….as varsity secures 18th position nationwide out of 133 in Scival ranking
By Wole Balogun
SA Media to VC
Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) has recorded yet another milestone in cutting edge researches that showcase the institution as a citadel of learning, innovation and excellence. This time it was the discovery of causes of infant mortality that has become rampant among Nigeria urban and rural communities, and the provision of elixirs to such menace.
Besides, the University has equally secured 18th position out of 133 universities in Nigeria in the ranking of publications’ output by her scholars according to a recent ranking by Scival, a global journal publications monitoring body.
Dr Stephen K. Ojo – Drug Discovery and Infectious Diseases Research Group (DDIDRG), Department of Microbiology, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria
In a joint research endeavour conducted by a group of scientists/research fellows of the
Drug Discovery and Infectious Diseases Research Group, (DDlDRG), Department of Microbiology of the University, causes and solutions to the menace of infant mortality was found.
The team was led by Dr. Stephen K. Ojo who is the principal investigator of the project. Other members of the team include Bamgbose, O.V., Makanjuola, E.O., Fafiyebi, O.E., Oladeji, O.M., Adebayo, O.E., Ademola, E.M., and Olowomeye, T.M.
A statement made available to the University media team by Dr. Ojo at the weekend, and entitled: “Novel Bacteria Strains reported from Neonates with Neonatal Sepsis in Nigeria”, reads in part: “The principal investigator, Dr S.K. Ojo and his research fellows at the Drug Discovery and Infectious Diseases Research Group, Department of Microbiology, Federal University Oye-Ekiti worked on pre-term and full-term neonates on hospital admission after birth (72hrs or less), who were diagnosed with neonatal sepsis in 2018 and 2019 at Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH).
“ Of the 166 isolates obtained after secondary microbial succession, we sequenced the genes of 41 representative isolates, and the results were strains of Enterococcus gallinarum, Enterococcus casseliflavus, Enterococcus avium, Enterococcus gilvus, Enterococcus pseudoavium, and Vagococcus fluvialis, which were novel strains in Nigeria from our study because Group B Streptococcus was always associated with neonatal sepsis globally.
“ The sequenced genes has been made public (NCBI, ENA and DDBJ database) with GenBank accession numbers ranging from PP082495.1 to PP082535.1.
“ The discovery revealed that pregnant mothers who were infected with this bacteria easily transmit it to their unborn child causing blood infection, pneumonia and meningitis and death in the newly born baby.
“ Pregnant mothers are advised to visit hospitals for their antenatal regularly and during delivery and not the traditional birth attendants.
“ However, because of the low economic status of the populace, pregnant mothers patronize traditional birth attendants more than the hospitals.
“Therefore, traditional birth attendants should go for more trainings organized by the Primary Health Care Development Agency and should quickly refer any case that is going beyond their control so as to prevent complications from this germs.”
Another success story, which was contained in another statement from Associate Professor Olusola Ayanda, the Special Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina, on Digital Transformation and Advancement, states that : “Federal University Oye-Ekiti has secured the 18th spot nationwide in terms of scholarly output on Scival. This is as the University of Nigeria, Nsukka top the list, followed by University of Ibadan and University of Ilorin.”
Ayanda’s statement further reads in part:”
Federal University Oye-Ekiti was one of the nine Federal Universities established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2011. The University has continued to do excellently well in terms of teaching, research and community development among the first generation and new Universities in Nigeria.
“FUOYE pooled a total of 1219 scholarly output, 4186 citations with 754 authors in the year 2020 – 2023 as recorded on Scival dataset, this is just as the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Abayomi S Fasina has continued to provide the enabling environment for quality research, while emphasizing the need for staff members to publish in reputable journals indexed in globally recognised indexing bodies such as in Scopus and WoS.
“SciVal provides access to the research performance of over 24,300 research institutions and their associated researchers, from 234 nations worldwide. It is a research analytics tool for measuring metrics gathered from the Scopus dataset.”
