IgboNet: The Igbo Network:: Profile of Prof. Samuel E. Okoye

Samuel Ejikeme Okoye was born on 26 July 1939 and hails from Amawbla in Anambra State. He holds a B.Sc. First Class (Physics) honours of the University of London and a PhD in Astrophysics of the University of Cambridge. He was the first black African to obtain a doctorate in Radio Astronomy. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science as well as the Royal Astronomical Society of the United Kingdom. He is also a member of the Pugwash International Conferences and recently stood down after a five year stint as a member of its governing council. He enjoys the memberships of the New York Academy of Sciences, International Network of Engineers and Scientists for global responsibility and the International Astronomical Union.

Prof. Okoye has since 1985 lectured In Physics and Astronomy at the University of lbadan and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) where he was elevated to a professorship in physics in 1976. He has subsequently been Director, Division of General Studies: Head of Department of Physics and Astronomy; Associate Dean and later Dean of the Faculty of Physical Sciences, and Dean of the School of Post Graduate Studies. He also acted during the summer of 1978 as Vice Chancellor of UNN.

Professor Okoye has published numerous scientific papers (during the period 1964-1996) on Ionosphere Physics. Solar Physics, Theory of Extragalactic Radio Sources and Cosmology. He also published a monograph, Viable and Affordable Policy Objectives for a Nigerian Space Programme in the 1980s and co-edited two books: Basic Science Development in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects, and the World at the Cross-roads: Towards a Sustainable, Equitable and Liveable World.

Prof Okoye has served Nigeria in a number of capacities including:

At the international level, Professor Okoye was a part-time consultant to the United Nations on the development of Space Science end Technology in developing countries (1979-1986). Dur1ng 1990-93, he was for three years a Visiting Professor/Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Astronomy, and Fellow Commoner at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge. In late 1993, he was seconded from the UNN to the Federal Government as Director (overseas liaison), initially at the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) Lagos, and subsequently at the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Abuja in which position he served as pioneer Science Attaché and Head of the Science and Technology Unit of the Nigerian High Commission, London.

CURRICULUM VITAE

PROF. SAMUEL E. OKOYE

FAMILY PARTICULARS

Born on 26 July 1939 of Nigerian parents

EDUCATION

Received primary and secondary education in Nigeria from 1945 to 1957. Received University education, first at the University College, Ibadan, From 1958 to 1962 and at the University of Cambridge, UK, from 1962 to 1965. Was a “College Scholar” at the University of Ibadan, and a Carnegie Foundation Fellow at the University of Cambridge.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

West African School Certificate, Grade1 (1957) B.Sc Hons(physics) (Lond) !st class hons (1962) Ph.D. Radio Astronomy (Cambridge) (1965).

MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL BODIES

a) Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS). (1966)

b) Member of the Nigerian Science Association (1966).

c) Fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (1972)

d) Member International Astronomical Union. (1973)

e) Member American Astronomical Society (1977).

f) Fellow Nigerian Academy of Science. (FAS)

g) Convener, Nigeria’s National Committee on Astronomy (1983)

h) Member, The New York Academy of Sciences (1995)

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL CAREER

1961-62: Part-time demonstrator in Physics University College, Ibadan
1962-65: Part-time Demonstrator in Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University
1965-66: Lecturer II Dept of Physics, University of Ibadan.
1966-70: Lecturer Dept of Physics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.(UNN)
1970-74: Senior Lecturer, Dept of Physics, UNN.
1971-72: Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellow, as well as Visiting Fellow, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University, and concurrently, Fellow Commoner, Churchill College, Cambridge University.
1973(Sept): Guest Scientist. Sterrawacht, University of Leiden. The Netherlands.
1974-76: Reader, Dept of Physics, UNN.
1975 (july-oct) Visiting scientist, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
1974-76: Coordinator, Natural Science Program, Division of General Studiers, UNN.
1978(July-August) Director, IAU-UNESCO, International School for Young Astronomers held in UNN for West African participants.
1976(July –August): Guest Scientist, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University.
1979(July-Sept) Visiting Scientist, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
1976-2002: Professor. Dept of Physics, UNN
1976-78: Director, Division of General Studies, UNN.
1978 (July-August) Acting Vice-Chancellor, UNN.
1978-81: Head Dept of Physics, UNN and concurrently, Coordinator, Space Research Centre Project.
1980(July-Sept) Guest Scientist, Sterrawacht, University of Leiden, The Netherlands.
1981-85: Chairman, Implementation Committee of the Space Research Centre Project.
1982-83: Associate Dean, Faculty of Physical Sciences, UNN
1986 (August-October) : Visiting Scientist, Max Planck Institut fur Radio Astronomie, Bonn, Germany.
1985-89: Director, Nnamdi Azikiwe Space Research Centre, UNN.
1984-1986: Dean, Faculty of Physical Sciences, UNN.
1987-89: Dean, School of Post-Graduate Studies, UNN.
1990-93: Visiting Professor, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge and concurrently, Fellow Commoner, Churchill College, Cambridge University.

