Survey on responsible chemistry- chemical safety and security curriculum in 49 Nigerian universities

Abstract

TRACT Chemicals are useful and beneficial but can also be harmful to humans and the environment when used inappropriately. The introduction of chemical safety and security in the curriculum of tertiary institutions in Nigeria can minimize the risks from chemicals. This paper presents an abridged version of the results of a survey carried out on chemical security and safety in the laboratories of some higher institutions in Nigeria. The survey aimed to gather information and identify gaps that existed on chemical safety and chemical security concepts in the Nigerian University curriculum. This is with a view to design short courses that can be incorporated in the chemistry curriculum of Nigerian Universities. Structured questionnaires designed by Sandia National laboratories USA were administered to different strata of lecturers and senior technologists in several Nigerian tertiary institutions (mostly universities). About 374 respondents from 49 Nigerian tertiary institutions participated in the survey. The survey showed all respondents were involved in the teaching of chemistry courses in the schools, with majority of respondents in the lecturer and senior lecturer positions (59.19%) indicating they were within the most active cadre of their profession in teaching and research. 53% of the respondents stated that chemical safety was taught in their universities while 31.5 % said chemical security was only mentioned. From those that said chemical safety was taught, more than three quarters felt very little was taught. Two thirds of those that felt chemical security was mentioned also said very little of the subject was mentioned in the curriculum. Some respondents said chemical safety was not taught because it was not of high priority compared to other subjects (48.59%), others said lack of subject matter knowledge/expertise/awareness (43.66 %), lack of teachers to teach the subject (8.80 %) and lack of time for the subject (8.10 %). The survey showed the reasons for chemical security not being taught was similar to that of chemical safety. Our findings showed that a high percentage of academics (84. 22 %) wanted the concepts of chemical security and safety to be incorporated into the university curriculum and taught in schools by people with a good understanding of the subject matter. Based on the results of the survey, there is a gap in the teaching of chemical safety/security and responsible chemistry in Nigeria. The gap is particularly noticeable in the area of chemical security. Our results showed a need to develop curriculum on chemical safety and security for Nigerian universities and to train some academics who will then train others. [African Journal of Chemical Education—AJCE 16(1), January 2026]