A SHORT BOIGRAPHY OF PROFESSOR RAFIU IBRAHIM ADEBAYO

Rafiu Ibrahim Adebayo is a Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Religions, University of Ilorin. He specializes in Islamic Thought with emphasis on Islamization of Knowledge and Contemporary issues. He obtained all his higher academic qualifications of Bachelor of Arts in Education, Master of Arts and Ph. D, all in Islamic Studies from the University of Ilorin in 1990, 1995 and 2003 respectively.

Professor Adebayo began his eventful career as an academic at his alma mater, the Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun, where he taught Islamic Studies between July 1993 and December 2005. He joined the services of the University of Ilorin, his alma mater in December 2005, as a Lecturer II in the Department of Religions from where he rose through rank to become a Professor in 2018.

Adebayo has offered his services to the University of Ilorin in several capacities. He served as a Member, University E-Learning Committee and as the Director, Centre for Affiliated Institutions, University of Ilorin between August 2018 and April, 2021.

Professor Adebayo belongs to many professional bodies among which are the Nigeria Association of Teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies (NATAIS); the Nigerian Association for the Study of Religions (NASR) and the Nigerian Association for the Study of Religions and Education (NASRED). He was for many years the Kwara/Southwest zonal Co-ordinator of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) Nigeria Office.

Professor Adebayo is highly prolific and has published extensively in local, national and international reputable journals. He received a letter of commendation from the Faculty of Arts in 2018 for presenting 91 publications for promotion from Reader to Professor. He has been a Member of the International Advisory Panel of the Journal of Islamic Banking and Finance published by the International Association of Islamic Banks, Karachi, Pakistan, a role he has been playing since 2011. He also represented Nigeria in the 5^th World Peace Forum held in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia between 20^th and 23^rd November, 2014.  He has also attended many conferences both at home and abroad where he presented papers.

As an academic, Adebayo has supervised more than one hundred and fifty long essays; thirty- four M.A dissertations and six Ph. D theses. He has also served as external examiner to quite a good number of MA and Ph D theses in some universities in Nigeria.

Mr. President, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari approved the appointment of Professor Adebayo as the pioneer Provost of Federal College of Education, Iwo, Osun State, the office his is holding from March 2021 till date.