Olufemi was born on 16 September 1947 in
Ijebu-Igbo,
Ogun State.[citation needed] He attended Molusi College, Ijebu-lgbo and proceeded to
Government College, Ibadan, obtaining the best result of the year at the Cambridge Higher School Certificate (Advanced Level), 1967. Afterwards he proceeded as Shell Scholar to the
University of Nottingham,
Nottingham,
England, earning a
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in
mechanical engineering with
First Class Honours in 1971. He worked briefly for Shell-BP in Nigeria as pipeline engineer before proceeding to
McGill University, Montreal, Canada on Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship, where he obtained PhD degree in 1975 after two and a half years. He returned to Nigeria to commence academic work at University of Ibadan in 1975 and rose rapidly to become the first professor of mechanical engineering in the university in 1983. He is a recognized expert in issues related to science and technology policy, higher education, entrepreneurship studies, and information technology. He also has several publications on
micromechanics and technology development in local and international journals.[7][8]
Selected publications
Engineering Mechanics for engineering programmes in universities and polytechnics;
The Pains and Gains of Growth: Case Studies in Entrepreneurship with Prof Albert Alos, the former Vice-Chancellor,
Pan-African University, Lagos.
Vice-Chancellor,December 1, 2005 to November 30, 2010.
Chairman of Lagos Research and Development Council.[9][10][11]
He also participated in programmes with the
University of Nairobi,
Kenya and the
University of Zimbabwe,
Harare. With expertise in science and technology policy issues, Entrepreneurship Studies, and Information Technology, he served as Consultant to several companies in both the private and public sectors of the Nigeria’s economy as well as International Agencies.[12][13]
Professional bodies
Member of the National Energy Panel that produced energy policy for Nigeria in 1984;
Member of the Implementation Committee of the National Science and Technology Policy (NSTP). (1987);
Member of the Governing Council, Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta;
Head of the Nigerian Delegation of the Scientists that visited Iran from August 14‑28, 1990 in respect of Memorandum of Understanding in Science and Technology between Nigeria and the
Islamic Republic of Iran;
Member of the Planning Committee and the Chief Rapporteur of the first Technology Summit by NSE held in 1997 and others
Vice-Chairman of the Executive Board of the Pan-African Competitiveness Forum (PACF) and the Chairman of the PACF
He was also involved with the project on sustainable financing for higher education sponsored by
Macauthur foundation and
World bank.
Honours and awards
Association of Mechanical Engineering Academic Session Award in 1999
Nigerian Society of Engineers Merit Award and the United Nations Human Settlement (UN-Habitat) Best Practice Award in respect of the Organo-Mineral Fertiliser Plant Design and Construction Project.