FUPRE VC- Engr. Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh presents award of excellence to immediate past FUPRE VC- Engr. Prof Akii A.Ibhadode who was flanked by wife on Thursday
By Samuel Ogude
The outgoing Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun Uvwie Local Government Area Delta State ,Engr. Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh and other staff who are academic and non academic staff of the institution have bagged excellence awards in recognition of their various outstanding achievements in the areas of researches, grants and dedication to duties. The programme which took place on Thursday at the new University auditorium was chaired by the immediate past Vice Chancellor, Engr. Prof Akii A.Ibhadode.
Apart from the Vice Chancellor, Engr. Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh and the immediate past Vice Chancellor, Engr. Prof. Akii A. Ibhadode who were recognized in the awards, also recognized were: Dr. A. Ogunkeyede, Engr. Dr. W. C. Okologume, Engr. Dr. Benjamin O. Akinloye, Dr. E. E. Elemike, Engr. Prof. Thaddeus Chidi, and Dr. Kingsley A. Unueroh who also hold copyright.
While the awardees that were honoured in the Patent Category are researchers and inventors whose intellectual property portfolios reflect significant scientific and technological advancement and top among the recipients were: Engr. Prof. C. O. Mgbemena and Engr. Dr. Omonigho B. Otanocha, each with 10 patents.
Other awardees included: Engr. Prof. Godswill Ofualagba (8 patents), Engr. Prof. G. Uzedhe (6 patents), Engr. Dr. E. Emagbetere (6 patents), Engr. Prof. J. A. Agbakwuru (4 patents), and Engr. Prof. C. O. Izelu.
In the Grant Category, numerous faculty members were honoured for securing national and international research funding. While Prof. (Mrs.) O. E. Osafile received a TETFund National Research Grant of N44,000,000 for her project on flexible dye-synthesized solar cells, as well as a major international grant of €1,398,375 from the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the African Laser Centre (ALC), and the National Laser Centre (NLC) for a laser-based manufacturing study, Prof. Arnold Adimabua Ojugo was recognized for securing a $53,000 grant from the Future Tecno Science Foundation in Indonesia.
L-R: FUPRE VC- Engr. Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh(3rd) flanked by a senior staff, Engr. Prof. Godswill Ofualagba, and immediate past FUPRE VC- Engr. Prof Akii A.Ibhadode and his wife on Thursday
While Engr. Prof. C. O. Mgbemena received both a TETFund grant of N12,500,000 for a solar-battery electric auto-rickshaw and N500,000 from FUPRE’s Centre for Research Innovation (in partnership with NPDC/ND Western) for his E-Tricycle project and under the Fellowship category, Engr. Prof. O. D. Samuel secured N20,000,000 from TETFund for an AI-driven solar-biogas hybrid energy system and Engr. Prof. G. Ofualagba was celebrated for multiple grants: N19,400,000, N13,400,000, and N40,400,000 for projects on micro-turbine power generation, pipeline vandalization detection, and a Remote Patient Monitoring system. He also won second prize (N750,000) at a FUPRE/NPDC/ND Western innovation contest.
While Engr. Prof. G. Uzedhe was awarded N9,400,000 by NCDMB for his smart energy metering system, Dr. Ogunkeyede A. emerged first-prize winner in the same contest with a N1,000,000 award for his Plasti-sand block innovation.
Other awardees included: Dr. J. O. Oyekale, who received €133,650 from the EU LEAP-RE project; Engr. Dr. Omonigho B. Otanocha, who secured multiple high-value grants including €1,390,000 from the European Commission (EACEA), €140,000 from the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering, N335,240 from The Ikuku Ndu Challenge (UK), and ZAR 127,000 from CSIR/NLC/ALC.
Engr. Dr. Modestus O. Okwu received both a R95,000 research grant and a R220,000 Global Excellence Grant from the University of Johannesburg. He was further recognized for multiple postdoctoral fellowships in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the same university.
In Recognition/Appreciation Category, several individuals were applauded for their dedicated services and contributions to the university and they included: Dr. (Mrs.) E. Jane Omoyine, Dr. (Mrs.) E. F. D. Ogundeji, Mr. Garba Ya’u Nabayi, Prof. Doris F. Ogeleka, Prof. (Mrs.) Mercy I. Anyaegbu, Engr. Prof. Godswill Ofualagba, Ms. Melinda Ikre, Mr. Nurhe Kingsley Okeremute, Mr. Emojeghware Monday, Mr. John Oluwaseun Oluwalana, Mrs. Omojola Folashade, Mrs. Osigwa Christiana, and Mr. Godwin Agwah.
