The Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Prof. Felix Salako
The Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Prof. Felix Salako, speaks about his background and academic career path in this interview with DAUD OLATUNJI
You just turned 60. What are the most valuable lessons that life has taught you?
The number one lesson is that life is not a linear thing. There are ups and downs and a man should be strong enough to accept both when they come, and particularly strong enough not to be broken down by negative things. I think the essence of living is to become stronger in times of challenges. So, life has taught me to be strong and not succumb to negative things or challenges.
You are not only a professor, you are also a vice-chancellor. Did you imagine you would come this far?
I love reading a lot; I love history, particularly and that was how I discovered Prof. Bolanle Awe and Prof. Wole Soyinka. It was after reading their stories that I made up my mind to also become a professor. I didn’t have any other ambition. But my first job was as a consultant; I was consulting on agriculture at Baba Oyawoye’s place in Ibadan. He (Oyawoye) was the first professor of Geology in Nigeria. He was in the University of Ibadan. I worked with him for about three years before I left for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
You said you loved History but ended up studying Soil Science. What informed that decision?
At the time, WAEC (West African Examination Council) cancelled or did not release my History result; the council did whatever it liked with our results and expunged History from mine. It was only my result for Bible Knowledge that was released and my mother even started calling me a pastor. But that was why I couldn’t study History.
Can you tell us a bit about your family background?
My father worked with the Nigerian Railway Corporation and my mother was a successful trader. I was born and grew up at No.12 Oko-Baba Street, Ebute-Meta, Lagos. I had my primary education in Lagos. In Primary 5, I left St. Judes Primary School for Apostolic Grammar School, Ikorodu Road. My secondary school was also in Ikorodu, Lagos. I was also at Igbobi College for one year for my Higher School Certificate. I was later admitted to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka to study Agric Science.
Did your parents ever try to influence your career choice?
I was 11 years old when my father died and then it became the duty of my mother to decide if I would go to secondary school or not. My mother was only educated up to Primary 6. So, she didn’t have that kind of influence; I was independent in choosing what I wanted to study, save for peer influence. At that time, everybody wanted to study either Medicine or Law. My mother only complained that Nsukka was far.
You had your national youth service in the North. What was the experience like?
Nigeria was very peaceful then. We were even travelling by road and it was very easy. I served between 1983 and 1984 and there was no fear of travelling even at night. Also, I do not think we had so much division then as we have now, in terms of religious and tribal consciousness. I did a lot of jobs in the North, especially when I was a consultant with the IITA and I slept in remote villages doing soil surveys. I was in the jungle close to Maiduguri around Nafada, along the Gongola River and I encountered friendly herdsmen and farmers. I remember being in the jungle and, out of curiosity, I wanted to go somewhere and the Fulani people told me the place was full of baboons and told me not to go there. And truly, before they even finished telling me, we saw baboons staring at us. That was how friendly they were. At that time, we would buy kola nuts and give them to the farmers and they would, in return, give us some vegetables. Also, I remember sleeping on a mat in a hut where snakes were moving about freely. That was when Nigeria was still united.
When did you join FUNAAB?
I joined FUNAAB as a senior lecturer after I left IITA in 2000. I have better strength in research than in lecturing.
I had publications; so, from the level of senior lecturer, I became a professor in 2006.
You are the sixth Vice-Chancellor of FUNAAB and you’ve been in office for more than three years now. How has the experience been?
As I told you earlier, life is about ups and downs. There are people who appreciate our administration and there are those who hate us or who do not appreciate us. It is expected in life. No matter what you do, some people will never see anything good in what you have done. So, you should not let that bother you; one should rather focus on people who strengthen one.
You were a Deputy Vice-Chancellor before becoming the VC. Did you have much to say in the institution’s administration then?
I will always give 100 per cent loyalty to anybody I work with and I think that is godliness, and that is what should be expected in every administration. But I will not go beyond my boundary; if you do not approve anything, I read your body language, I stay by myself. I will give you 100 per cent loyalty but I will not go beyond what is approved for me. But that doesn’t mean that if I see something going wrong, I would not talk. I will tell my superior my observation and it is left to my superior to take or reject the advice.
