Prof. Raufu Adebiyi Adebisi is a retired Professor of French from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He possesses Diplȏme Supérieur d’Etudes Franҫaises (Troisième Degré) and Diplȏme de Franҫais Commercial from the Université de Bordeaux, France and holds a doctorate degree from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Prof. Raufu Adebisi has vast academic and administrative experience. During his over four decades of service at the Ahmadu Bello University, he handled courses from the Preliminary French to the doctorate levels, supervising along the line more than 120 undergraduate projects in addition to many Masters’ and doctoral theses. In all these duties, Prof. Adebisi proved to be committed, patient and thorough and was highly respected by his students and all others who came into contact with him.
Prof. Raufu Adebisi brought the same sense of duty to his other assignments within Ahmadu Bello University. Among these other professional responsibilities are Departmental Staff Secretary, Departmental Examination Officer, Faculty Examination Officer, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Outside the University, he was at different times Visiting Professor in a number of Nigerian Universities. Among these are the Kaduna State University, Bayero University, Kano, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina, Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto and Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State.
Still on his academic engagements outside Ahmadu Bello University, he was External Examiner for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for many Universities in Nigeria, assessor for promotion to Associate and full Professors for several Nigerian Universities cutting across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
While in service, Prof. Adebisi was Examiner to many Examination Bodies including the Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS). At another level, he went on several accreditation missions for the National Universities Commission (NUC).
Indeed, Prof. Adebisi has distinguished himself through his important and various services to the National Universities Commission. He was the sole Reviewer for European Languages (French) of the National Universities Commission’s new Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards and also contributed immensely to the ongoing NUC Book Project, Fundamentals of the Arts in line with the new curriculum for Nigerian Universities.
In addition to Prof. Raufu Adebisi’s vast professional experience, he is also a seasoned administrator who has left indelible marks in the diverse administrative positions he occupied in his days in service. Twice, he was Head of Department of French, was a Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts and for more than 12 years, the Coordinator of the International Languages Programme of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Among his record of achievements are the introduction of the Preliminary French Programme through which the student population of the Department was boosted manifolds and in quality, introduction of the International Languages Programme (ILP) through which Ahmadu Bello University admitted hundreds of students from Francophone countries for their English Language Immersion Programme and which, according to National Universities Commission’s (NUC) rating, placed the University in the enviable position of the most internationally visible of all Nigerian Universities.
The International Languages Programme, with Prof. Raufu Adebisi as Coordinator, became so widely received and recognised in the Francophone countries of West Africa that its students enjoyed, over some years, bursary awards from the African Development Bank (ADB) through the Directorate for Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA), Abuja.
It is also through this very Programme that many neighbouring Francophone countries strengthened their relationship with Ahmadu Bello University via their Embassies in Abuja. It needs stressing that most of the products of the International Languages Programme later pursued their degree programmes at Ahmadu Bello University and in other universities across the English-speaking world. The International Languages Programme in addition to enhancing educational rapport between Nigeria and her neighbours also contributed to reinforcing the African Integration Policy of successive Federal Governments by promoting inter-marriages between Nigerians and students from the Francophone countries.
Prof. Adebisi is furthermore credited with the introduction of the teaching of the Chinese language into Ahmadu Bello University. After attending a training organised for teachers of Chinese at the Beijing Chinese Language and Culture College, Beijing, China in 2008, he championed the teaching of the Chinese Language at Ahmadu Bello University. The University now has an MOU with the Embassy of China in Nigeria by virtue of which the Chinese Government supports the teaching of the Chinese language with technical experts and also assists in other areas of specialisation.
The culmination of Prof. Adebisi’s administrative accomplishments was manifested when he was appointed by the Federal Government as Director/CEO of the Inter-University Centre, the Nigeria French Language Village, Badagry, Lagos State in 2014. Within the five years of his tenure as Director, he tackled with success some of the hitherto intractable problems of the institution, one of which was the initiation of effort towards finding lasting solution to the problem of stagnation of the academic staff on the Senior Lecturer rank. At the Secondary Education level, he completed the long-standing French Village International College (FVIC) Building Complex and launched a Strategic Planning project which continues to serve the College very well till date.
Raufu Adebisi has done some translation/interpreting work for institutions, national and international organisations. These include the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, French interpreter, Joint International Conference, organised by the Department of History, Ahmadu Bello University and the Université de Niamey, Niger Republic, French Editor, The Nation newspaper, Abuja, during the 27th Summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), French Translator/Interpreter, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung sponsored Conference for West African Parliamentarians, Abuja. He has attended several national and international conferences where he presented insightful papers and has successfully organised same.
Prof. Adebisi is a member of professional associations. These include the University French Teachers’ Association of Nigeria (UFTAN) of which he was once the national President and the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) of which he is a Fellow.
Prof. Adebisi’s immense contributions to scholarship and development of society, have been widely recognized and rewarded with the following national and international awards:
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