By Uthman Abubakar
Nigeria has won a new continental accolade for science scholarship as Professor Babatunde Abiodun leads a select group of 44 new inductees into the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).
The 44 ‘Top Scholars in South Africa’, according to an ASSAf, were inaugurated at the annual Awards Ceremony on 23 October 2024 in South Africa.
Prof Babatunde Abiodun is Professor, Director of Nasen-Tutu Centre, and DST/NRF SARChI Chairholder (interim) in Ocean and Atmospheric Modelling, Department of Oceanography, University of Cape Town.
Members of the Academy, says the statement, are drawn from the full spectrum of disciplines, explaining, “New Members are elected each year by the full existing Membership.”
The statement explains further: ” Membership of the Academy is a great honour and is in recognition of scholarly achievement,” adding, ” Members are the core asset of the Academy and give of their time and expertise voluntarily in the service of society.”
As the official Academy of South Africa, ASSAf has as core function to honour South Africa’s most outstanding scholars by electing them into its membership.
The 44 new ASSAf Members bring the total membership of ASSAf to 730.