Prof. Clifford Odimegwu is a full professor of demography, social statistics and population health, and founding director of the Graduate Programme in Demography and Population Studies, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. A product of the old Imo State University, Okigwe, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, and Harvard University School of Public, Prof Odimegwu’s expertise covers the field of technical demography, population health, public health, sociology, and social statistics. He has 27 years of experience as a University Lecturer, Research analyst, and Synthesist investigating threats and risks to health in specific population groups. He has published over 200 papers incredible national and international peer-reviewed journals, including two co-edited books. Most of his publications can be found in the world-wide Researchgate platform or Google Scholar. He is one of the recognizable faces in African demography. His third book on Family Demography and Post-2015 Development Agenda by Springer, Netherland, is about to be published. He has been the assistant editor of the African Journal of Reproductive Health since 2000, and the Editor-in-Chief of the African Population Studies Journal since 2005. In terms of capacity building in sub-Saharan Africa, he has supervised 16 PhD students to completion, [three more will soon join this elite group); more than 45 Masters Students, and close to 100 honors students. He is currently supervising another set of 10 doctoral students drawn from different African countries. He has also supervised twelve postdoctoral fellows. Currently hosting two UNN staff as doctoral and postdoctoral fellows. He consults for major international organizations such as UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, DFID, EU & major US agencies, he has monitored and evaluated a number of projects in such countries as Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Swaziland, USA, etc. Currently, a Visiting Professor in the Population Geography Program of UNN, Prof Odimegwu’s passion for capacity-building of the next generation of scholars in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general is unparalleled. He is unapologetic about the urgency of empowering the emerging generation of scholars to take over from the retiring generation. He believes that African scholarship is doomed unless the emerging generation is adequately equipped with the combination of the right tools and skills.
