The newly appointed Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Bamire Adebayo Simeon is a native of Oyan in Odo-Otin LGA of Osun State, was born on 18th January, 1959 (63 years) . He started his educational life in Datus Preparatory School, Accra, Ghana and then had his secondary school education in St. Charles’ Grammar School, Osogbo in the 1972/76 period.
He was admitted into the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) to read Agricultural Economics in the Faculty of Agriculture where he completed his first, second and third degrees; Bachelor of Agriculture in 1985, M.Phil., in 1992, and Ph.D. in 1999.
He had a joint sponsorship for his PhD programme by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). His PhD thesis won him an award: “National Universities Postgraduate Thesis Award” in 2001.
Prof. Bamire joined the Department of Agricultural Economics as Assistant Lecturer in 1992 and rose to the post of Professor in 2008. He was a Visiting Scientist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan; the Vice-Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University in the 2007/2008 & 2008/2009 sessions; the Head of Department of Agricultural Economics for the 2010/2011 academic session and the immediate past Dean of our great Faculty – the Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
During his tenure as Dean (1st August, 2013 – 31st July, 2015), he embarked and completed laudable developmental projects in the Faculty through donations from his social capital network and amiable disposition to Faculty members, Alumni and friends of the Faculty. These projects include: resuscitating the Faculty water fountain which has now become a centre of attraction for film makers, drama and photography; changing the Faculty Committee Room to wearing a modern outlook; beautifying the Faculty and environment with flower gardens, paint markings of parks and lightings; refurbishing toilets attached to Faculty Committee Room, Soil and Land Resources Management Department, ground floor and landscaping the frontal part of the Faculty with the inscription of the Faculty name; restructuring of Faculty Agro-fresh Mart; renovating the Faculty Library; and many more.
Prof. Bamire ran an open door policy and has proven to be consistently diligent, disciplined, resourceful, reliable and with good team spirit. He has a good insight and experience of best business practices that could contribute to system development, having served in various capacities in different committees and assisted tremendously in promoting academic and research programmes in his Department, Faculty and University as a whole. Prof. Bamire is computer literate with a good knowledge of the application of statistical and econometric tools.
Prof. Bamire Adebayo Simeon has also participated and still participates as Principal Investigator in different on-farm researches and as Resource Person in training programmes which have provided long-term interactions with farmers and non-farmers in their communities and business concerns. This is made possible through his long-time collaboration with scientists in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) based in Ibadan, Nigeria;
ILRI/DfID (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia); HarvestPlus/IFPRI (Washington, DC., USA); International Wheat & Maize Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Mexico; Makerere University (Uganda); United Nations University Institute of Natural Resources (UNU-INRA), Accra, Ghana; United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU- WIDER), Helsinki, Finland; AERC (Nairobi, Kenya), and African University for Cooperative Development (UADC), Cotonou, Benin Republic; among others. As a result, he has attended different national and international conferences and workshops relating to biodiversity and sustainable agricultural development and has participated in collaborative studies involving researchers from various disciplines on sustainable agricultural production.
Prof. Bamire has participated in and written different technical reports that relate to practical work experiences in agricultural business and development in Nigeria and other developing nations. He also has more than fifty publications in local and international Journals, which are centred on field experiences on resource development and institutional support for smallholder farmers in rural and urban centres for enhanced food security and poverty reduction.
Prof. Bamire is a member of different professional bodies including the Nigerian Association of Agricultural Economists (NAAE) and Leadership for Environment & Development (LEAD). He is also a member of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Project and Agribenchmark based in Germany. He is a member of CONUA OAU
Prof. Bamire is happily married to Dr.(Mrs.) Felicia Bosede Bamire and together are blessed with children.
Source: Information Technology and Communication Unit (INTECU), OAU Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
