For Nigeria to tap fully the benefits of the digital age, she must explore the use of electromagnetic waves through the technology of the radio as a means of exploring and controlling her space environment.

A Professor of Physics at the University of Ilorin, Isaac Abiodun Adimula, made this known last Thursday (April 18, 2013) while delivering the 129th Inaugural Lecture of the University.

In the lecture, entitled “The Mandate: The Radio as an Instrument of Dominion”, Prof. Adimula noted that the radio has become one of the most potent instruments of terrestrial and space exploration. 

Explaining the significant use of the radio in wireless and mobile communications, military purposes, meteorology, maritime communication, global navigation and satellite systems among others, the Director of the Computer Services and Information Technology (COMSIT), University of Ilorin, disclosed that a nation that cannot control its space environment will lose out in the information and communications technology age, which is primarily driven by the radio. He stressed that Nigeria as a nation blessed with highly resourceful manpower, cannot afford to be left behind in this respect.

He said, “Our quests for the understanding of this resource can only continue to increase realising the advantages inherent in the use of radio.”

Citing “the first work in dominion”, which is 'Let there be light and there was light', the don said, “God in His sovereignty used the electromagnetic wave (light) to overcome darkness, and ever since man has been using light for dominion.”

Prof. Adimula pointed that most radio infrastructure in the country were based on models developed for the temperate regions of the world, adding that research works carried out by him, and his colleagues, provided vital information for the design and manufacture of appropriate radio infrastructure in the country and for the tropics generally.

He contended that “in the future, radio services will determine how we run our lives”, saying that “Today, mobile phones are pointers to how we shall be running our lives. Few years ago, it took the Concorde (the fastest commercial aircraft ever made) aircraft about three hours to travel with tons of books from UK to Nigeria; (but today) those same tons of books are carried by radio in optical fibres in a matter of seconds to our computers or mobile devices.”

While stressing the importance of research, the scholar revealed that in the next few years, pilotless commercial aircraft should be available.

He said, “The original motivation for satellite navigation was for military purposes, but now satellite navigation is finding many applications in civilian and commercial uses. Research is at an advanced stage in this field, and Nigeria should not be on the side lines; research in the development stage may appear costly, but the cost of a finished work is costlier.”

He tasked members of the University of Ilorin community, and the nation as a whole, to rise to the challenge of the 21st century by taking advantages of the installed fibre optic technology in conformity with her exercise of dominion in teaching and research.

Prof. Adimula then tasked the University of Ilorin, “being a foremost University in the country and blessed with highly resourceful manpower” to “make extra effort in investing in radio and space research” saying that “Space is not an unlimited resource, it is already getting congested”.

While commending the spirit behind the establishment of agencies such as National Space Research and Development Agency, (NASRDA) and Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT), the lecturer charged the Federal Government to ensure that competent scientists with proven records are appointed to head the agencies. He said, “The matter of space and radio should be above mere political considerations”.

Stressing the need for a general overhaul of the science curricula in secondary schools, polytechnics and universities, Prof. Adimula said, “A situation where somebody will sit in the comfort of his sitting room and provide generalised curricula for all Nigerian Universities cannot hold in this age if there should be accelerated match towards growth and development.”