Meet the Top 20 Nigerian Scientists of 2024 According to StatiSense
The world is constantly evolving, and as it does, our reliance on scientific innovation becomes increasingly important. Nigeria is home to some of the most brilliant scientific minds in the world, and in this post, we are thrilled to spotlight the top 20 Nigerian scientists of 2024.
This list has been compiled by StatiSense, a leading provider of data and statistical analysis. These scientists have made incredible contributions to their respective fields, from medicine and technology to physics and engineering.
Not only have they made significant advancements in their fields, but they have also inspired a new generation of Nigerian scientists. Join us as we celebrate their achievements and explore the incredible work they have done to advance science in Nigeria and beyond.
Introduction to the StatiSense Nigerian Scientist Ranking
The StatiSense Nigerian Scientist Ranking is a highly anticipated and prestigious list that highlights the exceptional achievements and contributions of Nigerian scientists in various fields. This annual ranking serves as a platform to recognize and celebrate the brilliance, innovation, and dedication of individuals who have made significant advancements in science and technology.
Each year, StatiSense meticulously evaluates and assesses the accomplishments of Nigerian scientists across different disciplines, ranging from biomedical research to engineering, environmental science, and beyond. The selection process involves a thorough review of their research publications, patents, awards, and impact on society.
Through the StatiSense Nigerian Scientist Ranking, we aim to showcase the outstanding talent and expertise present within the Nigerian scientific community and inspire the next generation of innovators. Join us as we unveil the top 20 Nigerian scientists of 2024 and delve into their remarkable work that is shaping the future of science and technology.
List of Top 20 Nigerian Scientists of 2024
1. Prof. Oye Gureje (Psychiatry), University of Ibadan
Professor Oyewusi Gureje, NNOM (born in 1952) is a Nigerian psychiatrist at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and Director at the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health, Neurosciences, Drug and Alcohol Abuse in the institution.
He is also a Professor Extraordinary at the Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He is best known for his work on epidemiology, nosology and global mental health and as one of the leading voices on mental health service and policy development in Africa.
Prof. Oye Gureje has published more than 500 peer-reviewed scientific papers, monographs, book chapters, and other reports. He has been listed, since 2004, in the “top 1% cited researchers in the area of psychiatry and psychology” and, according to Clarivate Analytics, he is one of the “most influential scientific minds”.
2. Prof. Shafiu Mohammed – (Global Health | Health Systems and Policy | Health Economics | Epidemiology), Ahmadu Bello University Zaria
Prof. Shafiu Mohammed researches and teaches at the renowned Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria, where he is head of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice and coordinator of the Health Systems and Policy Research Unit (HSPRU), which combines the expertise of 11 departments working in the area of health care.
A proven expert in research into health systems and national healthcare networks, Mohammed holds a doctorate in public health as well as a master’s in international health and a bachelor’s in pharmacy. He has garnered over 118,428 Citations for his groundbreaking research in the field of clinical pharmacy. He recently won the ABU Zaria Overall Most Cited Staff of the Year Award for 2023.
One of his notable research contributions includes a groundbreaking study on Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. This research not only sheds light on the pressing global issue of Burden of Disease but also offers innovative and practical solutions to address it. Their findings have been published in reputable journals and have been widely cited by experts in the field.
As author of numerous journal articles and chapters on a wide range of topics affecting healthcare development, in particular epidemiology, financing for health care and health care policy.
3. Prof. Mayowa Owolabi (Neurology), University of Ibadan.
Prof. Owolabi is a vascular neurologist and the first and regional Vice president of the World Federation for NeuroRehabilitation in East, West and Central Africa. He is pioneer director of the centre for Genomic and Precision Medicine, University of Ibadan, and lead Co-Chair WHO, Lancer Neurology Commission on stroke in low and middle income countries.
He pioneered research into carotid atherosclerosis in Nigeria. He wrote the action plan for mapping Africa to prominence in Neurology and a recent review on taming the exploding scourge of stroke in Africa in which he pro-founded the ‘stroke quadrangle’. Mayowa Owolabi is among the top Nigerian scientists among the world top 2 per cent scientists
Over the past years, he has been involved with collaborative studies internationally (Germany, Canada, UCLA) and locally including INTERSTROKE, SIRROWS and SIRRACT, of which he was the Site PI and he participated in innovative multicenter randomized controlled trials for rehabilitation after stroke.
