By Wole Balogun
S.A media to VC
A Professor of Polymer Chemistry of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) , Prof. Dosu Malomo has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently reactivate the rested rubber plantations across the country, assuring that such development would lead to economic prosperity for the nation.
Prof. Malomo offered the technical advice to the President while delivering the 18th inaugural lecture of the University which was titled: “Natural Rubber: From Molecules To Products and Prosperity” . It was an occasion that afforded him the opportunity to explain to the world his many years of rewarding and impactful scholarship culminating into his recent promotion to the professorial chair of the upwardly mobile University.
Giving a hint on the benefits of his research efforts, he said : “ Polymer Chemistry is a branch of science that addresses human needs in a variety of ways. These days, it is impossible to separate polymers from humans. Therefore, polymers find use in textiles, engineering, and medicine.
“My research focuses on elastomers, a type of polymers called Hevea brasiliensis, or simply Hevea, that are made from natural rubber. It is a naturally occurring resource with superior qualities that may be utilized to make goods from liquid rubber by the dipping process. Prophylactic items such as condoms, catheters, and balloons are among these things.
“Moreover, it is processed to create crumb rubber, a solid that is used to make conveyor belts, oil seals, bushings, shoe bottoms, and other items related to the tire industry. Synthetic natural rubber, butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, acrylonitrile rubber, and other elastomers are also produced. In essence, a lot of my work has tried to develop new processing technologies.
“In a similar vein, we have recycled old tires for use in road paving and supplemented new raw rubber in the manufacturing of tire tread. We have combined natural rubber with some synthetic elastomers, including neoprene, to create rubber that performs very well in oil and petroleum solvent environments
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“Recently, we developed ebonite rubber by vulcanizing rubber extensively with about 40 pounds of sulfur per hour in order to create a substance that may be utilized as a precursor for rubber bullets. To counter the threat posed by the non-biodegradable polymers now in use, biodegradable polymers are being produced. Recently, the Lagos State Government outlawed the usage of styrofoam due to the considerable environmental concerns it poses. Our efforts to produce starch plastic with biodegradable qualities have resulted in the development of a product with some degree of hydrophilicity. Discarded and exposed to the environment, the composite material decomposes naturally.”
Speaking with news men, Prof. Malomo urged President Tinubu to reactivate the massive rubber plantation that has been neglected since crude oil was discovered in Nigeria. His words:” Government has really tried in the past but that was before the oil boom. They abandoned other mineral resources including rubber when oil was discovered. We can rekindle our interest in rubber by having expansive farmlands for rubber because rubber has the capacity to live for long . It can live for as long as 80 years and you can tap it for as long as 80 years and then, you can always regenerate the capacity for the rubber to reproduce.
“ You can inject it with chemicals that would make it better. So we have this resource and many small scale industries that can use this rubber. In Benin, we have a polymer factory . It doesn’t have to be big we can start small industries for rubber. I have practical experience in rubber tapping so l am pragmatic about this. And l hope President Tinubu would listen to us so that we can give the government technical advice on how we can have a revolution of industrial development in Nigeria with rubber.
“Through this lecture today, there is already an expose as government now knows that there is an abandonment of the rubber sector and this sector can be reactivated, considering the fact we still have our rubber field and plantation laying in waste . When you go to America, the whole of Ohio region is full of rubber and America is still tapping it despite the money they have. So, the universities should continue to carry out cutting edge researches in the area so that their findings can be made available to the agencies of government to encourage the promotion of rubber goods for economic prosperity, “ he advised.
While accepting a copy of his inaugural lecture , the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina who was ably represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor , Administration, Prof. B. Tajudeen Opoola described Prof. Malomo’s lecture as one of the best in the series of such lectures in the university.
Dignitaries who graced the August occasion included Principal officers of the University , including the Bursar, Mrs. Bolanle Debo-Ajagunna, Registrar, Mr. Mufutau lbrahim and the deans of the Faculties. Students of both FUOYE and Venite University lloro-Ekiti where the Lecturer is currently on sabartical also attended just as family members ,friends and other members of the University also graced the occasion and made it more lively.
