Happy Retirement Prof Quadri
AS BABA DROPS THE GOWN: ACCOLADES TO AN ACADEMIC MENTOR
This month of February 2018 is one of the months that will linger on for the rest of my life. It is the month when two of the most influential persons in my life bid farewell to Public Service. The first is my life mentor i.e my daddy, who retired from service with effect from the second of this month, the second is my academic mentor, Professor Yasir Anjola Quadri who is retiring today, 22nd February, 2018. Coincidentally both their exit in service is consequent upon the attainment of the maximum age. I intend to wholly dedicate this short piece to baba, my inept writing won't debar me from associating with the Professor of Professors.
Baba as we fondly call this great Professor of Islamic Studies with specialisation on tasawwuf(Islamic Mysticism) is a man of many parts that is inexhaustible to write except his creator. I remember in an attempt to test my inept writing about him few years back on my Facebook wall, the overwhelming accolades the post received especially from his students can not be over-emphasised.
Yesterday, I received a text message on my Whatsapp from a senior colleague, Dr Daud Al-Gambari and the following conversation ensued:
Dr Daud: As if it is a dream/play, baba packed his loads yesterday
Me: Allahu Akbar!! I wish him all the best in life, a disciplinarian primus inter pares! So baba has bid Unilorin farewell be that?
Dr Daud: Walahi!!!
Me: Toh....we can just be praying for him for his service to humanity
Dr Daud: That's just it. That yesterday, somebody said to him that there will be problem in the university as he leaves, he said, "if I had died, will the university stop running?"
Me: That's it. A Philosopher and Mystic per excellence!
That was how we concluded our conversation. Dr Gambari and I are among few envied students of Baba who enjoyed his direct tutelage right from Undergraduate to Postgraduate. The experience which will continue to linger in our hearts.
However, for those who do not know this Icon of Humanities, let me briefly introduce him from the excerpts of his citation by Dr AbdulHameed Badmas;
"Professor Yasir Anjola Quadri, our honoree today and forever, was born in Ijebu-Ode on the 22nd February, 1947. His parents of blessed memories were Alhaji Buraimoh Adeyemi Sebiotimo-Quadri and Alhaja Hafsat Sebiotimo-Quadri.
He attended Ansar-Ud-Deen Primary School, Ijebu-Ode between 1955-1960. His father enrolled him in the traditional Arabic school of Alhaji Apaokagi in Owo, Ondo State. Through correspondence courses, he took the London GCE examination and was admitted into the University of Ibadan, the premier University, where he emerged in 1974 with a resounding First Class degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies.
Prof. Quadri joined the University of Ilorin as a pioneer staff in 1976. Under the supervision of late Professor M.O.A. Abdul, he got his doctorate degree in Islamic Studies in 1981 and rose through the ranks to become a professor of Islamic Studies in 1990, almost four decades ago.
Professor Quadri is an accomplished publisher. His interest in the promotion of Islam through the spread of knowledge made him take charge of the famous Shebiotimo Publishing House in Ijebu-Ode after the death of his father who had established it in 1952 Shebiotimo has published several literature materials especially in the two discipline of Arabic language and Islamic Studies."
A mentor according to Olorundare is someone who engages in a long-term, ongoing (in some cases, lifelong) relationship with a student by mutual agreement. I regard this teacher of humane touch as my Academic Mentor not because he inspired me to studying Islamics, but he made me not regret pursuing a discipline in the annals of Islamicus with his approach of mentoring. Thus, Baba fulfilled all the requisites as the best mentor one could ever had in tandem with the inter-alia:
In the course of all academic journeys, everyone of us can possibly identify an individual, or perhaps several individuals, who have influenced how we have approached our academic life, some of which are teachers, employers, or even friends. What these individuals always have in common is a relationship in which they have used their own experience to help us to achieve our own goals. They may have possibly shared their own experience to help us to achieve our own goals. They may have possibly shared their personal experiences and informally transmitted the knowledge they have gained to us, a less experienced person, so we could grow and mature as an individual. This is a relationship where personal development is the key outcome.
The achievements of a man are measured by the lives he has touched, surely, baba has touched so many lives. We shall forever miss him in the Ivory Towers. He would painstakingly read through every piece I submitted in a stated time including the commas. To me, he is irreplaceable, most especially now that one is in the pursuit of the Peak academic degree.
"Retirement is supposed to be a great escape from the stress inherent in most jobs, a time to experience a fulfilling life derived from many enjoyable and rewarding activities". I wish Professor Quadri happy retirement.
