A new winner has emerged in the Rahamon Bello Best Ph.D Thesis Award in African and Diaspora Studies. He is Dr. Muhammad Ribadu Ayuba, a lecturer of Sociology at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
His announcement as the winner of the award was made by the Director of the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies (IADS), University of Lagos, Professor Muyiwa Falaiye, at the J.P. Clark Building of the Institute on Thursday, November 30, 2023.
In his address, the Director of the Institute described the award as a keenly contested exercise, which attracted submissions from three African countries: Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. His words: “The Rahamon Bello Best Ph.D Thesis Award is an annual event that we have here at the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies in honour of the 11th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Rahamon Bello. He was in office at the time of the establishment of the Institute, and the significant role he played in that establishment will forever remain indelible in our hearts”.
He continued, “This year, 18 PhD theses were submitted, with quite a few disqualified for not meeting the entry criteria. There were three independent Assessors who reviewed the entries, individually and collectively as a body. As it is our tradition here at the IADS, we do not question the decision of our Assessors. Interestingly, what has been recurrent in the last 4 years is that the winners have always been the consensus choice of the Assessors. It is the same this year”.
Professor Falaiye commended the quality of entries by the candidates, and the painstaking job done by the Assessors. He disclosed that deliberations are ongoing about widening the arena to accommodate entries from other parts of the world, affirming that the decision on that would soon be made known.
