On July 5th, 2021,friends, associates, families, and proteges converged on the Garden City to honour a veteran Engineer, PROF. YOUPELE ORUKALAMA BEREDUGO, ksc, MVE, FAEng., the Godiriede I of Okpoama Kingdom, as he marked his 91st birthday.
The occasion, which was organized by the family members was also used to launch his autobiography, titled “DIVINELY ENGINEERED MOMENTS IN TIME”
The engineering community were duly represented.
Engr. Prof. Youpele Orukalama Beredugo was born on 5th July, 1934. He had his Primary Education at St. Paul’s School, Okpoama, 1942-1944 and St. Luke’s School, Nembe 1946-1947. He then attended Government College, Umuahia, 1948-53 where he obtained his Cambridge Overseas School Certificate in 1953. He obtained an Inter B.Sc. in 1955 from the University College, Ibadan. Thereafter, he proceeded to Queens University, Belfast where he obtained the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Civil Engineering in 1958 and 1962 respectively. He attended the International Course in Hydraulic Engineering, University of Delft Netherlands and obtained a diploma in Hydraulic Engineering in 1959. He later studied at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, where he received his Ph. D. in Civil Engineering in 1971.
Prof. Beredugo served as a Lecturer in Civil Engineering at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, between 1963 and 1966. He also lectured briefly at University of Nigeria, Nsukka 1966/67. He later taught at Rivers State College (now University) of Science & Technology, Port Harcourt, where he rose to become Professor of Civil Engineering in 1973 and Deputy Rector of the College from 1973 to 1975. He was a Visiting Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Port Harcourt 1998 to 2003 during which period he served as the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Engineering from 1999 to 2000.
In addition to teaching and research, Prof. Beredugo was also involved in various structural designs and supervision of engineering works in the private sector, in the Civil Service and as a Consultant. In 1958, he was a Design Engineer with Hunerwadel and Haberli in Switzerland in 1962. He was a Civil Engineering Assistant in the Ministry of Commerce, Belfast. Between 1962 and 1963 he served as Civil Engineer/Hydrologist with Niger Delta Development Board. He worked in the Materials and Research Laboratory of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in 1968 as Senior Executive Engineer (Soils). From 1971 to 1973 he was with Shell-BP as Field Engineer.
In recognition of his achievements in Engineering, he was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Nigerian Society of Engineers in 1986 and the Golden Jubilee Distinguished Award in October 2008. He is listed in “Who’s Who” in Nigeria, 1983; IBC’s “Men of Achievement” 1986; IBC’s “International Leaders in Achievement” 1988; “Who’s Who in Science and Technology in Nigeria” 1989; and “Bayelsa Profiles in History” 2002 among others.
Prof. Beredugo is a COREN registered Engineer and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering; a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, a Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers, a member of the Nigerian Geotechnical Society, and International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. In 2008 he was conferred with the National honour of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR).