Group photograph after the awards
In the Fellowship and Global Recognition Category, awards went to faculty with prestigious international academic recognitions and among them were: Engr. Prof. C. O. Mgbemena was recognized as a Fellow of I-FAIR 2, the Nigerian Science Leadership Programme, and the Isambard Kingdom Brunel Fellowship (UK). Dr. E. E. Elemike was named a TETFAIR Fellow, an I-FAIR 3 Fellow, and was listed in the SCIVAL Top 500 Researchers in Nigeria (2019–2022). He was also honoured as a Top 2% World Scientist (2023), alongside Prof. O. K. Abiola and Engr. Prof. O. D. Samuel.Dr. J. O. Oyekale was recognized for his Empowering the Teachers Fellowship at MIT and his Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship in Germany.
Prof. (Mrs.) O. E. Osafile earned distinctions as a TWAS-UNESCO Associate at the University of the Free State and through the HPC-Europa3 programme at the Italian National Research Council. Engr. Dr. W. C. Okologume received multiple awards from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) between 2016 and 2023. Dr. Elemike also won the Nigeria Young Academy Award in Chemical Sciences (2023), while Engr. Dr. Modestus O. Okwu was celebrated for his three-year postdoctoral fellowship tenure at the University of Johannesburg.
Speaking at the occasion, the outgoing Vice Chancellor Engr. Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh said the award given to the awardees for the day is a call for them to work hard to actualize the vision of the founding fathers of the institution. According to him, for those who did not receive award does not mean, they never did well saying, there was no way the award would have gone round to everyone. He however said, their contributions to the growth and development of the institution are noted.
His words: “For the awardees for this event, you have done well but it is also a call to do more.But if you did not get, it doesn’t mean, you have not done well, you know, award can not be given to everybody”.
While the Vice Chancellor expressed gratitude to the management, staff and students for their support, he charged them to extend the same hands of fellowship to the incoming Vice Chancellor to further enhance the growth and development of the institution. His words:” l want you to support the incoming administration, let us continue to support one another and work together to achieve the collective goals of our founding fathers”
Prof.Akpofure Rim-Rukeh specially thanked Engr. Prof Akii A.Ibhadode who handed the baton of the University leadership for him adding, he(Engr Prof.Akii A. Ibhadode ) laid the foundation upon which he has built. The outgoing Vice-Chancellor expressed heartfelt appreciation to the FUPRE community for their support throughout his tenure just as he reaffirmed his confidence in the University’s trajectory towards becoming a global centre of excellence in energy, engineering, and applied sciences.
Earlier on his part, the Chairman of the occasion and immediate past Vice Chancellor of the institution, Engr. Prof. Akii A.Ibhadode, said he was impressed with the level of growth and development the institution has undergone by way of infrastructural development since he handed the baton of leadership of the institution to the current Vice Chancellor, Engr Prof Akpofure Rim-Rukeh on 4th of May 2020. According to him, despite the challenges of COVID 19 pandemic which characterised the period of his handing-over, the VC was to scale through and hit the ground running with lots of developmental projects which are visible today.
His words:” Since l came,l can see so many developmental projects on campus. When l left, it was seven(7) buildings, you are doing very well and l congratulate you for that. I am very happy about that. You have built on the foundation l have made here…”
Engr. Prof. Akii A.Ibhadode, also expressed gratitude to all staff and students for their co-operation and contributions which made it possible for the progress the institution has made so far.He also charged the staff to extend the same hands of co-operation and fellowship to the incoming Vice Chancellor to enable him succeed.While expressing gratitude to God Almighty for smooth transition from this present VC to another one without ranchor,Engr Prof. Akii A.Ibhadode congratulated the new VC to have been chosen just as he expressed gratitude to those who contested with the new Vice Chancellor but could not make it. He was particularly happy that the institution has produced enough Professors within the institution that could contest for the position of VC which saw the emergence one of them as the Vice Chancellor.
His words:”:” In my tenure, there were five Professors. For you to have been able to come to this position for having internal members as Professors applying for this position, the University has matured to a very great extent…”He therefore prayed God’s protection and good health for the outgoing Vice Chancellor as he hands over the baton of leadership to the new Vice Chancellor.
On his part, Engr. Prof. Godswill Ofualagba, the Chairman, Award Committee, expressed gratitude to Engr. Prof. Akii A.Ibhadode for his words of encouragement for the staff especially the academic staff to embark on researches to soar high in life instead of struggling for positions to create enemies among themselves. According to him, the immediate past Vice Chancellor’s pieces of advice have yielded fruits as many of them have become renowned persons in the areas of researches today.
More group photograph of VC and some staff after the awards
His words:” Through your advice Sir, many of us got inspired.. today, we have grants both internal and external and FUPRE can stand on good footing in the world today, these include fellowship“. According to him, with the incoming Vice Chancellor, the institution would not only boast of patents but they are to be translated into projects to solve societal problems. He therefore expressed gratitude to the Vice Chancellor Engr. Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh for allowing them to serve in different capacities which made them to have different awards for the day.
The ceremony which was a moment of reflection and tribute to the leadership of Engr. Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh for his visionary leadership and intellectual contributions which include two patents and participation in international knowledge-sharing platforms such as the PATLIB Seminar at the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) in Harare, Zimbabwe, climaxed with the presentation of the awards to the difference recipients amidst cheers.