Professor Olatunde Babawale
By Anthony Maliki
Going through the profile of Professor Olatunde Babawale, the Provost, Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN), one is stunt with the impressive landmarks at all fronts. An academic, comrade, author, administrator, strategist- absolutely roll up in one and excelling in all. And, he brought all these backgrounds to up the stakes at ACAN.
Professor Babawale areas of specialization include Political Economy and International Relations but transcends many epochs in administration, the ivory tower and unionism among others within and outside the academia.
Born on October 4, 1961, at Inisa of Odo –Otin Local Government Area of Osun State, Professor Babawale had a progressive and rewarding education with his post-primary education at Inisa Grammar School between 1973 and 1977. He then proceeded to the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) from 1977 to 1985 for both his undergraduate and postgraduate programmes where he quickly distinguished himself as a versatile academic.
His was the founding and until 2006, Managing Editor of the reputable UNILAG Journal of Politics where he made the publication a must read. Also, he was voted as the Best Lecturer in the Department of Political Science by the students in a survey conducted by the University for the 2003/2004 academic session. He is a member of many learned and academic associations and societies, some of which include the Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA), Historical Society of Nigeria and the Third World Forum among others.
His achievements were continuously recognized but after 24 years of distinguished scholarship, Professor Babawale was invited in August 2006 by the Federal Government to serve as Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC) in the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation. The administrator that he is, in a very short time after his appointment, he transformed the 34-year-old Centre into a world class art and culture organisation with international appeal and global reckoning. He also attracted to the Centre valuable institutional patronage and enormous goodwill.
His administrative skills came into focus for the organisation, hosting and coordination of seven international conferences. They are African Diaspora Studies-Trinidad and Tobago, 2006, Republic of Benin, 2007, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2008, Brasilia, Brazil, 2009, Abuja, Nigeria, 2010, Salvador, Bahia – Brazil, 2011 and Missouri, USA, 2012. Indeed, following the successful organisation and hosting of two international conferences in Brazil in quick succession in 2008 and 2009 respectively, he helped in the opening of a new chapter in the Nigeria-Brazil relations by facilitating the signing of an MoU between the two countries in Abuja, Nigeria on March 15, 2010.
He has contributed to knowledge in form of monographs, authored books, edited and co–edited books, chapter contributions to books, articles in learned local and international journals, papers presented and published in learned local and international conference proceedings, and public lectures. His contributions in these numerous outlets total over 120.
In June, 2017, Professor Babawale was appointed and sworn in as a Member of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) by His Excellency, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor, Lagos State.(An abridged profile with internet sourced information)
