DURBAN, the coastal city in eastern South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal province rose gingerly as a Nigerian scholar and math wizard, Lukumon Abiodun Gafari bagged his second doctorate in highflying and electrifying style on 18th September 2024. He is 30+!
Dr. Gafari’s convocation came a few months after he defended another Doctoral thesis jointly awarded by the University Mohammed VI Polytechnic, Morocco, and Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris (Cotutelle) in Cognitive Science where he, not surprisingly graduated with honors.
In 2017 when Dr. Lukumon, Gafari Abiodun landed in the rainbow country for his master’s in mathematics, he had no inkling where his destiny would take him, particularly in an academic world notorious for chewing people up while spitting them out with mirthful abandon. In the years that followed his first arrival, he has not only carved a niche for himself, accomplished a feat that tested his resolve and resilience, and achieved goals that stood him out, but has equally nurtured a global community of like minds that now helped indigent Nigerians and Africans to tap into global opportunities while making significant impacts in the society – all for free!
In 2011, when I met Dr. Gafari as a college student at the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, he was an outlier determined to stamp his feet on the global map. Interestingly, I was an NCE student majoring in English and Political Science when we met while he was busy crunching numbers as a degree student affiliated to Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti. Ordinarily, as students running two distinct programs inside the same campus, our chances of meeting and becoming life-long friends at that time were not only slim but unthinkable.
For instance, degree and NCE students most often engaged in unnecessary rivalry over who was better academically and intellectually, leading indirectly to undermining any relationship that might have sprung out – from any encounter. Fortunately, I and Lukgaf, as we fondly called him met on a level where the superiority battle between the NCE and degree students had no place. That same year when he was appointed the welfare committee chairman of the local branch of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), I was by providence made a member of that committee. It was from that vantage position that I got to know Dr. Lukgaf as a genius, generous, and compassionate leader. He was one of the most active, adaptive, creative, innovative, and humble leaders that I have worked with. When I spoke to him this morning as we rounded up our brief interview, I could still sense that humility and adaptiveness in his voice.
“I won’t say these feats that I have accomplished is my handiwork alone”, he spoke quietly and softly in a husky voice “As you know, I am here because of Allah and the efforts of my parents which helped me not only to dream but to followed up my dreams regardless of the obstacles in the way”. He added that he was inspired to dream of scholarship (local or foreign, anyone) right from the moment Dr. Ogunsanya, the director of the degree program during his days at Oyo told him EKSU Professors are gob-smacked by his intellectual acuity and brilliance. He said they’ve also pledged to bankroll his education if he can maintain that same wondrous performance. “That verbal recognition sort of motivate and spurred me to stay sharp and smart in my studies”.
He noted that the experience of having university eggheads speak glowingly about his academic exploits renewed his passion to stay on course and keep to his side of the bargain. Typical of a prodigy, he graduated top of his class and with a first-class, a feat that was as rare in affiliated campuses as the eclipse of the sun. For his national youth service corps, he was deployed to the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta from where he had a little stint as a graduate assistant plus a brief lecturing job at the Federal College of Education, Osiele.
Done with the compulsory service, he returned to Oyo where he was engaged as a tutor at the college’s model high school. Left with large swathes of time to rethink and reflect, he began to entertain the idea of advancing his education but with uncertainty. First, the scholarship opportunity that was promised by the university dons as an undergraduate appear to him a fluke. Although, the vision it had planted in his mind was beginning to germinate. Instead of being myopic in his plans and dreams, he did something that stunned even his friends: he created an international scholarship platform with little idea of what was next.
“I started Hotshot International Scholar Forum with my friends and a host of family members with a few to connecting ourselves to global scholarship opportunities”, he told me, “But when I conceived the idea, I had no idea how it would turned out. Deep down, I know there is a gap and I wanted to fill that gap”. One thing led to another and in months that followed, one of his friends secured a fully funded scholarship to KwaZulu Natal University, Durban, South Africa and that his friend urged him to also give that school a shot.
He crafted a compelling cold mail to a supervisor in the department who agreed to take him in. In the years that followed the creation of that forum, it has grown in leaps and bounds housing and hosting outstanding and passionate scholars determined to have a shot at life outside the country. However, Dr. Lukgaf’s social impacts extend beyond personal and professional laurels. He founded Math with Lukgaf, as a way of simplifying general mathematics in his native Yoruba language. Naturally a teacher, it didn’t take long before his highly engaging, exciting, and stimulating classes started to draw enthusiastic students. In July 2023, he narrated the story behind teaching mathematics in Yoruba saying it was a way of giving back to society. Despite his punishing schedule as a postdoctoral researcher, he still finds time to reach out to his students on Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Ekiti FM, KASMON FM, Iseyin, and EKTV Startimes 113.
To say Dr. Lukgaf has an impressive and intimidating resume is an understatement. He is an all-round human being whose passion for the success of others is second to none. His PhD thesis at the University of KwaZulu-Natal was entitled: Numerical Solution of Klein-Gordon equation in an unbounded domain.
In UM6P, his thesis in Cognitive Science was entitled: Myside bias and the spread of information within Groups. He won the 2014 SCI PhD Award: The Globe-Trotter “Nigiri f Paris”, 2023 KUZN Inspiring Impact Challenge Social Enterprise Academy Bootcamp, 2023 Jean Beattie Memorial Scholarship (Financial support to attend SJDM Conference in San Francisco, through the Award was postponed to 2024 for visa issue), Financial support to attend 2023 COSMOS in Konstanz, 2020-2024 University of Mohammed VI Polytechnic Doctoral Fellowship, NRF South Africa Doctoral Scholarship – UKZN (declined), 2019 University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Cum Laude Award, 2019 AIMS financial support to attend “Future of Science” Conference, Kigali. In 2017 when Dr. Lukgaf won South Africa M.Sc.
Tuition-Free Remission to UKZN, he had to decline King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia’s fully funded scholarship.
When I asked Dr. Lukgaf how he’s accomplished all these feats at such a relatively young age, he said something that sent chills down my spine: I thrive more in a community, in a collective.
He seems to echo one Afrobeats star, Davido’s most remarkable quotes: We rise by lifting others!
OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about issues affecting the Oyo state and is published every Saturday. He can be reached via @GbadeTheGreat on X, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com, and 09065176850.
