What are some of the things and who are the individuals in your early years who influenced you, especially concerning the establishment of the Ife Institute of Advanced Studies (IIAS)?
My background, my parents’ legacy and the advantages of being raised according to the Christian ethos of love, community upliftment and development are my biggest motivation. A surrogate mother, who was also responsible for raising me, and my interest in community development also influenced me. My love for culture and tradition came from her too, because she married a Chief at Oke-igbo, who was a devotee of one of the deities. As a result, I grew up listening to Ibeji (twins) chants and songs. My father was also an Anglican priest, he moved from one community to another to preach the gospel, and so anywhere he went, I was there as well. My upbringing was cosmopolitan as a result. Then of course, the high school and universities I attended were very instrumental to my interest in supporting scholarly work. All these had a great impact on my interest to start the IIAS. I attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka after the civil war and there they have buildings named after great Nigerians like Obafemi Awolowo, Richard Akintola, Isa Katia, Akpabio etc. However, a few years ago when I went there to receive an Honourary Degree from the university, I wept because of the present state of the university. This is another reason why I thought we must work strategically together to make things right.
What can you say about the institute so far, especially regarding the trainers, how it started and so on?
I am glad we chose the right thing and I am very happy with what we have seen so far as outcomes. I did not just wake up to do this. Anyone who thinks that was how IIAS came about, has missed the point. It is about a lot of work and years of sacrifice.
I am a very lucky person, because none of our scholars in Africa and beyond Africa that I have ever called upon to help us has never said ‘no’ to me, not even one. It is a model I think I am interested in talking about. It is not about competition. It is even good for us that we become the model of excellence that people now see. That is the beauty of it. We also try as much as we can to make it open so that we can get more of this initiative from other people.
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