Professor Gerald Okeke Ndubuisi, a distinguished lecturer and first African professor of Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability was honoured alongside Bill Gates, UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres, his Deputy Amina J. Muhammed,
Engr Dr Cletus Onyemhese Agbakhamen and 95 others at the prestigious 100 Global Impact Personalities Summit/ Awards on Wednesday in Abuja.
He spoke with selected journalists.Ejike Omenazu was there Except:
Congratulations on being counted worthy to be honored with this prestigious 100 Global Impact Personalities Awards of the Year 2025.
What did this award mean to you and why did you think you merit it ?
Thank you so much. This should be one of the biggest awards for me . Talking about achievements, God has been so faithful to me. I have won several awards both locally and internationally. I won the Africa Oscar Safety Award in 2022, organized by AfriSafe , Health Safety and Environment(HSE) Nations. I won the best Research paper award in 2017 at far away Accra, Ghana under The African Clean up Initiatives ( ACI), won several awards during the World Safety Organization (WSO) conferences, both here in Nigeria and overseas. The awards are legion.
What was going through your mind when you received the nomination for the award?
A lot went through my mind when I received this letter of nomination from the African International Network in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Foreign affairs here in Nigeria. Just imagine being recognized as one of the best in my field globally. The criteria for selection was tough and thorough as we were told. They looked at various aspects of my life, ranging from the academia, my international publications on Research gate publications, my little contributions in the area of climate change advocacy, etc. I developed soft spot for climate change when I was much younger. I am a Health, Safety and Environmental Specialist in the oil and gas industry spanning over three decades. I valued nature so much, especially, the green vegetations. When you go to the book of Genesis, the Garden of Eden was described as lush green or full of vegetations . My interest about the Environment started to grow on daily basis. Sadly enough, humans started the burning of fossil fuels in quantum, which invariably plunged us into serious environmental quagmire. So I decided to study more about the environment and what could be done to remedy the situation we have been boxed into sequel to anthropogenic activities of mankind on planet earth. As of today, I am the first Nigerian to bag a PhD in Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability, and equally the first Professor of Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability in the whole of Africa by the special grace of God. All glory to the Almighty God for His mercy,grace and compassion over my life and my academic pursuits.
Can you walk us through your journey and highlight any pivotal moments that contributed to your success?
It’s a long story my Journalist. I have natural love for the environment, so when advanced climes and the United Nations started shouting about the negative impacts of climate change, I decided to pick up the gauntlet of battle to spread the news about Environmental Protection and Sustainability. My journey in the oil and gas industry equally helped to shape my interest on protecting the environment. Secondly, the Word of GOD in Deuteronomy Chapter 20 Verse 19 made me to pay more attention to Environmental Sustainability and Protection. In that chapter and verse, God admonished the Israelites that when they go to war against their enemies, that they should fight them , but should not put an axe on the trees of the field for they are source of man’s survival. God was so passionate about the environment, but we His creation decided to mess up the environment by engaging in excessive cutt
