UNIVERSITY of Ilorin's first female Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC), Prof Nike Yetunde Sidiqat Ijaiya, radiates warmth and confidence as she gracefully ambles her way through the challenging terrain in the academia. Pictures of past holders who have occupied the office of DVC Academic, are placed at a strategic positions, which contributes to the ambience of the office dedicated to churning out responsible graduates of the institution.

The first female Professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Ilorin, Ijaiya who attributes her new appointment as "the making of Almighty Allah," holds a Masters and a PhD in Educational Psychology and Educational Supervision respectively, from the University of Cardiff, South Wales.

A woman with great depth of knowledge and remarkable simplicity, an encounter with her leaves no one in doubt about the passion she has for her job. "I am grateful to the university, the Vice-Chancellor, and the university council for this golden opportunity to serve the university in another capacity," she says.

As a young girl, she never thought she could aspire to this position as she reminisces: "One thing that I learnt from my mum growing up is hard work, never to complain when you are given assignments, and honesty in whatever you are doing. Hard work helps us to pay a lot of attention to our studies and my father was a great lover of education and he encouraged us to go to any level because he himself was never afraid to go for any course, and he did many diploma programmes as a health inspector even at an old age."

Her parents are the type that would go the extra mile for their children to succeed in their endeavors. While noting that "growing up was just like any ordinary family in Nigeria or in the Yoruba area," Ijaiya talks about her family background: "I'm from a polygamous setting and thank God my father (Alhaji Yusuf Bakare) was educated. He used to be a Health Inspector before he died and he has served Kwara State in many areas and towns, and he was well known in the community. He encouraged our education; my father was a lover of education and all his children went to school. And Alhamdulillah, many of us went as far as the university."

Asked to comment on the challenges she encountered before occupying her present office as Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, she submits: "I have taught at the various levels of the educational system. I started my career teaching in secondary schools in Kwara State. I lectured at the College of Education, Ilorin, before I got appointment in the University of Ilorin in 1994. I have occupied various positions along the line; I started my work in the university at the Institute of Education, before we were moved to the Department of Educational Management. I have served as Head of Department twice before I became the Director of the Institute of Education and both positions, I find very challenging.

"Particularly, the Institute of Education, having to deal with over 3,000 students which rose to over 4,000 before the end of my tenure and without lecturers of your own in the Institute of Education, when it comes to academic matters. Apart from the management aspect, you are more or less alone; but I thank God for the assistance of my colleagues in the Faculty of Education, one was able to pull through. So many other things that constituted challenges like online admission, online registration and so on; these are some of the challenges that I encountered and I thank God things are better today".

As a young lady, Ijaiya dreamt of being in the legal profession because she loathes injustice, but God had another plan as she rose to become a renowned educationist. Confessing her love for the teaching profession, the erudite scholar submits that many people, especially the youth, dislike teaching because "they either do not understand its purpose and or they are too impatient and think it is too demanding or because it does not bring quick wealth."

She adds: "Any job that seeks to bring out the best in a person cannot but be a respectable and noble job. I personally see teaching as a service to God and humanity."

But what does this notable academic make of the education system in Nigeria today? "One is not very happy with the educational system in the country nowadays. The kinds of stories that you hear and you see the evidence from our students, especially postgraduate students, who are teachers and principals and headmasters and administrators at various levels of our educational system, do not make us happy about what is going on. Educational malpractice has become the order to the day especially in the rural areas."

"Many lecturers will testify that our system is generating students that can neither read nor write properly and the employers of labour are complaining. So the foundation of our educational system is very weak and unfortunately, very little is being done to change that, and it is only a matter of time before it pulls the university system along with them. So, my advice to the government is to do something to strengthen the foundation level - the primary schools and the secondary schools in order to help the university system".

Outside the academic realm, Ijaiya is a model on the family front. She is the loving wife of Engineer Tunji Ijaiya. On how she has been able to combine her job with the home front, she notes: "It has not been difficult as such. My husband (Engineer Tunji Ijaiya) is very liberal. He is a very liberal person and has been very, very supportive of my education and career right from the beginning. So I don't have any problem in the home front."

As one of the principal officers in the institution, she describes life on the university of Ilorin campus as "very exciting because you can see development everywhere. Right from the gate, the scenery is great for those who care to look left and right. I always admire that green nature of our environment and then the physical development which has taken place consistently in the last few years up to this moment. You can see transformation all around, and I just wish that our students and staff just key in to enjoy this wonderful environment that we have."

Her philosophy about life is quite simple. "If you take life easy, it's going to be easy for you. You don't force things that God is not ready to give you. You have to put your faith in Almighty Allah and that is what I do all the time. My faith is in Almighty Allah, I help people whenever they need help and it is within my power to give, and I pray that Almighty Allah will continue to assist me," Ijaiya says.

ondering how she unwinds? She replies: "I am a football fan and I love international matches, and Barcelona is my team."

She advises young women to take their education seriously. "You educate a woman, you educate a nation, says an adage. These days, some of our women are making efforts; we have a crop of ladies now even after marriage, who are going for masters' degree, PhD. In the last few years, there has been that phenomenal change and we love it. To me, education of a woman is a tool of development and that development will radiate around the woman to even rub on the family - the husband, the children, her own parents and the community. So, the education of a woman is not wasted, and after marriage, a woman should aspire to move further and the husband should encourage the woman in the interest of his own family and in the interest of humanity.

"Men should not stop women from achieving their ambitions; they should give encouragement. My advice is that fathers should encourage their girls to further their education. They should monitor them right from primary school and early childhood education to see that they are making progress and that monitoring should start very early, not at school cert level. You should start very early in life, both their behaviour as well as academic performance. Any help that the children need should be given right from the beginning, not at the late hour when they are going for NECO or WAEC exams; it will be too late then. So, my advice is that women education is paramount and should be supported."

Born in 1950 at Offa, Kwara State, Prof. Ijaiya who was elected DVC Academic at the 240th Special Meeting of the University of Ilorin Senate, attended Offa Grammar School, Offa for her secondary education and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where she obtained a B.A (Ed.) History, with a Second Class Upper Division in 1976. She began her teaching career in 1977 and has taught at various secondary schools in Kwara State during which she also participated in inspection of schools. She also lectured at the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin.

An author of several publications in Educational Management, Ijaiya is a member of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management (CCEAM) and the immediate past Director of the Institute of Education (IOE) in the University of Ilorin. A deeply religious woman, she is a member of the University of Ilorin Inter-Religious Council, President of the University of Ilorin Muslim Ladies Circle, and a member of the Governing Council of Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin.