About Us
Our Mission
To foster a dynamic teaching and learning community that imparts appropriate statistical skills, knowledge, values, and attitudes; advances the frontiers of knowledge relevant to national and global development; promotes a spirit of selfless public service; and advances evidence-based solutions to challenges in Nigeria, Africa, and the wider world.
Our History
Formerly part of the Department of Mathematics, the Department of Statistics was established in 2024 as a distinct academic unit, following the approval of the Governing Council of Obafemi Awolowo University. The new Department now independently offers the B.Sc. in Statistics at the undergraduate level, as well as the M.Sc. in Statistics, the Master of Actuarial Science (MAS), and the Ph.D. in Statistics at the postgraduate level. It also continues to support various Faculties across the University by providing first- and second-year undergraduate students with foundational courses in Statistics and their diverse applications. The new Department currently has an establishment of 30 academic staff positions and 4 non-academic staff positions.
Prior to 2024, the Department of Mathematics comprised both Mathematics and Statistics units. The Department is one of the foundational departments of Obafemi Awolowo University. Established in 1962, it remains a key stakeholder in advancing the aspirations of the University’s founding fathers. The Department is committed to delivering quality teaching, conducting high-level research, and contributing selflessly to the development of the community and the nation at large. Since its inception, the Department has supported various Faculties across the University by equipping first- and second-year undergraduate students with foundational courses in Mathematics, Statistics, and their diverse applications.
In addition, the Department trains students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, awarding degrees of B.Sc. (Mathematics) and B.Sc. (Statistics) at the undergraduate level, and M.Sc. (Mathematics), M.Sc. (Statistics), Ph.D. (Mathematics), and Ph.D. (Statistics) at the postgraduate level. It also offers a professional Master’s programme in Actuarial Science, leading to the award of the Master of Actuarial Science (MAS) degree. In 1965, the Department produced its first graduates, and since then it has graduated over 900 students at the B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. levels. At the undergraduate level, students are systematically trained in the fundamentals and principles of Mathematics and Statistics, supported by a strong team of experts in areas such as distribution theory, queuing theory, stochastic processes, linear inference, time series econometrics, design and analysis of experiments, Bayesian inference, real analysis, complex analysis, functional analysis, differential equations, cybernetics, computational mathematics, and continuum mechanics. Members of staff are active researchers of repute in their respective fields.
Beyond the University, the Department’s alumni and staff have taken up leadership roles in academia, government, and the private sector. To enhance teaching and research, the Department maintains collaborations with the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis (LISA) at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA, as well as with the Developing Countries Strategic Group under the auspices of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), in partnership with CIMPA and the U.S. National Committee for Mathematics. These initiatives focus on mentoring young statisticians and mathematicians and fostering their interest in further studies.
Vision
To be a world-class Department of Statistics within a leading African university, recognized among the best globally. The Department aspires to produce graduates who occupy leadership positions in the public and private sectors of Nigeria and beyond; harness modern technology, socio-economic, and financial strategies; build strong partnerships and linkages locally and internationally; and contribute substantially through research and innovation to the Nigerian economy.
Objectives
To meet increasing national manpower demands for statisticians by harnessing modern technology to produce world-class professionals; to support cognate departments through the provision of robust statistical and empirical expertise in both theory and applications; to position the Department to attract sponsored multidisciplinary research grants for cutting-edge statistical projects; to contribute to the design, evaluation, monitoring, and regulation of statistics programmes at all levels of education in the country; and to set benchmarks for high-quality undergraduate and postgraduate training and research in statistics in line with global standards.
Philosophy
The philosophy of the Statistics programme is to provide students with sound education in the principles and methods of statistical inference, enabling them to draw accurate and meaningful conclusions about larger populations from limited samples. The programme also emphasizes the effective organization and communication of data, with particular attention to the use of tables, charts, and graphical methods as essential tools for analysis and decision-making.