Remarks by Engr. Professor Isaac N. Itodo, FNSE, FAEng on behalf of Inductees at the 2021 Induction Ceremony of New Fellows of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering

1. I am highly honoured to make these remarks on behalf of other distinguished inductees of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering.
2. I begin this remark by thanking the President, Council, Executive Committee and Distinguished Fellows of the Academy for finding us worthy of this honour.
3. We pledge to commit ourselves to the advancement of engineering and technology in Nigeria, which are the cardinal objectives and mission of the Academy. We shall uphold the ethics and practices of the Academy, and discharge assigned responsibilities dutifully and diligently.
4. One of my teachers defined success as a mathematical relationship between effort and luck. He defined success (S) as effort (E) divide by luck (L): S = E/L. He told me, if your effort is 1 unit and your reliance on luck is also 1 unit, your success is 1. He went further to say that if you double your reliance on luck, making it 2 units, your success reduces to half (1/2). But, if you double your effort to 2 units, your success will double and become 2. My teacher simply used the power of mathematical logic to illustrate the gains of commitment and hard work in any endeavor.
5. As busy bodies in the engineering enterprise, the addition of new Fellows to the Academy should bring additional success. We are excited to be given the platform to ‘walk the path’ of very senior and distinguished engineers of the Academy.
6. The essential transition from dy/dx engineering to product-based engineering enabled by tools like artificial intelligence (AI), which include machine learning (ML) in an evolving knowledge-based economy is inevitable. The Nigerian Academy of Engineering is expected to speedily construct a pathway for achieving this transition by intervening in the engineering curricula of our schools and supporting refresher courses for academics and other practitioners.
7. We must acknowledge the awesome administrative and organisational abilities of the Secretariat of the Academy. To my mind, the Secretariat of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering is the most organised of the professional bodies in Nigeria today. The Secretariat reminds me of our counterpart foreign professional bodies. Thank you for the great job you are doing, Engr. Titi Omo-Ettu, Sadiq and other members of the team.
8. I conclude my remarks by offering prayers for the well-being of Fellows of the Academy and a safe trip back to our respective locations and for God to enable us sustain the meaningful contributions of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering to national development.
9. Thank you

Engr. Prof. Isaac N. Itodo, FNSE, FAEng