The Institute of African and Diaspora Studies, University of Lagos (UNILAG), is set to reward Dr. Felix Ajiola with a grant of $1,000 for emerging the winner of this year’s Rahamon Bello Best Thesis Award.
The award was instituted last year by a former Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Rahamon Bello, for the best PhD thesis in Africa.
Ajiola’s PhD thesis is titled, ‘Cocoa Production and Rural Development in Idanre, South Western Nigeria (1900 to 1996)’, PhD (2021), University of Ibadan.
The Deputy Director of the institute, Dr. Feyi Ademola-Adeoye, who announced this while briefing journalists in Lagos, said Ajiola defeated 23 others from universities in Nigeria and Africa, to win the coveted prize.
She said the first runner-up is Dr. Joseph Kunnuji, with the thesis: ‘A Chronicle of Cultural Transformation; Ethnography of Badagry Ogu Musical Practices’, PhD (2021), Ethnomusicology, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
The second runner-up, according to her, is Dr. Louis Kusi Frimpong with the thesis: ‘Fear of Crime in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis; Exploring the Role of the Built Environment and Community Social Organisation’, PhD (2019), Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, Legon.
She said the prize will be formally presented to the winner on December 7 at a ceremony to be attended by members of the jury and other distinguished personalities.
The first and second runners-up would be presented with certificates and plaques.
Ademola-Adeoye explained that the Rahamon Bello Best PhD Thesis Award was instituted to encourage and appreciate the hard work of intellectuals, whose PhD thesis address African and diaspora issues.
