Salako: FUNAAB VC @60

By Mark Mayah

Professor Felix Kolawole SALAKO, the Sixth Substantive Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) and a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of Nigeria (FSSSN), was born on April 18, 1961.

Salami, FUNNAB VC

He attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, between 1978 and 1983, to study Agriculture (Soil Science Option). He emerged the best graduating student of his Department in 1983, with a B.Agric. (Soil Science), Second Class Upper Division. After his National Youth Service at the Department of Soil Science, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, he returned to Nsukka and graduated with an M.Sc. Degree (Soil Physics/Soil Conservation) in 1986.

Professor Salako began his career in 1987 as a Consulting Soil Scientist at TCI Associates, Ibadan. He later proceeded to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan in 1989 to manage, first, an IITA/United Nations University project located inside Okomu Oil Palm Company, Okomu Forest Reserve, Edo State as a resident Research Associate. He eventually worked on different research projects in IITA, Ibadan for eleven years (1989-2000),

Professor Salako joined the services of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), in 2000 as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Soil Science and Land Management (SSLM): formerly, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Mechanisation. Apart from teaching courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, he has supervised more than forty-five (45) undergraduate projects and more than thirty (30) postgraduate theses. He was an Acting Head of Department of Soil Science and Land Management from February, 2001 to December, 2006. He became a Professor of Soil Physics in 2006, and he has to his credit, more than ninety (90) publications in learned journals, book chapters, conference proceedings and technical reports.

He was re-appointed Head of SSLM again, between January and March, 2008 after a year of sabbatical leave at the University of Venice, Venice, Italy. In March, 2008. He was appointed the Director, Agricultural Media Resources and Extension Centre (AMREC), a position he held till March, 2011. He became the Pioneer Director, Community-Based Farming Scheme (COBFAS), from March, 2011 to September, 2011. He moved on to become the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development) in September 2011 and spent two-terms of two years each till December, 2015.

Professor Salako was listed in Marquis Who-is-Who in Science and Engineering, Eighth Edition, 2005-2006 for Outstanding Achievements. He has won many research-support grants, which included the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the Training and Research in Italian Laboratories (TRIL), of the Abdus Salaam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy. He participated actively from 2016 to 2020 in the African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI), as the southwest coordinator under the auspices of IITA, Ibadan. He is also a member of several Professional Societies and was once an Associate Editor for the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Iowa, USA.

Professor Salako focused his research over the years on: (1) Rainfall Erosivity and Soil Conservation, (2) Soil Water Flux and Evapotranspiration, and (3) Soil Water Management using Agronomic Practices and Improved Fallow Systems. He has been involved in Rural Community Development projects all over Nigeria. Some of these activities led to his being honoured with chieftaincy titles. He is also very active in the activities around his private residences.

Professor Salako is a Deacon at Livingspring Chapel, Abeokuta. He reads intensively and extensively. For leisure, he listens to different genres of music. He is married to Deaconess Mabel Obehi Salako and they are blessed with children and grandchildren.
Friends kindly join me to celebrate this erudite professor of agriculture!