Professor Oyewale Tomori’s is the outgoing president of the
Nigerian Academy of Sciences (NAS). In this interview with J.K. OBATALA,
the celebrated epidemiologist and environmental health activist gave an
overview of academy’s activities at the recent lecture, which held at
Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Warri.
What did the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) hope to achieve, by holding its Public Lecture in the Niger Delta?
Well, the topic was “Petroleum”. So the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE) was naturally the appropriate place—a venue that would give us the right audience.
Also, a major role of the Academy is to inform the public and raise the general level of science-awareness and understanding, throughout the country. One of the things we have achieved is enhanced communication, which was demonstrated when we paid a courtesy call on the Ovie of Uvwie. We discussed all the issues….
What kind of feedback did you get?
He was quite cordial…. We discovered that we have a lot in common—because I actually went to school in the Niger Delta. So it was quite a good thing, to let him know my early education came from this area…That, in those days, many of us had our training in Nigeria, without having travel out. If we could do that then, why can’t we do it now? A few of our colleagues went to school with free primary education, and that kind of thing.
There was no “oil money” then. So why are we now in this poor state? These are some of the things we discussed …We also talked about being courageous enough to speak for the people.
What did the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) hope to achieve, by holding its Public Lecture in the Niger Delta?
Well, the topic was “Petroleum”. So the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE) was naturally the appropriate place—a venue that would give us the right audience.
Also, a major role of the Academy is to inform the public and raise the general level of science-awareness and understanding, throughout the country. One of the things we have achieved is enhanced communication, which was demonstrated when we paid a courtesy call on the Ovie of Uvwie. We discussed all the issues….
What kind of feedback did you get?
He was quite cordial…. We discovered that we have a lot in common—because I actually went to school in the Niger Delta. So it was quite a good thing, to let him know my early education came from this area…That, in those days, many of us had our training in Nigeria, without having travel out. If we could do that then, why can’t we do it now? A few of our colleagues went to school with free primary education, and that kind of thing.
There was no “oil money” then. So why are we now in this poor state? These are some of the things we discussed …We also talked about being courageous enough to speak for the people.
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