ACS Nigeria celebrates 10th annual symposium and chapter anniversary

The American Chemical Society Nigeria International Chemical Sciences Chapter’s annual symposium will take place May 4–7. The symposium is in its 10th year, which aligns with the 10th anniversary of the chapter. This year’s theme is “Advancing Sustainability Through AI-Driven Chemistry.”

“It has grown to become one of the big scientific conferences that we have in Nigeria, and then we have expanded it so that it is not just scientific. We have other activities that take place—like we have a lot of workshops for students,” says Edu Inam, a professor of analytical and environmental chemistry at the University of Uyo in Nigeria.

Benchmarking and opportunities

Inam says that chartering an ACS international chemical sciences chapter has been valuable in establishing a professional forum to bring together all Nigerian ACS members. But one of the more important reasons—and the one behind the chapter anniversary and symposium aligning—is that ACS serves as a benchmark for them. Inam says that when coming up with projects and initiatives for the chapter, members often ask: What is ACS doing globally? Can we do that locally? Can we replicate some of these things for the benefit of scientists, community, and students in Nigeria?

ACS has two flagship meetings each year: the ACS spring and fall meetings. The society has offered different formats and options for attendance over the years, especially when the meetings were adapted for the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic—but not everyone from around the globe has been able to participate. “The other challenge is that we are almost 7 hours ahead, so even when you register and want to join the virtual events, you find out that some events are done when your eyes are really heavy, so you cannot really be effective,” Inam says. “So we as a chapter, we said: Why don't we start our own annual event where we can bring top scientists together? We can share information—I mean, just in a smaller way replicate the ACS spring and fall meetings in our own small and unique way.”

The symposium offers a space for gathering, collaborating, and sharing innovative ideas and scientific research as well as a venue for academics who need to present research and papers for promotions or professional advancement. “The Nigerian Chemical Society, they have a yearly conference that happens . . . in September, but that means you have to wait until the end of September to present your paper,” Inam says. This symposium gives people the opportunity to present in February or May if their institutions do assessments before June and they could not participate in the September conference. “It’s good to have options,” Inam says.

Capacity building for science

Thompson Izuagie, a professor in the Department of Chemistry of the National Open University of Nigeria in Abuja, says the symposium also supports growth in ACS student chapters and has enhanced the relationship between the international and student chapters. “I know the [student] chapters cover from the north to the south, from the east to the west of Nigeria . . . and actually they’ve been doing quite well,” says Fasina Tolulope, a professor at the University of Lagos. Tolulope says the student chapters carry out valuable outreach to other student communities, like encouraging the study of chemistry in high school.

Many student chapters have received grants enabling them to contribute to their communities. Inam gave the example of one grant that enabled a chapter to provide drinking water to a community that did not have access to clean water. “There’s a particular advantage and benefit of ACS Nigeria that we’ve been doing in promoting STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math],” says Ruth Adelagun, a professor in the Department of Chemical Sciences at Federal University Wukari. She gave the example that in northern Nigeria, many students aren’t interested in science disciplines, but student chapter members have been engaging in outreach by doing quiz competitions on the use of laboratory equipment and other activities that can inspire an interest in science.

Adelagun sums it up by calling the symposium a major capacity-building medium. “Apart from our students coming to present their papers, we used to have sessions where they are trained on different things to be able to stand with their mates in any part of the world. And this year, we are even going to do so much more . . . exposure or research on teaching methods, paper presentations, analysis, and, specific to this year, incorporating the use of AI, machine learning, and other tools.”

Staying relevant and localizing

Subthemes for this year’s conference include “AI in Chemistry: Current Trends and Future Directions,” “The Synergy Between AI and Chemistry: New Perspectives for Tackling Emerging Global Challenges,” “Integrating AI in Computational Chemistry for Smarter Insights into Chemical Systems,” AI-Predictive Capabilities: Redefining Innovations in the Chemical Industry,” and “AI-Enhanced Pedagogies: A Smart Tool for Greening the Chemistry Curriculum.” Confirmed speakers include Leroy Cronin, Regius Chair of Chemistry, Digital Chemistry, University of Glasgow; Nnabuk Okon Eddy, professor of physical and computational chemistry, University of Nigeria; Omotayo Arotiba, director of Centre for Nanomaterials Science Research, University of Johannesburg; Omolara Olushola Oluwaniyi, professor, Department of Industrial Chemistry, University of Ilorin; Mustapha Abdullahi, director-general/chief executive officer, Energy Commission of Nigeria; and David Wu, ACS international district director and director of the Institute of Chemistry in Taiwan.

A hosting committee and a local organizing committee carefully consider the topics for each year’s conference. They propose topic selection teams based on the scientific content and the needs of Nigeria as a country, the society, and the community. Four to five designated teams and the executive committee discuss the topics. “Then we pick one that we think is most relevant,” Inam says. The relevance of this year’s theme is reflected in that process. “In our country now, the government is doing a lot to promote the integration of AI into a lot of things, and we felt from the chemical sciences as well.”

Last year, the conference included Ghana and Egypt, which made it a regional symposium. “We were the first chapter to be chartered in Africa,” Inam says. “So we felt that we also need to bring in other African countries.” Inam says this is a good way to mentor groups in other countries interested in becoming international chemical sciences chapters. The American Chemical Society Council recently passed a motion to charter a chapter in Ghana at their spring convening. “So you can see how it has grown up over the past years, and we are still growing and hoping that maybe in the future it will become a major Africa region international science conference.”

Next year’s symposium venue is already confirmed, and the theme will relate to imaging and technologies for sustainable development, based on the Nigerian government’s focus on promoting Indigenous technology. “We need to start building capacity, our own local technology. I mean, everything that has been happening and that will be, every country needs to be strong in certain basic technology,” Inam says.