How I Became UNILAG’s Youngest Professor at 38 – Inspiring Story of Temitope Onuminya
By Bolaji Israel
My name is Professor Temitope Onuminya, a Professor of Plant Systematics and Conservation at the University of Lagos.
I am young and I actually hear that a lot. I will be 40 on May 1. My professorship was announced on March 25th this year but I became a Professor at 38.
I completed my Doctorate Degree at the same University in November 2011 and was convoked in February 2012 as the overall best-graduating PhD student and the youngest in fifty years of history of the University. I also received the National Doctorate Thesis Award (NUDTAS) of the Nigerian University Commission (NUC) as the National Overall Best in Biological Sciences in the same year. In June 2010, I was employed as an Assistant Lecturer, and true to my target, I became a Professor in less than fifteen years.
My journey into academia was not something I had pre-imagined over time. Growing up, I saw my grandfather, who was an electrical engineer, training people. I got interested in fixing stuff in the house so much that I got electrocuted a couple of times, but it was fun learning. So I saw myself growing up to be an engineer.
But then I was about to take my West African Examinations Council (WAEC) exam, and my teacher said, “Do you want to be a mechanic? Because I had thought of being a mechanical engineer, and the word mechanic just made everything sound weird to me. So I decided to apply for Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Lagos, but when I did the JAMB exams, I didn’t make the cut-off mark and I was offered Botany.
When I got the admission, I saw my name in the newspaper that year. It was on my birthday, May 1st, and when I saw Botany, I just felt like, “What do they do there”?. I reasoned that I was not about to become a tradomedical practitioner like the popular Yem Kem International. I didn’t want to do it.
But then I had a neighbour who was studying here at the University of Lagos who advised me to take up the opportunity with the proviso that by my second year, in 200 level, I’ll be able to cross over to the College of Medicine to study whatever course I prefer.
So I came in not too enthusiastic about Botany, and in fact, I came in some two weeks before the first-semester examination was going to start. It meant that I had a lot of reading and studying to do, but I was determined because I wanted to do well to be able to cross over to the College of Medicine.
After the first year, I was privileged to be one of those whose name was published as the top students of the school; that year.
The University had that tradition during that time where it published the CGPA grades of students that are doing well in each department, and my name came up. I was very excited and ready to move to the College.
With great excitement, I entered my Head of Department (HoD) office and she said it was impossible to cross over. She clarified that a student can only cross from the College of Medicine to the Science Faculty, but not the other way round. I wasn’t happy. A number of my other colleagues in the same shoes were unhappy too. They went on to pick up JAMB admission forms to try all over again.
I decided that if I have found myself in Botany then I better make the best of it. So that was the point I decided to make something of Botany. In my third year, I was exposed to various aspects of the discipline. My lecturers then were also quite fascinating and I just thought, “Okay. I can do this”.
So, from the 300 level, I began to nurse the ambition of returning as a Lecturer at the University. Then, in the 400 level, I took a course called Economic Botany. Our Lecturer entered the class that day. Then Dr. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, now Professor and immediate past Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos. And he said, “Everyone should tear a sheet of paper and write out what they want to be in future and where they want to see themselves in the next five years”.
I saw myself writing that I want to be a Lecturer in the next five years. And that I want to be able to have my Master’s Degree and do my Doctorate. And I had all of those penned down on that day. Strangely, I wouldn’t say that I was fully aware of what I was writing, but I was just inspired to do that, and I wrote it.
So I went to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Youth Service and came back. During the Service, I made sure that I did all the interviews i could so that I can totally rule out the notion of coming back to academics only because I didn’t get a job. I wanted to tell myself that I’m coming back because I really want to do so.
I did all interviews, got offers and respectfully declined all. Instead, I picked up a Master’s Degree form to study further. But rather than doing a Master’s, I ended up doing an MPhil and later proceeded into a PhD programme, and today, here we are.
ARE YOU THE YOUNGEST PROFESSOR IN NIGERIA?
Well, I might not be able to say for sure if I’m the youngest in Nigeria, but I do know that I’m the youngest here currently and the youngest female ever at the University of Lagos as a Professor.
HOW HAS THE JOURNEY BEEN?
The journey has been quite insightful because I was exposed to a lot of things through my career. Starting out, I joined the University in 2010 as an Assistant Lecturer, and I rose through the ranks to become a Professor, as it was announced on March 25, 2025. The journey has been intriguing. I have learned the value of hard work, focus, determination, mentorship and guidance. All these have made me who I am today.
I have been able to enjoy mentorship of a man who is visionary and always willing to provide the platform for one to thrive at every point. I speak of my mentor and supervisor, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos. He offered me the pedestal to succeed. He provided all necessary guidance and tutored me deeply through all I needed at every stage of my academic development.
