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Covenant University appoints Adebayo as VC

By Gloria Nwafor
19 November 2020   |   4:14 am
Covenant University has appointed Prof. Abiodun Adebayo, as the 7th Vice Chancellor (VC) of the institution.

Covenant University has appointed Prof. Abiodun Adebayo, as the 7th Vice Chancellor (VC) of the institution.

Adebayo took over from Prof. Akan Williams, who had been the Acting VC since the expiration of tenure and exit from office of the 5th Vice-Chancellor, Prof. AAA. Atayero.

A statement by the Head, Media and Corporate Affairs Unit, Covenant University, Oladipo Okubanjo, said the appointment was made by the Board of Regents (BOR), the apex decision-making body of the varsity.

The statement said Adebayo obtained a B.Sc (Honours) degree in Biochemistry from the University of Calabar in 2000. He later proceeded to the University of Jos in 2003 and was awarded an M.Sc degree in Biochemistry (Distinction grade) in 2005.

Adebayo, who joined the services of the Covenant University in 2005, was awarded a PhD degree in Biochemistry by the university in 2009.

He undertook a postdoctoral study at the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2012-2013.

He specialised in Plant Biochemistry, and has been actively involved in the sustainable use of indigenous medicinal plants with some collaboration with local and international industries.

His main research focus is on phytochemical, biochemical and toxicity studies of medicinal plants. His research on medicinal plants involves the purification, isolation and characterization of active compounds from plants; these compounds are in turn screened for anticancer, antiviral, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties.

Professor Adebayo is also involved in the safety evaluation of locally used medicinal plants using biochemical, haematological and histopathological indices of toxicity.

Adebayo, who is a recipient of the prestigious Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) Fellowship awards, has published in reputable local and international journals.

According to the statement, his astuteness has earned him three times the prize of Covenant University High Impact Journal publication awards for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012.

“He also won a research equipment grant worth $25, 000 from the Ministry of Science and Technology, China and a Phytochemistry Laboratory has been set up which is fully functional. His research group won the 2014 TWAS Research grant of about $60,000 for carrying out a study on the “Preclinical evaluation of novel computational-aided designed compounds as antimalarial drug candidates.” The fund also made provision for the award of scholarship to MSc Students.

“He is a member of the accreditation panel of the National Universities Commission (NUC), where he visited and accredited Biochemistry programmes in some Private, State and Federal Universities in Nigeria.  He is also on the NUC Resource Verification Team for a Postgraduate Programme in Biochemistry. He has supervised and graduated bachelor, masters and doctoral students in Biochemistry. He had participated in the assessment of faculty members into the Professorial Chair as an external assessor to some Universities,” the statement said.

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