Deborah Ajakaiye

Last updated
Deborah Ajakaiye
Born
Deborah Enilo Ajakaiye

1940
Plateau State, Northern Nigeria
Occupation Geophysicist
Known forFirst female physics professor in Africa

Deborah Enilo Ajakaiye was born in 1940 in Plateau State in Northern Nigeria, [1] [2] and is a Nigerian geophysicist. She is the first female physics professor in Africa and her work in geophysics has played an important role in mining in Nigeria. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Ajakaiye was born in 1940 in the city of Jos, the capital of Plateau State in the northern region of Nigeria. She was the fifth of sixth children. Her parents believed in equal education of the sexes and distributed household chores among both the male and female children. In 1962 she is an alumna of University of Ibadan with a degree in physics. She received a master's degree at the University of Birmingham in England, and in 1970 received her Ph.D. in geophysics from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. Originally interested in mathematics, Ajakaiye says she chose to pursue geophysics because she believed it could help her country. [3]

Ajakaiye attended the Second International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists held in Cambridge in 1967. A picture of her at the conference banquet, alongside fellow Nigerian physicist Ebun Adegbohungbe, was published in The Woman Engineer's report of the conference in July 1967. [4] In 1971, she spoke at the third ICWES conference in Turin, giving a paper on women scientists and engineers in Nigeria, sharing a platform with Letitia Obeng and Grace Hopper. [5]

Career

Ajakaiye became the first female professor of physics in Africa in 1980. She has taught at Ahmadu Bello University and the University of Jos, serving as the dean of natural sciences at the latter. Her work with geovisualization has been used to locate both mineral deposits and groundwater in Nigeria. She has also created a gravity map of Nigeria, [6] working with several of her female students. [3] After retirement she devoted her time to a Nigeria-based charity, Christian Care for Widows, Widowers, the Aged and Orphans (CCWA), [7] which she had founded in 1991.

Awards

Ajakaiye has been recognized for both her scientific advancements and her aid to the nation of Nigeria. The Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society honored her for her work, making her the first woman to receive the award. She was also the first black African to be named a fellow of the Geological Society of London. [3]

Books and Publications

External Links

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaduna State</span> State of Nigeria

Kaduna State is a state in the northwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna, which was the 8th largest city in the country as of 2006. Created in 1967 as North-Central State, which also encompassed the modern Katsina State, Kaduna State achieved its current borders in 1987. Kaduna State is the fourth largest and third most populous state in the country, Kaduna State is nicknamed the Centre of Learning, owing to the presence of numerous educational institutions of importance within the state such as Ahmadu Bello University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amina (Queen of Zazzau)</span> Queen of Zazzau

Amina was a Hausa historical figure in the city-state Zazzau, in what is now in the north-west region of Nigeria. She might have ruled in the mid-sixteenth century. A controversial figure whose existence has been questioned by some historians, her real biography has been somewhat obscured by subsequent legends and folk tales.

Christopher Uchefuna Okeke, also known as Uche Okeke, was an illustrator, painter, sculptor, and teacher. He was an art and aesthetic theorist, seminal to Nigerian modernism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Nigerian Republic</span> First republican Governance in Nigeria

The First Republic was the republican government of Nigeria between 1963 and 1966 governed by the first republican constitution. The country's government was based on a federal form of the Westminster system. The period between 1 October 1960, when the country gained its independence and 15 January 1966, when the first military coup d’état took place, is also generally referred to as the First Republic. The first Republic of Nigeria was ruled by different leaders representing their regions as premiers in a federation during this period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibrahim Umar</span> Nigerian scientist and university administrator

Ibrahim Khalil Umar is a Nigerian scientist and university administrator. He was Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria from 1979 to 1986. He holds a B.Sc. in physics and mathematics from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria, a M.Sc. in physics from Northern Illinois University, USA and a Ph.D. (1974) in physics at the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom. In 1976 he became the first Nigerian academic in physics to teach at Bayero University. In 1978 he served on the national constitutional assembly that drafted the Constitution of the 2nd Republic.

Aisha Ismail, MON, appointed Minister of Women Affairs from June 1999 until May 2003, is a Nigerian matriarch and public servant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suraj Abdurrahman</span> Nigerian general (1954–2015)

Suraj Alao Abdurrahman, was a Nigerian Army general who served as the Command Officer in Charge of the Armed Forces of Liberia, with former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the Commander-in-Chief. According to then President Johnson Sirleaf, General Abdurrahman "was an exceedingly exceptional gentleman officer whose contributions lifted the Armed Forces of Liberia to professional greatness and emplace our military amongst UN peacekeepers”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francisca Nneka Okeke</span> Nigerian professor & physicist

Francisca Nneka Okeke is a Nigerian physicist. She is a Professor of Physics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and first female head of a department in the University.

