Dr Daniel Olukoya, the General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, has been named a Professor of Biotechnology by the Mountain Top University.
A statement made available to The PUNCH on Wednesday explained that the appointment of Olukoya, who is also the university’s Chancellor, was a result of the positive consideration shown by a relevant review by the council and the assessments of his publications by some of the world’s best scholars in biotechnology.
The statement read, “This is the result of the positive consideration given by relevant review committees and the Council of the University following the assessments of his publications by some of the world’s best scholars in Biotechnology, each of whom found him to be eminently appointable as Professor of Biotechnology.
“It needs to be underscored that this appointment is indeed well-deserved by Prof. D. K. Olukoya, who is an epitome of all-around excellence.
“He bagged a first-class honours degree in Microbiology from the University of Lagos in 1980. In 1984, he received his doctorate (PhD) in Molecular Genetics from the prestigious University of Reading in the United Kingdom.
“Thereafter, he taught genetics at the University of Lagos and was an external examiner at a number of universities in and outside Nigeria.
He also engaged himself as a distinguished researcher and exceptional geneticist at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research between 1984 and 1998, during which he produced more than 70 scientific publications in the best local and international journals in the area of Microbiology and Biotechnology. He has also been cited more than a thousand times by scholars across the world.
“Not only has the new Professor of Biotechnology cut a niche for himself among eminent scholars in Microbiology and Biotechnology across the world, he has equally supervised many postgraduate students and continues to serve as a mentor and motivator to many Nigerian Microbiologists and Biotechnologists, many of whom have risen to professorial cadres in universities in and outside Nigeria.”
The statement added that Olukoya was severally offered the position in the 1990s by many universities, saying he chose to pursue his ministerial calling as directed by God.