NATIONAL SERVICE

1993(September)- 2002(January) Appointed Director initially in NASENI and later in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, and posted as Science Attaché at the Nigeria High Commission, London, with area of coverage as the United Kingdom and the European Union countries.

PUBLIC APPOINTMENTS

1970-76. Member, Nsukka Local Government Social Welfare Council.
1971-77. Member, Njikoka Divisional School Board.
1975-77, Member. East Central State Coordinating Committee of the National Youth Service Corps.
1979 (October-December) Consultant to the Nigerian Delegation to the 1979 World Administrative Radio Conference(WARC) held in Geneva, Switzerland.
1982 (August-September). Member, Nigerian Delegation to the 1982 United Nations Conference on peaceful uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE 82) held in Vienna, Austria.
1984. Chairman, Panel on the revamping of science teaching in the Imo State School system.
1984. Member, National Energy Review Panel responsible for the formulation of a comprehensive and integrated national energy policy for Nigeria.
1985. Member, Anambra Review Panel on the merger of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) and the Anambra State University of Science and Technology. (ASUTECH).
1985. Member, Anambra State Development Advisory Council.
1986. Member, Anambra State Education and Technology (ASET) Fund Mobilizing Committee.
1986-87. Member, Interim Joint Governing Council of IMT and ASUTECH.
1988-90. Member, Governing Council of Anambra State University of Technology.
1988-90. Chairman, Court of Governors, Awka Campus of Anambra State University of Technology.
1988-93. Member, Governing Council of Pigwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.(London-Geneva-Rome).

PRIZES & AWARDS

1952 Won the Eastern Nigerian Outlook Newspaper competition for primary school pupils of the old Eastern Nigeria.
1952, Won full tuition and boarding entrance scholarship to the Government Secondary School, Owerri.
1959. Won full tuition and boarding College scholarship of the University College, Ibadan, for excellent performance at end of first year examinations performance. This earned me the title of “College Scholar”.
1959. Awarded the Eastern Nigerian Scholarship for B.Sc (Physics) tenable at the University College, Ibadan.
1962. Won the Departmental Prize for the best graduating student in the Department of Physics of the University of Ibadan.
1962. Awarded on a worldwide competitive basis the Carnegie Foundation Fellowship for doctoral studies tenable at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

EXTERNAL EXAMINERSHIPS

Has examined at the levels of N.C.E., H.N.D, B.Sc and M.Sc in Physics for the following universities and other higher institutions:

University of Botswana and Swaziland.
University of Ibadan.
University of Sierra Leone
University of Lagos.
University of Benin.
Bayero University, Kano.
University of Port Harcourt.
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Imo State University, Okigwe.
University of Calabar.
Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri.
Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu.
Oko Polytechnic, Oko.

SUPERVISION OF CANDIDATES FOR M.SC DEGREE

C E Akujor. (1980 )
A A Ubachukwu. (1983)
J O Ukwungwu. (1983 )
A E Eze (1983 )
E N Oyiana (1984 )
I P Obiakor ( 1984 )
E O Ekpe (1984 )
U E Inyang (1988)
V A Okeke (1989).

SUPERVISION FOR CANDIDATES FOR PH.D DEGREES

Dr P O Ezema (Jointly with Prof C A Onwumechili) 1980
Dr (Mrs.) L I Onuora 1984
Dr P C Ozoemena (Jointly with Prof C A Onwumechili ) 1985
Dr C E Akujor. 1985
Dr M W Anyakoha (Jointly with Dr P N Okeke) 1988
Dr A A Ubachukwu (Jointly with Dr.(Mrs.) L I Onuora ) 1991
Dr G C Anene. (Jointly with Prof P N Okeke) 1991
Dr F C Anyaegbunam 1992
Dr I E Ekejiuba (Jointly with Prof P N Okeke) 1992

