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PROF. BAMIDELE OGBE SOLOMON

Bamidele Ogbe Solomon (7 July 1955 – 10 May 2023) was a Nigerian Professor of Chemical Engineering, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), a position he held from 2005 – 2013.

Bamidele Ogbe Solomon

Born	       	                                                      	7th July, 1955

Died                                                                      10th May, 2023

(aged 68)

Nationality		                                            Nigerian

Occupation                                                        Chemical Engineer

Spouse                                                                 Florence Anike Solomon

Children                                                               Bidemi Bamidele-Salami

Bolanle Solomon-Adewusi

Babajide Olaoluwa Solomon

Bukola Solomon

Busayo Ibitayo

Busola Solomon

Parents                                                                Pa and Mrs. Solomon

Early life and education

Bamidele Ogbe Solomon was born on 7 July 1955, in Idofin-Isanlu, Yagba East, Kogi State, North Central region of Nigeria. His academic career and leadership skills started right from his Primary School days when he was a pupil at Kabba Division Joint Educational Council (KDJEC), Idofin-Isanlu (1961-1965) for the lower primary and ECWA Primary School, Makutu, Isanlu (1966-1967) for the Senior Primary. Surprisingly, while he was in the penultimate year to completing the primary education, he got double promotion into secondary school. This was a rare academic accomplishment during his time, particularly as he was the son of a peasant farmer. With this enviable academic tempo, Bamidele proceeded to ECWA Secondary School, Mopa, from 1968 to 1972. While in ECWA Secondary School, he stood out as the best student right from the inception of the school till he graduated. From there, he proceeded to Federal Government College, Sokoto for a Higher Secondary Certificate from 1973 to 1974 and received the Scholar of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the Best Outstanding Science Student with the highest HSC grade. The scholarship given to him by the Federal Government paved way for his admission to Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, USA, where he bagged B.Sc Chemical Engineering, M.Sc. Chemical Engineering and PhD Chemical Engineering in the years 1978, 1980 and 1983 respectively.

Career

Bamidele’s teaching career started at Kansas State University, Manhattan. His brilliant performance throughout his studies at Kansas State University, USA quickly earned him automatic employment as a lecturer at the university. However, his love for Nigeria motivated his decision to come back to Nigeria in 1983 when he took up employment with the University of Ile-ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University as Lecturer I. He was an Associate Lecturer in Biochemical Engineering at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ondo state, Southwestern Nigeria between 1989 – 1992 and served as Associate lecturer and Head of Department of Chemical Engineering at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Oyo state, Southwestern Nigeria between 2004 and 2005.

Given his brilliance, diligence and extensive research works; having published over 51 Research Articles locally and internationally, promotion started rolling in for him in quick successions. Thus in 1994, at the age of 39, he became a Professor of Chemical Engineering. He was one of the youngest Professors in the university at that time.

Just like a golden fish that has no place to hide, Bamidele’s contributions to national

development never went unnoticed. The Federal Government of Nigeria discovered his

brilliance, capability and exposure in biotechnology, and appointed him a member of the

National Consultative Committee on Biotechnology in Nigeria between 1994 – 1998. His

excellent contribution in that committee perpetuated his membership in the National

Advisory Committee on the Elaboration of Biotechnology Development in Nigeria. These

committees initiated the development of National Biotechnology Programme which later

culminated in the establishment of the National Biotechnology Development Agency

(NABDA), a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology. There was no doubt therefore when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was looking for a candidate with genuine passion, experience and qualification to drive biotechnology forward, Prof. Bamidele Ogbe Solomon was a suitable candidate for Director-General out of several eminent scientists in Nigeria who were screened and interviewed.

Bamidele Ogbe Solomon distinguished himself as an ingenious leader and a prolific researcher who used Biotechnology for human and national development. He was an icon of excellence, erudite scholar, philanthropist, model of humility, dedication, tenacity and peace. Before his demise, he contributed to eleven books, published ninety-four (94) Articles, twelve (12) conference proceedings, fifteen (15) paper/poster presented at Conferences/Workshops and received several awards and honours globally.

Director General of National Biotechnology Development Agency

Bamidele was appointed Director General and Chief Executive Officer of Africa’s foremost Biotechnology agency; National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) by President Olusegun Obasanjo in November 2005 and served in that capacity for eight years, transforming and elevating the agency to remarkable heights.

He was a champion of biotechnology in Nigeria, an exceptional leader who mentored men and women to greatness. A true visionary who saw beyond the limitations of his time and had the courage to dream big. He was a man who believed that anything was possible and dedicated his life to making those dreams a reality. His ideas were bold, innovative, and daring. Bamidele was a true intellectual who believed in the power of knowledge to transform lives. He spent his life studying, researching, learning, and used his vast knowledge to make a difference in NABDA, consistently pursuing its success.

He encouraged staff to broaden their horizons, challenge conventional wisdom and embrace new ideas. His insatiable curiosity and relentless pursuit of knowledge inspired majority of his staff to become lifelong learners, striving for intellectual excellence.

One of his rare virtues that distinguished him as a leader was his humility. He related with anyone and everyone, irrespective of their tribe or status. He treated everyone with respect, love, kindness and dignity. With his unique sense of humour, he made working with him very easy.

Bamidele understood that leadership is a combination of strategy and character. He understood the importance of providing motivation and direction to achieve larger goals. Through commitment, he was able to transform the vision of the organisation into reality, and under his administration, NABDA recorded laudable achievements.

He prioritised staff welfare and development and contributed enormously to it. He put structures in place to enhance staff productivity and inspired staff to achieve great things. As a transformational leader, he created an environment to make Nigeria a hub of excellence in biotechnology research and development in Africa.

Furthermore, he created Bioresources Development Centers (BIODEC) across the country’s geo-political zones for sustainable exploitation of the Nation’s reach bioresources through identification and conservation of animal and plant resources of food, economic and medicinal values and established six (6) specialised Centers of Excellence located within Premier Universities in six geopolitical zones with well-equipped laboratories. In addition, he attracted funds and several awards for NABDA, and passionately championed the passage of the Biosafety Bill which led to the establishment of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA). He also established and fostered great partnerships for the agency towards national development.

Personal life and death

Bamidele Ogbe Solomon married his wife and soul mate, Florence Anike Solomon in 1981. Their marriage was blessed with children and grandchildren. He was an exceptional father to his children and loving grandfather to his grandchildren. He was a father and mentor to many people. As a Philanthropist, Bamidele dedicated his life to helping those in need, and his philanthropic efforts have touched countless lives around the globe. He died on 10 May, 2023 at the age of 68.

Membership of professional bodies

⦁	Member, American Chemical Society (MAC) 1978

⦁	Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (MAIChE) 1978

⦁	Member, Nigerian Institute for Food Science and Technology (MNIFST) 1985

⦁	R. Eng. (COREN Nr. 3008) 1988

⦁	Fellow of South African Government Research Council at the University of Stellenbosch 1995

⦁	Fellow, Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (FNSChE) 2008

⦁	Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria (2009)

⦁	Fellow, Biotechnology Society of Nigeria (FBSN) 2015

⦁	 Fellow, Institute of Data Processing Management of Nigeria (FIDPM)

Awards and honours

⦁	Post-graduate Fellowship of Department of Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University, USA.

⦁	Research Fellow at Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, Federal Republic of Germany between (1992-1994). He was awarded an equipment grant of DM44,000.00 by AvH in 1994.

⦁	 In 1994, he was awarded a research grant of $10,600.00 by the International Foundation for Science, Sweden.

⦁	Fellowship by the South African Government Research Council (1995).

⦁	Merit Gold Award of Economic Empowerment Initiator (2007).

⦁	Award of Excellence by Nigeria Medical Laboratory Science Students Association

⦁	Award of Recognition by Centre for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering,

University of Jos

⦁	Award of Recognition by the Obafemi Awolowo University Students Chapter of the

Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers

⦁	Nomination to the External Advisory Board of the African Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) Project, Washington DC, USA, Nairobi Kenya and South Africa

⦁	Youth Ambassador for Change by the National Association of Northern Nigerian Students, FUT Minna

⦁	Millennium Development Ambassador by Teachers without Borders Abuja. (2010)

⦁	Merit Award by the University of Agriculture, Umudike

⦁	Merit Award by the Sprial Magazine, Abuja (2010)

⦁	Award of Recognition by the Law Students Association of Nigeria (Babcock

University Chapter) February, 2011

⦁	Merit Award of Recognition by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, 2011

⦁	Salutation on Biosafety Bill in recognition of his outstanding contribution towards the passage of biosafety bill in Nigeria (2011)

⦁	Award of Honour by Society for Quality Assurances in Nigeria (2011)

⦁	NANS Gold Achievers Award by the National Association of

Nigerian Students (NANS) 2011

⦁	Distinguished Labour Award by the Labour Award of Nigeria (LAN) 2012

⦁	National Productivity Order of Merit Award (NPOM) by Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR (2012)

⦁	Biotechnology Achievement Award by the Biotechnology Society of Nigeria (2012)

Notable Visiting Appointments

⦁	Guest Researcher to the National Institute for Biotechnology, Germany (1992 – 1994)

⦁	Guest Researcher at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa (1995)

⦁	Visiting Professor to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria (2004 – 2005)

Publications

⦁	B. O. Solomon, (1980) "Microbial Conversion of Grain Dust to Useful Products", MSc. Thesis, Kansas State University, USA

⦁	B. O. Solomon, (1983) "Statistical Estimation of Yield and Maintenance Parameters Associated with Microbial Growth." Ph.D. Dissertation, Kansas State University, U.S.A.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, and L. E. Erickson, (1981) "Biomass Yields and Maintenance Requirements for growth on Carbohydrates. Process Biochemistry 16,44 - 49.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, L. E. Erickson and J. E. Hess, (1981) Application of Data Consistency Tests and New parameter Estimation Methods to Microbial Growth on Corn Dust in Batch Culture" Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 23, 2333 - 2360.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, L. E. Erickson J. E. Hess and S. S. Yang, (1982) "Maximum Likelihood Estimation of growth Yields" Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 24, 633 - 649.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, L. E. Erickson and S. S. Yang, (1983) Estimation of Biomass Concentration in the Presence of Solids for the Purpose of Parameter Estimation" Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 25, 2469- 2477.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, L. E. Erickson and S. S. Yang (1983) "Utilization of Statistics and Experimental Design in Data collection and analysis" Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 25, 2683 - 2705.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, M. D. Oner, L. E. Erickson and S. S. Yang (1984) "Estimation of Parameters where Dependent Observations are related by Equality Constraints" AIChE Journal, 30, (5), 747 - 757.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, S. K. Layokun, I. A. Fatile and G. N. Agho (1985) "Analysis of the Growth of Trichosporon cutaneum on glucose: Yield and Maintenance Requirements". J. Chem. Tech. Biotechnol., 35B, 266 – 272

⦁	Solomon, B. O, I. A. Fatile and S. K. Layokun (1986) "Selection of Microorganisms for Treatment of Oil Spillages and Hydrocarbon Effluent from Petrochemical Industries: Maximum Specific Growth Rate, Yield and Maintenance Requirements". J. Nig. Society of Chemical Engineers 29 - 32.

⦁	Solomon, B. O., S. K. Layokun and S. Oladimeji (1987) "Development of Malt for the Nigerian Brewing Industries: Malting of Grain Sorghum". J. Nig. Society of Chemical Engineers, 6(1), 60–64.

⦁	Solomon, B. O. (1987) "Microbial Conversion of Maize and Sorghum Dusts to High Protein Food" Nigerian Food Journal, 5: 1 - 11.

⦁	Solomon, B. O. and S. K. Layokun (1988) "Studies on the Potential of Cashew Apple for Bioconversion to Single-Cell-Protein”. Process Biochemistry 23(4), 97 - 99.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, S. K. Layokun, P. K. Nwesigye and P. O. Olutiola (1990) "Hydrolysis of Sawdust by Cellulase Derived from Aspergillus flavus linn Isolate NSPR 101: Beyond the initial fast rate period." JNSChE  9(1&2), 46 - 50.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, S. Oladimeji and S. K. Layokun (1990) "Effect of Kilning Temperature on the Diastatic activity of Malted Sorghum". JNSChE   9(1&2), 62 - 65.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, S.K. Layokun and T.O Omobuwajo (1991) "Nigerian Blackstrap Molasses as Substrate for the Production of Single Cell Protein with particular reference to Baker's Yeast." Ife Journal of Technology 3(1), 25 - 29.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, C. Posten, M. P. F. Harder, V. Hecht and W. -D. Deckwer (1994) "Energetic analysis of the growth of Pseudomonas cepacia G4 in Phenol-limited Chemostatic operations." J. Chem. Tech. Biotechnol. 60, 275-282.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, Layokun, S. K., Idowu, A. O. and Ilori, M. O. (1994). Prospects for the utilization of the endogenous Enzymes in Sorghum Malt in the Hydrolysis of Starch for Ethanol Production: Case study with Breadfruit Flour. Food Biotechnol. 8,(2&3) 243 - 255.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, Erickson, L. E., Yang, S. S., Posten, C. and Deckwer, W. -D. (1994). Estimation of True Biomass Energetic Yield and Maintenance Coefficient with Errors in the Variables. J. ChemTechnol Biotechnol. 61, 261 – 267.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, Zeng, A.-P., Biebl, H., Ejiofor, A. O., Posten, C. and Deckwer, W.-D. (1994). Effects of Substrate Limitation on Product Distribution and H2/CO2 Ratio in Klebsiella pneumoniae during Anaerobic Fermentation of Glycerol. Appl. Microbiol. and Biotechnol. 42:222-226.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, Hecht, V., Posten, C. and Deckwer, W.-D. (1995) “Estimation of the Energetic Parameters Associated with the Aerobic Degradation of Quinoline by Comamonas acidovorans in Continuous Cultures. J Chem Technol. and Biotechnol. 62(1) 94-97.  6

⦁	B. O. Solomon, A. P. Zeng, H. Biebl, H. Schlieker, C. Posten and W.-D. Deckwer (1995).Comparison of the Energetic Efficiencies of Hydrogen and Oxychemicals Formation in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Clostridium butyricum during Anaerobic Growth on Glycerol. J. Biotechnol. 39, 107-117.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, Amigun, B., Betiku, E., Ojumu, T. V. and Layokun, S. K. (1997) Optimization of Cellulase Production by Aspergillus flavus linn Isolate NSPR101 Grown on Bagasse. JNSChE, 16:61-68.

⦁	Solomon, B. O, Odeseye, O. R., Betiku, and Pretorious, I. S. (1997) Investigation of Starch Degradation Ability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae ZC89 in Batch Processes. JNSChE: 16:69-76.

References

⦁	^ “Professor Ogbe Solomon: A Chemical Engineer for Biotechnology appointed Director General National Biotechnology Development Agency  https://economicconfidential.com/2010/10/professor...1 October 2010.

⦁	 ⦁	^” DG NABDA, Prof. Solomon Bamidele, has urged African nations to embrace modern biotechnology

application to achieve food security https://thenationonlineng.net/agency-urges-africa ... The Nation

Newspaper Nov 9, 2012

⦁	 ⦁	^ " Biotechnology: Nigeria to conserve over $10 bn – DG, NABDA. Prof. Bamidele Ogbe Solomon, Director General of National Biotechnology Development’’.  The Nation 15 December, 2011

^ “Bio-Technology Panacea to Poverty And Food Insecurity- Prof. Bamidele Solomon News Agency of Nigeria 13th October 2008

^ "⦁	NABDA Staff Pay Tributes To Their Former DG, Late Prof. Bamidele Solomon”. https://independent.ng

^ ⦁	"⦁	Prof. Bamidele Ogbe Solomon (1955 – 2023)⦁	". https://www.forevermissed.com