ACEPHAP’s Breakthrough is a Manifestation of Good Leadership – VC, Prof. Sagir
Story by Bala G. Abdullahi
The quantum of successes recorded by the Africa Centre of Excellence for Population Health and Policy (ACEPHAP) in its core mandate of research and postgraduate training is a manifestation of competence, hard work, doggedness and commitment shown by the Centre’s Management team led by its Director, Professor Hadiza Galadanci.
This was disclosed by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Sagir Adamu Abbas when he received the management team of the Centre on a courtesy call in his office on Tuesday 30th March, 2021.
He said the University was not surprised by the level of achievements recorded by the Centre within this short period of time, adding ‘these tremendous successes gladdened all members of the Bayero University family.’ He reiterated the University’s total commitment to support the centre at all times to achieve its goals and objectives.
Professor Sagir stated that having worked with the Centre’s Director at different academic levels; he was conversant with her competence and resilience, adding ‘I am not personally surprised by the overwhelming successes she recorded. I urge you to keep it up and maintain the tempo,’ he remarked.
Reacting to the letter from the World Bank which declared ACEPHAP effective having met all the project effectiveness condition for the second Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence for Development Impact, the Vice Chancellor said the World bank action had vindicated the trust and the confidence the University had on Professor Galadanci, saying that he believed the sky would always be her limit in terms of successes.
He assured the Director that the University would continue to support and assist the Centre to enable it realised its objectives.
Earlier in her address, the Director of the Centre, Professor Hadiza Galadanci had told the Vice Chancellor that they were in his office to thank him for all the support and the assistance he has been given the Centre and also to present a letter from the World Bank informing the University that the second Africa Higher Education Centre of Excellence for Development Impact has been declared effective and that the Centre was one of those declared effective having met all the project effectiveness condition.
She also informed the Vice Chancellor that in addition to executing the World Bank ACE Impact project, the Centre was currently executing 4 research projects from different donor agencies.
The Director mentioned EMOTIVE grant of $553,054.86 from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to conduct E-MOTIVE Trial in collaboration with University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. She explained that the E-MOTIVE trial which stands for “ Early detection of postpartum haemorrhage and treatment using the World Health Organization MOTIVE First response bundle: a cluster randomised trial with health economic analysis and mixed methods evaluation, is aimed at preventing maternal deaths by implementing the World Health Organization (WHO) prevention and treatment guideline for Postpartum Haemorrhage. It is being implemented in five countries of Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.
The second project according to her is the Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) which is a TETfund grant. She explained that the Centre collaborated with 5 other Universities in Nigeria to access a TETFund grant to explore the factors associated with sudden cardiac arrest in Nigeria.
Professor Galadanci disclosed that the third project is the IVON trial where the Centre obtained another grant from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in collaboration with Lagos University Teaching Hospital to conduct an open label, randomized controlled trial of intravenous versus oral for iron deficiency anaemia in pregnant Nigerian women (IVON). This she explained was in order to contribute to the reduction of the significant burden of maternal morbidity and mortality associated with anaemia in pregnancy in LMICs such as Nigeria.
The last and fourth project is COGENOME Study: She said the aim of the study was to conduct a genome wide study on spirometry values among people with COPD using a case control study design. Professor Galadanci stated that the pilot phase would include 100 participants diagnosed with COPD and control participants without COPD while the full study would involve 1,900 participants diagnosed with COPD and 1,900 control patients without COPD. The study, she disclosed is supported by 54Gene corporation.
The Director also presented a Hyundai Tusco Jeep donated to the Centre by the supporters of the IVON trial project to ease their research work.
