Groups hail UNN don as Nigeria’s best researcher

By Stanley Nwanosike

The Leadership Entrepreneurship and Advocacy Network (LEAD Network Africa) and UN International Peace and Governance Council (UN-IPGC) have hailed Prof. Christian Madu of University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) for being ranked best researcher in Nigeria.

The two pro-education organisations gave their separate commendation on Monday in Enugu while reacting to the feat which had brought Nigeria to the limelight of academic excellence once again.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2nd edition (2022) of Research.com’s best scientists ranking, established by means of a meticulous examination of 166,880 leading scholars (scientists) identified from various bibliometric data sources in the area of Business and Management, was recently released.

Research.com found Prof. Madu to be the “best and number one ranked research scholar in Nigeria” as well as ranked number 1,157 in the world going with its Discipline H-index of 37.

Madu is a Professor of Environmental Management and Control in UNN.

He is currently the leading scholar and expert in the areas of Chemical Safety and Security Management, Sustainable Management, Disaster Risk Reduction, Process Change and Quality Control among others.

Speaking, the Executive Director of LEAD Network Africa, Mr Chukwuma Okenwa, congratulated Madu  for emerging at the top of the chart in Nigeria as a leading academia and seasoned researcher in Business and Management Science.

“I wish to congratulate Prof. Christian Madu of UNN for emerging at the top of the chart in Nigeria of the reputable international and meticulous ranking of Research.com.

“I consider this a noble feat, given that the academic landscape of Nigeria is filled with great intellectuals,” he said.

According to him, however, the outstanding performance of  Madu makes a case on why  the Nigerian Government at all levels must invest in research.

Okenwa, who is one of the leading educationists in Enugu State, said:  “It is disturbing to note that although Nigeria’s best in the Business and Management Science Category, it is ranked 1,157 in the World.

“This obviously shows that Nigeria has a very long way to go as regards securing a space amongst the top 10 nations in this category.

“As a global assessment platform, the competition is really less local and much of global, though the starting point is within Nigeria.”

He said that the government needed to take a look at how Madu was able to get this far in spite all odds.

Okenwa urged governmentsand stakeholders in education to double their efforts to encourage the emergence of Nigerians at the top radar across several categories on the global scale.

Reacting, Dr Chimbo Obieze, the UN-IPGC Special Envoy on Sustainable Peace Education to Anambra, said that Madu had placed Nigeria in the limelight and put UNN, as an institution, in the world map of reckoning.

Obieze said, “We appreciate Prof. Christian Madu for making the nation proud and standing out among the rest.

“This is a really powerful and exceptional achievement considering the daunting challenges to education and scholarship in the country.”

(NAN)