The Nigeria International Chemical Sciences Chapter of the American Chemical Society has collaborated with Covenant University – one of Nigeria’s top universities to host its 6th Annual Symposium. The event, which held from 28th February – 3rd March 2021 at the Covenant University Centre for Research, Innovation and Discovery (CUCRID), Ota was the 6th in the series and was themed “Designing a Sustainable Future: Chemistry in a COVID-19 Society and Economy”. This was the first ever hybrid symposium organized by the Chapter, which was occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
About 200 participants (virtual and in-person) from around the world including Europe and Africa took part in the two-day event, which featured a keynote lecture on Chemistry in an Emerging Economy & Challenges in the COVID-19 Pandemic Period: What Does the Future Hold by Prof. E. Ebenso, from North-West University, South Africa. Plenary lectures were also delivered by Prof. Carsten Streb, Institute of Inorganic Chemistry I, Ulm University, Germany on Molecular vanadium oxides as building blocks for functional supramolecular oligomers and polymers and Prof. Abdelhamid Errachid, Université de Lyon, France on a novel generation of multi-chemical functional tools based on Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices. Other activities during the symposium are technical sessions for oral and poster presentations, goodwill messages and award presentations. The high point of the event was the presentation of the ACS Nigeria Chapter award to distinguished individuals in recognition of their national and global impact in the academia and to the advancement of chemical sciences in Nigeria. The recipients include: Dr. David O. Oyedepo, Chancellor, Covenant University; Prof. Abiodun H. Adebayo, Vice-Chancellor, Covenant University; Prof. Modupe Ogunlesi, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Lagos; Mr. Edward Azeta, CEO, Esota Consult Limited; Elder Olatunji Olaleye, CEO, Tunnex Chemical Company; Mr. Adeoye Adeyinka, Founder and Promoter of Dulio Nigeria Limited and Maker of TIMAS Food Products; Chief (Mrs) Ibukun Awosika, CEO, First Bank Nigeria Plc and Founder of Chrisland University, Abeokuta and Deaconess (Chief) Mrs. Oluwasadeomofunmi O. Ogunwale, CEO, Baker Water Company, Ota.
Goodwill messages were received from Prof. A. H. Adebayo, Vice-Chancellor of Covenant University, Prof. T. V. Omotosho, Dean of the College of Science and Technology (CST), Covenant University and Prof. J. A. O. Olugbuyiro, HOD of Chemistry Department, Covenant University. Participants were generally impressed by the symposium and they urged the Chapter to uphold the tempo and seek for more of such collaborations in the future.