Chemists Seek Role In Crime Fighting

The President of the Chemical Society of Nigeria (CSN), Dr
Shettima Saidu, has called on the Federal Government to engage professional
chemists as forensic experts in the fight against crime.

Saidu made the call at the society’s 35th Annual
International Conference, Workshop and Exhibition in Owerri recently.

The theme of the
programme is “Chemistry and the Challenges of the 21st Century”.

Saidu urged  the
government to ensure that professional chemists were employed in the police,
customs and immigration services and
commended the government for tackling the security challenges in the
country  while calling on all to join hands
to help the efforts.

Saidu said the society, a body of practising chemists in
Nigeria, was established in 1971 to protect the interests of chemists and
promote the propagation, study and practice of the science of chemistry.

The president noted that in the bid to create national
relevance and improve the teaching, learning and practice of chemistry, the
society had acquired and donated volumes of books to universities, polytechnics
and colleges of education, adding that the CSN also actively engaged in the
study of the Zamfara lead poisoning scenario, and was making significant
progress.

Saidu identified the society’s challenges to include the
establishment of a national chemistry research laboratory of global rating in
the proposed National Chemistry House in Abuja.

In a keynote address, Prof. Jude Njoku explained that the
professional chemists had a role to play in the numerous challenges facing the
country and identified the challenges as inadequate and dilapi