President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with the family, academia and friends of renowned economist, Professor Owodunni Teriba, who passed away recently at 82.
In a condolence message in Abuja on Friday by his spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, the President lauded the can-do spirit of the departed, who studied privately for his advance level education and completed his Bachelors in Economics at the University of Ibadan in 1962.
He then received a scholarship to attend the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, obtaining Masters in Economics in 1963 and PhD in same discipline in 1965.
Teriba returned to the University of Ibadan in 1966 as a senior lecturer and was Head of the Department of Economics from 1975 – 1985.
He was also at various times a Visiting Scholar and External Examiner at several universities in Nigeria, the USA, and other parts of Western, Eastern and Southern Africa.
While on sabbatical from the University of Ibadan, Teriba began working as a consultant to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In 1985, he became the Senior Regional Adviser to the Member States of the Commission on Economic Surveys, Research and Planning.
He also served as the Commission’s Chief Economist and Director, Socio-Economic Research and Planning Department in 1989 with broader managerial functions and responsibilities until his retirement in 1998.
President Buhari noted that the deceased stamped his authority on areas like economic principles, monetary, fiscal and development economics, which he taught for many decades.
”Teriba hoisted Nigeria’s flag proudly wherever he went and posterity would be quite kind to him,” the president said. (NAN)
