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The public space is littered with awards these days, from the most beautiful, to the best new artists, models, movie stars, comedians and of
course the consolidated banks.
This time around, it's about science, the
practice that has and will sustain our
civilisation till the end of time.
From a small quiet Itaogbolu town, near
Akure, Ondo State came the news that
Ebenezer Meshida, an engineering geologist
has won The Nigeria LNG's sponsored The
Nigerian Prize for Science for 2008.
What does that mean?
It is not an award that comes very often. It
is beyond exhibiting natural talent like
voice, straight legs or anything in art. It is
about conscious studies with testing and retesting
to uncover mysteries for the
betterment of mankind.
Meshida from University of Lagos,
Nigeria is being rewarded for his invention
of lateralite, a new flux for stabilizing
problematic lateritic soils against water
dissolution. With soil erosion and bad roads
across Africa, a revolution may have come
from inside after all.
Of course it came after prolonged futile
attempts and experiments .
According to the judges of The Nigerian
Prize for Science ,Meshida beat 48 other
contestants who submitted works in wide r a n g i n g
fields such
as physics,
veterinary
c l i n i c a l
v i r o l o g y,
q u a n t i t y
surveying,
mathematics
, agriculture,
me d i c i n e ,
etc.
“To award
the prize, the
N i g e r i a n
Academy of
Science had
s e t u p a
committee that
worked out the
modalities for
the award and
selected, on
basis of merit,
five judges who
a r e a l l
distinguished
professors and
laureates. The
judges observed
the due process
and unanimously
d e c i d e d t h a t
M e s h i d a b e
awarded the prize
for 2008.”
Professor David
Okali, President of
t h e N i g e r i a n
A c a d e m y o f
Science, praised the
j u d g e s f o r
maintaining the
high standards of the
p r i z e , s a y i n g
Meshida's work has
relevance for the
nation's overall road
construction and
t r a n s p o r t a t i o n
industry.
Nothing could be
uplifting than a reward
for hard work that
came on merit. In the
developed countries,
scientific award is very
prestigious because it is
universal, a stamp of
authority of being the
first in the world that can only be improved
upon.
It is equally heart lifting that Nigeria's
contributions to civilisation are being
acknowledged and rewarded. The coming
generation can only be inspired not to easily
be discouraged in whatever they set their
minds on.
Meshida who has been brought to the
spotlight by the award described himself as
just an ordinary person.
“I am an ordinary Nigerian like any other
person.”
And the award has changed his life.
“It was a strange experience. It was very
confusing. It came like a whirlwind,
unexpected. And I felt I was in a prolonged
dream for many days. Even up till now, I
have not been able to know what exactly the
whole thing is about. Even though when I
was putting in for the contest, I was praying
for it, when it came, I got almost derailed
from my sanity. So, it has been a wonderful
experience and it is one in a lifetime.”
On the new responsibility with the change
of status, he said, “With this one, the morale
is very high to continue the research now
that I know that recognition can come in this
form. Then, what else is to be done? I cannot
any longer go on my own. All
along, I have been going on my own. This
time round, I have to call my students and
any of my colleagues that are interested. We
can discuss a lot of issues together –
academics, physical, geological and map out new strategies for looking at various
areas of Nigeria geologically. Incidentally, I
have a lot of research students here with me
because I am basically a research fellow. I
have doctoral candidates. I have been
graduating some PhD candidates. If
UNILAG can allow such a scheme, it would
be better.”
Background
I came to the University of Lagos in 2001.
I left the Nigerian Soil Engineering
Company in 1975 to begin an academic
career at the University of Ife as a Research
Student in the Department of Geology. I
obtained my Master’s degree in 1976 in
Applied Geology and became a junior
lecturer in that department. I later obtained
my PhD, also at the University of Ife. I was
there up till 1991 when I retired voluntary as
a senior lecturer. Then, I began a
professional practitice to solve foundational
engineering problems for civil engineers.
So, my colleagues at UNILAG, who knew
me all along, persuaded me to join the
university as a contract staff, which I have
been since 2001. The university kept
renewing my contract for the past eight
years. But strictly, I am also a private
practitioner as well as Lecturer/Research
Fellow.
Growing up
I started my primary school at Holy
Trinity Primary School, Ilawe in Ekiti and
later moved to St. Andrew School, Oke-Ila,...more
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