BRIEF ASSESSMENT OF SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS

For my doctoral research in Radio Astronomy at the Millard Radio Astronomy Observatory, University of Cambridge, I played a leading part in the construction of two 800 metre corner reflector antenna operating at 38 Mhz as well as the design and construction of beam-switching circuits for the two antennas, and construction of 13 solid state preamplifiers for 13 km cable link for the radio interferometer. The constructed equipment was used for an investigation into the structure of the interplanetary medium using radio interferometric and interplanetary scintillation techniques. The effort led to the discovery (with my supervisor, Dr Tony Hewish) of an extremely high brightness temperature source in the Crab Nebula recognized by us as the first example of a NEUTRON STAR, which was subsequently demonstrated by Hewish and another PG student, Jocelyn Bell, as pulsating and thus became the first PULSAR known to man. The discovery was widely recognized of being of fundamental importance to basic physics. In this regard, Prof Hewish was to be awarded the 1974 Nobel Prize in physics for both discoveries.

Nevertheless, Prof Hewish in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech had this to say of our collaboration leading to the discovery of the neutron star:

“The scintillation techniques also provided an extremely simple and useful means of showing which radio sources had angular sizes in the range 0”.1 to 1”.0. The first really unusual source to be uncovered by this method turned up in 1965 when, with my student Okoye, I was studying radio emission from the Crab Nebula. We found a prominent scintillating component within the nebula which was far too small to be explained by conventional synchrotron radiation, and we suggested that this might be the remains of the original star which had exploded and which still showed activity in the form of flare-type radio emission. This source later turned out to be none other than the famous Crab Nebula pulsar.” (See Hewish A, Science 188, 1079, 1975)

At the post-graduate level and as a university lecturer/professor, I have written a number of research papers on the astrophysical interpretation of radio astronomical observations of extra-galactic radio sources including such phenomena as x-ray emission from radio galaxies; the stability of M87 jet; compact radio source spectra ; centimetre-excess spectra in radio sources; “proton-proton collisions”, as electron acceleration mechanism in extra-galactic radio sources (EGRS); confinement and cosmological evolution of EGRS ; tests of cosmological models using angular-diameter versus red shift variations of EGRS ; as well as theoretical models for gamma ray emission from large scale EGRS jets and the origin and creation of intergalactic magnetic fields.

As a professor, I have also applied my energies in three important directions as follows:

a) INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING

As one of the so- called returnee academic staff to UNN in 1966 October from the University of Ibadan, we ,under the leadership of Prof Onwumechili, on return from the civil war, undertook a total overhaul and revamping of the physics degree curricular, which were then below international standards. For the first time in the history of the department, we proposed and designed curricular for post-graduate teaching and research in the four main physics sub-disciplines of Astrophysics, Geophysics, Materials Science/Solid State Physics and Nuclear/High Energy Particle Physics, under the respective leaderships of myself. Prof Onwumechili, Dr Pal (and later Prof Animalu), and Prof Ndili. Later, when I became Head of Department during 1978-81, I took a further step of expanding the physics degree curriculum at the undergraduate level to include astronomy as a mandatory course in the third year as well as fourth year degree optional topics in astrophysics. It was therefore natural for a case to be successfully made to Senate, the Governing Council, and the National Universities Commission for the departmental name to be upgraded to “ Department of Physics and Astronomy”, thus becoming one of a handful of elite academic departments in the world so named, and certainly the first one in Africa.

In furtherance of my efforts to develop teaching and research facilities for the sub discipline of Astrophysics in the department, I arranged in 1979 for a high quality 10 metre parabolic aluminum dish radio antenna worth US$50,000, at 1973 prices to be donated by the Astronomy Department of the University of California, Berkeley. to the UNN. This was later followed up by a personal donation of N100, 000 by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the founder and first Chancellor of UNN, for astronomical research. Augmented by a further Senate grant of N50,000, buildings and a radio telescope forming the initial and other electronic equipments constituted the initial facilities of the university’s Space Research Centre which on commissioning by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe during the University’s silver jubilee celebrations in 1985 became known as the Nnamdi Azikiwe Space Research Centre--- again the first in black Africa.

b) POSTGRADUATE TEACHING AND RESEARCH

An important function of any senior academic is the training of the next generation of academics who would carry the torch of higher learning after his departure from the scene. In my own case, starting from scratch without any programme, facilities, academic colleagues support staff, it is a matter for personal satisfaction that by the time I retired from the department, Astrophysics has become not only a viable discipline at the UNN, but single handedly, and in some cases with the help of colleagues have graduated a total of 18 post graduates of which 9 are M.Scs and 9 are PhDs. In terms of the above PhDs, it was not enough to see to their graduation, but I made special efforts to introduce them to the international astronomy community through short visits to other departments and institutes but also through encouragement to attend international conferences. Of these, one (Akujor) is a professor, and the other (Ubachukwu) is being assessed for promotion to a professorship. This lot, in terms of numbers, is enough to staff a moderately sized physics department such as we have in Nigeria.

c) NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SERVICE IN ASTRONOMY AND SPACE SCIENCE

As far back as 1979, I had written an unsolicited 80 paged technical report submitted to the then National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) titled “ Towards a National Policy for a Space Science and Technology policy for the 1980s and beyond” This policy paper set out a national vision for the use of space technology for national development. It envisaged such aspects as skills acquisition and the development of specialized manpower through education, training and research. It also envisaged the launching of Nigerian satellites for purposes of telecommunications, earth resources survey through remote sensing, navigation, sound and television broadcasting etc. It was also proposed that Nigeria should embark on rocket science research and development with a view to acquiring capability for launching its own satellites as such developing countries, like India and China have done This policy paper was very well received and commended. It was inherited by the first ever Federal Ministry of Science and Technology created in 1980 by the Shagari Administration. It marked the beginning of government interest in space technology, culminating in the efforts towards the training of a group of Nigerian engineers in the UK to implement a plan to build and launch Nigeria’s first satellite.

I was also a co-author to an international proposal in 1979 backed by UNESCO and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for the establishment of an International Institute for Space Sciences and Electronics (INISSE) and the construction of a Giant Equatorial Radio Telescope (GERT) to be sited in Kenya under a cooperative programme involving Afro-Asian countries. This project was designed as a training bed of high-level manpower for developing countries in electronics, space sciences and technology. Although a number of countries such as Nigeria, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Iraq, Egypt, Senegal and Togo, enough funds could not be raised and the project was eventually mot balled.

BRIEF ASSESSMENT OF SERVICE AS SCIENCE ATTACHE

Until my appointment as Science Attaché in the Nigerian High Commission London, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no science department either at it Headquarters or in any of its diplomatic missions abroad. I was therefore charged with the assignment of pioneering the first science desk ever at any of our diplomatic missions abroad. It therefore became my lot to write a brief for the functions of a science desk, as well as the requisite staff, office and other equipments needed to operate the Desk effectively.

My functions included tracking developments both in science policy and its implementations in the countries of the European Union and the rest of the developed world. In this regard, particular attention was paid to national wealth creation technologies as they pertained to agriculture, industry and National security. Other areas of activity involved developments in health care delivery, biotechnology and communications and information technology.

Highlights of my achievements include a number of seminal briefing reports on the following subjects:

The World Wide Web (WWW) and the Internet. (It was also recommended that a National Agency for the development of Information Technology, which among other functions will establish a number of national internet gateway for Nigeria as well as a national internet network to which all Federal establishments will be connected. It was also recommended that the National Universities Commission should establish a central server to which all universities should be connected, thus providing Nigerian Universities access to the stupendous resources of the Internet.)

The year two thousand (Y2K) global melt down then called the Millennium bug with particular reference on how Nigeria would be affected.. Because of the national security implications, this report was brought to the personal attention of the then Head of State., General Abacha, who instructed the formation of a National Y2K Committee under the chairmanship of the then Federal minister of Science and Technology with an operating budget of N2 billion.

Recent developments in biotechnology, particularly in agriculture and medicine. ( A strong suggestion was made about the supreme importance of establishing a National Commission for the development of Biotechnology. This has now been done.)

Vision 2010 Document. I made a substantial input to the submission of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) to the Vision 2010 document.

Submitted a highly classified document as well as the FMST as well as the national DefenSe and Security organizations on what the developing countries should know about biological weapons of mass destruction. It was pointed out that the bottom line why the developing countries are held to ransom by the militarily strong advanced countries depended on the latter’s possession of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. It was suggested that the developing countries could redress the balance in the possession of weapons of mass destruction by the acquisition of biological weapons of mass destruction which are not only cheap and easy to conceal but the expertise to produce them is within the ken of microbiologists in developing countries. Indeed this is why the USA and Britain are so scared about Iraq possessing biological weapons as this will empower Iraq to challenge the hegemony of the militarily powerful countries, such as the US, ogling Iraq’s abundant oil resources. It was also explained that biological weapons of mass destruction are the poor man’s alternative to nuclear weapons, which is why the industrialized militarily powerful countries do not want the developing countries to have them as they do.

PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS

During the period 1964 to 1998, I have participated in about 45 scientific meetings and conferences in the following 24 countries: