Posted by By Tunde Oladunjoye on
THE Special Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo on Policy and Project Monitoring, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, will on Saturday, June 25, 2005 be honoured as the Olunebho of Irrua (Helper of the Masses) and his wife; Chief (Mrs) Grace Ihonvbere will take the title of Oluesele of Irrua (Philanthropist).
THE Special Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo on Policy and Project Monitoring, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, will on Saturday, June 25, 2005 be honoured as the Olunebho of Irrua (Helper of the Masses) and his wife; Chief (Mrs) Grace Ihonvbere will take the title of Oluesele of Irrua (Philanthropist).
The chieftaincy titles coming from the paramount ruler of Irrua are deserved recognition of the efforts of Professor Ihonvbere and his amiable wife who stood solidly with him during the era of military misrule that forced him into exile in Canada and later United States.
While in exile and at the Ford Foundation, Prof. Ihonvbere was responsible for "Pluralism and Governance" under the Peace and Social Justice Programme portfolio of the Ford Foundation. He facilitated unprecedented support for Nigerian mass organisations, women, labour and professional groups that were actively involved in the prodemocracy struggle of 1993-1999. Ford also provided the initial grant that kick-started the Oputa Panel. Ihonvbere was part of the setting up and running of the prodemocracy radio, Radio Kudirat, on which he regularly provided a Pidgin English programme under the pseudo name of Wahab Baba.
On his return from exile, the acclaimed African political scientist established the Ihonvbere Foundation, that has been noiselessly providing succour to indigent students, engaging in capacity building for government agencies like the police, implementing laudable developmental programmes and projects at the grassroots and involving youths in sports and other creative ventures; thereby combating societal vices.
In a society where citizens generally despise the police leaving the force to lean on insufficient support from the establishment, the Ihonvbere Foundation uniquely donated a saloon car to the police at Uzzeba hometown of Professor Ihonvbere. Few years ago, when there was serious face off between the police and youths of Uzzeba, Professor Ihonvbere had to relocate home and personally intervened to quickly nip the crises in the bud.
Born on June 25, 1956, Julius Olukayode Ihonvbere took his B.A Combined Honours degree from the University of Ife now, Obafemi Awolowo Unversity, Ile Ife. He obtained his MA in International Affairs from Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada and his PhD in Political Science from University of Toronto also in Canada.
As a student, he was Public Relations Officer of the University of Ife Students' Union. His meritorious services won him several awards including a life membership of the students' union. He served as Secretary of the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) at Ife. At University of Port Harcourt, he served first as a vice-chairman and later as Chairman of ASUU and also as the Chair of the Department of Political Science and Administrative Studies at the University.
His research interests are in state-civil society relations, constitutionalism, demilitarization, democratization, globalization and human rights in the developing world with special interest in Africa. Professor Ihonvbere's much sought after articles have appeared in numerous international journals including "Africa Today", "The Journal of Modern African Studies", "International Politics", "International Journal", "Third World Quarterly", "World Development", and "The Journal of Politics and Military Sociology". His recent books include Africa and the New World Order (2000), Towards a New Constitutionalism in Africa (London, 2000); Labour State and Capital in Nigeria's Oil Industry (1999); The Illusion of Power: Nigeria in Transition (with Timothy Shaw) (1998); to mention but a few. Efforts are presently being made to reprint many of his books that have sold out at the Internet stores like Amazon.com.
An activist-scholar, Ihonvbere was the founding president, of the Organisation of Nigerians in Americas (ONA), and Coordinator of the Global Network of Nigerian Organisations (GNNO). He is a visiting Professor at the University of Lagos, and MacArthur Foundation, the Aspen Institute and America's National Endowment for Democracy have supported his research works in the humanities, the Social Science Research Council and the American Philosophical Association. He is the first winner of Mario Zamora Memorial Award from the Association of Third World Studies and represents the association at the United Nations. He is listed in Who is Who in Nigeria and in the Profiles of African Scientists.
As Professor and Chief (Mrs) Julius Ihonvbere are reconfirmed on Saturday, June 25, 2005 as the friends of the masses in Irrua and coming on Professor's birthday, one can only say: "the best is yet to come".