The pioneer Head of the Department of Computer Science at the Federal University of Lokoja, Professor Sunday Eric Adewumi, has made the list of eminent indigenes of Ekinrin-Adde, to be conferred with Lifetime Achievement Award.
Pastor Emmanuel Ajibola Ogungbuyi, the National Publicity Secretary of Ekinrin-Adde Community Development Association made this known in a statement during the week.
Professor Adewumi was born to the family of Late Pa James Adewumi and Madam Mary Adewumi of Akodi in Otun-Adde.
He had his early education at Ega-Adde Primary School, Ekinrin-Adde, where he spent a term, and moved to Funtua, Katsina State, to continue his primary school education at Saint Theresa’s Primary School, now Sambo Primary School, Funtua. After which he proceeded to Kufena College, Zaria, for his secondary education, completing in 1978.
He was admitted to the School of Basic Studies, Kwara State College of Technology, Ilorin, Kwara State, between 1978 and 1980 for his University of Cambridge A-Level Certificate.
He earned a B.Sc. (Hons) in Computer Science from the prestigious University of Ibadan in 1983. He pursued higher degrees in Mathematics, earning an M.Sc. and a PhD from the University of Jos and ATBU, Bauchi, in 2000 and 2005, respectively. This was done to help him pursue his interest in cybersecurity and data compression.
His experience spanned over three decades of teaching and research in Computing Science and administration. He has held several administrative and academic positions in his over three decades of teaching and research at the University of Jos and the Federal University Lokoja.
He was the first Director of Management Information Systems (MIS) of the University of Jos, and one time Head of the Department of Mathematics (with three programmes: Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics) in the same university.
He was the first Head of the Department of Computer Science and the first Director of ICT at the Federal University Lokoja; the first elected Dean of the Faculty of Science, Federal University Lokoja; the first Inaugural Lecturer at the Federal University Lokoja in 2016; the first President of the Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Federal University Lokoja; and the first Director of TETFund Career Services of the Federal University Lokoja.
In the 1990s, he was appointed by the United Nations, Geneva Office, and posted to Somalia as a Data Processing/Systems Analysis Specialist. He also worked at various organisations, including Kaduna Polytechnic, the Southern Borno Agricultural Development Project (a World Bank project), and the Federal University of Technology, Minna.
He was at various times a Visiting Lecturer and External Examiner to many universities within and outside the country, including the National University of Rwanda (NUR), where he taught Master’s Degree students in Computer Science.
He has assessed over forty candidates at the Professorial level in Computer Science and has examined several PhD, MSc, and undergraduate students within and outside the country. He has been part of several accreditation panels for many Nigerian universities organised by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
At the University of Jos, he acted as a Team Leader for most of the computerisation initiatives. He participated in the design of the first and second circle strategic plans for the University and was also a member of the first cycle strategic plan of the Federal University Lokoja.
In 2023, he was at Keele University, United Kingdom, for his sabbatical leave, where his research centred on the profiling of phishing emails that have become a menace across the world.
He has served in many administrative positions at the universities where he has had the opportunity to work and has chaired numerous committees within and outside the university system. He has also played leading roles in his professional society, including chairing the 2015 election of the Nigerian Computer Society, adjudged as one of the best in the history of the society. He is a member of the Fourth Governing Council of the Federal University Lokoja.
Professor Adewumi has participated in winning the following research grants:
1. PM12 – British Council Funded Research to develop a distance taught MSc in Internet Software Engineering between the University of Hull, United Kingdom, and the University of Jos, Nigeria.
2. A major participant in a Carnegie competitive grant won by the University of Jos over a period of nine years.
3. A member of a team that won the MacArthur Foundation grant over a period of three years to develop an e-learning system for the University of Jos.
4. A member of the team that implemented the STEPB grant for the University of Jos.
5. Led the team that won a Carnegie Diaspora Fellowship to the University. The Fellow worked with staff members to build capacity.
6. Team Lead for the TETFund Institutional-Based Research (IBR) grant to develop an email tracking system.
7. Team Lead for the TETFund Institutional-Based Research (IBR) grant to develop a Learning Management System (LMS).
8. Team Lead for the TETFund Institutional-Based Research (IBR) grant to develop a market day notification system in Kogi State.
Professor Adewumi is widely travelled and has received grants to present technical papers at many national and international conferences and workshops in over twenty-two countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
He has published over sixty (60) research articles and some books, including Buried by the State, Manually Wise, Digitally Foolish, and The Supremacy of God’s Word over Science and Technology.
In 2011, he was the Chairman of AVOIR (African Virtual Open Initiative and Resources), a continental organisation based in South Africa committed to the development of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
At the University of Jos and the Federal University Lokoja, he received several letters of commendation for his diligence and commitment to duty. In 2005, he was awarded Distinguished Scholar for Outstanding Academic Presentation by the European Journal of Scientific Research for his work entitled A New Text Compression Algorithm.
He also won Best Paper Presenter at some of these conferences. He was the recipient of the Year 2000 Best Computer Programmer Award in the Nigerian University System, organised by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
He further won Best Paper Presenter at the 4th International Conference on Computer Design and Engineering in Dubai in 2014 for his work entitled Character Analysis Scheme for Compressing Text Files.
Right from his school days, Professor Adewumi has been actively involved in community development. He was once the Secretary of the Okun Students’ Union at the University of Ibadan and also served as Treasurer of EACDA, Jos Branch.
A passionate member of the Lokoja Branch of EACDA, Professor Adewumi has successfully helped many Ekinrin-Adde sons and daughters gain admission and employment opportunities at the University of Jos and the Federal University Lokoja.
He is a Fellow and Life Member of the Nigerian Computer Society (FNCS), a member of the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (MCPN), and a Chartered Information Technology Professional.
He is married to Christy Omoleye, and together they are blessed with five children.
