Ojok Ocan, Silas Dada, Phillip Oluyide, Dapo Adeyemi and Bertrand Ozumba are some of the geoscience scholars who have signed up to speak at a symposium on Contemporary Geosciences in Africa, scheduled to take place at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile Ife, southwestern Nigeria, in May 2016.
The event, which will hold on May 31, 2016, will feature papers on The Mother Rock: Developments in Basement Geology (2) Innovations in Petroleum Exploration and Exploitation (3) Aviable policy framework for solid minerals exploration and exploitation and (4) Strategy for a sustainable, robust geoscience manpower development.
These presentations will be part of a book, for which a First call for contributions of research and technical papers has been made.
“The symposium and the book are part of a series of activities scheduled to mark the 70th birthday of the Nigerian scholar Omar Rahaman”, according to Kenny Ladipo, a former top Shell geologist and earth science thinker and founder of the Centre of Excellence in Geosciences &Petroleum Engineering at the University of Benin, in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. Dr. Ladipo is chair of the organizing committee for the “Season of Rahaman”, which includes the symposium, the book, a lunch hour lecture and gala dinner.
“It’s more than a committee of his colleagues, friends, former and current students”, says Dr. Ladipo, “It’s a way of celebrating the subject of geoscience itself”, he explains. “Professor Rahaman has been a selfless builder of capacities in the subject”. He says that the organisers have the blessing of the Idowu Adeyinka, also a geoscience scholar who is the Vice Chancellor of the Nigeria’s premier University: the University of Ibadan. “Professor Dapo Adeyemi, who is head of department of Geology and Applied Geophysicics at the Obafemi Awolowo University.
Three petroleum related organisations are involved in one way or another in the activities. They include the Petroleum Training Development Fund (PTDF), the Nigerian Mining and Geoscience Society(NMGS) and the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE).
The book is proposed to cover ALL aspects of Nigerian geology, including the basement (Igneous and metamorphic) and their economic potentials including solid minerals, as well as the stratigraphy, sedimentology and petroleum systems of Nigeria’s sedimentary basins and petroleum and potentials. It is expected to highlight concepts and research output in hydrogeology, applied geophysics and geochemistry as they apply to the improved understanding of the geology of Nigeria.
Omar Morufu Rahaman is a widely quoted expert on the Precambrian (the earliest rock unit) geology of Africa and has served in the academia, mainly at the Obafemi Awolowo University for over 40 years, but perhaps his most distinguishing trait is the training of geoscientists. Professor Rahaman’s main ambition is to produce high quality geoscience graduates that can be employed anywhere in the world.
For nine years he was the coordinator of the aptitude examination used by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to select beneficiaries of the Funds Overseas Scholarship Scheme for the skills acquisition at the Master’s level in selected Universities in Britain.
For the unique anniversary of the day of his birth, the planned activities include
- an hour long talk by the celebrator himself at the May 2016 edition of the monthly Technical/Business Meeting of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) on May 18, 2016 at the Eko Hotel, overlooking the Atlantic in Lagos.
- Symposium (featuring oral presentation of many of the technical papers proposed for compilation in the book) on May 31, 2016, at the Conference Centre of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife
- Gala Night (Dinner) including the launch of an endowment of a Foundation, on May 31, 2016, also at the Conference Centre of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.
“The proposed book will be a follow up to the publication of May 2006 published to mark Professor Rahaman’s 60th birthday anniversary”, notes Kehinde Olafiranye, who is the secretary of the committee and anchor person driving the project.
Industry professionals, academics and students are invited to submit full length papers that relate to any of the themes: (1) The Mother Rock: Developments in Basement Geology (2) Innovations in petroleum Exploration and Exploitation (3) A viable policy framework for Solid minerals exploration and exploitation in Nigeria (4) Strategy for a sustainable, robust geoscience manpower development.
