Prof. Jayeola Femi Opadiji
University of Ilorin
Spring 2012
The late Prof. Jayeola Femi Opadiji was a distinguished Professor and the Head of the Department of Computer Engineering at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN). A pioneer of the MIT-Empowering the Teachers program (Fall 2011 Cohort), he was a member of the inaugural group that set the standard for the fellowship. His leadership was instrumental in establishing the Computer Engineering department at UNILORIN, where he served as one of its foundational pillars. His research expertise centered on System Informatics, Control Engineering, and Instrumentation. He was renowned for his work on “PID Controller Design” for time-delay systems and the development of intelligent gas sensing arrays (MQ-series sensors) for environmental monitoring. He earned his Doctor of Engineering (Dr.Eng.) degree from Kobe University, Japan, bringing a unique blend of Japanese precision and American pedagogical innovation to the Nigerian engineering landscape. As a direct beneficiary of the MIT experience, Prof. Opadiji was a fierce advocate for “Technopreneurship” and embedded systems design. He restructured the departmental curriculum to include mandatory hardware labs where students built real-world prototypes—ranging from automated traffic controllers to pipeline vandalism detection systems. He believed that engineering education must translate directly into products that solve societal needs. Until his passing in late 2025, Prof. Opadiji was a registered engineer with COREN and a mentor to hundreds of students. He is remembered not just for his technical brilliance, but for his role as a “Soldier of Christ” and a father figure to his students, leaving behind a legacy of academic excellence and moral integrity that continues to inspire the UNILORIN community.
