By Johnbull Nwokoh, in Abuja
Africa’s largest body of petroleum geoscientists, the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) is hosting a technical session in honour of one of the continent’s most erudite geoscience scholars in July 2017.
Sylvester Adegoke, professor of earth sciences, will be 80 on July 9, 2017 and a group of individual and corporate members of NAPE has come together to sponsor a Technical Session in his honour, under the aegis of NAPE, with membership of over 5,000 strong.
The July 2017 edition of NAPE’s lunch hour monthly technical session, scheduled for 11am on July 12, 2017,is sponsored by a group that includes Waltersmith Petroman and Platform Petroleum,both E&P companies producing crude oil and gas, as well as Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) and Degeconek, both of whom are hydrocarbon asset consultants.
“NAPE is a platform for discussion of the most current advances in petroleum geosciences”, says Abiodun Adesanya, President of the association. “We are proud to be asked by sponsors who want to fund this session and who already have a line-up of speakers headlining a robust technical programme”.
The lunch hour event, to be held at the Eko Hotel, is themed: State of Play: The Trailblazing Path of an Illustrious Geoscientist.
“It will feature three technical papers and a tribute, all of which touch on activity that Professor Adegoke has been involved in during his illustrous career”, says Adesanya.
PAPERS include:
1. Refinement of the Stratigraphic Framework of the Niger Delta by Ajibola Oyebamiji, Coordinator, Geosciences Research & Development & Knowledge Management, Nigerian Agip Oil Company -15 minutes.
2. MOS Energy (A Journey in Upstream E&P Entrepreneurship) by Dayo Adegoke, Managing Director, Mos Energy Company-10 minutes
3. Petroleum Systems of Nigeria’s Cretaceous Sedimentary Basins-Insights and the future By Kenny Ladipo Ph.D, who is Senior Exploration Advisor at Lekoil -18minutes.
TRIBUTE
Professor O.S. Adegoke …….” Personal reminiscences about an Outstanding Earth Science Professional and a Role Model(Academician, Industry Professional and multiple National and International award winner), by Ebi Omatsola, Ph.D, Former Chief Executive, Conoil Producing and Africa’s leading exploration thinker. He has 10 minutes.
“There will be intro, welcome and appreciation by NAPE President for just five minutes”, says Seye Fadahunsi, a former NAPE Vice President who is the animating spirit behind this special session. We should wrap up everything,, including Professor Adegoke’s 10 minute response, under 1 hour 20 minutes”, he says. Messrs Fadahunsi and Adesanya were both students of Adegoke at the University of Ife’s geology department in the west of Nigeria in the early 80s.
Adegoke grabbed a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria’s premier University, in 1962, proceeding the following year to the University of California, Berkeley, to study for a higher degree in Geology with special emphasis on Paleontology, the study of fossils for dating earth structure.
He is reputed to have been one of the very few graduated Students in the history of that University who completed their Doctoral dissertations within the record period of three years. Angeline Myra Keen Myra, Emeritus Professor of Paleontology of Stanford University,noted that Adegoke’s dissertation at Berkeley clearly belonged to “the classic type that has been a hallmark of University of California Geological Series for the past half century.”
His main claims to distinction include extensive pioneering studies of the bitumen (tar sand) belt in southwestern Nigeria; comprehensive paleontology work that determined the major boundaries between the cretaceous Dahomey and tertiary Niger Delta basins as well as forensic level studies of the Chad Basin, the latter as consultant to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
NAPE on its own does not organise technical sessions for individuals. This session is being hosted on the association’s platform. “Corporate organisations and individual with robust technical programmes will be hosted on our platforms”, says Adesanya. “Professor Adegoke is clearly respected by companies and individuals who themselves are much respected”, the President explains. “They have brought this session to our platform and we are so proud to host it”.
