www.unilorin.edu.ng
vc@unilorin.edu.ng
WATER HAS NO ENEMY
www.iau.org
Text of the Address Delivered by the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin,
Ilorin, and President of the Association of African Universities (AAU), Prof.
Is-haq O. Oloyede, at the Opening Ceremony of the Second Annual Civil
Engineering International Conference on Monday July 26, 2010 at the
Auditorium, University of Ilorin, Ilorin.
WATER HAS NO ENEMY
Like a man that has just drunk water in a hot afternoon, I feel happy and satisfied to welcome you to
this occasion. As I often say, one of the traditions that the University of Ilorin is proud of is engaging
minds through intellectual fora of this nature. The University of Ilorin appreciates your coming to
today’s occasion and on behalf the University, particularly the Department of Civil Engineering, I
welcome you to this timely and important conference.
Let me begin by commending the Department of Civil Engineering under the able headship of Dr. S.A.
Raji for conceiving and delivering this international conference. The Department had organised a
public lecture delivered by Engr. O. A. Olajubu in November 2009 on the “Challenges in Civil
Engineering Construction in Nigeria: A Case Study of Universities, Public and Corporate Agencies”,
which was subsequently followed by virtual workshop in which participants discussed the use of finite
element analysis for engineering infrastructure. I am aware that the e-workshop drew participants
from various parts of the world, including United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and United States.
I congratulate the Civil Engineering Department and the academic leadership provided there and I
urge other Departments to emulate the academic and research vibrancy of the Department.
Moreover, if I say that this conference is “timely and important”, I do not say so as a matter of routine
but because this conference actually is. I deem it “timely” because it is holding in the middle of the
“International Decade for Action on Water For Life”. For those who did not know, the United Nations
General Assembly at its 58th session in December 2003 agreed to proclaim the years 2005 to 2015 as
“Water for Life Decade” and the timeliness derives from this conference holding at a mid-time when it
is auspicious for us too as an institution to give “a greater focus on water-related issues”. More
importantly, it is timely that this week that the conference is holding, the United Nations General
Assembly will vote on water as a human right, which is generating a lot of debate now internationally.
Besides, that the conference is “important” is predicated on its focus on water, and as you all know,
water has no enemy: our lives depend on it and we are created from it. This is succinctly expressed in
the Qur’an: “By means of water, we give life everything” (Q.Al-Anbiyaa 21: 30).
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In the light of the foregoing, I also think it is timely and important that I inform this esteemed
audience that the efforts of the University of Ilorin are yielding fruit. Just last week, our attention was
drawn to the current edition of the ranking web of world universities known as webometrics rankings
and the University of Ilorin maintains its leading position in Nigeria. But that is not the news; the news
is that from number 55 in Africa and number 5,846 in the world at the beginning of this year, the
University has moved to number no 5,484 in the world. As a page on the website
(http://www.webometrics.info/details.asp?univ=unilorin.edu.ng) assessed last Thursday ranks the
University as no 31 in Africa, this means that between February and now, our University has overtaken
362 world universities, including some 24 African universities which were hitherto ranked above it
while the University still has itself to beat in Nigeria.
Though being number 31 is still not the position the University of Ilorin deserves in Africa, the
improvement provides us a lesson that with more work than we used to do, it is possible, and I believe
strongly so, that we can be among the best 5 in Africa and best 200 in the world. It is also good for our
Nigerian university system because while only five Nigerian universities were in the league of the best
100 in Africa some months back, seven of our universities are, by the current ranking, among Africa’s
top 100. Additional nine Nigerian universities, comprising Federal, State and private universities, are
listed among the best 12,000, which was not the case before. The message is that as individuals,
organisations and countries, we can improve our situation, whatever it is, by facing the changing world
and adapting ourselves with seriousness and commitment to the challenges of work and life.
The following table presents the ranking web of Nigerian universities, particularly those who are
include in the 100 category in Africa, released this month:
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Rank of Universities of Nigeria, July 2010
University
University of Ilorin
Obafemi Awolowo University
University of Jos
University of Lagos
University of Benin
University of Ibadan
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Position in Nigeria
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
Position in the World
5,484th
5,756th
5,882nd
5,936th
6,324th
6,425th
7,170th
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, water is so crucial that the significance of talking about it cannot
be over-emphasised. From the classical period to the middle ages up till the present times, water has
remained a profound source of inspiration and provided a clear fountain of wisdom. For instance, the
Thales of Miletus, writing in 600BC, said “water sustains us” and Leonardo da Vinci was also right to
say “water is the driver of Nature.” Jalaluddin Rumi, the great Islamic poet-philosopher, considered
water a common factor and a basis of unity for all religions: “We can’t help being thirsty, Moving
towards the voice of water/ Milk drinkers draw close to the mother/ Muslims, Christians, Jews,
Buddhists, Hindus, Shamans, everyone hears/ The intelligent sound and moves with thirst to meet it.”
