Professor Alao

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

 A Nigerian academic, Prof. Abiodun Alao will tomorrow deliver a professorial inaugural lecture at King’s College, University of London, making him the first  African scholar to do so  since the school was established in 1829.

Alao is a professor of African Studies. He   was conferred with professorial title about two years ago  alongside his Nigerian counterpart in the institution’s African Leadership Centre, Prof. Funmi Olonisakin, making them first black Africans to attain professorial cadre at the institution since its establishment.

The Nigerian academic’s l lecture  is titled, “Africa: A Voice to be Heard, Not a Problem to be Solved”.

It will hold at the Edward Safra Lecture Theatre at the college’s main campus.

A statement by the institution said the inaugural lecture, “will be attended by many people from different parts of the world, including from the United States, Australia, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.”

Aside from his academic contributions, Alao had joined the long list of globally renowned academics the institution had produced and whose research works had produced answers to different challenges of humanity and society since its establishment.

Ranking among the top 20 universities in the world, King’s College London holds a unique position in global scholarship, which the statement said, was evident in the landmark research works the institution’s professors and alumni had conducted since its establishment several decades ago.