The University is set to hold its 49th Inaugural Lecture. The title of the lecture is, “Drying for Wealth, Food Security and Nation Building” and will be delivered by Professor LateefSanni of the Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Food Science and Human Ecology (COLFHEC) of the University. The event would hold on Thursday, May 21, 2015 at the FUNAAB Ceremonial Building, beginning at 2pm. The Vice-Chancellor and President, Association of African Universities (AAU), Professor Olusola Oyewole is to chair the occasion.
Professor Sanni, who is also the Dean of COLFHEC, said the lecture would look into the problems of heavy post-harvest losses of agricultural commodities based on his over 20 years research experience in the provision of safe and abundant food for wealth creation and consumption by individuals and communities in Nigeria. During the lecture, case studies on the Presidential Initiative on High Quality Cassava Flour, using the flash dryer leading to University-industry, University-regulatory, capacity building of students, fabricators and processors in Africa would be x-rayed, while recommendations that would enhance competitiveness of dried products would be made.
The Dean of COLFHEC said the lecture would also dwell on important issues like post-harvest drying systems, noting that advancing practicable and commercial-oriented drying systems in Africa would invariably bring about economic development. His research breakthroughs, which are expected to be highlighted, would focus on the determination of the appropriate processing, storage and quality regimes for the upgrading of traditional local foods such as cassava, yam, okra, plantain, catfish, soybean, locust bean, sweet potato, tomato.
The 49th Inaugural Lecturer graduated from FUNAAB, where he obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree while he got his Master’s degrees and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from the Department of Food Technology, University of Ibadan. Professor Sanni joined the services of FUNAAB in 1993 as Assistant Lecturer, where he rose through the ranks to become a Professor of Food Science and Technology in 2008. In collaboration with his colleagues, he had supervised over 90 undergraduates, 15 Master’s and 14 Doctorate students. He had equally served the University in many capacities. These include the Head, Department of Food Science and Technology, COLFHEC; Director, A. G. Leventis Memorial Centre for Learning (LEMCEL); and Deputy Director, Centre for Human Resources Development (CENHURD) now Institute for Human Resources Development (INHURD).
He was inducted as a member, Institute of Public Analyst of Nigeria and had attended the prestigious Harvard Business School, United States of America, where he was specially trained on ‘Leading Change and Organisational Renewal’. Professor Sanni is the Country Manager, Cassava: Adding Value for Africa II (CAVA II), sponsored by the Bills & Melinda Gates Foundation since April 2014; European Union-African Caribbean Pacific (EU-ACP) Science Technology Capacity Building Project from November 2009 to October 2012 in collaboration with the Greenwich University-Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, United Kingdom; and Project Co-ordinator, Cassava Value Chain Development Project in West Africa (covering Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Benin Republic), sponsored by the Common Fund for Commodities and implemented by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan (IITA).
A multi-award winner, Professor Sanni was the Post-harvest Scientist to the IITA Integrated Cassava Projects from 2004-2007; Principal Investigator, Food Developers’ Initiative (sponsored by the Association of African Universities) in Nigeria, Benin and Sierra Leone, between 2008 and 2010 and the Food Science and Nutrition Network in West Africa, under the sponsorship of Association of African Universities-United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID).
