Prof. Sunday A. Adedini
Professor | Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences
Faculty of Social Science · Department of Demography and Social Statistics
Specialization Demography, social statistics, population and public health
Office: Demography and Social Statistics Department, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria
Phone: 08033977498
Email: sunday.adedini@fuoye.edu.ng
Biography
Professor Sunday A. Adedini is a health demographer with two decades of experience in demography, population studies, and public health research. He earned his PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. His work has considerably advanced understanding in maternal and child health, sexual and reproductive health, family planning, and urban demography in sub-Saharan Africa. Professor Adedini led the establishment of South Africa’s first urban-based Health and Demographic Surveillance System, an initiative he is now replicating in Nigeria. He has received numerous fellowships and awards and secured several competitive research grants.
Professor Adedini is an alumnus and fellow of numerous international programmes, including the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship, USA; Brown International Advanced Research Institute (BIARI), USA; CARTA PhD Fellowship, Kenya; POSSIBLE-African Fellow of SFA, Kenya; Fellow of the DHS Programme, USA; and a postdoctoral fellow at the Fogarty International, USA, among others. He is a frequent keynote speaker at high-level fora, including the 2024 World Population Day at the Nigerian Presidential Villa, Abuja. He is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE). He holds a concurrent appointment as Honorary Professor at the Programme in Demography and Population Studies, Wits University, South Africa. His previous roles include Senior Lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, and Programme Manager/Head Demographer at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Analytics Research Unit, Wits University, South Africa. Professor Adedini has held other key leadership positions, including Head of Department and Director of Strategic Partnerships, Linkages, and Collaborations at FUOYE. He has mentored several students/early-career researchers. With presentations at more than 50 international conferences worldwide and the publication of over 100 highly cited peer-reviewed articles, he ranks among the top scholars in his field globally.
Research Interests
Maternal and child health; reproductive health of women, adolescents, and young people; urban demography; and demographic estimation
Qualifications
- PhD, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa (2011-2013)
Professional Qualification
- PhD, Demography and Population Studies - University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa (2013)
- MSc, Demography and Social Statistics - Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria (2010)
- BSc, Demography and Social Statistics - Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria (2001)
Awards
- Carnegie African Diaspora Host - Carnegie Corporation of New York, USA (2017)
- Brown International Advanced Research Institutes (BARI) Fellow - Brown University, USA (2018)
- IUSSP Fellow on Urban Family Planning - International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, Paris, France (2020-2022)
- DHS Fellow - Demographic and Health Survey Fellowship awarded by ICF International and sponsored by USAID, USA (2023)
- POSSIBLE-Africa Fellow - Science for Africa Foundation, Kenya/Carnegie Corporation of New York, USA (2024-2026)
Grants
- Population Research Infrastructure Model for Improving Child Health in Nigeria - SFA, Kenya/Carnegie Corporation, USA (2024-2026)
- Assessment of the Routine Data Management of RMNCAEH+N QoC and use for decision-making in Ondo and Ekiti States of Nigeria - JPHIEGO, USA (2022-2024)
- Development of Investment Cases and Sustainability Plans for Family Planning in Nigeria - UNFPA, Nigeria (2023)
- Sub-national Analysis of Contraceptive Discontinuation among Women in Nigeria: Evidence from the Demographic and Health Survey - ICF International/USAID (2023)
- Policy engagement and communications activities for the family planning and urban development project in Nigeria - IUSSP/Gates Foundation (2022-2023)
- Family planning and urban development in Nigeria: exploring policy and programmatic gaps - IUSSP/Bill and Melinda Gates (2020-2022)
- Community acceptancy and health facility preparedness for implementation of maternal immunization programs in urban and rural South Africa - IMPRINT Network, United Kingdom (2018-2019)
- Intervention towards Strengthening Research Training in Obafemi Awolowo University (ItSTRETO), Nigeria - CARTA (2017-2020)
- Community perceptions about major childhood killer diseases and preventive healthcare practices and treatment uptake in Nigeria - Wellcome Trust, Carnegie Corporation, and Sida; through CARTA (2017-2018)
- Qualitative study on Quality of maternity care in Nigeria - APHRC/McArthur Foundation (2015-2016)
Scholarship
- Postgraduate Merit Award for PhD studies - University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SA (2011-2013)
- CARTA PhD Fellowship - Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) (2011-2014)
- Postdoctoral Fellowship - Fogarty International, USA (2014)
Prizes
