It gives the University great pleasure to share her monthly newsletter with you, as we look forward to the opportunity to highlight just a few of many things that we have achieved, especially amidst the Global pandemic. All necessary measures are put in place to keep our environment safe. The University also remains determined and committed to responding to the needs of our Students, Staff, Alumni and friends of the University.

The Management of Ahmadu Bello University has honored team ABU which recently won the Unilever Ideathrophy. The team members include Temidayo Abdulazeez, Department of Botany; Fah’d Abdulmalik, Department of Polymer and Textile Engineering; and Adebayo Bonojo, Department of Polymer and Textile Engineering and Prof. Mari Jonathan of Department of Science Education who serves as the Unilever Faculty Adviser, Faculty of Education, Ahmadu Bello University.

Unilever Ideathrophy is a competition organized by Unilever, a multi-national corporation that produces Consumer Goods. The ABU team emerged as the 1^st runner up for the Unilever Ideathrophy 2018 in Lagos and subsequently, 2nd runner up at the Unilever Africa Ideathrophy (UAIT) 2019 held in South Africa.

In the same vein, the management has also congratulated team ABU which emerged 3^rd position at the 2021 Nigerian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NSBMB) Conference and National Biochemistry Quiz Competition held at Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto under the guidance of Dr. Auwal of the Department of Biochemistry. The team members include Muhammad Abdulgafar, Fatima Ibrahim Binta, Yusuf Muhammad, Khalil Sanusi, Mikail Bawa Ali and Odunola Safiyyah Adedoyin from Department of Biochemistry.

Congratulating the students and their mentors, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kabiru Bala, expressed delight that ABUSITES were making the University proud all over the world. The Vice-Chancellor also presented letters of congratulation to them after they handed over to him the trophies won at the competitions.

The Honorable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Chief Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, CON, has lauded Ahmadu Bello University for its interest and passion for national development. Speaking at a workshop on ‘Academia-Industry Alliance for Effluent Management with Biocoagulants in Nigerian Oil and Gas Industries’ organized by the University, the Minister said that the workshop was an addition to the accomplishment of the drive to create a sustainable platform for knowledge sharing.

Funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering, London, United Kingdom under the Higher Education Partnership in Sub-Saharan Africa, the workshop was part of the research effort to, among others, develop a bio-based flocculation system for oil and water treatment in oil and gas industries.

The Minister, who was represented by Mrs. Patience Ehujor, a Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, also said that the workshop was in line with the economic diversification drive of the present administration’s effort which seeks to develop, particularly, the non-oil sector by boosting production and processing, encouraging value addition, wealth and job creation.

In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kabiru Bala, congratulated the researchers who won the grants from the Royal Academy of Engineering, London, United Kingdom, to conduct research on effluent management with bio-coagulant in Nigerian oil and gas industries. The Vice-Chancellor stressed that attracting grants remained a thing of joy in the academia, given that such grants were highly competitive and only the best research proposals could win.

The International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO – ICHEI) has donated 21 different digital devices to Ahmadu Bello University under the framework of their academic partnership. The donated items include one smart watch (Huawei Watch Fit), two smart bracelet (Xiaomi Smart Band 5) and eight wireless presenter (Deli 2801), eight Bluetooth keyboard (B.O.W. HB 066) and two wireless headphones (Oppo Enco W31).

Since the start of the partnership in 2019, according to Prof. Ming, ABU and UNESCO – ICHEI had fruitful collaborations in the areas of teacher-ICT capacity building, digital educational infrastructure, and academic exchanges.

Receiving the devices from Prof. M.B. Mu’azu of Department of Computer Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kabiru Bala, expressed the Institution’s profound gratitude and appreciation to the Centre for the “generous donation”. The Vice-Chancellor explained that the devices came at a right time and that they would “indeed make a huge difference in the advancement of teaching and learning” in ABU.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEI) has donated 40 assorted laboratory equipment and other consumables worth 73,148.93 euros to the Africa Centre of Excellence for Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology (ACENTDFB), ABU Zaria.

The donated items include Bioharzard Safety Cabinet Airstream Class BS III, BIOBASE, Bioharzard Safety Cabinet Airstream Class BS II, BIOBASE; Thermocyler, Real Time PCR including software; Micro-Centrifuge including rotor, for sample extraction; PCR Hood, BIOSAN, UVC/T-AR and Shaker, Vortex mixer, Genius 3 with attachment.  Others are Scanner for Cryotube; Variable Single Channel Pipette, O.5-10ul; Variable Single Channel Pipette, 5-50ul; Variable Single Channel Pipette, 20-200ul; Variable Single Channel Pipette, 100-1000ul and Cryobox for assorted 1.5ml vials. The items were delivered to the University through the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) which is intended for COVID-19 analysis.

The University Management led by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kabiru Bala, inspected the equipment at the Centre domiciled at the Centre for Biotechnology Research and Forensic Training. The inspection of the equipment was guided by the Centre Leader, Africa Centre of Excellence for Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology, Prof. Y.K.E. Ibrahim.

The Vice-Chancellor expressed immense gratitude to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the donation and Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) for facilitating the gesture.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has awarded certificate of patent on “Gold Recover from Ores Using Modified Aqua Regia and AlphaCyclodextrim” to research team from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. The research team include Dr. Usman Abubakar Zaria (Team Leader), Dr. Abdulazeez Yusuf Atta (Co Supervisor) and Dr. Shehu Suleiman Magaji (Co Supervisor).

The team identify the use of modified Aqua Regia and AplhaCyclodextrim to recover gold ore to be inexpensive, environmentally friendly reagent, alpha cyclodextrin, rather than the use of poisonous cyanide and mercury currently used for selective extraction from gold ore deposit in Nigeria.

Ahmadu Bello University has signed an MoU with VAAL University of Technology, South Africa to facilitate and develop a meaningful relationship that will foster academic and cultural exchanges between the two institutions. The scope of the MoU will cover staff and student exchanges and collaborative partnership in the field of governance, science, technology and research programmes as well as community development programmes.