Education
JABU at 20: Honourary Awardee, Prof. Felix Dayo Pledges Hybrid Power Project for Varsity
By Joseph Sunday
An honourary awardee of the Joseph Ayo Babalola University, JABU, Prof. Felix Babatunde Oluyemisi Dayo, has pledged to support the institution with a hybrid electricity project as the university marks its 20th anniversary.
Prof. Dayo, a retired Professor of Engineering and Chief Executive of a firm that builds solar PV hybrid mini-grids, made the pledge shortly after receiving his honour at the university’s 17th Convocation Ceremony and 20th Anniversary celebration.
Speaking in an interview afterwards, the engineering don reflected on Nigeria’s economic situation, describing it as a global challenge and not peculiar to the country.
“We are in a serious economic problem that is global in nature. I live in the U.S. and also in Lagos. The same thing we are complaining about is what they are complaining about everywhere in the U.S. My friends in the UK say the same thing,” he said.
Prof. Dayo, who said he is not a politician, noted that much of the public narrative about the economy is misleading. He said decades of structural distortions had dislocated the economy and that corrective steps, though painful, were necessary.
Giving an anecdote, he said: “Every time I’m in Nigeria, I go to parties on Saturday in Lagos. The way I know whether we have gotten it right or not is when I see people selling Naira notes. When I see it, I know we are not there yet.”
According to him, two major distortions had defined the economy: the wide margin between the official and parallel market foreign exchange rates, and petrol subsidy.
“In the past, when there was a margin of about 100 to 200 naira between the rates, a bank manager could take $200,000 from the treasury and make 500 naira on each dollar. Just calculate it. That gap has now been erased. The spread between the official rate and the black market rate is very thin now,” he said.
He added that the petrol subsidy regime only benefited a few individuals.
“We have a serious problem where the petroleum subsidy that is supposed to benefit all of us ends up in the pockets of fewer than 50 people. So if somebody says he is removing it because he has studied it, I support him. I am not a PDP man, I am not an APC man,” he said.
He admitted that the reforms would cause hardship, especially for those who never benefited from the old system, and advised the Federal Government to provide targeted palliatives for the common man.
“My advice to government is to find a way to put cushion in the life of common people, and they must do it carefully. Those who need it, you can easily find them. The problem why you have not been able to find them in the past is statistics. We don’t have good statistics,” he said.
He also urged Nigerians to be patient and not be swayed by opposition narratives, warning that reversing the reforms would take the economy 20 years backward.
On how he intends to give back to JABU following the honour, Prof. Dayo said he had already discussed his plans with the Vice-Chancellor and the Chancellor.
“My company and I will be offering pro bono support to ensure hybrid electricity powered by gas is achieved. The Chancellor is set to change the narrative and I will join him in that effort,” he said.
