Professor Adedeji Badiru is an American dream made in Nigeria. The Professor of Systems Engineering and Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management at the USA Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) told NewsmakersNG in an exclusive interview how he was given a scholarship by the Federal Government of Nigeria for his undergraduate and postgraduate studies, but chose to settle in the United States where he has been contributing to the global development of knowledge. In this interview with Ronke Kehinde, the accomplished Don looks at the problems in Nigeria from a systems perspective and identifies what makes America tick and Nigeria sick.
Today Professor Adedeji Badiru has oversight for planning, directing, and controlling operations related to granting doctoral and master’s degrees for the US Air Force. He had served as Professor and Head of Systems Engineering and Management at AFIT, Professor and Department Head of Industrial Engineering at the University of Tennessee, and Professor of Industrial Engineering and Dean of the University College at the University of Oklahoma. He is a registered Professional Engineer (PE), a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers, a Fellow of the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Society, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, as well as a Fellow of the Institute of Operational Research and Management Science (IORMS). He is also a Program Evaluator for ABET. He holds a leadership certificate from the University of Tennessee Leadership Institute.
Read more about Prof. Badiru’s profile after the following conversation with newsmakerslive.org:
Question: Tell us about yourself, briefly.
Answer: I am presently the Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management at the USA Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). This is the Post Graduate School for the entire USA Air Force. I have been with AFIT for 18 years. My biographical sketch below presents the pertinent details:
Looking at your academic exploits around the globe, how did you get to this point knowing fully well that you started here in Nigeria?
I went to the USA in 1975 on a scholarship by the Federal Government of Nigeria. All my studies in the USA (from undergraduate through the doctorate) were on scholarships by the Nigerian government. To me, the only way I can pay back the Nigerian government scholarship awards is to do what I do, spreading knowledge around the Globe. I have directed most of my professional activities towards Nigeria due to my sense of gratitude for my scholarship awards. My guiding principle is that “knowledge is of no use unless you can spread it and share it with others. That is why I have remained an educator for several decades.
What differentiates academic policies in the USA from those of Nigeria and Africa at large?
I rarely make a direct comparison between Nigeria and the USA because there are infrastructural differences and cultural nuances that make Nigeria operate the way it does. Without criticizing Nigeria, I like pointing to the consistency of academic policies in the USA as useful benchmarks that Nigeria should adopt. The biggest operational obstacles in Nigeria and Africa at large are over-deference to age and social status. This impedes calling for accountability from those running operations. We never call a spade a spade, depending on the age and social status of the person holding the spade. Thus, Nigerian academic leaders get away with misdeeds in laxity ways that would not happen in the USA.
What can be done to bridge the gap between academic studies and solving life-applicable problems?
The operational gap requires a new/different cadre of leaders who consciously dissociate themselves from the traditional mode of Nigerian operation. Nigeria should make policies based on principles rather than based on personality.
You are an expert in OR and Systems Engineering, tell us a few life-related problems you have been able to proffer solutions to.
I look at problems from a systems perspective. In this case, I look at each problem from the perspectives of people’s socio-economic needs. Operations research modeling facilitates the incorporation of diverse views. In addition to mathematically rigorous modeling, I consider how people within the spectrum of the problem are affected and how they respond. For example, the attached newspaper article that I wrote in 2007 conveys my views about typical “life problems” regarding social responsibility.
What do you think are the best policies of the government that can make the university system in Nigeria a place to run to in solving industry, public, private, and other related problems?
The best strategy is to embrace a truly collaborative model for government, industry, public, private, and academia to collaborate in tackling mutual problems. Years ago, I developed a collaboration model for government, industry, and academia. The model was adapted for a TETFUND presentation last year. Also, using a systems perspective to address national issues and challenges is the theme of a book that I co-authored last year. The book’s citation is:
Badiru, Adedeji B. and T. Dele Olasiji (2022), Memoirs On Nigeria’s Political System and Development (1960 – 2020): Engineering Problem-Solving Framework for the Present and the Future (Impacts on Education, Science, Engineering, Commerce, Industry, and the Future), University of Lagos Press, Lagos, Nigeria. Professor Sunday Asaolu, a current officer of IORMS, has copies of the book. He can give a complimentary copy.
Sir, as a fellow of IORMS, what can be done by the Institute to be seen as a problem-solving institution?
Use local newspaper avenues and media to publicize case studies of how ORMS is used to solve real-life problems. Seeing is believing. We should run demos of the successful deployment of IORMS tools and techniques. We should sensitize the public to the value of applying OR and MS techniques, from a systems perspective, to address national issues.
How can IORMS collaborate with foreign organizations to raise the bar of OR deployment in policy-making in Nigeria and Africa at large?
IORMS members and fellows should attend international conferences and present papers. This will create intellectual linkages that will promote IORMS on the world stage. Integration and alignment with international intellectual movements are essential for expanding the recognition of IORMS on the world stage. My trademarked DEJI Systems Model (see attached) is helpful in designing (i.e., conceptualizing), evaluating, justifying, and integrating organizational activities and strategies.
What are your contributions to Nigeria?
In the mid-1990s, I served as a UN consultant to the Nigeria Ministry of Industry in Abuja during my sabbatical from the University of Oklahoma at that time.
The case given example illustrates and documents my contribution then and my chagrin now that Nigeria has not yet implemented the recommendations that I presented to the Ministry. Maybe the platform now can help us get the national attention needed for IORMS to impact developmental changes in Nigeria from a systems-based operations research perspective.
Read more about Prof. Badiru:
Professor Badiru has a BS in Industrial Engineering, MS in Mathematics, and MS in Industrial Engineering from Tennessee Technological University, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida. His areas of interest include mathematical modeling, project modeling and optimization, research and innovation management, and computer simulation. He is a prolific author, with over 40 books, over 35 book chapters, over 140 Journal and magazine articles, and over 200 conference presentations. He is a member of several professional associations and scholastic honor societies.
The world-renowned educator has won several awards for his teaching, research, administrative, and professional accomplishments. Some of his awards include the 2009 Dayton Affiliate Society Council Award for Outstanding Scientists and Engineers with a commendation from the 128th Senate of Ohio, 2010 ASEE John Imhoff Award for his global contributions to Industrial Engineering Education, the 2011 Federal Employee of the Year Award in the Managerial Category from the International Public Management Association, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the 2012 Distinguished Engineering Alum Award from the University of Central Florida, the 2012 Medallion Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers for his global contributions in the advancement of the profession, 2016 Outstanding Global Engineering Education Award from the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, 2015 Air Force-level Winner of the National Public Service Award from The American Society for Public Administration and the National Academy of Public Administration; 2013 Father D. J. Slattery Excellence Award from Saint Finbarr’s College Alumni Association – North America; 2013 Award Team Leader, Air Force Organizational Excellence Award for Air University C3 (Cost Conscious Culture); 2013 Finalist for Jefferson Science Fellows Program, National Academy of Sciences, 2012 Book-of-the-Month Recognition for Statistical Techniques for Project Control from the Industrial Engineering Magazine, the 2009 Industrial Engineering Joint Publishers Book-of-the-Year Award for The Handbook of Military Industrial Engineering and 2020 Book-of-the-Year Award for The Story of Industrial Engineering. Professor Badiru is also the book series editor for CRC Press/Taylor & Francis book series on Systems Innovation.
Prof Badiru has served as a consultant to several organizations around the world. He has conducted customized training workshops for numerous organizations around the world. He has served as a Technical Project Reviewer, curriculum reviewer, and proposal reviewer for several organizations including The Third-World Network of Scientific Organizations, Italy, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the National Science Foundation, the National Research Council, and the American Council on Education. He is on the editorial and review boards of several technical journals and book publishers. Prof. Badiru has also served as an Industrial Development Consultant to the United Nations Development Program. In 2011, Prof. Badiru led a research team to develop analytical models for Systems Engineering Research Efficiency (SEER) for the US Air Force. He has led a multi-year multi-million-dollar research collaboration between AFIT and KBR Aerospace Group. Prof. Badiru has diverse areas of avocation. His professional accomplishments are coupled with his passion for writing about everyday events and interpersonal issues, especially those dealing with social responsibility. Outside of the academic realm, he writes motivational poems, editorials, and newspaper commentaries; as well as engaging in paintings and crafts. Professor Badiru is the 2020 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Taylor and Francis Publishing Group. He was also a member of the AFIT team that won the 2019/2020 US Air Force Organizational Excellence Award. He is also the recipient of the 2022 BEYA Career Achievement Award in Government category. He holds a US Trademark for the DEJI Systems Model for Design, Evaluation, Justification, and Integration.
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