The Sokoto State University International Student Chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS) on Thursday held the Grand Finale of the 2020 Festival of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
The event, which held at the Multipurpose Hall of Shehu Shagari College of Education Sokoto, is part of the efforts of the Department of Chemistry and the University, to promote interest in chemistry and chemistry-related courses in the students of secondary schools across the state.
The festival, which has as its theme: Harnessing the Green Chemistry Culture for a Sustainable Post-Covid-19 World, was held between 7th and 10th December, 2020.
It featured quiz competition for secondary school students, hands-on experiments, green chemistry and Covid-19 talks and outreach visits to secondary schools to promote chemistry.
Twenty-six secondary schools within the state were invited for the preliminary quiz competition, which was held on Saturday, 5th December, 2020, out of which, four qualified for the Grand Finale.
A statement by the Spokesperson of the university, Zayyanu Shehu said the students of Sultan Muhammad Maccido Institute for Qur’an and General Studies coming first, Asmau Islamic Girls Secondary School came second, while Government Girls College, Sokoto came third at the final event.
The festival also saw outreach visits to Sokoto Science Teachers College; Federal Government College, Sokoto and Government Technical College, Farfaru.
In his welcome address, the Head, Department of Chemistry, Sokoto State University, Dr. Muhammad Sirajo, described the knowledge of chemistry as sine quo non for any sustainable development in human endeavour.
He pointed out that chemistry is a field whose application is seen in everyday life, either as individuals, group or industries.
Also speaking, the chairman of the occasion, Dr. A. M. Sokoto, said that the organizers of the event had done a wonderful job by coming up with initiatives that could encourage upcoming chemists to conduct more researches in the diverse areas of chemistry.
He added that such laudable effort would certainly go a long way in reducing the phobia of the subject in our students.
Equally, the Faculty Advisor, ACS-SSU Chapter, Dr. Thompson Izuagie enjoined all to embrace and support the activities of the ACS, observing that its vision is to improve people’s lives through the transformation of the power of chemistry.
Also, he enjoined all the participants and other stakeholders to harness the green culture to ensure the society had sustainable future, thereby achieving environmental sustainability, as always being advocated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In his remarks, the Comissioner, Ministry for Higher Education, Prof. Bashir Garba expressed the readiness of his ministry to support all programmes and activities of the American Chemical Society towards achieving the desired objectives of the Society.
The commissioner, who was represented by the Director Planning, Research and Statistics of the ministry, Mal. Abubakar Mainiyo called on the ACS to come out with more programmes that will assist in containing some of the medical and environmental challenges ravaging the world.
Earlier speaking, the Vice-Chancellor, Sokoto State University, Professor Sani Dangoggo thanked the organizers of the occasion for always coming up with new innovations that assist the upcoming chemists to have an area of interest in the field of chemistry, right from their undergraduate and even secondary school level.
The Vice-Chancellor, who spoke through his Deputy in charge of academic affairs, Prof. Muhammad Umar urged other departments of the University to emulate the laudable effort of the Department of Chemistry, through the ACS to initiate activities that are designed to catch the potential researchers and scholars young.
