Mimiko, Ogunsola, others honour Mabogunje at public lecture

A Renowned architect and urban theorist, Dr Stephen Ajadi, has said that African cities are entering a critical 25-year window that will define their spatial, economic and cultural identity for the next centuries.

Ajadi made the declaration at the third Palm Foundation Public Lecture in honour of the late Prof. Akinlawon Ladipo Mabogunje, the father of African geography.

The event united academic leaders, statesmen and policymakers around a shared mission that is ending the reliance on imported urban templates and taking ownership of Africa’s urban future.

In his keynote address, titled “Palimpsest and Provenance: The Identity and Trajectory of the African City,” Ajadi presented staggering projections, revealing that 40 per cent of global buildings and 75 per cent of infrastructure expected by 2050 are yet to be built, with Africa’s urban land expanding by 590 per cent.

The Founding Partner, Ruban Architecture Office, cautioned against speculative, imported designs, such as pop-culture-inspired “Wakandan urbanism,” which erase informal markets and community structures.

He formally presented Mabogunjeism as an indigenous spatial school of thought, saying that Mabogunje’s six decades of scholarship hold that space is the primary instrument of development and that true progress requires deliberately reorganising inherited spatial structures.

According to him, space is the primary instrument of social and economic development, while true development is the deliberate re-organisation of space.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and daughter of the late icon, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, while welcoming guests on behalf of the Board of Trustees, described her father as a relentless nation-builder who chose policy over politics.

Chairman of the occasion and former Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, shared a warm recollection of his first meeting with Mabogunje after being appointed Minister of Housing.

He said: “He came into my office, calm and deliberate, and offered to teach me urban development. After a few master classes, he transformed my understanding. Humanity was the essence of Akin Mabogunje as he connected geography directly to human dignity.”

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Foundation’s Technical Advisory Council (TAC), Oyewole Okunfulure, appealed to stakeholders for financial partnerships to build a sustainable resource base to ensure Mabogunje’s work outlives memories and yearly lectures.

According to him, before the fourth yearly lecture, the Palm Foundation will establish the PAM Professional Chair in Geography at the University of Ibadan (UI), create Best Graduating Student Prize Awards in Geography across Nigerian universities, and fully curate and archive Mabogunje’s lifetime works.

Others include endowment funds and scholarships for emerging African spatial scholars.