These appointments placed him within major American academic institutions at a time when African studies, African-American studies, development economics and postcolonial policy questions were attracting growing scholarly attention. His academic activities during this period earned him recognition as a Fellow of the African Studies Association and as an Executive Board Member of the African Heritage Studies Association.

Professor Familoni later returned to Nigeria and became one of the notable figures in economics teaching at the University of Lagos. From the mid-1970s onwards, he taught and mentored generations of students, many of whom later became important figures in business, academia, public administration, politics and national development.

As a scholar, his work has covered economic theory, macroeconomic policy, development economics and economic discrimination. His publications include Models of Economic Discrimination, Lectures in Microeconomic Theory and Development of Macroeconomic Policy. He has also recently published a series of books and monographs on Nigeria, including Development Policies and Strategies for Nigeria and Poverty in Nigeria and the World.

His doctoral work, Neo-Austrian Models of Economic Growth, reflected an early interest in formal economic growth theory, while his later publications point to a broader concern with policy, development and economic education. The Central Bank of Nigeria library record for Development of Macroeconomic Policy describes the book as tracing the evolution of macroeconomic policy thought from the Mercantilists through New Classicism and New Keynesianism. This reflects his interest in the historical development of macroeconomic ideas and their relevance to policy formulation.

Professor Familoni also contributed to edited policy scholarship. He co-edited The National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy: Philosophy, Opportunities and Challenges, published by University of Lagos Press in 2006. The work appears in library and bibliographic records and has been cited in later Nigerian development and infrastructure-finance scholarship.

His public service record includes membership of the Governing Council of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida; the Nigerian Council for Management Development; a Presidential Commission of Inquiry; the West African Economic Association; the Nigerian Economic Society; and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group. He also served as Vice-President of the University of Lagos chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities from 1977 to 1979 and as Acting Chairman in 1993.