Violet Rosemary Strachan Hutton FInstP FRSE FRAS, known to her peers as Rosemary, was a Scottish geophysicist and pioneer of magnetotellurics. Her research focused on the use of electromagnetic methods to determine the electrical conductivity and structure of the Earth's crust, lithosphere and upper mantle, with a particular focus on the African continent and Scotland. She spent over two decades at the University of Edinburgh School of GeoSciences as a researcher and lecturer and was a Fellow of many societies including the American Geophysical Union and The Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Muhammad Umaru Ndagi is a professor of Arabic Linguistics in the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria.

Fatima Lami Abubakar is a Nigerian jurist who was the First Lady of Nigeria during the term of Abdulsalami Abubakar from June 1998 to May 1999. After her reign as First Lady, Abubakar was the Chief Judge of Niger State from 2013 to 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Reng Ochekpe</span> Nigerian politician

Sarah Reng Ochekpe is a Nigerian Politician from Plateau State. She was the Minister of Water Resources from 2011 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saratu Iya Aliyu</span> Nigerian businesswoman

Saratu Iya Aliyu is the 20th president of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and the second female president after Alaba Lawson.

Ivara Ejemot Esu OFR, is a Nigerian politician, academic administrator and professor and is the former Deputy Governor of Cross River State. He hails from Agwagune in Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. He holds the Nigerian National Honours Award in the rank of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) conferred on him by President Obasanjo in 2005 and the Cross River State Honours Merit Award conferred on him by Governor Donald Duke in 2004 for carrying out excellent management reforms at the University of Calabar. Esu has held many positions of responsibility such as Vice Chancellor, University of Calabar (2000–2005); Honourable Minister of State for Tourism, Culture and National Orientation ; Member, Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization (TCPC), Presidency, Lagos (1990–1992); Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development Cross River State (1992–1993); Chairman Federal Medical Centre Board, Owerri (2009–2011) and chairman, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi (2012–2015) and was an Elder Statesman Delegate at the 2014 National Conference of Nigeria. Esu is a Soil Scientist (Pedologist) who has taught in various tertiary institutions, some of which include; the Kaduna Polytechnic; Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, University of Calabar, University of Uyo and the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra.

Franca Obianuju Brown is a Nigerian actress and film producer who in 2016 was a recipient of the City People Movie Special Recognition Award at the City People Entertainment Awards.

Ahmadu Bello UniversityZaria is a federal government research university located in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria, opened in 1962 as the University of Northern Nigeria. It was founded by and is now named for Ahmadu Bello, the first premier of Northern Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebun Oni</span> Nigerian geophysicist (1935–2021)

Professor Ebun Oni (21 May 1935 - 2 December 2021) known in early life as Ebun Adegbohungbe and later as Ebun Adefunmilyo Oni was a Nigerian geophysicist, university teacher and writer. One of Nigeria's first indigenous female scientists, she became a world-renowned specialist in geophysics through her numerous journal publications, and an eminent scientist and educator at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May Ifeoma Nwoye</span> Nigerian author and academic

May Ifeoma Nwoye is a Nigerian author and professor of Business administration. She currently serves as Dean, Faculty of Management Sciences, Nile University of Nigeria.

References

  1. Onuh, Amara (2017-10-31). "Deborah Ajakaiye: Meet The First Female Physics Professor In Africa". Answers Africa. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  2. "Ajakaiye, Deborah Enilo (c. 1940–) | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Oakes, Elizabeth H. (2002). International encyclopedia of women scientists . New York, NY: Facts on File. ISBN   0-8160-4381-7.
  4. "International conviviality: recovering women in engineering from Africa and Asia in 'The Woman Engineer'". Electrifying Women. 2020-07-02. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  5. "Saluting our sisters: a 1960s gathering of international women engineers". IET Archives blog. 2023-10-02. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  6. 1 2 Ajakaiye, DE; Burke, K (1973). "A Bouguer gravity map of Nigeria". Tectonophysics. 16 (1): 103–115. Bibcode:1973Tectp..16..103A. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(73)90134-0.
  7. CCWA Christian Care for Widows, Widowers, Aged and Orphans.
  8. Ajakaiye, Deborah E.; Bally, A.W. Course Manual and Atlas of Structural Styles on Reflection Profiles from the Niger Delta. ISBN   978-0891811909 . Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  9. Ajakaiye, Deborah E. (June 1968). "A gravity interpretation of the Liruei Younger Granite Ring Complex of Northern Nigeria". Geological Magazine. 105 (3): 256–263. Bibcode:1968GeoM..105..256A. doi:10.1017/S0016756800052274. ISSN   1469-5081. S2CID   130781184.