40-year-old emerges as Gombe’s youngest professor

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of North-Eastern University (NEU), Gombe, Dr Mohammad Sani Isyaka, has emerged as Gombe State’s youngest professor at the age of 40.

According to a statement by the university’s Public Relations Officer, Mukhtar Sani Saulawa, Isyaka was promoted to Professor of Organic and Natural Products Chemistry by the institution’s Governing Council, effective October 1, 2026.

The promotion followed the successful completion of the university’s external assessment process and was subsequently ratified by the governing council.

Born on August 30, 1986, in Gombe Local Government Area, Isyaka also became the youngest Deputy Vice-Chancellor from the state at the age of 37.

The university said he has also been admitted as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria (FICCON), in recognition of his contributions to the chemical sciences.

Isyaka obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Abuja in 2008, an M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry from the same university in 2012, and a PhD in Organic and Natural Products Chemistry from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, in 2020.

He began his academic career as an Assistant Lecturer at the Federal University of Kashere in 2012 before joining NEU, where he rose to the rank of Associate Professor in 2023 and full Professor in 2026.

According to the university, he has published more than 100 research papers in Scopus-indexed international journals and supervised M.Sc. and PhD students.

His research has focused on natural products chemistry, including the isolation and identification of 47 novel chemical compounds from three African Croton species.

One of the compounds associated with his research, Saniolide, was named in his honour and has shown activity against melanoma, renal and colon cancer cell lines in laboratory studies.

At NEU, Isyaka has served as Director of Academic Planning and Quality Assurance, Chairman of the Senate Business Committee and pioneer Director of the Centre for African Medicinal Plants Research.