More than a decade ago, a forestry student from Nigeria decided to email the IFSA secretariat in Germany. He wanted to find out how his University (Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria) can become a member of the International Forestry Students Association (IFSA). This singular act of courage and good spirit brought IFSA to Nigeria and one of the foremost countries to join from Africa[1].

He did not stop only at his University becoming a member of IFSA, but  was instrumental in the organisation of the first Northern Africa Regional Meeting in April 2009 in Nigeria. He faithfully and dutifully served IFSA in the following capacities.

1. The Sub-region Western Africa Representative in 2008 – 2009;
2. Liaison Officer to CFA (Commonwealth Forestry Association) in 2009 – 2010; and
3. Head of Sub-Commission UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in 2010 – 2011.

The man is none other than  Dr. Julius Adewopo, a Postdoctoral Fellow and Geospatial Analyst at International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

Leaders are born and leaders are made, he did not stop serving students in 2011. A ready example is Samuel Oluwafemi Ayanleye, a Masters of Wood Science candidate and a MasterCard Foundation Scholar at University of British Columbia (UBC Canada). He attested that Dr. Julius Adewopo was one of the individuals that provided the much needed mentorship when he so perturbed about getting admission to study a “strange course of study’’ – Forestry back in 2012[2].

Dr. Julius Adewopo is very concerned about the future of the Forestry profession in Nigeria and the world at large as well as the organizer of the Nigeria Forestry Students and Graduates Roundtable Session – Meshach Aderele and Olaoluwa Israel Adetula. He has agreed to speak to Forestry Students in Nigeria once more via Zoom by this weekend on Saturday 6 June 2020 by 1pm GMT+1.

Alex Bimbo Onatunji, Coordinator, IUFRO-IFSA Joint Taskforce on Forest Education and the lead researcher in the Young Africa Forestry Professionals Publication Project[3] would also be making a presentation about the project too. The support offered by IFSA is really appreciated.

I guess you don’t want to miss the scholarship offers available just for attending the programme too. Kindly indicate your interest to attend via this form – http://bit.ly/maxrelevance and join the train. Students from other countries are also welcome to attend the meeting.

Alex Bimbo Onatunji writes this blog post from Nigeria. He can be reached via alex.onatunji@ifsa.net; alexonatunji@gmail.com and +2348102394713.

[1] https://ifsa.net/the-africa-we-desire-for-forestry-students/

[2] https://ifsa.net/forestry-is-not-very-glamorous-in-some-african-countries-an-interview-with-samuel-oluwafemi-ayanleye/

[3] https://ifsa.net/ifsa-iufro-africa-book-project/