A 2004 Philosophy graduate of the Lagos State University (LASU) Ojo,
Prof. Olanrewaju Shitta-Bey, has been appointed a Professor of Philosophy and Humanities by the University of Maryland, Global Campus, in the United States.
He holds a Master’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Lagos and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Ibadan in 2014.
Prior to his promotion to a Professor, Shitta-Bey was an adjunct in the Department of Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences, Howard University and Prince George’s Community College, USA, Faculty and Researcher: Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, Lagos State University.
An excited Shitta-Bey said: “Nigerians and humanity in general stands to benefit from my hard work and experience owing to community service associated with my field of expertise. A good example is “the Shitta-Bey Undergraduate Prize” award launched early this year.
“I do feel differently but not because the promotion is coming from a foreign institution. I feel differently because I got what I worked hard for and it came at a record time just like my doctoral degree.”
Commenting on the challenges on his rise, he explained: “No challenge really getting promoted. What many people will call challenges are NORMAL occurrences.
“As a goal getter, you don’t see challenges, you see opportunities to get better and do better to achieve more.”
On the standard of education in Nigeria, Shitta-Bey, advised the Nigerian government to invest in the education sector with a view to improving it.
On his advice to his colleagues leaving the country for “greener pastures, the professor said:“My honest advice is that they should follow their hearts but should not neglect to help the country in whatever capacity they can because Nigeria really needs the help of experts at this critical time.
“Anything and everything the government should do to improve standard and develop education in Nigeria is known to government, what is left is the goodwill to do the needful moving forward.
“Government and the country has financial, material, and human resources to develop education and other critical sectors of the country but lacks the goodwill to make it happen.”
Shitta-Bey was in 2016 on a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship Programme in the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Uludag University, Bursa – Turkey.
He boasts of about 16 publications in reputable local and international journals and has attended well over 14 conferences in Nigeria, Ghana and USA.
Shitta-Bey is a member of American Philosophical Association, Nigerian Philosophical Association, International Social Ontology Society, Association for Political Theory, Society for German Idealism and Romanticism and Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa.
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