Scholarly Achievements

Summary of academic accomplishments by individuals.

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria is a university that has been doing Nigerians and humanity great feats.

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria is currently home to high flying and impactful academics that set the phases of impactful researches in different academic and human endeavours.

One of such impactful academics of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria is Dr. Auwal Ibrahim (picture attached) who has been doing Nigeria proud in the crème de la crème of global academic community.

In just few years (despite the unfavourable academic environment in Nigeria), find below some of the laudable feats of this academic juggernaut.

As per our tradition in the last 4 years, we use the last week of the year to reflect and celebrate on our collective achievements.
We thank the Almighty for bringing us to the end of 2023 successfully and while reviewing the year, we will also use the opportunity to plan for the year 2024.
The year 2023 has been largely smooth and some achievements were recorded in some areas but we need more efforts in some aspects as we approach 2024.
I therefore extend my deepest gratitude to ALL of you for the various attempts and contributions for us to move forward.
Below is the non-exhaustive highlight of our collective achievements.

Grants:

1. Usman Aliyu has won the the Ogobara K. Doumbo Scholarship by the Malaria Medicine Venture (MMV) and the Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC), University of Science and Technology, Bamako, Mali. He was among twenty Africans given the scholarship.
2. Usman Aliyu has also won the prestigious IUBMB Wood-Whelan Research Fellowship by the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology to visit the lab of my Japanese host and mentor (Dr. Yamasaki) at AIST, Tsukuba, Japan.
3. Muhammad Bashir Gabdo was among the few graduate students from Africa that successfully got approval for student support to the attend the Bio Africa Convention in Cape Town, South Africa.
4. I submitted the progress report of the ongoing TetFund NRF and received approval, indicating that we are on the right track.
5. A concept note from the proposed work of Mukhtar Aliyu has been accepted by TetFund NRF and the proposal defense was quite successful.
6. Other 3 grants that we serve as co-investigators in both Nigeria and South Africa are moving successfully, except for few challenges which are natural.

Publications in 2023:

1. An article from the study conducted with the 2019 IBR grant was published in the International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics (IF 2.5). Aminu Walee and Abdullahi Dantani were co-authors, along with other collaborators from South Africa.
2. Part of the MSc research of Aminu Walee was published in Molecular Diversity with an IF of 3.8. The work involves collaborators from Poland and Zainab Alhafiz was also a co-author.
3. In order to increase the chances of Usman’s IUBMB application, we conceived an article in 2021 with me, Usman and Dr. Yamasaki. Eventually, the work was published in Chemical Biology and Drug Design (IF 3.1).
4. Another part of MSc research of Aminu Walee was published in Frontiers in Microbiology with an IF of 7.8 with collaborators from South Africa and Morocco.
5. In 2020, we conceived an article with Umar Saidu and Prof. EOB, it was finally published in Parasitology Research (IF 2.0).
6. In 2018, I participated in a research at the University of Pretoria and eventually wrote the draft article in 2021. It also got published this year in International Journal of Food Science (IF 4.0).
7. Through our existing collaboration with Dr. Mansour Sobeh, we published an article in Frontiers in Pharmacology (IF 5.6).
8. Part of an MSC research whom I and Aminu Walee directed, was published in Acta Parasitologica (IF 1.5).
9. We wrote a book chapter in “*Studies in Natural Products*” with Drs. Aminu Mohammed, Nasir Tajuddeen, Murtala Isah and Aliyu Babando.
10. Again, through our existing collaboration with Dr. Sobeh, we got an acceptance for an article in the Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences (IF 6.1).

Collectively, we have produced articles with cumulative impact points of approximately 36, which is quite remarkable. Thank you so much for your contributions.

Conferences and other presentations:

1. I served as an invited keynote speaker at the 2023 conference of the Sri Lankan Academy of Young Scientists, Sri Lanka.
2. I also served as an invited keynote speaker at a seminar organized by Walailak University, Thailand.
3. I was also an invited keynote speaker at a scientific seminar organized by the Chittagong University, Bangladesh.
4. Abdullahi Dantani also presented one of our paper at the conference of the Biotechnology Society of Nigeria, in Zaria where I also served as the Chairman, Scientific and Technical Committee for the conference. Within the year, I also attended the Biotechnology Society of Nigeria conference at Shetsco, Abuja.
5. Umar Saidu has attended a conference organized by WANIDA in Ghana and presented one of our paper.
6. I also attended the 13th Nigerian Young Academy Conference and General Assembly at Edo State University.
7. Usman Aliyu has attended the annual conference of the Nigerian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and presented one of our paper.

Supervision and Graduation:

1. Umar Saidu and Gideon Ibrahim have successfully defended their MSc thesis and completed the degree.
2. Zainab Aliyu Alhafiz has visited the University of Ghana, Legon and conducted part of her PhD research work.
3. Usman Aliyu has also visited the MRTC, in Bamako for training on the skills and tools needed for his PhD research.
4. A bench space has been secured for Raphael Aminu and Mohammed Aliyu Sulaiman at NIMR, Lagos and Chittagong University, Bangladesh, respectively.

Other Academic Achievements:

1. I was admitted and decorated as a Fellow of the Nigerian Young Academy.
2. My name appeared in the 2023 list of top 2% scientists in the world released by Elsevier and Stanford University and this is a product of the contributions made by all of you which I remain ever grateful to you.
3. The research group hosted an international guest scientist, Dr. Mansour Sobeh, who visited to enhance our existing research collaboration in particular and the ABU in general.
4. Within the year, I made two research travels to the University of Pretoria, South Africa as part of my co-supervision activities for postgraduate students at the UP.

You will believe with me that these are remarkable achievements for a year and within a small group like ours.
It is indicative of productivity on your sides and I thank you very very much.
I hope that we will triple our academic efforts for collective gains as we enter the year 2024, especially in PhD results presentations and also attending conferences within the year.
Additionally, we have to intensify the search for both research and travel grants as well as increase the publication output as we can see some of us did not publish an article with the group within the year 2023.

Kind Regards
Auwal"
This is what academics in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria do!
This is what academics in Nigeria do!!
This is what academics in ABU, Zaria and in Nigeria shall continue to do!!!
Expect more of these trail blazing academic feats in 2024.

Curated by,
Hashim Muhammad Suleiman, PhD