Prof. Andrew Nok, Kaduna State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, died at his home in Kaduna on Tuesday at the age of 55.
Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and some members of the state executive council were among the early callers at the family house in Narayi, Kaduna, to pay their condolences.
A family member, Mr Jack Zock, said that the deceased was rushed to National Hospital, Abuja two weeks ago but returned last week after his health improved.
“In fact, he has been treating files at home. Even yesterday he worked on some files at home and was hoping to go the office today,” he said.
Nok, from Nok Villiage in Jaba Local Government Area of the state, was born on Feb. 11, 1962 in Kaduna State.
He attended the LEA Primary School in Kaduna before he proceeded to Government Secondary School, Kafanchan, where he obtained the West African School Certificate in 1979.
He holds master’s and doctorate degrees in biochemistry from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Nok was appointed Commissioner for Health and Human Services by El-Rufai on July 29, 2015, before he was redeployed to Ministry of Education, Science Technology on May 4, 2016.
Until his appointment, Nok was of the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.
He was a recipient of the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award in 2010 in the science category and several awards and research grants, including Alexander Von Homboldt Prize in 2013 for his work in finding a cure for Trypanosomiasis.
Nok was a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Alexander Von Homboldt Foundation and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.