Brief History of the Faculty

At the time the Faculty of Technology at Ifè came into existence in 1970, the university set itself the goal of developing areas of Technology and Engineering that were not adequately covered by existing University programmes in the country. This was why it started by first developing programs in Agricultural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, and Food Science and Technology. By 1974, the Technology Planning and Development Unit (now African Institute for Science Policy and Innovation) was established primarily to conduct policy research on how to harness science and technology for economic development. Its establishment underscored the critical need for research capability and advisory capacity to assist government and other policy making–bodies in reaching decisions about the allocation and monitoring of resources for the development of scientific and technological capabilities in Nigeria and in other less developed countries. It was however realized from the beginning that by the time the programme in Agricultural Engineering is fully developed considerable amount of equipment would have been accumulated for teaching the science and practice of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. Thus, it became clear that these traditional areas of engineering needed to be developed. In 1977, the University decided to nurture Civil Engineering in the Department of Agricultural Engineering and Mechanical Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering. The demand for Metallurgical Engineers and Scientists in the country, and the search for minerals in various parts of the country, which gained momentum in the 70s, with the need for local expertise in the evaluations and exploitation of minerals, informed the establishment of the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering in 1978.

When the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ife was established at Ile-Ife in 1972 it had no Department of Anatomy. As a matter of fact, it had no department even when students had been admitted and teaching had started in 1972. There were no departments let alone a department of Anatomy. There were no departments let alone a department of Anatomy. So what are we talking about? Bear with me. The then Regional Government of Western Region under the Action Group Party of Nigeria, with late Chief Obafemi Awolowo as Leader and Chief S.L. Akintola as Premier decided to establish a University in the Western Region as qualitative education was one of their cardinal programmes. The university started off at the old campus of the Nigeria College of Sciences in Ibadan as a temporary site with the late Professor Ajose as the foundation Vice-chancellor. The site was later hurriedly shifted to the permanent site at Ile-Ife with the late Professor H. Oluwasanmi as the Vice-Chancellor. As the University settled down at Ile-Ife, the planning committee for the establishment of the health sciences programme completed her work and set the stage for the establishment of a Faculty for the training of health sciences practitioners alone. This new faculty was not only to train and produce clinicians but clinicians with a background in science along with nursing, dental, medical rehabilitation, environmental science practitioners and with a very strong science background. This was what led to the establishment of a B.Sc. Health Sciences programme for all students intending to train and graduate as medical doctors and the philosophy of the founders was to produce such medical practitioners with community and environmental medicine as the cornerstone of their discipline. Hence there was no need for a department of anatomy, physiology etc. hence we started with divisions. Divisions of Human Biology, Sciences of Pathology, Hospital care. Again the former teaching was INTEGRATED – vertical and horizontal teaching hence it was possible for a Dermatologist to teach the Anatomy of the skin, the Ear Surgeon to teach the Anatomy of the Ear, Nose and Throat and so on. steadily declining interest in research. New Departments were created to replace the divisions. First it was twelve (12) departments and then (21) with the - Anatomy and Cell Biology.

OBJECTIVES OF THE DEPARTMENT

The objectives of the department are: