Professor Olugbenga Bello has emerged the winner of the 2019 Nigerian Academy of Science Physical Sciences Award.
Professor Olugbenga Bello is a professor at the department of chemistry, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Oyo State.
The chairman of the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) Science Prize Committee said in a statement that Mr. Bello’s work focused on utilising adsorption technology in extracting different dyes from wastewater.
He said Professor Olugbenga Bello used the method in extracting traces of Ibuprofen (an antiinflammatory drug commonly used in Nigeria) and different dyes from wastewater.
He said the research aims at highlighting the value of utilising agro-waste in purifying dye-stained water from industrial and domestic environment.
“This process is claimed to be of a simple design, inexpensive, and multi- functional.
Therefore, the research could be regarded to be of great relevance to the environmental degradation situation in Nigeria, due to the increase in the number of industries, who use/discharge/accidentally spill chemicals that could pollute water bodies within local communities.”
A gold medal prize was instituted by the academy in 2016 to be awarded to deserving Nigerian scientists who have made significant achievements in science of “national relevance and global resonance”.
The award alternates between the life sciences and physical sciences.
The chairman of the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) Science Prize Committee said the 2019 NAS Gold Medal Prize in the Physical Sciences Award will be presented by the President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Mosto FAS, at a date to be announced later.
Professor Olugbenga Bello completed his PhD in Physical Chemistry at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria in 2008. He is a recipient of The World Academy of Science (TWAS) Awards, Fellowships and Research grants.
In 2015, he was named as one of the 175 faces of Chemistry by the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom.
In May 2016, he emerged winner of the 2016 edition of Professor Kayode Adebowale Young Scientist Prize in Chemical Sciences organized by Nigerian Young Academy.
He has published over seventy (70) papers in reputable and peer reviewed local and international journals of high repute. He has twenty-two (22) papers in proceedings of the leading national and international conferences.
His research interest is focused on adsorption of dyes and heavy metals from wastewaters using agricultural waste materials as adsorbents in lieu of expensive commercial activated carbon to bio-remediate the environment.
