By ABDULKABIR MUHAMMED

Faculty members from Adeleke University (Osun) and the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) have organised roundtable panels to honour Professor Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani. At the six-day Lagos Studies Association (LSA) Conference 2025 at the University of Lagos, professors Adegbite Tobalase and Olatunji Alao (Adeleke University), and Professor Emmanuel Chijioke Ogbonna, among other mentees of Professor Tijani, are organising a series of panels to demystify the contributions of Professor Hakeem Tijani to the Nigerian educational system, his leadership and intellectual prowess.

One of the panels, themed, “Japada—Concept, Context and Reality: A Roundtable in Honour of Prof. Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani”, was held on Wednesday, 18 June. The question of Japa, Jalo, and Japada was explored within the context of Professor Hakeem Tijani. Being a significant issue across the African continent, Professor Hakeem Tijani has consistently advocated for the return and contributions of Nigerian minds abroad to Nigeria’s developmental discourse.

One of the panellists, Professor Olatunji Alao, articulated the themes of the global scholar to include, among others, Decolonising African Epistemology, Peace and Conflict Studies, and Intellectual Reparation and Historical Justice.

Olatunji recalled that Professor Tijani “did so much on global education” and “political polarisation”, just as “he (Professor Hakeem Tijani) argues that western education systems have historically marginalised African ethnologies.”

As an avid follower of Professor Hakeem Tijani, Professor Olatunji reiterated that the “principle of JAPA, which connotes peace and homecoming and restoration, is deeply woven in Professor Tijani’s conflict and justice stories.”

Numerous appraisals have been submitted in honour of the African scholar, including several mentorship programmes he has conducted over time. Promoting the objectives of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) in supporting academic staff training, Professor Hakeem Tijani was reported to have supervised the emigration and repatriation of more than 50 Nigerian international postgraduate students.

More panels are underway in Professor Hakeem Tijani’s honour till the end of the Conference on Saturday, June 21, 2025.