On November 1, 2017, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo said some people came to him before my appointment and said, “Do not support this man because he worked with Mr A, B and C and they jointly ruined the university.” Then he (Obasanjo) asked them, “When did he start as a Deputy Vice-Chancellor? Did he work with A, B and C who actually upgraded the university? Why didn’t you mention that?” He (Obasanjo) said that.
Tell us about your wife and when you got married?
We got married in 1991. The person I got married to is into business. I didn’t go for someone in academia because I thought it was not economically safe. My thinking was that if an academic married another academic, the family might run into a difficulty if there was a strike, and both of them were not getting their salaries. Secondly, I told you earlier that I am also business-inclined, so, that also influenced my decision to marry someone who is good at business.
How did you meet your wife?
I met her in Benin, Edo State. I worked in Okomu company as a research associate under IITA. I was employed to manage a United Nations university; and that was where I met her.
What attracted you to her?
I wasn’t a ladies’ man (laughs), but when I took her to see my mother in Lagos, my mother accepted her wholeheartedly. I wasn’t into all those attraction things. But I admired her humility. That my mother liked her at first meeting says a lot about her character or positive behavior.
As a soil scientist, what advice do you give to Nigerian farmers?
If you don’t know your natural environment, you cannot really practise agriculture well. So, it is very important that government should invest in soil surveying and evaluation. When I told you that I was working in the North in those jungles, what I was doing was land evaluation for irrigation development along River Gongola along the Sokoto-Kebbi River. I have a large land evaluation for irrigation development there. That is the way it should be. But if people don’t apply science correctly, things will go wrong. So, soil science is very relevant in terms of agricultural management as well as the management of the environment.
How do you feel to have reached the peak of your career as an academic?
I have not reached the peak of my career. Professor Wole Soyinka is a professor, life continues as long as you are living; there is always a challenge that you aspire to overcome. So, if you have the mentality of reaching the peak, you will become complacent. As long as one is alive, there must be new territories to venture into and conquer. When I became a professor, it was satisfactory as I said and I thought that was the peak for me. Then, the issue of becoming a vice-chancellor came and there were a lot of oppositions. So, the issue of peak should be left to God.
Are you planning to become a governor or minister?
I am not in politics. Let me wax philosophical here. I have told you the story of how I loved History but ended up studying Soil Science. I also toId you how I went into consultancy, how I went into research and then ended up as a university lecturer and rose to the rank of professor. I do not just sit down somewhere and think that I should not work. I do my work dedicatedly here and leave the rest to God. So what I am going to become in the future is in the hands of God.
What are your hobbies; how do you unwind?
My hobby is reading all sorts of books, including books written in Yoruba language. I have read Iwe-mimo Ifa, Esin Olodumare that entails all the Odu of Ifa, about 200 and something, I read all of it. I read Fagunwa, I read Wole Soyinka, I read Oluwole, I read Obama, I read Trump.
What is your favourite meal?
My favourite meal is amala and what they call ‘draw soup’ – ogbono, ewedu and gbegiri. Eba is even more important than amala for me, because there was no way you would be in our house at Oko-Baba without eating eba or having garri. My mother made a conscious effort to ensure that nobody was hungry in the house and so, she would buy a big bag of garri and put it in the house. So, when you came back from school and if food was not ready, you would first have garri. So, eba is part of us.
What is your favourite drink?
Stout and wine.
What is your favourite colour?
Do I have one? I think green is one of my favourite colours.
Why green?
I wouldn’t know. You know there are things that come to you naturally.
Are you satisfied with the reading culture in Nigeria?
No, I am not. People don’t read anymore because they can get everything on Google, but if you don’t read, you can’t assimilate.
What bothers you about the young generation?
The fact that the young people today have no mentors. They think they can just do things, and not listen to anybody. They think they are wiser and do you blame them? Everywhere they go to, those who should mentor them disappoint them. They go to religious institutions, they are disappointed; they go to school, they are disappointed. So, what bothers me is that the mentors are not there. And the mentees don’t want to have mentors. Everybody now thinks about money.
The question is how much money do you need? Nobody knows. And nobody knows because they don’t even know what they want to spend the money on, other than maybe hoping to buy a private jet after buying the exotic cars. The young people don’t want to work and those to mentor them are not there.
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