AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING IS THE BRAINBOX FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY IN NIGERIA - ENGR OLORUNFEMI

By Gideon Tobiloba

The October lecture of the Nigerian Society of Engineers held at the National Engineering Centre in Abuja, apart from its usual sophisticated nature in terms of knowledge impartation, was an array of past presidents of the Society,  past and present presidents of the Council for the Registration of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and many other stakeholders that has made remarkable impact in the engineering ecosystem both in the private and public sector.

In his opening address, the president of the Nigerian Society of Engineers Engr. Adekunle Mokuolu FNSE was full of praise for the lecturer of the day in person of Engr. Ademola Olorunfemi FNSE, who himself is a former president of the Society. Engr. Mokuolu said Engr. Olorunfemi is an erudite and a dedicated professional who has given all his career life to the recogniition of agricultural engineers and local content patronage in Nigeria.
He further said the Nigerian Society of Engineers is a reservoir of engineering personnel that are well equipped and trained to solve the myriad of problems especially in the regards of infrastructure and regulated policies.


The guest lecturer of the day Engr. Ademola Olorunfemi FNSE who graced the occasion with his beautiful wife Mrs Tolani Olorunfemi lived up to expectation as he delivered a well grounded lecture on the topic of the day, Agricultural engineering: The brain box for food sovereignty and national development.

He said "satisfying one's hunger is a fundamental right for every human being. That yet the number of undernourished people continue to grow and chronic hunger affects 850 million people and three quarter of this figure are small scale farmers.
He used the later part of his lecture to commend the efforts of agric engineers saying " agricultural engineers are making great impact in food and nutrition security, agricultural mechanisation and productivity, agribusiness value chain and capacity building'.


The agricultural engineer further said employment and patronage of expatriates is still a problem and its at the detriment of local engineers and contents.
The Rector of Lagos State Polytechnic Ikorodu Mr. Oluyinka Sogunro, who is the special guest of honor for the lecture in his own opinion believes food sovereignty will bring about peace in the nation and it is when you have peace you can start talking of national development.


He continued by saying food security like the guest speaker have said, is not thesame thing as food sovereignty. He said, food food security is when you have food for all and food sovereignty is the right of people to define theor own food.


Other speakers took turn to place further emphasis on the need for more support for agriculture and agric engineering in Nigeria. They are all of the opinion that if truly we are to attain development as a nation and achieve food sovereignty, agriculture, agricultural engineers, local produce and production must be accepted, encouraged and patronized by all.


The October lecture, inaugurated in 1980, is usually organized by the Nigerian Society of Engineers to honor a former president of the Society. This is the 27th of its kind and according to Engr. Olorunfemi, the October Lecture is to confirm anyone as truly a former president of the Society.