Prof. Otite: DELSU To Organise Public Lecture, Day Of Tributes September 16

Precious Okoro/Princess Iwejim 

The Faculty of the Social Sciences at Delta State University, Abraka, is set to hold a one-day public lecture and day tributes in honour of late Prof. Atare Otite, the immediate past Dean of the Faculty.

The event, which will feature a lecture titled “Fuel Subsidy Removal and the Condition of Women in Nigeria”, will take place on September 16th, 2024, at 11:00 AM at the Faculty’s Large Lecture Theatre in Site 3 of DELSU Abraka campus.

The lecture will be delivered by Prof. Nathaniel Umukoro, a renowned academic from the Department of Political Science, Western Delta University, Oghara.

Special invitation

Prof. Umukoro is expected to shed light on the impact of the recent fuel subsidy removal on Nigerian women, exploring both economic and social dimensions of this pressing issue.

The Vice Chancellor of Delta State University, Abraka, Prof. Andy O. Egwunyenga, will serve as the Chief Host of the event, while the current Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof. Sam Ogege, will play Host.

The event will serve as both an academic engagement and a day of tributes to celebrate the life and contributions of Prof. Atare Otite, who was a pivotal figure in the Faculty and played a significant role in its growth and development.

Faculty members, students, and the general public are invited to attend this important event, which promises to be both intellectually enriching and a fitting tribute to the legacy of a distinguished scholar.

Otite was a professor of Political Science with specialization and extensive research in contemporary political analysis, development and gender studies.

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The late professor died on August 2, after returning from the University of Delta, Agbor, UNIDEL, where he was spending his sabbatical leave, about two years after he delivered the 93^rd in the series of DELSU inaugural lectures titled “Gender disparities in the formulation and implementation of policies: Are women actually margainalised?”

In the lecture delivered on August 25, 2022, Otite criticised the continued exclusion of women from key national roles, despite their significant contributions to development.

He highlighted that, although women made up about 50% of Nigeria’s population in 1991 and have grown in numbers since then, they remain underrepresented in political and economic arenas.

He pointed to the Delta State House of Assembly, where only three women hold significant positions, and cited statistics showing women occupying just 20% of the Delta State Executive Council in 2021.

The late professor had argued that the marginalization of women remains entrenched in the country’s political system, reinforced by colonial legacies and patriarchal traditions, stressing the need for a stronger feminist movement and supportive policies to combat the financial and systemic barriers that limit women’s political participation..

He lauded notable Nigerian women, such as Professor Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, and Justice Mary Odili, retired Supreme Court Justice, for their remarkable achievements across various fields.

Meanwhile, Senior Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin of Christ Mercy Land Ministry has denied using the name of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on its spiritual items to deceive Nigerians.

Fufeyin spoke through his church’s media outfit, Mercy Land Television Deliverance Ministry, which issued a statement signed by Sophia Iloyd, faulting a media report by a national daily online.