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Chinedu Offor
Daily Independent
Feb. 17, 2004.

One of an elite group of scientists, who determine when the powerful National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) operates manned or unmanned flights, is a Nigerian. He is a classic case of a prophet little known in his backyard, but held in high esteem abroad, such that any contrary word from him would ground the entire NASA operations.

Augustine Esogbue is a professor in the school of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research interest include dynamic programming, with applications to socio-technical systems such as health care, water resources management and disaster control. He is currently director of the Intelligent System and Controls Laboratory. The centre is investigating a hybrid approach to intelligence control via fuzzy sets, neural networks, and reinforcement learning theories.

The Daily Independent Washington DC Correspondent, Chinedu Offor, spoke with Professor Esogbue about his early life and distinguished carrier.

Where were you born and what was it like growing up?

I was born and raised in Kaduna, then capital of the northern region, although my ancestors come from Igbuzo in Delta State. My parents worked for the Nigerian Railways, we lived almost all over the country including places like Lagos. I actually started kindergarten school in Enugu, then moved to Igbuzo where I did my elementary school, then went back to Kaduna where I attended Saint John's College. I took my school certificate exam with the late Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. We knew each other very well. His parents and mine were good friends. I left Saint

John's College and went to Lagos where I was part of the initial group of Nigerians, who were successful gaining admission to the Federal School of Science where we studied Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and pre-engineering programme. I came to the United States under a scholarship programme called the African- American Scholarship programme of American universities. I studied electrical engineering with a minor in mathematics.

Was your professional inclination an accident or by choice?

It's very interesting because at Saint John's College I was good in all the subjects. It was really very difficult to decide which area to go for further studies. We did not have any kind of counselling, nobody talked to you about what you are good in or what to do next. And when I left Saint John's College there were no discussions about what next. I could not go into the sciences because there were no institutions where I could pursue those dreams, so I was taking Rapid Results Correspondence course in the Arts because those were the ones you could pursue without going to the labs.

Were your parents in support of your desire to move to the United States?

I had lost my dad when I was really young. At that time, the people in my group wanted to go anywhere in the world, where we can get education, particularly technical education. Some of us went to Russia; some to England, some to Israel. I had opportunities to go to those places until we took the U.S. scholarships. I was one of about 75 students from a total of 5,000 selected. Nobody was going to stop me. My mother and other family members were very happy for me. Even though the future was uncertain as to what was going to happen to us in the United

States, some people talked about the discrimination in the U.S. at that time, but it was not an issue for us, we wanted to go anywhere we can get education.

When you arrived the U.S. what was the experience like?

We were kind of fortunate in the sense that the programme we came under provided us with American host families and I had a host family in Denver, Colorado that helped to break the ice, before going to the University of Los Angeles (UCLA) for my undergraduate.

What was your Denver experience like?

At that time I did not see any black person except the maid that worked for my hosts. I was extremely home- sick. For one thing, the food, it took a while to get used to the food. It was difficult to order if you went to restaurants, so we were craving for Nigerian food.

The foundation of your achievements were laid in Nigeria, but now some say the quality of the educational system in Nigeria is incapable of producing people of your calibre, what went wrong?

When we were in Nigeria we were well grounded in developing well-directed ambition. Most of us were very ambitious, we wanted to attain our goals irrespective of any obstacle on our way.

We were disciplined. I had gone back to teach in Nigeria free at the National Mathematical Centre. The students were hungry for knowledge. The reward system has completely failed. In the olden days we knew that before you could do anything you had to get a good education, good credentials. Positions were predicated on strong qualifications.

These days, getting the qualifications does not guarantee you anything. Most people are now distracted by other values, which are not founded on strong educational principles. The other thing is that we now have more evidence of corruption.

What about government's education policies and funding for the universities?

Something has gone wrong over time and I have had discussions with various government officials as well as in presentations and conferences. I think there is need for a new paradigm shift in developing resources in managing Nigerian institutions of higher learning. I called for a shift away from total reliance on the Federal Government to fund everything the universities do.

But some say the government has failed in the basic need of partially and sustained funding of higher education or encourage potential investors in the university system.

I think there is need to have a restructuring, revamping and a re-focusing, but I think a good deal of it starts from the value system.

The people, who are supposed to adopt this paradigm shift and implement them, are people who also look around and find these same government officials getting rich overnight in what they felt are corrupt practices. So, over time, the university faculty, the administrators begin to fee they are left out, they begin to lose value themselves and adopt the attitude of if you cannot beat them, join them. Those of us out here, we decry it, but it amazes me that after we go back you cannot differentiate us from those who have not left the shores of Nigeria. I am advocating a true partnership between government, industry, academia and the community to help fund some of the requirements of higher education.

You are the only black man appointed to the safety advisory board of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); how was the news broken to you?

I was taken aback because I did not know anything about this position. I did not apply for it and as far as I know, nobody ever applied for it.

They (NASA) were looking for certain characteristics. It is a high level position with most seasoned elite of professionals from divers fields. I was told that NASA would be privileged and honoured if I would accept to serve. I believe if you do your best sooner or later somebody will recognise your efforts.

What is the work of your panel?

The panel is an independent oversight group. We are to look at safety related issues, industrial and systems, quality engineering, risk management and to advise the NASA administrator on matters affecting both current and future missions and anything that would bring about safe return to flight.

How well do you think the Nigerian government is doing to harness the potential of brilliant minds like yours to uplift the standard of life?

The technology I have helped in inventing is a world technology. I have done some work also in Nigeria. The distinguishing factor is that

the U.S. is smart enough to realise that this is a talent. That they need and harness them and this is what they have done through generations. In the United States, talents and commitment is the driving factor. Nigeria, on the other hand, I have advised government officials. I have spoken to President Obasanjo and he is aware of my capabilities, but some suggestions I gave him were channeled to people who were supposed to implement the next step, but did not.

What are some of these suggestions that could be of practical application to the people?

Without going into details, there are many Nigerian experts in different fields in the diaspora, who are willing to offer their expertise. I had offered mine freely, but there are too many red tapes, there are so many people who feel threatened by our presence. We did a study to popularise systems technology especially operations research to scientifically tackle problems as opposed to looking at things narrowly with a view to optimizing the use of resources. I have offered to develop the technology. I have not seen any movement in this area.

I have talked about developing different kinds of software that could be of use for developing economy that are resource starved.

What do you think of the recent launch of a Nigerian satellite? Some say it is a misplaced priority.

The issue of priorities has always been a thorny one. Most times there is no agreement of what should come first. While some people may hold b that viewpoint, I must say activities such as that may have reverberations in many ways we cannot immediately see. I do not think it is a wasted effort. I think it could inspire more people to consider space technology. I don't think it is a wasted effort. This could open a floodgate of beneficial applications to the country.

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