More recently, another international collaborative study [between Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC- Overall PI :Prof Bruce Ovbiagele) and the University of Ibadan]: Tailored Hospital-Based Risk-Reduction to Impede Vascular Events after Stroke (THRIVES) funded by the NIH commenced, of which he is the Co- Principal investigator.
4. Prof. Bolajoko O. Olusanya (Pediatrics & Child Health), Centre for Healthy Start Initiative (HSI-Centre)
Professor Bolajoko Olubukunola Olusanya is a Nigerian paediatrician and social entrepreneur. She is a specialist in audiological medicine. Olusanya has congenital mid-frequency hearing loss, but was not diagnosed until she was 33. She studied medicine at the University of Ibadan, graduating in 1982.
She then trained as a paediatrician at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and the Donald Winnicott Centre, both in London. After she completed her training in Nigeria, she faced a choice between either following a purely academic career or becoming a social entrepreneur, deciding to take the latter path.
Olusanya is a director of Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators (GRDDC), a group of paediatric experts funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. In 2018, it published research in The Lancet demonstrating that in Nigeria there were 2.5 million children with developmental disabilities in 2016, as opposed to 1.5 million in 1990.
5. Prof. Olayinka S. Ilesanmi (Epidemiology & Public Health), University of Ibadan
Prof. Olayinka S. Ilesanmiam is a seasoned global health professional with local, national, and international experience in government, non-governmental organizations, and academic institutions. His research interests are global health, infectious diseases, tobacco control, and global health policy.
Olayinka’s research career started during his residency training in Community Health at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. He participated and also led researches on communicable and non-communicable diseases prevention and control, health economics and infectious disease epidemiology during his residency training. He was the best fellowship candidate in the Faculty of Community Health, West African College of Physicians in 2013.
He has worked for the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Ondo State Nigeria as a Consultant Community Health Physician, African Field Epidemiology Network as a Field Coordinator and Yale School of Medicine as a Postdoctoral Associate. He won a meritorious service award from His Excellency Dr Ernest Bai Koroma Executive president of Republic of Sierra Leone for his outstanding contributions to Ebola Virus Disease response in 2015.
He is a clinical epidemiologist with the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. He has a special interest in infectious diseases, tobacco control and global health. He is passionate about generating new knowledge and solving existing infectious diseases and global health problems.
6. Prof. Ganiyu Oboh (Biochemistry), Federal University of Technology, Akure
Ganiyu Oboh is a Nigerian professor of Applied Biochemistry at the Federal University of Technology Akure. He is currently the head of Functional Food and Nutraceutical Laboratory Unit in the Department of Biochemistry and has recommended a cure to diabetes. In 2021, he was awarded the best researcher according to Alper-Doger Scientific Index.
Prof Oboh was also named Africa’s greatest biochemist after being named number one in food science in Nigeria and number six on the world’s list of top 2% scientists in a ranking released by Stanford University in the United States of America.
Ganiyu Oboh obtained his first degree in Federal University of Technology Akure , Department of Biochemistry in 1992, Masters Technology and Ph.D degrees in Applied Biochemistry in 1997 and 2002 respectively in the same institution.
He did his post-doctoral training in Biochemistry Toxicology in 2005 at Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria RS, Brazil and his second post-doctoral training in Food Biochemistry and Toxicology between 2007 and 2008 at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
7. Prof. Obinna E. Onwujekwe (Epidemiology & Public Health), University of Nigeria, Nsuka
Professor Obinna Onwujekwe qualified as a medical doctor from University of Nigeria and later obtained an MSc in Health Economics. He studied briefly at the Swiss Tropical Institute Basel for the Certificate in District Health Management and received a PhD in Health Economics and Policy from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London.
He is currently a Professor of Health Economics and Policy and Pharmaco-economics/pharmaco-epidemiolgy in the Departments of Health Administration & Management and Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria. He has vast work and research experience in many parts of the world.
He is one of the leading health economists health financing experts in Africa. He was a member of the National Healthcare Financing Policy Technical Group that produced the first Nigerian Healthcare Financing Policy; was the Lead facilitator of the Nigerian Presidential Summit on Universal Health Coverage; and is currently the Co-Chairman of the National Technical Working Group on Health Financing and Equity.
He is also the Co-Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the African Health Economics and Policy Association. He is also a technical facilitator to the ongoing efforts to produce a new National Health Policy for Nigeria. He is a member of the UNAIDS Economics Reference Group, the president of the Nigerian Health Economics Association.
