Above was almost the same title of our tribute to Professor Abiodun Falusi in December 2014 as we were preparing for his 70th birthday. Thankfully, the good God has added another decade to his eventful life. We pray that in another decade when he will be turning 90, we will all still be alive to join his wife, children and siblings to celebrate him as someone we proudly call our father.
I received three invitations of identical wordings to write a Tribute on Professor Abiodun Falusi: An enigma at 80. The first came from the Organising Committee and jointly signed by his two celebrated mentees, Professor Foluso Okunmadewa and Professor Sulaiman Adesina Yusuf; the second was received from Chicago and sent by Baba’s younger sister, Professor Olufunmilayo Olopade (nee Falusi), and the third from his spouse of 55 years, the UNESCO L’Oreal Laureate Professor Adeyinka Gladys Falusi. I thank them all for the opportunity extended to me as a protégé of the honoree.
My first encounter with Prof Abiodun Falusi was when he delivered his Inaugural Lecture on behalf of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry in the early 1990s. No one was left in doubt as to his erudition as a first-class scholar and researcher. I was introduced to his wife, Prof (Mrs) Adeyinka G. Falusi, FAS, sometime in 1998 by my good friend and brother, Prof Olusegun Ademowo, when the three of us were on sabbatical leave in Berlin, Germany. She came across as a motherly figure with a tender heart. On my return to Ibadan in May 1999 and thereafter I used to run into Prof Abiodun Falusi at the Senior Staff Club and asked after his wife.
From then on, the relationship between Prof Falusi and I blossomed to that of a father-son and mentor-mentee. He impresses me a lot as a quintessential mentor and role model. He is keenly interested in the welfare of many of his junior colleagues.
Some years ago, I ran into Professor (Mrs) Adeyinka G. Falusi and asked her ‘Awon Baba nko?’meaning ‘How is Daddy doing?’ Daddy in this context was referring to her husband, Professor (Mr.) Falusi. She replied me, ‘Iwo naa tun tin pe won ni Daddy’ which roughly translates to mean that ‘So you too have started calling him Daddy’! In reality, the greatest respect, homage and tribute a Yoruba man or woman can pay to an elder is to refer to that elder as Baba (Male) or Mama (Female). In other words, the much younger person has willingly adopted the elder as his/her biological parent.
Indeed, over the course of time three of us, namely Professor Foluso Okunmadewa (the highly successful and cerebral Professor of Agricultural Economics and former World Bank Abuja staff), the late Professor Adebiyi Gregory Daramola (a highly impactful and consequential Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Akure from 2012 to 2017) unfortunately now of blessed memory and my humble self so much venerate Professor Falusi that we always proudly claim to be part of his extended family as Nee-Falusis! According to one of the witty proverbs of the late Chief Moshood Kasimawo Olawale Abiola (1937 to 1998) of blessed memory, ‘If you smiled at a mirror, the mirror would smile back at you’.
There was a time during the course of my career when Professor Abiodun Falusi supported me for a particular position but somehow the project did not quite sail through. He was so dejected about the turn of events but the all-knowing God has plans for everyone at His own appointed time. When I informed him of my decision to apply for the position of Vice-Chancellor, he was highly excited about my desire. He even suggested names of some highly respected voices in the Nigerian University System, notably Professor Emeritus Olujimi Akinkugbe (1933-2020) and Professor Ayodeji Banjo (1934-2024) both now of blessed memory who could give me reference letters. His joy knew no bounds when I eventually clinched the position in September 2015. Indeed, it takes an entire village to raise an African child. We will never forget your various acts of benevolence, Sir. We won’t ever stop loving you.
Professor Falusi is very witty with many Yoruba proverbs which he deploys so frequently that there is no dull moment with him. He can also be frank to a fault.
In August 1965, Professor Falusi was admitted to the University of Ibadan on a Federal Government Scholarship for a degree programme in Agriculture. In those days when the academic calendar of our universities was highly predictable, by June 1968, he had completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics with a First Class Honours. He was recipient of the Departmental, Faculty and NUPEMECO prizes as well as the Sir Kofo Abayomi distinguished prize and gold medal in Agriculture that year.
