Campus News

Okoro seeks ban on importation of antifouling-coated ships

By Abubakar Imam

A Professor at the Department of Industrial Chemistry, University of Ilorin, Hussein Kehinde Okoro, has urged the Federal Government to ban the importation and use of ships coated with antifouling agents in the country’s marine ecosystem in order to reduce the level of organotin pollution.

Prof. Okoro gave this advice last Thursday (November 6, 2025) while delivering the 292nd Inaugural Lecture of the University, titled “Leveraging The Expertise of Chemists in Environmental Management: A Focus on Analytical, Environmental and Material Fields”, at the University Auditorium.

He said that the suggestion is necessitated by the need to ensure a safer environment for all.                  

Prof. Okoro, who is also the Editor-in-Chief of U6+ Multidisciplinary Journal for African Development, similarly encouraged Federal Government agencies such as the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA); the National Water Research Institute (NWRI), and the Federal Ministry of Environment to step up the regular monitoring of these endocrine-disrupting chemicals and other potential toxic chemicals present within the surface, marine and groundwater bodies of the nation.         

He also said that both the Federal and State Governments, through their Ministries of Environment, need to put in place adequate control measures to ensure compliance with national and international regulations on the protection of water systems.

The Inaugural Lecturer, who is a former Deputy Director of the Centre for Research, Development and In-House Training (CREDIT), also stressed the need for adequate surface, groundwater and marine water and sediment quality guidelines for Nigeria as a nation.                He also enjoined universities managements to support  graduate and undergraduate students through the provision of University Research Fund as it applies in other climes such as South Africa, India and other European countries.         

According to Prof. Okoro, both Federal and State Governments, through their Ministries of Water Resources, should build wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) that must be designed and planned properly to ensure the safety and health of our communities and protect our environment from water pollution.

He said that when planning a WWTP, adequate considerations  must be given to factors such as population density, projected growth, water usage, regulations and available treatment technologies.

Prof. Okoro said that though waste water treatment facilities have been installed and improved upon over the years in many countries, the reverse is the case in Nigeria.         

He also suggested that the Federal Government should establish  well-equipped research laboratories with state-of-the-art facilities in different geopolitical zones, pointing out that this will ease the problems and challenges being faced by researchers when they need to analyse their samples.

The don lamented that majority of doctoral students, who are in the area of Analytical-Environmental Chemistry find it difficult to recognise not to talk of operating analytical instruments because these are not provided. He said that they used to send samples abroad for analysis after their sample preparations.

Prof. Okoro, who is a former Head of the Department of Industrial Chemistry, also appealed to the Nigerian government to provide state-of-the-art facilities in our universities to avoid the eradication of this type of subject in the tertiary institutions, owing to lack of facilities.

He also appealed to the Federal Government to allow researchers to place order for chemicals needed for their research and charge relevant organisations such as he charged the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the Institute of Charted Chemists of Nigeria, and the Chemical Society of Nigeria to champion this course.            

Prof. Okoro, who is currently supervising seven doctoral candidates, implored the Federal and State Governments not to neglect the postgraduate students because they are the heartbeats of any University in terms of research outputs.

He suggested that bursary/scholarship should be made available to support postgraduate students to reduce the Japa syndrome that the nation is currently facing.           

The Inaugural Lecturer also suggested that government agencies like the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) should create the idea of rewarding researchers who publish their research findings with high impact journals. This practice, he said, has started at the University of Ilorin as he urged the management of the University not to relent so as to continue to motivate researchers to do more.

Drawing inspiration from his experiences and dispositions, Prof. Okoro enjoined established academics to make it a point of duty to mentor younger ones for them to become accomplished too.

The Inaugural Lecture, which was presided-over by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Taibat Moji Bakare-Odunola , was also attended by Principal Officers of the University,  Professor Emeritus Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede, mentors, traditional rulers, friends, relations, colleagues and students of Prof. Okoro from far and near.