This month of February 2018 is one of the months that will linger on for the rest of my life. It is the month when two of the most influential persons in my life bid farewell to Public Service. The first is my life mentor i.e my daddy, who retired from service with effect from the second of this month, the second is my academic mentor, Professor Yasir Anjola Quadri who is retiring today, 22nd February, 2018. Coincidentally both their exit in service is consequent upon the attainment of the maximum age. I intend to wholly dedicate this short piece to baba, my inept writing won't debar me from associating with the Professor of Professors.
Baba as we fondly call this great Professor of Islamic Studies with specialisation on tasawwuf(Islamic Mysticism) is a man of many parts that is inexhaustible to write except his creator. I remember in an attempt to test my inept writing about him few years back on my Facebook wall, the overwhelming accolades the post received especially from his students can not be over-emphasised.
Yesterday, I received a text message on my Whatsapp from a senior colleague, Dr Daud Al-Gambari and the following conversation ensued:
Dr Daud: As if it is a dream/play, baba packed his loads yesterday
Me: Allahu Akbar!! I wish him all the best in life, a disciplinarian primus inter pares! So baba has bid Unilorin farewell be that?
Dr Daud: Walahi!!!
Me: Toh....we can just be praying for him for his service to humanity
Dr Daud: That's just it. That yesterday, somebody said to him that there will be problem in the university as he leaves, he said, "if I had died, will the university stop running?"
Me: That's it. A Philosopher and Mystic per excellence!
That was how we concluded our conversation. Dr Gambari and I are among few envied students of Baba who enjoyed his direct tutelage right from Undergraduate to Postgraduate. The experience which will continue to linger in our hearts.
However, for those who do not know this Icon of Humanities, let me briefly introduce him from the excerpts of his citation by Dr AbdulHameed Badmas;
"Professor Yasir Anjola Quadri, our honoree today and forever, was born in Ijebu-Ode on the 22nd February, 1947. His parents of blessed memories were Alhaji Buraimoh Adeyemi Sebiotimo-Quadri and Alhaja Hafsat Sebiotimo-Quadri.
He attended Ansar-Ud-Deen Primary School, Ijebu-Ode between 1955-1960. His father enrolled him in the traditional Arabic school of Alhaji Apaokagi in Owo, Ondo State. Through correspondence courses, he took the London GCE examination and was admitted into the University of Ibadan, the premier University, where he emerged in 1974 with a resounding First Class degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies.
Prof. Quadri joined the University of Ilorin as a pioneer staff in 1976. Under the supervision of late Professor M.O.A. Abdul, he got his doctorate degree in Islamic Studies in 1981 and rose through the ranks to become a professor of Islamic Studies in 1990, almost four decades ago.
Professor Quadri is an accomplished publisher. His interest in the promotion of Islam through the spread of knowledge made him take charge of the famous Shebiotimo Publishing House in Ijebu-Ode after the death of his father who had established it in 1952 Shebiotimo has published several literature materials especially in the two discipline of Arabic language and Islamic Studies."
A mentor according to Olorundare is someone who engages in a long-term, ongoing (in some cases, lifelong) relationship with a student by mutual agreement. I regard this teacher of humane touch as my Academic Mentor not because he inspired me to studying Islamics, but he made me not regret pursuing a discipline in the annals of Islamicus with his approach of mentoring. Thus, Baba fulfilled all the requisites as the best mentor one could ever had in tandem with the inter-alia:
In the course of all academic journeys, everyone of us can possibly identify an individual, or perhaps several individuals, who have influenced how we have approached our academic life, some of which are teachers, employers, or even friends. What these individuals always have in common is a relationship in which they have used their own experience to help us to achieve our own goals. They may have possibly shared their own experience to help us to achieve our own goals. They may have possibly shared their personal experiences and informally transmitted the knowledge they have gained to us, a less experienced person, so we could grow and mature as an individual. This is a relationship where personal development is the key outcome.
The achievements of a man are measured by the lives he has touched, surely, baba has touched so many lives. We shall forever miss him in the Ivory Towers. He would painstakingly read through every piece I submitted in a stated time including the commas. To me, he is irreplaceable, most especially now that one is in the pursuit of the Peak academic degree.
"Retirement is supposed to be a great escape from the stress inherent in most jobs, a time to experience a fulfilling life derived from many enjoyable and rewarding activities". I wish Professor Quadri happy retirement.
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