Gov Makinde appoints Prof Adeyemo, former UI DVC, as SSG

Makinde
Prof Olanike Kudirat Adeyemo

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has appointed Prof Olanike Kudirat Adeyemo as the new Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

The groundbreaking appointment of the excellent academic was announced in a letter personally signed by Governor Makinde, and released on Monday, July 24, 2023.

Earlier before her latest governmental role, Prof Adeyemi, who was the pioneer Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research, Innovation, and Strategic Partnerships at the University of Ibadan between 2017 and 2021, had served as the Head of the Oyo State COVID-19 Decontamination and Containment team,

Born July 17, 1970, Prof Adeyemo, a COMSTECH Distinguished scholar, Fellow of the College of Veterinary Surgeon in Nigeria, and a Registered Veterinary Surgeon, with a remarkable educational background, is bringing her wealth of experience as a well-bred professional to public service in Oyo State.

Brief Biography 

Professor Olanike Kudirat Adeyemo’s research is focused on Aquatic and Wildlife Epidemiology and Toxicology, Food Safety, and Global Public Health. Her research which has been widely cited established the contamination of Nigeria’s aquatic system by lead and produced reference databases for pollution using GIS technology, Spatial Analysis, and GIS modelling. She has also linked ecotoxicology to the epidemiology of diseases in fish and wildlife; public health risks associated with food safety and contact with infectious diseases. In 2011, She was appointed an epidemiological and toxicological expert on the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee (JECFA) and the appointment was renewed in 2016, a Consultant to Milieudefensie, the Netherlands.

Prof. Adeyemo has 110 publications in learned journals. Outside of the University, she has served regionally and internationally, for example, as a reviewer to 22 internationally recognized learned journals (2003 to date), Executive member, of the Global Young Academy (2013), member, African Academy of Sciences’ Commission on Women in Science in Africa (2014-date), member, Mauritius Declaration on Ocean Sciences (2016), member, Nigeria Academy of Science Committee on Science Advice in Africa (2019), Expert Group of the High-Level Panel on Building a Sustainable Ocean Economy (2019). Professor Adeyemo was Featured in “Women in Science – Inspiring Stories from Africa”, a publication of Network of African Science Academies (NASAC), which profiled thirty women from eighteen countries across Africa, who have excelled in various STEM careers. Most recently, She was recognized as the “Scientist of the Year 2020” in the “Natural Sciences/ Earth and Related Environmental Sciences category” of the Open International Competition by the International Achievements Research Center, USA.

ALSO READ: Top 10 African countries facing record-breaking heat waves in 2023

She is a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in developing countries (2019), a Fellow Society for Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Mitigation (2019), a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science (2016), Fellow, African Academy of Sciences (2012), Fellow (2010) African Scientific Institute (California, USA) and listed in ASI’s 2011 edition of “Black Achievers in Science and Technology. She is a 2007 Fellow, Eisenhower Fellowship Program and Fellow of Leadership for Environment and Development, UK (2002). She also holds the membership of several other learned societies. Professor Adeyemo is happily married to Abiodun, a pharmacist, and they are blessed with three boys and a girl.