In his Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit (2004), Al Gore, a well-known
contemporary figure, makes us to realise that:
Human beings are made up mostly of water, in roughly the same percentage as
water is to the surface of the earth. Our tissues and membranes, our brains and
hearts, our sweat and tears – all reflect the same recipe for life, in which efficient
use is made of those ingredients available on the surface of the earth. We are 23
per cent carbon, 2.6 % nitrogen, 1.4 per cent calcium, 1.1 per cent
phosphorous...But above all, we are oxygen (61 per cent) and hydrogen (10 per
cent) fused together in the unique molecular combination known as water, which
makes up 71 per cent of the human body.
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It is however unfortunate that despite the fact that 70.9 per cent of our world is water, we are faced by
water insecurity. The situation depicted by the English poet, S. T. Coleridge, in his “The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner” still confronts a vast majority: “Water, water everywhere/ Nor any drop to drink”.
At the end of the day, 4,000 children die globally on a daily basis as a result of lack of safe drinking
water. Three billion people in the world do not have running water within a kilometre to their homes.
Some 900 million people across the world have no access to drinking water and water-borne diseases
like cholera, typhoid fever, diarrhoea, etc. have killed more people than those who have been killed in
wars since the Second World War. Put differently, more than 80 per cent of illnesses in the developing
countries, Nigeria inclusive, are caused by contaminated water. In Nigeria, the supposed “pure water”
is undiluted “poor water” as most of us must have experienced one time or the other. The situation is
dire and we need to do something; others are doing something. Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet
President, is mobilising the world to guarantee the right to access to portable water. The French
President, Nicholas Sarkozy, is calling for a World Water Forum in 2012. Let us do something. This is
why as stated earlier , I am happy like someone whose thirst has just been quenched, that at the
University of Ilorin, through this conference holding this time and other efforts, we are doing
something.
At our own level and in response to the need for water security, the University of Ilorin dam was
commissioned on May 25, 2007. The dam serves as a reservoir for water as it further meets recreation
and research needs of the academic community. We are presently moving towards final
disengagement from the public water supply system and the University is poised to meet its own water
needs. Recently, the University constituted a research group known as “River Oyun Research Team” to
identify and design possible areas of research on the river and its catchment basin in order to ensure
its sustainable use. On campus, more comfort areas have been provided with running taps while the
existing ones are being upgraded and modernised to enhance sanitation. We wont relent in our efforts.
I want to observe that though the theme of this conference is “Sustainable Urban Water Supply in
Developing Countries”, I think the issue of right to water or water justice transcends the urban centres.
People in Babanloma and Bode Saadu need water as much as the people in Ilorin, Lagos and Abuja do
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to meet their basis needs. I wish to call on our Governments at all levels to accord water its due
priority. Water is a blessing and those who provide it to others are blessed. Let the Government sink a
minimum of ten bore holes in every ward of each of the local governments in Nigeria to back up the
public water supply system. The amount of money to complete the project is not much, I am certain, as
it will be less than what certain individuals have stolen from banks and public till.
I have spoken this much on water because as our people say, water has no enemy and water is
important. It is a source of life and a font of inspiration. However, while those in Government do their
responsibility, it behooves us to also play our part. If water is life, then to waste it is to waste life. In
this University and elsewhere, it is appalling that some people waste water. While the University
continues to provide water, and improve sanitation through it, students and staff are enjoined to
maintain water responsibility and discipline. When you see water spilling over its container, or just
wasting away, turn the tap off. When you see someone wasting water, tell the person to stop it because
s/he is wasting life. This is one message that everyone should digest and take home from this
programme.
Once again, I welcome you to our conference on water, which the Department of Civil Engineering is
thoughtful to organise on behalf of us all. The reason is that whether one is in Agriculture, Arts, Basic
and Clinical Sciences or in Science and Law as well as other Faculties, the research on water cuts
across virtually all disciplines. We are all involved and water has no enemy. I wish you robust
conference sessions and I look forward to your submissions and recommendations.
Lastly, always remember that water is the only drink for the wise; water has no enemy and there is no
alternative to water.
I thank you all for your attention.
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