Prof. Seidu Onailo Mohammed, the former director general of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), has passed away.
Mohammed passed away on August 8, 2022, following a brief illness, according to a statement from Dr. Felix Ale, Head of Media and Corporate Communications for NASRDA.
He was 62 years old.
He reportedly passed away early on Monday at Nisa Premier Hospital in Abuja.
Between 2008 until 2019, Mohammed was the agency's director general and chief executive officer.
He was a renowned academic who established himself in the Nigerian, African, and worldwide space practise communities.
The renowned space scientist earned his PhD in Environmental Remote Sensing from Bayero University, Kano. He was born on August 17, 1960, in the historic town of Abejukolo, Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The International Institute for Geo-information and Earth Observation (ITC) Twente University, Enschede, in the Netherlands, where he studied as a scholar of the European Economic Commission, awarded him an M.Sc. degree in Soil Survey/Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System previously.
Mohammed was on the board of the International Academy of Astronautics and had more than 40 research articles to his name in national and international magazines.
He progressed through the ranks to become the Agency's second substantive Director General, a position he held honourably until the end of his two terms in 2019.
Mohammed won a number of accolades from various bodies, institutions, and organisations both inside and outside the nation in recognition of his leadership abilities and outstanding record of accomplishments during his service years.
The Attah Igala, the supreme ruler and mandated authority of the Igala Kingdom, bestowed upon him one of the highest traditional titles back home in Kogi State, the Ogah-Attah Igala.