No fewer than 500 stakeholders, including professors, researchers, and technocrats, have assembled at the University of Cross River State, Calabar, to explore the potential of microbiology in driving national development.
The conference, which started on Tuesday in Calabar, aimed to promote microbiological research and education, as well as explore ways to harness microbiology for national development.
Speaking at the 47th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting with the theme “Microbial innovations and Entrepreneurial Microbiology: The Pathway to a Healthy Society and Economic Prosperity,” Prof. Saleh Ado, Acting National President of the Nigeria Society for Microbiology, highlighted the conference’s significance, stating that its outcome would have a substantial impact on Nigeria’s economic development and beyond.
He said, “The outcome of this conference would have a substantial impact on Nigeria’s economic development and beyond.”
“The conference focused on recent advancements in microbial technologies to identify approaches for sustainable agriculture and food security,” he added.
The Local Organising Committee Chairman, Prof. Felix Akubuenyi, emphasised the potential of microbiology to drive enterprise and economic growth. He encouraged participants to explore innovative ideas, such as microbial waste management, to turn waste degraders into profitable recycling ventures.
Others include biofertilizer technologies to empower smallholder farmers with sustainable agricultural practices, pharmaceutical innovations, and leveraging Nigeria’s biodiversity to develop new medicines.
Akubuenyi described the conference as a platform for innovation, collaboration, organised by the body to translate science into solutions.
He urged participants to chart a pathway that would position microbiology as a driver of health, wealth, and national prosperity, ultimately leading Nigeria into a bio-driven economy.
Vice Chancellor of UNICROSS Prof. Francisca Bassey, who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration Prof. Thomas Ojikpong, assured participants of the institution’s willingness to do everything within its reach to ensure that deliberations at the conference get to policy makers for implementation to a logical conclusion.