He is currently the Chairman of the University of Nigeria Senate Research Committee and Chairman of the Committee on Enhancing the Global Visibility of the University of Nigeria. He has published more than 170 papers in many reputable international journals and is on the editorial board of five journals. He is the Editor of the African Journal of Health Economics.
8. Prof. Olatunde Farombi (Biochemistry), University of Ibadan
Ebenezer Olatunde Farombi (born 28 September 1965) is a Nigerian professor of Biochemistry and Toxicology at the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. He is the Dean of the college and also the director, Molecular Drug Metabolism and Toxicology Laboratories in the University. He is a member of the Nigerian Academy of Science.
Undoubtedly, Professor Farombi has exceled and distinguished himself nationally and internationally in research. His research areas over the past 25 years have been on Molecular Toxicology, Cellular Oxidative Stress Mechanisms, Reproductive and Environmental Toxicology, Antioxidant Redox Biochemistry, Nutraceuticals as Prophylactic agents and Nutrigenomics as well as natural product Biotechnology.
He is known Nationally and Internationally for his novel works on the elucidation of the Biochemical and Molecular Mechanisms of Chemoprevention of Phytochemicals. For instance, he has led national, regional and international research works on characterizing Garcinia kola (Bitter kola) of the Guttiferae family and derived phytochemicals as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive agents.
Recent advances in Garcinia kola research by Professor Farombi led to the patenting of 4 Novel Chemopreventive compounds from Bitter kola with translational role in the health sector for the management of certain diseases such as viral infections, respiratory illnesses, heart-related disorders and diabetes. In totality, his translational works have developed and uniquely promoted indigenous knowledge and new therapeutic signatures relevant in disease conditions such as viral infections, liver disorder and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
9. Prof. Ranajit Bandyopadhyay (Agriculture & Forestry/Plant Sci), IITA
Ranajit Bandyopadhyay was born in Jamshedpur, India. He received his B.S. (Honors) degree in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry in 1974 and M.S. in Plant Pathology in 1976 from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, and his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology in 1980 from Haryana Agriculture University.
Bandyopadhyay joined the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in 1980 in India and spent a sabbatical year at both Cornell University and Texas A&M University. In 2002, he moved to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria where he is the Principal Plant Pathologist.
During the past 30 years, Bandyopadhyay has made several significant contributions in research, development, communication and education for the management of seemingly intractable disease problems in many African nations, and in Brazil and the U.S. Demonstrating rare versatility, he integrated technical, institutional and policy options to improve the productivity and safety of crops and the incomes of farmers in Africa.
He emphasized multi-institutional, multi-national and multi-disciplinary partnerships to solve complex problems. His involvement in international agricultural research outside of his country of citizenship began in the 1980s with work on sorghum ergot in Africa. Partnering with scientists in Ethiopia and Rwanda, Bandyopadhyay developed resistance screening techniques and identified locally-adapted sources of resistance to the disease in both countries.
10. Prof. Friday Okonofua (Obstetrics & Gynecology), University of Benin
Friday Okonofua (born 1955) FAS is a Nigerian professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics. He is the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Ondo State University of Medical Sciences and founder of Women Health and Action Research Centre, a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Benin City, that focuses on promoting female reproductive research.
Prior to his appointment as the 1st substantive Vice Chancellor of Ondo State University of Medical Sciences, he served as the Provost of the College of Medical Science, University of Benin and currently the Program Officer of Ford Foundation’s West Africa office. Ford Foundation is a New York headquartered, globally oriented private foundation with the mission of advancing human welfare. Professor Okonofua’s research interest is in the area of Public health, sexual and female reproductive health as well as Andrology.
The results of his research on maternal mortality rate published by Business Day on Sunday, July 19, 2015 suggests that the mortality rate of a pregnant woman in Africa is 1 in 42 and 1 in 25, 500 in developed countries. Commenting on BusinessDay’s Research and Intelligence Unit report published on June 2, 2015, he said “the major problem is that about 40% of doctors we train locally are going abroad because of better remuneration and better working environment.
Also, there are less resources devoted to training doctors in the country, especially in public training institutions. What happens these days is that even when players in the private sector set up institutions to train doctors when members of the Nigerian Dental and Medical Association inspect such institutions, they are forced to approve it for very few students”. In recognition of his outstanding research and expertise in Gynecology and Obstetrics, he was appointed as executive director of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics and was the only African Gynecologist and Obstetrician shortlisted for the interview held in London in April 2005.
