By Henry Oladele
Prof. Temitope Jaiyeola, a professor of Mathematics at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, says that Nigeria’s digital economy needs home grown security solutions using mathematical models.
Jaiyeola said this on Thursday in Lagos while delivering the 3rd Chair Occupier’s Public Lecture of Pastor Enoch Adeboye Professorial Chair in Mathematics at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the lecture was: Algebraic Structures And Their Applications to Cryptography And Complex Systems.
“Nigeria’s digital economy needs home-grown security solutions. The theoretical foundations laid in our work on quasigroup-based cryptography should be advanced towards prototype development.
“Partnerships with industry and cybersecurity agencies should be sought to test and adapt these mathematical models,” he said.
According to him, Mathematics is often described as the language of science, a language through which we express the patterns, symmetries, and structures that underlie our universe.
“Beyond its service to the natural sciences, mathematics is first and foremost a way of thinking, a disciplined art of reasoning, abstraction, and logical creativity.
“At its heart, mathematics seeks to understand relationships-between numbers, shapes, operations, or even ideas.
“From the earliest attempts to count stones and measure land, human curiosity has always pushed toward uncovering the hidden regularities in seemingly diverse phenomena,” he said
He further said that mathematics provided not only tools for solving problems but also insight into the deep order of reality.
“Yet mathematics is not static. It grows, diversifies, and refines itself. As new patterns emerge, mathematicians create new concepts and frameworks to capture them.
“This evolution has led to the rich tapestry of modern mathematics-analysis, topology, geometry, combinatorics, and algebra, among others,” he said.
The professor called for community engagement, saying mathematics was for everyone.
“I recommend targeted support for postgraduate students and early-career lecturers to attend and present at such high-calibre forums, building Nigeria’s visibility in specialized mathematics.
“The outreach model proven successful should be sustained and expanded.
“The Chair can champion an annual UNILAG mathematics outreach to ignite passion for the subject in primary and secondary school students, starting with schools in the UNILAG community,” he said.
He added that the journey as the Occupier of the Pastor E.A. Adeboye Chair had been a powerful affirmation.
“It has affirmed that deep, abstract inquiry in pure mathematics, in the algebras of loops and quasi groups, is not an isolated intellectual pursuit.
“It is a wellspring of tools waiting to be tapped for cryptography, a language for deciphering the rules of complex natural systems, and a discipline that sharpens the mind for societal problem-solving.
“The vision behind this endowed chair is a brilliant one: to create a nexus where high-level scholarship meets tangible impact.
“As I have endeavoured to show through our publications, trained students, public lectures, and global collaborations, this vision is not only valid but vibrantly achievable,” he said.
He said that the work, however, was continuous.
According to him, the algebraic structures are infinite in their variety and potential application, much like the possibilities for growth in the academic community and the nation.
“I am confident that the foundations laid during this tenure will serve as a robust platform for those who will follow in this Chair, and I eagerly anticipate the new mathematical horizons they will unveil,” he said. (NAN)
Edited by Uche Anunne