- Exceptional Research Output Award as the best Postdoc Researcher in 2014 - University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SA (2014)
- Distinguished Award for support to doctoral training through ItSRETO project - Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria (2021)
- Vice-Chancellor’s Prize as the most innovative lecturer in the Faculty of Social Sciences - Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria (2023)
Membership of Professional Bodies
- Union for African Population Studies (UAPS) - Member (2007)
- International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) - Member (2009)
- International Society for Urban Health (ISUH) - Member (2009)
- Population Association of Southern Africa (PASA) - Member (2011)
- Population Association of America (PAA) - Member (2012)
- Asian Population Association (APA) - Member (2012)
- Population Association of Nigeria (PAN) - Member (2018)
Paper Presentation - Local
- Sub-national Evidence on the Drivers of Child Mortality in Ekiti State, South-west Nigeria - 4th International Conference of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria (2026)
- Assessing Africa’s child survival gains and prospects for attaining SDG target on child mortality - 3rd International Conference of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria (2025)
- Associations between early marriage, women’s empowerment, and infant mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa - 2nd International Conference of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria (2024)
- Developing good abstracts for conferences - 8th Nigeria Family Planning Conference, Abuja, Nigeria – December 4-6, 2024. (2024)
- The assessment of routine health information system performance towards improvement of quality of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services in Ondo and Ekiti States - Annual Conference of the Association of Public Heath Physicians of Nigeria, at the International Cultural and Event Centre, Akure, Ondo State (2024)
Paper Presentation - International
- Decomposing the gap in under-five mortality determinants between the low- and high-risk regions of Nigeria - The 30th International Population Conference of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), held in Brisbane, Australia (2025)
- ItSRETO Project - The 2023 School of Public Health Research Day and CARTA Conference held at Wits School of Public Health, South Africa (2023)
- COVID-19 and access to family planning among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa: - Conference on Population and Reproductive Health Dynamics under Covid-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa, Feb 2022 (2022)
- Trends, patterns and determinants of long-acting and reversible methods of contraception among women in sub-Saharan Africa - Annual Conference of the Population Association of America (PAA) held in Austin, Texas, USA (2019)
- Family Planning in Urban Context - The 5th International Conference on Family Planning, held in Kigali, Rwanda (2018)
- Divergence in fertility levels and patterns of Muslim-majority countries of Maghreb and middle/West Africa - International Population Conference of the International Union of Population (IUSSP) held in Cape Town (2017)
Postgraduate Ph.D Supervision
- Dr Grace Ololade - Trends and Multilevel analyses of Male Fertility Behaviour in Nigeria (2012-2015)
- Dr Matshidiso Sello - Social Contexts of Childhood Malnutrition in Low-income Settings in South Africa (2020-2024)
- Deborah Olorunfemi - Continuum of Maternal Healthcare Services and Neonatal Survival in Nigeria (2023-date)
- Oluwarotimi Samuel Oladele (2025-date)
- Hassan Ogunwemimo (2025-date)
- Joy Adesanoye (2025-date)
Postgraduate M.Phil Supervision
- Oludare Olakiitan Anuodo - Socio-demographic Factors Influencing Infant and Child Feeding Practices in Nigeria (2014-2016)
Postgraduate M.Sc Supervision
- Peter Olaoye - Preventive Health Measures and Neonatal Mortality in Nigeria (2014-2016)
- Tanyaradzwa Dube - Pregnancy Intention Status and Maternal Health Care Utilization in Zimbabwe (2014)
- Ibukunoluwa Odelola - Correlates of infant and child’s nutritional status in Nigeria: A multilevel analysis (2014)
- Anthonia Fiwasaye Awoniyi - Spousal Violence and Maternal Health Care Utilization in Nigeria (2014-2016)
- Michael Omoniyi Olonitola - Women’s Participation in Household Decision-Making and Under-Five Mortality in Nigeria (2014-2016)
- Hassan Seun Ogunwemimo - Changing Maternal Position, Maternal Care and Child Health Outcomes in Nigeria. (2015-2017)
- Oluwatobiloba Titus Ojo - Socio-Economic Status of Mothers as a Determinant of Malnutrition among Under-Five Children in Nigeria (2015-2017)
- Usman Segun Omotoso - Levels, Patterns and Determinants of Neonatal Mortality in Nigeria (2014-2016)
- Oluwamayowa Kadijat Olubayo (2025-date)
Course Teaching
- DSS 801 - Advanced Demographic Technique I (2025/2026/First Semester)
- DSS 802 - Advanced Demographic Technique II (2025/2026/Second Semester)
- DSS 401 - Demographic Data Evaluation (2025/2026/First Semester)
- DSS 402 - Demographic Estimation (2025/2026/Second Semester)
- DSS 310 - Monitoring & Evaluation (2025/2026/Second Semester)
- DSS 319 - Field and Survey Report I (2025/2026/First Semester)
- DSS 320 - Field and Survey Report II (2025/2026/Second Semester)
- DSS 101 - Introduction to Demography I (2025/2026/First Semester)
- DSS 102 - Introduction to Demography I (2025/2026/Second Semester)