Oladapo Ajayi awarded the Klaus Dieter Wolff Prize 2021
The BIGSAS doctoral student Oladapo Ajayi was honoured by the Rotary Club of Bayreuth-Eremitage for his diverse social and voluntary commitment.
After the award ceremony, from left to right, laudator former University President Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Helmut Ruppert, keynote speaker Dr. Ulrich Maly, former Head Mayor of Nuremberg, Klaus-Dieter Wolff Award winner Oladapo Ajayi, as well as University President Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible and Annegret Schnick, the current President of the Rotary Club of Bayreuth-Eremitage.
The prize
awarded annually by the Rotary Club of Bayreuth-Eremitage in conjunction with the University of Bayreuth, is named after Klaus-Dieter Wolff, the founding president of the University of Bayreuth. As Club President Annegret Schnick explained, it is awarded for exemplary voluntary work in the cultural or social field. The person honoured by the award and his or her achievements should at the same time be a role model and inspiration for other young academics.
Oladapo Ajayi
According to laudator, former University President
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Helmut Ruppert, Oladapo Ajayi meets the requirements of the
award in outstanding way: “We honour him for his great intercultural commitment
and his diverse cultural and social activities, which he carries out on a
voluntary basis.” Oladapo Ajayi was born in Nigeria in 1985 and came to the University
of Bayreuth in 2013 after studies and professional activities in his home country.
After completing his Master’s degree in Intercultural Anglophone Studies, he
was accepted as a PhD student in the university's BIGSAS in 2017.
BIGSAS – Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies
The University of Bayreuth is a hub of international and interdisciplinary
research. African studies have been a focus of the University of Bayreuth since
its foundation in 1975. The Bayreuth International Graduate School of African
Studies (BIGSAS) brings together African and European academic networks and
promotes partnerships not only between the University of Bayreuth and its six
partner universities in Africa, but also between universities in Africa. BIGSAS
offers training opportunities for doctoral students, the Junior Fellows, which
are unique in this field in Germany, and are laid down in the doctoral
regulations of the Graduate School.
The 2021 Klaus-Dieter Wolff award winner is Oladapo Ajayi.
Volunteering in Africa-related networks
It is characteristic of Oladapo Ajayi, said Prof. Ruppert in his laudation, that he not only devotes himself to his studies with zeal, but that he is also available to support his international fellow students. He organises regular meetings of doctoral students on campus. His goal is to establish a private network among foreign students. The trust of his fellow students is reflected in his election as the representative of the doctoral students at BIGSAS. In this function, too, he shows his abilities as a communicator and mediator.
His voluntary work in Africa-related networks should also be emphasised, for example his efforts within the “African Good Government Network” to bring African political and social concerns to the attention of a broad public. In numerous lectures, symposia, and discussions on rural development, social grievances and migration, he succeeds in illustrating social and cultural conditions in Africa.
Social commitment in his home country of Nigeria
In addition to his voluntary political and social activities, the selection committee was impressed by his social commitment in his home country of Nigeria. As early as 2012, Oladapo Ajayi designed the “Train the Children today” programme, with which he offered free summer courses to children in rural areas and sponsored teaching materials for pupils from poor families. As part of the African Rural Intervention Initiative, which he co-founded, the award winner initiated a library project for disadvantaged young people. He also raised funds for the purchase of books and computers.
Good schooling for disadvantaged children is an opportunity for social advancement
Particularly noteworthy, according to the laudation, is that Oladapo Ajayi has converted his vacant parents’ house into a “Community Resource Centre”. Many of his fellow students at BIGSAS, spurred on by his zeal, participated in the project. “Today, Mr Ajany is responsible for the upkeep of the centre and its staff. This work cannot be valued highly enough. A good education gives disadvantaged children the chance for social advancement and a better life. Mr Ajayi carries out all these voluntary activities with great enthusiasm and empathy. He knows how to inspire others and to be a role model for them, absolutely in the spirit of the award”, said Prof. Ruppert.
The Rotary Lecture of the Club
always provides the festive framework for the presentation of the award at the University of Bayreuth. Dr Ulrich Maly, former Head Mayor of Nuremberg, was once again an outstanding speaker. His lecture topic was “Life after and with coronavirus – what the virus does to us, politically, economically, sociologically. A look ahead.”