The University of Ibadan Centre for Petroleum, Energy, Economics, Law, CPEEL, has produced its first doctor of philosophy holder in energy.
The new Ph.D holder, a former commissioner for works and transport in Oyo State, Alhaji Yunus Akintunde, successfully defended his Ph.D this afternoon.
Speaking on how the centre feels, the director of the centre, Prof Adeola Adenikinju said it was a dream fulfilled, adding that “CPEEL is a centre of excellence in energy training and research. We train students in masters and Ph.D. In the last few years, we have had privilege of producing 8 Ph.Ds but this is the first time we will have somebody who specialises in energy and environment. We are good we are achieving the desired results. It is good to know that the new doctor did his masters degree here and he has also acquired professional experiences in the field of energy. So, it’s a real progress that is made.”
On where he sees CPEEL in the next five years, he explained that “the centre is gaining recognition consistently in terms of producing quality graduates and conducting quality research that are quite relevant to addressing Nigeria’s energy issues. And the beauty of our centre is that it is a multi-disciplinary centre; we bring together engineers, scientists, social scientists. So whatever that comes from this department has multi-disciplinary perspectives which, in our view, will enable our graduates make impacts in fresh and broader perspectives looking at energy issues and solving energy problems in the country.”
Akintunde, who is a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the forthcoming 2019 election, was full of praises for God and his lecturers at the centre.