11. Isaac L. Animasaun (Mathematical Sciences), Federal University of Technology, Akure
Isaac Lare Animasaun is a Lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. A PostDoc Fellow at the Department of Mathematical Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE. He has published over a hundred articles in international and local refereed journals. The statistics show that Dr. Animasaun has published 115 reports indexed in Scopus (36 h-index), among which 43 articles are indexed in Web of Science (21 h-index).
A few of the journals he has served as a reviewer and their respective numbers of reviews are the Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, Springer (125), Neural Computing and Applications, Springer (61), Heat Transfer-Asian Research, Wiley (41), and Journal of Thermal Analysis ad Calorimetry, Springer (14).
Recently, Animasaun remarked on (a) Dynamics of ternary-hybrid nanofluids due to dual stretching on wedge surfaces when the volume of nanoparticles is small and large: forced convection of water at different temperatures, International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 137, 106241, 2022 (b) Simulation of the dynamics of water mixture with various nanoparticles at different levels of partial slip: Ternary-hybrid nanofluid, International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 135, 106069, 2022.
12. Rufus Akinyemi (Neurology), University of Ibadan.
Rufus Akinyemi has a passion for collaborative work to improve brain health in Africa. His clinical, research and advocacy work centre on vascular and degenerative brain disorders particularly stroke and vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID).
Rufus Akinyemi is a neurophysician – scientist who uses the tools of genomics, epidemiology and implementation science to tackle vascular brain disorders and promote brain health, particularly in people of African ancestry. He is currently playing a leading role in the largest-ever study of stroke in Africa, the SIREN/SIBS Genomics Study funded by the NIH within the H3Africa Consortium. The study aims to unravel the genetic architecture of stroke in people of African ancestry and learn how these genes interplay with environmental factors.
His FLAIR research is exploring the genetic basis of cognitive dysfunction after stroke. Findings from these studies will deepen our understanding of the mechanisms of vascular brain injury and inform how best to control vascular and other risk factors of stroke and VCID, including insights into new approaches to treatment. He also leads the IBADAN Brain Bank Project and the African Neurobiobank for Precision Stroke Medicine ELSI Study within the H3Africa Consortium and funded by the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute.
13. Emeka Oguzie (Chemical Sciences), Federal University of Technology Owerri
Emeka Emmanuel Oguzie is a Nigerian chemist and researcher. He is the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology, Owerri. He is the Center Leader of the Africa Center of Excellence in Future Energies & Electrochemical Systems (ACE-FUELS). Oguzie is also a member of the Chemical Society of Nigeria (CSN).
Oguzie is a Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO). He was a visiting (CAS-TWAS) postdoctoral research fellow (2006-2007), and TWAS-UNESCO Associate (2008-2011) at the State Key Laboratory for Corrosion and Protection, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China. He was appointed Young Affiliate of The World Academy of Science (2007-2012). Oguzie is a fellow of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).
After obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Pure Chemistry from the University of Nigeria Nsukka in 1996, he proceeded to the Federal University of Technology Owerri where he acquired a master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry, in 1998. Oguzie received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Calabar in 2006.
14. Benjamin Uzochukwu – (Epidemiology & Public Health), University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Benjamin Uzochukwu qualified as a medical doctor in 1983 and obtained his Diploma in Public Administration in 1996 and Master of Public Health degree in 2000 as well as Certificate in Health Policy Analysis. He is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians and Consultant Community Medicine Physician at the University of Nigeria, Teaching Hospital Enugu. He is also a Professor of Public Health, Health Policy and Systems in the Department of Community Medicine and Health Administration & Management, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus where he teaches Health Management and Health Policy and systems.
He is also the assistant coordinator of the Health Policy Research Group. He has been working in public health for over 20 years. He is a foundation member of the Association of Schools of Public in Africa (ASPHA) and in the board of Health Systems Global. He is the 86th inaugural lecturer of the University of Nigeria Nsukka and the pioneer Director of the Institute of Public health of same university.
He has done extensive work focusing on epidemiology of vaccine preventable childhood diseases, Malaria, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis.
He has been involved in the generation of knowledge on the effect of health sector reform on tropical diseases and reproductive health issues as well as health policy and health economics issues of malaria, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis in developing countries, focusing on the effect of Health sector reform processes on utilization of PHC services, impact of user fees on households and exemptions policies in Nigeria:
community participation within the context of health sector reform; family planning issues, immunization, rational drug use and generation of new knowledge on how to strengthen health system policies and key interventions which preferentially benefit the poorest. Other areas include scaling-up of health intervention strategies including HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, IMCI and immunization. He has expertise in Health policy and systems analysis and getting research into policy and practice as well as impact evaluation of health programmes. He has over 100 peer reviewed publications in both international and national journals.