At every point in time he would say, “When you are the object of spectacle, you don’t sit at the spectator’s stand and be clapping”. It means that you really have to be focused and stand out. And ensure that you set the pace for others to follow rather than being in the crowd and just going with the wave of things. That helped me to be on my toes at every stage of growth I have to make within the academic system. It also prepared me to understand what’s required of me. So, I prepared myself ahead of the requirements.
He has been able to instil in me a culture of learning and personal development for everything needed in academic development. One key ingredient is getting funding for research work. If a researcher doesn’t have funds to bring ideas to life, such can actually be impeded in academic career. My mentor taught me the required skills and value of getting grant as well as how to get support from various bodies and organisations. This tremendously helped me to attain where I am today.
Researchers need funding to pursue ideas; I used the funds to pursue my various research ideas which helped me become the Professor I am today. This is because from the output of such researches, i was able to have publications that are required for promotion from one level to another.
So I’m attributing my success today to the guidance and mentorship that I received from Professor Ogundipe through the years.
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL WITH BOTANY?
Botany is the study of plants and plant products. That’s the simple definition I can provide. It is of value to us because, “What is life without plants?”.
Humans get food, clothing, and shelter from plants and materials from the forest. So, Botany provides value in all human spheres of life. Beyond plants, it entails various fields and sub-units. Those sub-disciplines have their own specialities and help to understand our society. For instance, as a Plant Systematics, I study variations that exist in a given plant population, in order to understand causes of variability and consequences on environment. This is one aspect of Botany. Others include Mycology – the study of fungi, mushrooms and the kind of value they provide. There’s Phycology that looks into algae and phytoplankton you find in water bodies. You have Palynology that deals with pollen and spores.
You can use these to study cases of allergies, for instance, people who are allergic to plants in their environments or to reconstruct what an environment really looks like comparatively to provide solutions in terms of conservation strategies. Really, Botany is diverse, and the ability to understand and appreciate the depth helps to fully appreciate the discipline.
WHAT PRINCIPLES SHAPED YOU AND HELPED YOU SUCCEED?
Personally, I would say that my life sojourn has been guided by the principle of hard work and focus. Having a focus on the kind of life I want – the things I want to achieve and pursuing all passionately – has worked for me and has guided who i have become today.
Another thing that has guided me is having a knowledge of who the Almighty God is and what he can use me to achieve.
As humans, we are designed as spiritual beings. I’m a Christian and I believe that my steps are orchestrated by God. So, what God has not planned will not happen. I prioritise Almighty God and believe strongly that he’s able to help me through any situation.
That helps me to put my life into perspective. I know that there’s someone in control and I always yield to that being.
Again, having a mentor as earlier stated has worked for me. I value the principle of mentorship – having someone to hold you by the hands through each of the steps. That really has helped me a lot. I live by the principle of not despising humble beginnings. Every step counts. The journey of a thousand miles begins with just a step.
Until you take the first step, you would not know how far you can go. I celebrate small victories and I look forward to doing more.
WHAT ARE SPECIFICS YOU PICKED FROM YOUR MENTOR AND WHAT ARE YOU PASSING ON?
One value of mentorship i find incredible is exposure. The kind of platforms my mentor exposed me to helped me grasp a better appreciation of how things work in standard environments
Through Professor Ogundipe’s mentorship, I have enjoyed travels to various countries to learn different skills from experts around the world. For instance, at the beginning of my career, I learned the value of grants writing, as well as skills in molecular biology, DNA barcoding and conservation.
This has formed the bedrock of everything. I started out working in Plant Molecular Systematics, later into Conservation and I’ve continued. I use other tools to better understand plant populations in my environment. So, the exposure, collaboration and connection that mentorship provides are really huge. I have really benefited from that.
Mentorship has also helped me to see that one can add value to other people’s life beyond academic to the personal areas.
The learnings also reflect on how I relate with my spouse at home, my children and my work ethics too. I’m also passing on from what I learned to students that work with me now.
Indeed, mentorship can save you from a lot of avoidable errors that you would otherwise have made without guidance. It can offer a shoulder to lean on and help you see the world better and approach things more carefully armed with informed decisions.
WHAT’S BARCODING IN BOTANY?
In Botany, barcoding is basically using short fragments of DNA sequences of plant materials to identify and determine the correct identity of such plants.
