jakande believed in Awolowo's visionary ideas about the way forward for the nation, particularly in Awolowo's resounding theme of qualitative and quantitative education across the nation, free of over-bearing school fees.
Ayodele Awojobi became, at one time, the chairman, Lagos State School’s Management Board, out of his concern for ways to better improve the problems inherent in secondary school education in Lagos State, Nigeria.
Awojobi desired that all his children go to public schools. The older ones all did. Such was his vision and hope that the country would some day attain equitable distribution in the quality of education cutting across different social strata.
Ayodele authored several books for both the secondary and tertiary levels of education in Nigeria.
His natural propensity to inform, to educate, drove him to become, in the early 1970s, a quiz-master on national television. The quiz-show, Mastermind, consisted of weekly contestants taking turns in isolation on "the hot-seat" whereupon various categories of questions would be thrown at them. Otunba Gbenga Daniel, currently the sitting governor of Ogun State
Ogun State
Ogun State is a state in South-western Nigeria. It borders Lagos State to the South, Oyo and Osun states to the North, Ondo State to the east and the republic of Benin to the west. Abeokuta is the capital and largest city in the state...
, Nigeria, was a returning winner and champion on Mastermind for several episodes over; he being in his undergraduate years at the time.
Inventor
While as a lecturer in the University of Lagos, Awojobi successfully converted his own family car, an Opel Record, from right-hand drive to a left-hand drive.He tinkered further with motor engines when he acquired an army-type jeep and proceeded to invent a second steering wheel mechanism, adjoined to the pre-existing engine at the rear end, so that the vehicle was able to move in both forward and backward directions with all four pre-existing gears.
This gave the hybrid vehicle, which he christened Autonov 1
Autonov 1
Autonov 1 is the name given to the automobile novelty that was created sometime in the 1970s, by making a once regular motor vehicle engine able to run in both the forward and backward directions, utilizing all four pre-existing gears in whichever direction.- Purpose of design :Its inventor, the...
, the ability to achieve its highest speeds at a moment's notice, in the normal reverse direction. He highlighted the advantage this might offer to army vehicles, as an example, that might need to make a fast retreat, in a cul-de-sac or ambush situation.
Activist
Ayodele Awojobi, in the wake of the presidential election results that returned the incumbentIncumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
, Shehu Shagari
Shehu Shagari
Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, Turakin Sakkwato served as the President of Nigeria's Second Republic , after the handover of power by General Olusegun Obasanjo's military government....
as President in the Nigerian Second Republic
Nigerian Second Republic
The Second Republic was the republican government of Nigeria between 1979 and 1983 governed by the second republican constitution.- Founding :...
, became very vocal in the national newspapers and magazines, going as far as suing the Federal Government of Nigeria for what he strongly believed was a widespread election rigging.
With all his court cases against the Nigerian government thrown out of court, he delved into the law books, himself being only a mechanical engineer, claiming that he would earn his law degrees in record time, to enable him better argue with the opposition at the federal courts.
He used the universities as a bastion, going from campus to campus to make speeches at student-rallies, hoping to sensitize them to what he perceived as the ills of a corrupt government.
Ayodele Awojobi authored several political books over the course of his ideological struggles against a perceived, corrupt federal government. These books were usually made available during his public rallies or symposiums.
Political ambition
Any intention Ayodele Awojobi ever had of entering partisan politics, was revealed by the man himself when he spoke on national television, saying: "At the age of 65, I will have built the infrastructure. There would be very few illiterates in Nigeria when I mount the soapbox. Then, I will go into proper politics".Death
Ayodele Awojobi died in the morning of Sunday, September 23, 1984, at age 47. His death made head-line news in most of the national newspapers for days following.He was survived by his wife, Mrs Iyabode Mabel Awojobi (née Odetunde), and children.
Tribute
Usually every year till date, a tribute or two in Ayodele's honour, would be published in the form of an article in a national newspaper, such as the one published by The Nation on November 5, 2009 titled, Tribute to Ayodele Awojobi.In October 2009, the governor of Lagos State Babatunde Fashola
Babatunde Fashola
Babatunde Raji Fashola is the thirteenth governor of Lagos State, Nigeria. As a candidate of the Action Congress party, Fashola succeeded Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on April 14, 2007, and was sworn in on May 29, 2007....
dedicated a statue of Awojobi at Onike Roundabout, Yaba, Lagos in a garden named after him.
On September 23, 2010, Birrel street – a prominent street in Yaba Local Government Council Area – was re-named Prof. Ayodele Awojobi Avenue; a further tribute to Awojobi's memory.
Research
- Vibration of rigid bodies on semi-infinite elastic media – A. O. Awojobi, P. Grootenhuis, 1965 http://www.jstor.org/pss/2415062
- Plane strain and axially symmetric problems of a linearly non-homogeneous elastic half-space – A. O. Awojobi, R. E. Gibson, 1973 http://qjmam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/3/285
- Vibration of rigid bodies on non-homogeneous semi-infinite elastic media – A. O. Awojobi, 1973 http://qjmam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/4/483
- Torsional vibration of a rigid circular body on an infinite elastic stratum – A. O. Awojobi, 1969 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VJS-47YVM7H-6M&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1129464190&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=07c1425dc3bb0d246fcb55ec2b8c4bda
- Torsional vibration of a rigid circular body on a non-homogeneous elastic stratum – A. O. Awojobi, 1973 http://qjmam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/2/235
- Vertical vibration of rigid bodies with rectangular bases on elastic media – A. O. Awojobi, P. H. Tabiowo http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/113525050/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
- Factors in the design of ultrasonic probes – W. M. R. Smith, A. O. Awojobi, 1979 http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1979Ultra..17...20S
- Determination of the dynamic shear modulus and the depth of the dominant layer of a vibrating elastic medium – A. O. Awojobi, 1970 http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.php?requester=gs&collection=TRD&recid=A7024481AH&q=%22author%3AA.+O.+author%3AAWOJOBI%22&uid=788747044&setcookie=yes
- Ground vibrations due to seismic detonation in oil exploration – A. O. Awojobi, O. A. Sobayo, 1974 http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/114033654/abstract
- Vertical vibrations of a rigid circular body on a non-homogeneous half-space interrupted by a frictionless plane – A. O. Awojobi http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/110559384/abstract
Educational
- Technical Drawing for Secondary Schools. A.O. Awojobi
- 325 Worked Examples In Intermediate Mechanics. A.O. Awojobi
- Notes and Worked Examples in Physics. A.O.Awojobi
- Engineering Drawing. A.O.Awojobi
Political
- Where our oil money has gone by A. Awojobi, 1982 http://openlibrary.org/b/OL3210331M/Where_our_oil_money_has_gone