He immediately proceeded to Cornell University, Ithaca, New York in the United States of America on an African-American Graduate Fellowship to pursue graduate programme in agricultural economics. He obtained the M.S. degree in 1970 and the Ph.D in 1973.
With a Ph.D from Cornell University, Professor Falusi returned to Nigeria literally on the next available flight and started his professional career at the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research before transferring to the University of Ibadan three years later as Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Economics. He rose rapidly through the ranks and was elevated a full Professor in October 1, 1983.
He taught courses in micro and macro-economic theory, statistics/biometrics, farm management, project appraisal and planning, production economics, resource economics, research methodology, sampling techniques and agricultural policy and development, at both the undergraduate, graduate and professional degree levels. He successfully supervised 108 B. Sc. Projects, 68 M Sc. projects, 6 M.Phil. dissertations and 15 Ph. D. theses. He was Head of Department on many occasions. Mentoring younger scholars was his forte.
His research interests spanned such areas as economics of agri-inputs use, adoption studies, productivity growth in Nigerian agriculture, food policy analysis, water resource management, project evaluation, analysis of agricultural marketing systems, econometric modelling of Nigerian agriculture, rural development issues and economic impact assessment of agricultural interventions.
Professor Falusi has published extensively in both local and international journals and is the author or co-author of 92 scientific papers, made up of books, chapters in books, journal articles, monographs, technical reports and conference papers.
He served as the Head of the Agricultural Projects Monitoring, Evaluation and Planning Unit (APMEPU) between 1984 and 1986. He was later appointed as the Head of the Federal Agricultural Coordinating Unit (FACU) from 1986 to 1990. He is a Fellow of both the Farm Management Association of Nigeria (FAMAN) and the African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
When I was growing up one Yoruba Proverb that I learnt at the feet of the elders was to the effect that ‘Ogun omode ko sere fun Ogun odun’ which translates to ‘Twenty children do not remain friends for 20 years’. There is always an exception to every rule. I know one of such as the cordial relationship between Professor Abiodun Falusi and his childhood friend, Professor Ayodele Falase, the eminent Cardiologist, is one such exception to the theorem. In his autobiography, Great is His Faithfulness, Falase (2018) detailed how Professor Falusi encouraged him to show interest in the position of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan even at a time he (Falase) was in far away Saudi Arabia on an extended leave from Ibadan.
Yet when Falase was eventually appointed the ninth Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan effective September 2000, Professor Falusi refused to be nominated as candidate for the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor! He would rather be in the background to support his brother the VC, albeit as a strong member of the kitchen cabinet. On a visit to the Falusi’s home about three years ago, I mentioned this point but Professor Falusi parried it. He wanted to keep their ‘secrets’ secret perhaps. He simply said, ‘Ma ma da Dele lohun oh’ meaning, ‘Don’t mind Dele (Falase)’. He was self-effacing. Thank God he has not publicly denied the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth of what Professor Falase put down in black and white.
Professor Falusi is selfless; he is not someone to claim credit for putting in a word for other people where it matters the most. We are glad to know that between the Siamese twins of Ayodele Falase- Abiodun Falusi, ‘Ogun omode le sere fun ogorin odun’, that is ‘Twenty children can remain bosom friends for 80 years’.
Sir, as you turn 80 on 4 January, 2025, we wish you happiness, and good health to enjoy the fruits of your hard labour of the past eight decades. It takes an entire village to raise the African child. As you have always championed the progress of those of us who are your academic children, our good Lord will repay you many times over by blessing your wife and biological children and grand-children. We look forward to your 90th.
Have a great celebration, Baba, surrounded by all members of the Falusi Dynasty of which you are the Patriarch. We love you, most sincerely, Sir.
Professor Olayinka, is Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council West Midlands Open University Ibadan and a former Vice-Chancellor University of Ibadan.
