The Vice Chancellor, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai Professor Abu Kasim Adamu has renewed the call for more participation of youths in farming.

The Vice Chancellor stated this in an opening remarks at the Eighteenth Inaugural Lecture held at the Main Campus Auditorium.

Professor Abu Kasim noted that it was an opportunity for youth to be more active employers of Labour and fend for themselves instead of being political thugs or social miscreants.

According to him, the Nigerian Farmer has all the opportunity to be rightly informed through various media media houses on current issues on soil and soil science stating that the topic will equally get farmers prepared for the next planting season.

He congratulated Professor Muhammad Yakubu for being the eighteenth Inaugural Lecturer as well as setting the pace for New year adding that he has achieved one of his cardinal dreams of being an astute academic.

The Vice Chancellor urged other academics in IBB University who have attained the rank of professor to join the queue, assuring them of the Management readiness and support as well as other scholarly efforts that would positively transform the society.

Earlier in his welcome Address, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Conferences and Seminar, Professor Victor Kolawole explained that the Inaugural Lecture Series eighteen is titled, “Pedology and the Nigerian Farmer: The Nexus, noting that the Pedology is a sub-discipline of soil science which focuses on understanding and characterising soil formation, evolution and theoretical frameworks for modelling soil bodies in the context of natural environment.

He affirmed that Pedology is crucial for sustainable crop production economic development, poverty eradication, food security as well as environmental sustainability.

Professor Kolawole added that the aim of the Inaugural Lecture includes mandating all Professors to give inaugural lectures within two to three years of their promotion or appointment, adding that it offers professor a unique opportunity to show case his or her work in the field of specialization to merit his admission to club of professors, bringing a sense of fulfilment, self actualization and belonging to the inaugural lectures among other opportunities.

He further added that the primary goal of the committee was to ensure that the inaugural lectures are delivered as at when due in line with the waiting two to three years after promotion or appointment as professors as stipulated by Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU).

Professor Kolawole also announced that the nineteen Inaugural Lecture titled, “Mathematical Model As A Recipe for the Control of Infectious Diseases: Perceived Benefit Versus Unintended Consequences “would be delivered by Professor Musa Bawa of Mathematics Department.

Contributing, the Acting Chairman of the Governing Council, Professor Muhammad Bashar Nuhu stressed the need for Professors to do their Inaugural Lecture affirming that it is an attestation of their Professorial rank.

Presenting his Inaugural Lecture, Professor Muhammed Yakubu said pedology is a scientific discipline concerned with all aspects of soils, including their physical and chemical properties, adding that the role of organisms in soil production and in relation to soil character, the description and mapping of soil units, and the origin and formation of soils.

According to him, Pedology embraces several subdisciplines, namely, soil chemistry, soil physics, and soil microbiology noting that it employs a sophisticated array of methods and laboratory equipment not unlike that used in studies of the physics, chemistry, or microbiology of nonsoils systems.

Professor Yakubu affirmed that Pedology is important for many modern applications of soils knowledge, including agriculture, agroforestry, environmental issues, and land-use planning

n a Vote of thanks, the Registrar of Alhaji Idris Saleh Kusherki stated that the Inaugural Lecture was Unique because it begins the year as well as for him to address the gathering as the new scribe of the Institution.

Alhaji Kusherki appreciated the Governor of Niger State, Commissioners of Tertiary Education, Council and Management of the University and all other people present at the events.