A former student of the University, Mr. Ayodele Mesele, has emerged tops in the Science of Forest Island in Africa (SOFIIA) scholarship, funded through the United Kingdom Government’s Royal Society-DfID Africa Capacity Building Initiative. Mr. Mesele holds a First Class Honours Degree from the Department of Soil Science and Land Management in 2011 and a Distinction in his Master of Science Degree (Soil Science option) in 2014 from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He was also an Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) scholar for his Master’s Degree and currently works with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), as a Research Support Officer/Soil Scientist. 

The scholarship won by Mesele covers research cost, travel cost, equipment, training cost, PhD studentship and management cost while members of the interview panel that selected the awardees comprise the Project Leader, Professor Jon Lloyd from the Imperial College, London; the Principal Investigator in Nigeria, Dr. Azeez Jamiu; the Head of Soil Science and Land Management Department, Professor Oluwatoyin Babalola; the Dean, College of Plant Science and Crop Production (COLPLANT), Professor Goke Bodunde and the Director of Grants Management, Professor Kola Adebayo. 

Meanwhile, the parameters used in selecting the awardee include the evaluation of the relevant Master’s and Bachelor’s degree certificates, candidate’s motivation, academic publications, personal interaction, appearance, as well as composure.
Similarly, Allied Energy Plc, a subsidiary of the Cameroun – American Company (CAMAC), has awarded scholarships of N100,000 each to two students of the University. They are: Ahmed Sanusi of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Opeyemi Matti of the Department of Electrical/Electronics Engineering. 

The Dean of Student Affairs, Professor Yemi Akegbejo-Samsons, while welcoming the donors, recalled that in 2013, CAMAC had requested for the names of two students from the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical/Electronics Engineering with the highest Cumulative Grade Point Average. The Dean noted that Ahmed Sanusi, who was in 400-level then had now graduated and was presently waiting to participate in National Youth Service Corps, while Opeyemi Matti, who was in 200-level then is now in 400-level. 

The donor company was represented at the event by the Human Resources Managers, viz: Messrs Francis Oyenuga and Godwin Adigwe. Mr. Oyenuga gave a brief history of the company, saying it was founded in Houston, United States of America, about 29 years ago as an agricultural commodity business that traded in Tobacco, Barley and other grains to countries in West Africa with Cameroun being the location of the company’s first successful commodities trade centre.

Mr. Oyenuga described the University as a centre of excellence in education and research and one of the best in the country. He further informed that about 22 Universities from the six geo-political zones in the country had benefited from the award, adding that it was part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. Responding, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole, lauded the generosity of CAMAC by extending the gesture to the University and also recognising it as a centre of excellence, while assuring that both the company and FUNAAB would continue to work harder to ensure that more students were awarded during the next edition of the scholarship.