Francis Sulemanu Idachaba,

NNOM The Nigerian National Order of Merit Award (NNOM) is an academic award conferred on distinguished academicians and intellectuals who have made outstanding contributions to the academic, growth and development of Nigeria. The award is often conferred ...

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(4 December 1943 – 15 August 2014) was a Nigerian professor of

Agricultural Economics Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specif ...

, chairman of the Governing Board of the

Nigerian National Merit Award The Nigerian National Order of Merit Award (NNOM) is an academic award conferred on distinguished academicians and intellectuals who have made outstanding contributions to the academic, growth and development of Nigeria. The award is often conferred ...

and

vice chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...

Kogi State University Prince Abubakar Audu University,(Formerly Kogi State University) located at Anyigba, is the state-owned university of Kogi, Nigeria. It was established in 1999 by Prince Abubakar Audu, the former governor of the state. At the time of its establi ...

. He was the first vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, a position he held from 1988 to 1995.

Early life

Francis Sulemanu Idachaba was born on 4 December 1943, at Idah, a city in Kogi State, north-central Nigeria. He attended Qua Iboe Mission Primary School in Idah before he was admitted in 1956 to Provincial Secondary School, Okene, where he obtained the West African School Certificate in 1961. He proceeded to the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

, where he received a bachelor's degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. He later attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, where in 1969 he received a master's degree in economics. In 1972 he received a doctorate degree in agricultural economics from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. In 1981, he became a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

professor of agricultural economics at the University of Ibadan.

Career

He started his academic career as an assistant professor in Michigan State University in 1972. As a scholar, Professor Idachaba ranked among Nigeria's most eminent men of letters. He obtained a B.Sc. in economics from the University of Ibadan in 1967 and an M.A. in the same discipline from the University of Chicago in 1969. After obtaining his doctoral degree in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University in 1972, he commenced a most exciting and productive career as a lecturer, researcher and consultant in universities and research centres in Nigeria, the United States, Canada, the Hague, the Netherlands and several African countries. The agricultural economist rose to become a professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Ibadan in 1981. His output as an intellectual included six published books and over 72 academic papers on diverse issues of agricultural development. He was the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, from 1988 to 1995 and also served as vice-chancellor of Kogi State University between 2005 and 2008. He advocated that government should declare agriculture an infant industry and that triangular alliances be formed between government, industry and universities to solve national problems. He was the founder of the Igala Education Foundation in 2001 and F. S. Idachaba Foundation for Research and Scholarship in 2003.Ahuraka Yusuf Isah
"Drawing the curtain on Professor Idachaba (1943–2014)"
, ''Daily Trust'', 24 August 2014.

References

1943 births 2014 deaths Nigerian economists Academic staff of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi Academic staff of Kogi State University Recipients of the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award Recipients of the Order of the Federal Republic {{Nigeria-academic-bio-stub