He is the Chief examiner to the West African Postgraduate Medical College of Physicians faculty of Community Health. He is an external examiner to various Nigerian medical schools including the University of Port Harcourt, University of Benin, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Ebonyi State University Abakaliki and Imo State University. He is also an external examiner to the Health Economics Unit, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
15. Morenike O. Folayan (Dentistry), Obafemi Awolowo University
Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan Ukpong (born 2 January 1967) is a Nigerian medical scientist who specialises in adolescent health, HIV/AIDS research, and paediatric dentistry. She is Professor of Paediatric Dentistry at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), where she has worked since 2002. He was born on 2 January 1967 and was educated at Obafemi Awolowo University, where she got her BChD in 1989 and her MBA in 1998. She became Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons in 2001, and she became part of the Obafemi Awolowo University academic staff in 2002.
Initially ranked at Lecturer 1, she was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2005, to Reader in 2008, and eventually Professor of Paediatric Dentistry. She received her MEd from the University of Nicosia in 2020. She also works at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital as a clinician and at the College of Health Sciences as Deputy Director of Research & Partnership Advancement. As an academic, Folayan specialises in adolescent health, HIV/AIDS research, and paediatric dentistry.
She also successfully advocated for the mandatory inclusion of adolescent clinics in HIV/AIDS treatment facilities in Nigeria and several national policies concerning HIV/AIDS in adolescents. She has also done epidemiological research on early childhood tooth decay. She has also worked as an advisor or consultant with several United Nations agencies – particularly the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization – and with other NGOs like the Population Council and the Society for Family Health Nigeria.
16. Etinosa O. Igbinosa (Microbiology), University of Benin
Etinosa Igbinosa earned his BSc (Hons), MSc, and Ph.D. degrees in Microbiology at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, and the University of Fort Hare, South Africa respectively. He is a research professor and a leader of a research group at the University of Benin, Nigeria, His expertise is in pathogen biology and disease transmission. Prof Etinosa Igbinosa his research focuses on microbial ecology and biotechnology, bacterial evolution, and epidemiology of antibiotic and/or biocide resistance.
Igbinosa’s work finds applications nationally and internationally in tackling antimicrobial-resistant strains of leading water/food safety problems and in the environment. Dr Etinosa Igbinosa was appointed to the roster of Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) experts of the Joint FAO/WHO Committee on Food Safety for a period of five years (2018-2023). To provide scientific advice on foodborne antimicrobial resistance, including expert advice on risk management options that are aimed at improving food safety.
Prof Igbinosa is a senior Humboldt Fellow at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin. Also, he is a Fellow of the Africa Science Leadership Programme (ASLP) at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Prof Igbinosa intends to continue with the cornerstones of effective scholarship and leadership at a higher level.
17. Christian Happi (Molecular Biology), Redeemer’s University
Christian Happi is a Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Director of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, both at Redeemer’s University. He is known for leading the team of scientists that used genomic sequencing to identify a single point of infection from an animal reservoir to a human in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. His research focus is on infectious diseases, including malaria, Lassa fever, Ebola virus disease, HIV, and SARS-CoV-2.
Professor Happi was born in Sangmélima, Cameroon, fourth of seven children. He graduated from the University of Yaounde, Cameroon, in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with honors. He obtained his PhD from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in 2000 and went on to Harvard University as a Postdoctoral Fellow from 2000 to 2003. He subsequently worked at Harvard University as a Research Scientist from 2004 to 2007. He became an adjunct Professor at Harvard University School of Public Health between 2007–2011.
Happi has led several public health sequencing efforts in Africa. His team rapidly sequenced Nigeria’s first Ebola case, and up to 20 cases a day throughout the outbreak. He sequenced Lassa fever strains in a 2018 outbreak, helping researchers to conclude that the Lassa fever outbreak was due to spread by rats, rather than a mutation which had made it easier to spread between people. He also played significant roles in genomics efforts such as 1000 Genomes Project and H3Africa. More recently he has led efforts for SARS-CoV-2 in Nigeria.
