Date: 2020-11-23

The vice-chancellor, University of Abuja, Prof. Abdul Rasheed Na'Allah, has been nominated for the Nation Builders Achievers Award (NBAA).

A statement made available to LEADERSHIP yesterday in Abuja, signed by the national director, NBAA, Amb Raymond Jefferson said the award event was birthed to recognize individuals and organisations that have distinguished themselves in their contributions towards the growth and development of Nigeria/Africa.

He said Prof. Na'Allah has curated and implemented several milestone disciplines and curricula in several universities and institutions of higher learning.

Jefferson said the "erudite professor received a BA in 1988 from University of Ilorin, with a thesis "Dadakuada: The Trends in the Development of Ilorin Traditional Oral Poetry", subsequently published in African Notes and in 1992 received a MA Literature in English from the same university.

"In 1999, he received his PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, and was subsequently professor and chair of African-American Studies at Western Illinois University. He then became the vice chancellor of Kwara State University in Nigeria, and now vice chancellor and chief executive of University of Abuja, in the Nigerian Capital City.

"Prof. Rasheed is the author and co-author of numerous books, but some books of his that are most recent are Yoruba Oral Tradition in Islamic Nigeria: A History of Dadakuada (Routledge, 2019), Globalization, Oral Performance, and African Traditional Poetry (Palgrave Macmillan, March 2018), African Discourse in Islam, Oral Traditions, and Performance (Routledge, 2010) and Africanity, Islamicity, and Performativity: Identity in the House of Ilorin (Bayreuth African Studies, 2009), and edited a poetry book, Obama-Mentum: An Anthology of Transformational Poetry, etc."

He added that the nation builder alongside other meritoriously nominated awardees will be presented their awards at the in Abuja on 18 December, 2020.