The Urhobo people and the entire Nigerian federation lost a great academic and self-effacing patriot with the death of eminent Scholar, Professor Moses Tedheke, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has said.
Recall that Professor Tedheke, a civil war veteran and Professor at the Nigerian Defence Academy’s Department of Political Science and Defence Studies, passed away on Monday evening.
DSP Omo-Agege in his tribute to the late erudite scholar, Prof Tedheke for his sterling academic accomplishments noted that the late Professor was one of the true intellectual giants produced by Urhoboland and whose thoughts and ideas impacted many across the country.
Omo-Agege in a statement issued issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yomi Odunuga, described the late Tedekhe as
“Professor Moses Tedheke, known as ‘Mwalimu’ (Teacher) by students and lecturers at NDA’s Department of Political Science and Defence Studies was a radical activist whose former students have been serving the nation in various arms of the Nigerian military.
“He was an Army veteran (1968 – 1978) who joined NDA as Assistant Lecturer on October 1, 1987 as Assistant Lecturer and became Head of Department from April1989 to September 1989.
“He always had a thirst for knowledge even long before and after his B.Sc. in Political Administrative Studies from University of Port Harcourt(1982), M.Sc. in Political Economy and Development Studies from University of Jos (1985) and a PhD Political Science (War Studies) from ABU Zaria (2008).
“While he specialised in Political Economy and War Studies, Professor Tedheke was lecturing courses such as Threat Analysis, International Economic Relations, Terrorism Insurgency and Management as well as International Peacekeeping.
“His diverse scholarly publications in these and other areas robustly attest to the sound quality of a mind nurtured in Urhoboland and infused with an abundance of patriotic fervour which were always on display in the course of working with people from all parts of the federation over several decades.
“May God Almighty grant the soul of this great Nigerian eternal rest and strengthen members of his family to bear this irreparable loss.”
An eminent Professor of Strategic Studies and an erudite radical scholar, late Professor Tedheke professed profound political and ideological thoughts on moving Nigeria forward in a umber fo ways.
In one of his numerous newspapers interviews, he said of how to move Nigeria forward: “First of all, I will call for the disbandment of all these bodies like OPC, AREWA, IPOB and even the Niger Delta Militants, they are all rubbish.
“They may have good intention but agitation for division of Nigeria is wrong because the strength of a country is based on its size and population. We have to be nationalistic. We have to come back to nationalism just like what the likes of Zik, Awolowo and other prominent Nigerians then promoted.
“And today, the same people that betrayed the youth movement then are the same people holding sway today. We have been so corrupted that we have lost our sense of patriotism. Our education system is terribly poor. In fact the universities are terribly poor that they are out of shape. This is one big challenge that must be addressed to facilitate nation building.”
He explained further” “In the 1925 memorandum of education that the British drafted, they said they wanted to make University of Ibadan an equivalent to Oxford and Cambridge. Today, is Ibadan which is modelled towards British engineering, British economy, British philosophy, and British culture and so on equivalent to Oxford and Cambridge?
“It is Ibadan which is the mother of University of Ife, University of Nigeria, Nsuka, Ahmadu Bello University, University of Benin, Lagos and others. Today we would have been manufacturing our own technologies. That shows that our universities are almost useless and that is the truth.
“I keep telling my students that we should be doing African World Economy which will make us to understand where we are in the economic progress of the continent. The key thing is that we have to restructure the educational system in the country and it should be tagged education for nation building. That is the real restructuring.”
Until his sad demise, this civil war veteran, scholar and prodigious intellectual was well liked by many students, colleagues and friends. According to many, he would be greatly missed by all.
