It has been observed that proper application of knowledge acquired in the field of Biochemistry and allied courses will bring rapid development to the African continent in a sustainable manner. A former Director of Centre for Research and Development (CERAD) and multiple international grant winner at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA Professor Ganiyu Oboh stated this while addressing students of Biochemistry of universities based in the south west of Nigeria on Friday, July 14th, 2023.
Oboh who titled his lecture, “The Beneficial Roles of Biochemistry in the Development and Future Sustainability in Africa”, described Biochemistry as a subject that seeks to understand the structure, organization and function of living matter in chemical terms. He said the 3 principal areas of Biochemistry include, Structural Chemistry, Metabolism, Storage transmission and expression of genetic information. Professor Oboh added that Biochemistry draws its major themes from other fields like Microbiology, Physiology, Cell Biology and Genetics.
According to the erudite scholar, the career opportunities related to this discipline are numerous and he advised that the students key into this. He mentioned Food and Beverage industry which can be divided into various sectors like, cereal products, Dairy products, Brewery Products and food additives. He also said Nutraceutical industry, which entails the production and sale of Functional Noodles, Functional Ice cream, Antimalarial, Short Bread and Green Cookies Polyhedral tea as another career path that can be explored.
According to him, Pharmaceutical Industry is another area of career opportunity open to graduates of Biochemistry. The industry entails Drug development, Laboratory analysis, Quality control and Qualitative structure activity relationship.
Professor Oboh said Agro Chemical Industry, Water Processing, Cosmetic Industry, Oil Industry, Forensic Science, Biotechnology Industry, Academics and even Hospitals are all various career paths the graduates can work in.
He advised the participants that as more researches were being carried out in various laboratories, researchers should bear in mind that it’s never complete until the information can be translated to a product that would make life better for everyone.
Declaring the convention open, the Head, Department of Biochemistry, Professor David Sanni, said the convention was an opportunity for the students to relate and interact with one another and a time to exchange ideas. Professor Sanni thanked the university management led by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Adenike Oladiji for its continuous support toward the advancement of the Department.
Director, Quality Assurance Unit and Staff Adviser, Professor Ola Salau urged the participants to seize the opportunity of the convention to begin exploratory work on various job opportunity guidelines for graduates of Biochemistry course. He commended the Local Organizing Committee of the student executive body of the Department of Biochemistry and also appreciated both the university management and that of the Department for supporting the convention.
The convention is an annual meeting of Biochemistry undergraduates from the Universities in the south western region to educate and enlighten Biochemistry students on the gains and advantages of studying the course.