18. Olugbenga S. Bello (Chemical Sciences), LAUTECT
He is a professor of Physical/ Environmental Chemistry at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso. A recipient of the 2019 Nigerian Academy of Science Gold
Medal Award in Physical Sciences who had earlier received the African Union-Third World Academy of Science (AU-TWAS) Young Scientists National Award in 2012 and the Prof.Kayode Adebowale Young Scientist Prize in Chemical Sciences organized by Nigerian Young Academy in 2016. He benefited from the USM-TWAS Postdoctoral and Visiting Scholar Fellowships in the School of Chemical Engineering University of Science Malaysia.
Olugbenga S. Bello won TWAS research grant (2012 and 2015) and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) Institutional Based Research (IBR) in 2016. He was nominated and recognized as one of the “175 Faces of Chemistry” worldwide by the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK. He was listed among the 2% most cited Scientists in the world by a group of Stanford University researchers. His research interest is focused on adsorption of heavy metals, dyes pharmaceuticals and pesticides from wastewaters using agricultural waste materials as adsorbents in lieu of expensive commercial activated carbon to bio-remediate the environment.
His accomplishment, as well as, the significant impact of my research findings has contributed immensely to environmental protection and conservation. It has positively impacted stakeholders like environmentalists, water
purification experts and those in the medical disciplines. He has mentored several postgraduate students and published over one hundred articles in high impact national and international journals.
He has delivered keynote and lead papers at national and international conferences. And served as external examiners and assessors to many universities at national and international levels. He has served on various committees as chairman and members at the Departmental, Faculty and University levels.
19. Nnabuk O. Eddy (Physics), University of Nigeria Nsukka.
Prof. Nnabuk Okon Eddy, FAS is a Fellow of the Academy of Science and a Professor in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He has led several research teams in nanotechnology, computational chemistry, corrosion science and other areas of Physical Chemistry,. He is the current Chairman of the Federal Government of Nigeria National Standing Committee for the development of standards for Agrochemicals, Head of Nigeria’s delegation to the Africa Regional Standard Committee (Kenya) and International Standard organization (Fertilizer Division).
He has more 6800 citations, h-index of 48, i10-index of 124 and is the most cited Scientist in the Physical Sciences (based on the ADI ranking of Scientist). He has supervised more than fifty Post Graduate students, presented more than twenty lead/invited lectures (within and outside Nigeria) and have benefitted from several National and International grants. He has more than 200 publications in his academic profile
20. Joshua O. Ighalo (Chemical Engineering), NAU
Joshua O. Ighalo is an academic staff of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University. He obtained his Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering in 2015 from the University of Benin, Nigeria. He also obtained a Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering in 2020 from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. His research interests include water treatment and solid waste management. He is currently working on a variety of research problems across these areas.
Joshua O. Ighalo was born on May 3rd 1994 and is a native of Iruekpen, Ekpoma, Edo state, Nigeria. His research interests includes Computer-aided process modeling, Biofuels, Solid Waste Management and Environmental Pollution Control.
Conclusion and recognition of the top 20 Nigerian scientists of 2024
As we conclude this prestigious list of the top 20 Nigerian scientists of 2024, it is essential to recognize and applaud the incredible contributions these individuals have made to the field of science and technology. Through their innovative research, groundbreaking discoveries, and unwavering dedication, these scientists have not only elevated the status of Nigerian science on a global scale but have also inspired countless others to pursue careers in STEM fields.
From pioneering advancements in healthcare and biotechnology to pushing the boundaries of space exploration and renewable energy, each scientist on this list has left an indelible mark on their respective fields. Their passion for knowledge, relentless pursuit of excellence, and commitment to driving positive change serve as a beacon of inspiration for the next generation of Nigerian scientists.
As we celebrate the achievements of these remarkable individuals, let us also recognize the invaluable role that scientific research plays in shaping the future of our society. By supporting and fostering a culture of scientific inquiry and innovation, we can harness the collective potential of Nigerian scientists to address the pressing challenges of our time and propel our nation towards a brighter and more sustainable future.
Congratulations to the top 20 Nigerian scientists of 2024 for their outstanding accomplishments and unwavering dedication to advancing the frontiers of knowledge. May their work continue to inspire and empower generations to come.
We hope you enjoyed our spotlight on excellence featuring the top 20 Nigerian scientists of 2024 according to StatiSense. These brilliant minds are making significant contributions to various fields and shaping the future of science and innovation in Nigeria. Their dedication, hard work, and groundbreaking research are truly inspiring and deserving of recognition. We look forward to seeing how their work continues to impact the world and bring about positive change. Let’s celebrate and support the incredible achievements of these Nigerian scientists!
