The Department, Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan have been celebrating her anniversary all week. In line with the celebration, AASA PRESS interviewed lecturers in the department. This interview is with Dr. Babajide Ololajulo in the interview, Dr. Ololajulo shares his experience being an anthropology lecturer, the changes he would like to see going forward. He as well expressed his views on the changes the department should undergo in the nearest future.
AASA PRESS: What role do you play in the department?
Dr. Ololajulo: I am an administrative person; I was the PG coordinator, exam officer and chairman of some communities, chairman of the fieldwork committee.
AASA PRESS: How long have you been a lecturer in the department?
Dr. Ololajulo: 14 years.
AASA PRESS: Can you describe your experience so far?
Dr. Ololajulo: It has been nice, nice colleagues, good students although the environment is not as sophisticated as I would have loved it, I mean in terms of infrastructure.
AASA PRESS: With the department approaching 50, what are the expectations for the department?
Dr. Ololajulo: We should have greater accomplishments in terms of research that we are able to conduct, in the past, I think the department has been so successful in terms of research that were carried out. So it is my expectation that we have greater accomplishment in terms of our research and production in the future and then we have more responsive alumni, during the last 14 years I have been here I haven’t seen the alumni influence on the department and at the same time, I expect the infrastructure to improve.
AASA PRESS: Has there been any development in the department, is there a difference in the department since you have been here?
Dr. Ololajulo: maybe once, I was already here when the department was last painted and that was more than 10 years ago and it was a general overhaul within the university then the roof of the two buildings were removed, and then new ceilings were made but that was all, the furniture has not changed.
AASA PRESS: Do you think other things should be done in the department?
Dr. Ololajulo: Yes we have some other areas that we are challenged for instance we don’t have our laboratories well equipped, and we are supposed to have an ethnographic studio where we can have a display of different cultures in Nigeria we don’t have that, we also believe that the store for the archeological materials could be better arranged than the way it is currently, those are few of my expectations.
AASA PRESS: How are you adjusting as a lecturer from virtual classes to physical classes and which one do you prefer?
Dr. Ololajulo: I think the virtual classes was an experiment that didn’t last for too long, so it is not difficult returning to what we used to do.
AASA PRESS: Do you think we have more grounds to cover in the university and outside the university in terms of recognition?
Dr. Ololajulo: Yes you are very right, I think we have not been doing enough visibility within the public space and that’s one of the reasons we are doing this 50th-anniversary conference to let the people know even within the university community that we are existing within the system and then few times we have our lecturers been interviewed out there, but I think in terms of public engagement is an area we can improve on.
AASA PRESS: How do we work on making our department relevant in society?
Dr. Ololajulo: You see this is not about the department alone it is generally about humanities, people just feel that those in humanities don’t have much to contribute, it is the duty of whoever passes through this place to convince those out there about his or her relevance, if you don’t show you are relevant in a system I don’t think people can see you as relevant but since I have been here we have seen students graduate from this place to join immigration, to join customs, we have people within the federal civil service, also in the police, we have students in the media and when you have all of this I don’t think there is any profession they will say as an archeologist or an anthropologist you are not qualified to hold, it’s all about the students. One thing I tell students here is that if you study very hard and you graduate with a first-class or a 2:1 your case may be better than somebody that studies law and graduated with a third-class because the employers out there they don’t really reckon much with the discipline they look at the intellect and what you can contribute.
AASA PRESS: What’s your wish for the department as we are celebrating our 50th anniversary?
Dr. Ololajulo: I wish the department all the best, I wish the department awareness of itself within the society and the university community, generally I think I wish the department and the student body all the best.
AASA PRESS UI 