MAU Yola Holds 31st Inaugural Lecture: “Count for Me the Little Foxes” by Prof. Danjuma Jibasen

Modibbo Adama University Yola, has organised its 31st Inaugural Lecture titled "Count for Me the Little Foxes", delivered by Professor Danjuma Jibasen, Professor of Biostatistics, on Thursday, 25th June 2026, at the College of Medical Sciences Lecture Theatre 1. 

The event was well attended by Principal Officers, member of staff, students, government officials, former Vice Chancellor, Prof. Liman Tukur and well-wishers who came to witness the historic occasion.

The Vice Chancellor of Modibbo Adama University, Yola Professor Ibrahim Umar, who chaired the occasion read the personality profile of the Inaugural Lecturer Prof. Danjuma Jibasen and formally declared the lecture open. He further described him as a hardworking and dedicated scholar whose research has consistently addressed real problems in the country and beyond.

Professor Jibasen then took the podium and began his lecture by drawing the attention of the audience to the fox, a small, clever, and highly elusive animal that is very difficult to spot or count because of its ability to camouflage and hide. 

He told the audience that just like the fox, there are many groups of people in Nigeria who are difficult to find, difficult to count, and therefore often left out of government plans and health programmes. 

These are people such as drug users, tuberculosis patients, people living with HIV/AIDS, artisans, and other vulnerable groups who live at the edges of society and are rarely captured in official statistics. He stressed that if we cannot count them, we cannot help them, and that is where the danger lies.

To drive home his point, Professor Jibasen presented findings from several research studies he and his team have carried out across Adamawa, Taraba, Borno, and Yobe States in North-Eastern Nigeria. 

The findings showed that younger artisans, particularly those below 30 years of age, are far more likely to use drugs, alcohol, and other substances compared to their older colleagues. 

Professor Jibasen warned that this is a ticking time bomb that the government must address urgently by targeting anti-drug campaigns at younger workers on construction sites.

Professor Jibasen and his team also investigated the effect of COVID-19 on tuberculosis treatment in Adamawa and Taraba States, explaining to the audience that tuberculosis and COVID-19 share many of the same symptoms, such as coughing, fever, and difficulty breathing, which makes it easy for one disease to be mistaken for the other. 

He also spoke about his research on HIV/AIDS, where he and his team studied the distribution of HIV/AIDS viral loads and the supply of antiretroviral drugs among people living with HIV in North-Eastern Nigeria, noting that access to treatment and care remains a major challenge for many patients in the region. 

The Professor made ten bold recommendations to government, researchers, and universities across Nigeria, calling on the federal government to ensure that every state in Nigeria has a properly staffed bureau of statistics with certified and qualified statisticians. 

He urged all Nigerian universities to make statistics a compulsory course that every student, regardless of their field of study, must pass before graduating.

He also advised researchers to always be honest about the limitations of their work, to treat research participants with dignity and respect, and to ensure that the communities they study benefit from the findings of their research among others. 

The Chairman of the occasion, Vice Chancellor Professor Ibrahim Umar, on behalf of the university, presented a beautifully crafted plaque to Professor Danjuma Jibasen in recognition of his outstanding contribution to research and his thorough and impactful work on the topic. 

The Chairman Lectures and Awards of Prizes Committee (LAPC), Prof. Abraham Okolo gave the vote of thanks, appreciating everyone who attended the event, describing the turnout as a reflection of the high regard in which Professor Jibasen is held across the university community and beyond. 

He thanked the Vice Chancellor, members of staff, students, and all invited guests for making the occasion a success and urged everyone to take the lessons of the lecture back to their homes, offices, and communities.

Professor Danjuma Jibasen was born on January 13th, 1972, in Idofi village, of Wukari town Taraba State. He obtained his B.Tech (Hons) degrees in Statistics with a Second-Class Upper Division from the then Federal University of Technology, Yola, and later earned his MSc. and Ph.D. in Statistics both from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin Kwara State in 2003 and 2011, respectively. 

He began his career at the Federal Ministry of Industry in Abuja during his NYSC day before returning to academia. He grew through the ranks and became a Professor in October, 2018.