PREAMBLE

It is a great honour and privilege to be invited as Guest Speaker and Chairman of one of the sessions of the University of Ibadan Conference of Biomedical Research which was planned as one of the academic events to mark the 60th Anniversary of Nigeria’s premier University. I feel very delighted that the University of Ibadan has continued to live up to its bidding as a foremost Center of Excellence for the propagation and transmission of knowledge and culture from one generation to another for sustained socioeconomic and political development of Nigeria and beyond. Accordingly, I most humbly commend in a special way my brother Vice-Chancellor and very good friend, Professor A.O. Bamiro for sustaining the vision and mission of the founding fathers of this great institution which is acclaimed as one of the best in Africa.

Similarly, I sincerely thank the organizers for carefully choosing the the theme of this conference: "Biotechnology for Health and Development". There couldn’t have been a more auspicious time to deliberate on this topic not only because of the enormous potentials of biotechnology to revolutionize medical practice for sustainable development, but also for its inherent ability to quicken the pace of globalization expected to drive the world economy in the 21st century.