By: Umar Umar, Gombe
Gombe’s maiden private University, Pen Resource, recently announced the appointment of Professor Ogbaji Igoli, as its founding Vice-Chancellor. But little is known about the UK based Professor of Chemistry, hence the reason Nigeriantracker.com profiled the icon for the limelight of the public.
In a statement signed by Dr Sani Jauro, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, announced the appointment.
Igoli studied Chemistry at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka finishing as the best graduating student in his class of 1985. He obtained an MSc in Organic Chemistry, specializing in natural products in 2003, winning the Vice Chancellor’s prize for the best PhD thesis in his Faculty. He had a six-year post-doctoral training at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow where he learnt spectroscopy and structure elucidation of organic compounds.
United States Foundation Donates Medical Equipments To FMC Gusau
He had a six-year postdoctoral training at the University of Strathclyde Glasgow, UK where he learnt spectroscopy and structure elucidation of organic compounds. Until his appointment, he was the Director of the Specialized Equipment Centre, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (Formerly Federal University of Agriculture), Makurdi. His expertise is in the area of phytochemistry, ethnobotany and natural products isolation from plants, propolis and microbial sources. He is also involved in bioactivity studies against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) such as malaria, trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis. He has over 150 publications centred on ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry and structural elucidation of novel bioactive compounds. He is avidly involved in training and mentoring young scientists in phytochemical studies, the spectroscopic identification of compounds and the evaluation of plants used in traditional medicine. He has obtained fellowships, research and travel grants from DAAD/OPCW, IFS, NHS, RSC, CRUK, IFAH, CADFP and the Wellcome Trust. Presently, he is an Honorary Research Fellow with the University of Glasgow, UK. He is currently the editor of two special journal editions of Frontiers in Pharmacology and an Associate editor for Heliyon. He is a member of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s expert committee on the evaluation and registration of herbal remedies against Covid-19. His publications are well cited with a ResearchGate Score of 32.15 and on Google Scholar with a h-index of 21 and i10-index of 43. He is listed among the Top 500 authors, by Scholarly Output in Nigeria over the period 2018 to 2021 by SciVal. The appointed Vice Chancellor’s wealth of experience in research and administration coupled with his extensive international collaborations will set the tone and put the baby Pen Resource University, Gombe on an enviable path of research and academic excellence to achieve the aims and objectives of setting up the University. The University will further set up the Centre for African Plant Research (CAPRE) under his leadership, which is aimed at the production of drugs from our local resources. The appointment has since taken effect.