BOTANY AND THE FIGHT AGAINST ILLICIT DRUGS
Botany can help significantly in the fight against illicit drug, drugs trafficking, and drug abuse through various means. One area is DNA barcoding which is the use of DNA sequences from plants in identifying the plant materials. This allows for easy, quick and on the spot recognition of plants in whatever forms, whether in powder form, in liquid or across other processed forms. You are able to identify the kind of plants used in composition of the particular material presented before you.
For instance, if you have somebody travelling with a particular type of plant material but claiming It to be something else, you are able to detect through the use of DNA barcoding with a device called a life barcoder which contains sequences of DNA materials from various type of plants. This helps to identify plant species that the person is carrying quickly.
That way, law enforcement officers are able to easily determine if the plant is restricted or endangered or banned. So, DNA barcoding helps to easily Identify this speedily and make informed decision about detaining the person or otherwise. It could also help in identifying adulterations in various formulations in the market.
IS DNA BARCODING NEW?
DNA barcoding techniques have been in the science world for at least a decade or more. But here in our clime, It is a developing area. This is due to the need for equipment required to carry out the technique. It’s an emerging field, transformative and evolving. We are now talking about meta barcoding which is getting barcodes from environmental DNA samples.
This would help to identify cases of pollutants and other invasive species in a given environment.
HERBAL DRUGS STANDARDISATION AND USAGE
Globally, herbal drugs standardisation and usage has been a problematic issue.
Locally, there are issues about dosage forms and others but efforts are being made in this area. As Botanists, we provide information on the composition of plant materials used in the formulations by looking into components phytochemicals.
The Pharmacognosist will then go ahead and provide standardisation for the formulation and test for toxicity to guide the people who take those formulations. They can tell to what extent the material is toxic or otherwise safe. At the University of Lagos, we have a center known as the African Centre of Excellence for Drug Research, Herbal Medicine development and Regulatory Science (ACEDHARS).
It provides trainings to various stakeholders who are into production of herbal products. Trainings focus on how to standardise processes in the production of herbal formulations.
It is also towards ensuring that regulatory processes are followed duly to get necessary approvals before taking such drugs into the market. We also ensure that we provide platforms for clinical trials.
The centre is positioned to do these and in the last five years since its establishments, it has done tremendously well in training stakeholders, including regulators, formulators and herbal practitioners. We continue to provide those kind of services. The centre just opened its official building where we have laboratories for standardisation of the herbal products. So we provide support to our community through these engagements. As such, we make the work of NAFDAC and regulatory bodies easier assist community with access to safe drugs for use in the market.
IMPACT, RESULTS AND FEEDBACK FROM HERBAL PRACTITIONERS?
The engagement has being very fruitful. The centre has partnerships with drug producing companies, traditional herbal medicine board as well as with NAFDAC and other regulatory bodies across the West African zone.
Through trainings provided at Certificates, Diploma, Masters and PhD levels, we’ve been able to equip practitioners to offer improved expertise on getting standard products to the market.
We also develop products and have a number in the markets while feedback from participants from our trainings has been positive. They have learned more and were greatly impacted.
To create awareness, we host webinar series through which we educate people about different herbs and their frequency. This comes from our research outputs.
we also organise symposiums, seminars and conferences where we share information periodically. Recently, we engaged our media units on TV and radio, to create awareness through their various science based programmes on plants materials and effects on human health.
INNOVATIONS AND SPECIALPROJECTS?
In Botany, we have various plants research. Passionately, I would say that one of our colleagues recently invented a sleeping soap.
The soap helps one to relax and enjoy a good sleep. It has clinically been tested, validated and available to the public. I personally used this and I know that it works.
There are also anti- diabetic products. These are still in the pipeline and we hope to have the finished products in the markets after proper testing.
NOW THAT YOU ARE A PROFESSOR?
Going forward, I want to invest myself more into mentoring and capacity building. I want to vigorously pursue research grants that can help build human capacity in various fields especially Plants Sciences.
I want to have a platform where students can have access to grants to pursue their researches without stress. When you have funding for your work, it relieves you of pressure and helps you focus.
So, I’m working on providing such platforms to students, junior colleagues and others.
FINAL THOUGHTS FOR YOUTHS?
Youths should look out for people in life who can guide and mentor. They should hold on to these people to lead them through decisions in life. Secondly, remain focused on your goals. Set goals for yourself on where you see yourself in the next five or ten years. Have a vision board of where you would like to be and what places you would like to see yourself.
Pursue these vigorously with passion, hard work and resilience, and avoid distractions.
Most importantly, serve God with your hearts and he would help you go through life’s experience and succeed.
HOW DO ACADEMICS RELAX?
I relax by taking everything off my mind and enjoying movies. I also love reading novels. If I’m not watching movies, I am either reading novels or spending time with family.
