USA Africa Dialogue Series - Professor Tunde Babawale: Distinguished Public Service Award

Professor Babawale is the 2012 recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award at the Africa Annual Conference, University of Texas at Austin. The Distinguished Public Service Award is for scholars with considerable managerial and administrative skills whose decisions have impacted on the way we all do our work.  

Distinguished Public Service Award 2012

 

Professor Gabriel Olatunde Babawale

Of the University of Lagos, Nigeria.
Professor Babawale was born in Osun State, Nigeria on October 1, 1961. He attended Inisa Grammar School until 1977, when his education brought him to the University of Ife, Ile-Ife. He acquired a BA of Education in History in 1981. Continuing at the University of Ife, he gained an MS in International Relations with a concentration in International Relations and Political Economy.

Professor Babawale began his professional career as a teacher at a government secondary school in Adamawa State. He continued his work at the Anglican Secondary Commercial Grammar School in Iyekere afterwards. In 1985, Adeyemi College Campus of Obafemi Awolowo University employed Babawale as an Assistant Lecturer. In 1988, he was promoted by the same institution to Lecturer Grade Eleven. By 1991, he was promoted to Lecturer Grade One. Two years later, the sting of promotions continued with his elevation to the position of Senior Lecturer. In October 2002, Babawale was appointed as a Professor of Political Science. During this time, he spent over two decades lecturing for the University of Lagos' Department of Political Science where he taught over seventeen undergraduate and post-graduate courses. In addition to his tasks as a professor, Babawale undertook responsibilities for supervising a number of MS and MPA theses as well.

As impressive as Professor Babawale's scholarly record is, his record in public service and administration is equally, if not more, impressive. He has performed in the following capacities; as a course advisor; as an Examination and Time-Table Officer; as a member of the University of Lagos Loans, Bursaries, and Scholarship Committee; as a member of the Forum Committee of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Lagos; as a member of the University of Lagos Senate; as a member of the Conference Centre University of Lagos Management Board; as the Secretary of the Faculty of Social Sciences Publications Committee; as a member of the Hall of Residence Management Committee; as a member of the University of Lagos Think-Tank on Student Affairs; as a member of the University of Lagos Task Force on Health and Environment; as a member of the University Panel of Enquiry; as a Secretary of the Academic Staff Union of Universities for Lagos; as the Chairman of the Examination Results Verification Committee; as a Managing Editor of the UNILAG Journal of Politics; as a member of the University's Strategic Plan Implementation Committee; as a member of numerous committees in the Department of Political Science at the University of Lagos; as a Chairman of the Ford Foundation Grant Committee; as a Chairman of the Intellectual Nodal Contact Committee; as a member appointed by the Executive Governor of Ondo State to the Administrative Visitation Panel to Adekunle Ajasin University; and finally, as a member appointed by the President of the Nigerian Armed Forces  to the position of Director and CEO of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization.

Among all of these achievements and responsibilities,   Babawale has found time to be a part of the Nigerian Political Science Association, the Historical Society of Nigeria, and the Third World Forum. Furthermore, he has published several books, including Nigeria in the Crises of Governance and Development (Political Economy, Governance and Globalization) Vol. I. and Nigeria in the Crises of Governance and Development (Education, Labour and Economy) Vol. 2, and has authored numerous chapters as well as journal articles. Moreover, Professor Babawale has frequently presented papers at international conferences such as his recent lectures at the National Defense College Abuja and the IDEP Workshop in Dakar, Senegal. He has attended other conferences such as the international conference on Multiculturalism and the Prospects for Africa and African Diaspora Development in Brazil and the International Conference on Global African Spirituality, Social Capital, and Self-Reliance in Africa in Benin.

Professor Babawale has also given numerous public lectures, both in, and outside of, Nigeria. To add to his list of accomplishments, he has coordinated the following conferences and seminars, to name but a few; the international workshops on Harmonization and Standardization of Nigerian and Related Languages; Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and Ijo, held in Abuja, Nigeria, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and Johannesburg, South Africa; the international conference on Teaching and Propagating African History and Culture to the Diaspora and Teaching Diaspora History and Culture to Africa, held at the Corporative University, Brasilia, Brazil; the national workshop on Cultural Rejuvenation for National Integration and Sustainable Development in Lagos, Nigeria; the International Methodology Workshop on "African Rock Art and Pan-African Renaissance," in Niamey, Niger Republic; and the international conference on "Advancing and Integrating Research and Studies In The Interest of Africa and The African Diaspora" held at the University of West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, and Tobago.

     Currently, Professor Babawale is a part of the Third World Forum's research on Nigeria and West African religion in contemporary globalizing processes. He also works on research on the rise of ethnic militias, de-legitimization of the state, and the threat to Nigerian nationhood. Finally, Professor Babawale works as a part of the World Council of Churches researching Africa's position in the functions of globalization. However, Professor Babawale also maintains an active personal life as a family man. He has a loving wife as well as five children. In his spare time, he plays table tennis.

Please join me in congratulating Professor Babawale!

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Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station
Austin, TX 78712-0220
USA
512 475 7224
512 475 7222  (fax)
http://www.toyinfalola.com/
www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa
http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs
http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue