President Buhari Makes Fresh Appointment Four Days Before Leaving Office

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Dr. Olushola Odusanya as the Director General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), Ile Ife, Osun State.

The President’s approval was contained in a letter signed by the Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation, Chief Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh.

According to the approval letter, Odusanya’s appointment takes effect from the 13th of May 2023.

Until his new appointment, Dr Odusanya was the Director of the Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Advanced Research Center of the Sheda Science and Technology Complex (SHESTCO), Abuja, and the pioneer leader of the Environmental Biotechnology Group at the Biotechnology Center of SHESTCO.

He obtained Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) and Master of Science (M.Sc) degrees in Biochemistry at the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos (CMUL) in 1987 and 1993 respectively. He later obtained his PhD in Food Science and Technology in 1999 from the Department of Food Science and Technology, University Sains Malaysia bfore proceeding to the Post Graduate School of Chemical Engineering and Rheology, Himeji Institute of Technology, Shosha, Japan for his post-doctoral fellowship.

A consummate scholar, he has been a visiting scholar at the Materials and Aerospace Engineering School of Princeton University, USA. He has also been a visiting Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja. He was also the Co-Center Leader of the World Bank-funded Pan African Materials Institute (PAMI) of AUST and, until his appointment, the Director of the Center for Projects-Based Learning at AUST.

Odusanya is a highly qualified Scientist and Administrator with over two decades of experience in biotechnology research and has received recognition for his substantial work in the Research and Development sector, with over 50 academic publications in peer-reviewed journals, as well as patents.

Before his foray into academics and research, Dr. Odusanya co-founded Sam-Winnie Farms Limited and Biocrops Biotechnology Company Limited which is the pioneer biotechnology company in Nigeria that engages in industrial-scale seeds and seedlings supply.

It is expected that his hands-on approach to the marriage of academics with practicality will be of immense benefit to the crop of mentorship-yearning young Research Fellows at NACETEM. His appointment, which is for a single tenure of five years in conformity with the Conditions of Service for Federal Research and Development Agencies, Institutes and Colleges (COS 2019), is also expected to raise the standard of NACETEM in fulfilling its mandate.

Aged 52, the Lagos-born new Director General/Chief Executive Officer who schooled at the prestigious Igbobi College, Yaba, is married with children.