By Innocent Odoh Authorities of the University of Abuja are seeking to collaborate with Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in a number of areas of human development.
A statement issued by the media section of the ECOWAS Commission made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Friday noted that these disclosures were made recently in Abuja when the Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja Prof. Michael U. Adikwu led a delegation of senior officials of the institution on a visit to the ECOWAS Commissioner for Education Science and Culture Prof. Hamidou Boly.
Specifically, the university is also seeking to partner with ECOWAS and get needed support in areas covering the enhancement of higher education and training; Youth and Employment; Research and Development, the statement said.
Other critical areas where cooperation is being sought in the mutual interest of both parties are Conflict prevention, Peace and Security; Disease Control; Agriculture; Language immersion; as well as sharing of experiences with other Member States of ECOWAS.
The University delegation, noted that it was leveraging on the mandate as an institution of learning and research to seek collaboration, partnership and support of relevant institutions such as ECOWAS.
Commissioner Boly and the ECOWAS team unfolded the likely areas of collaboration with the University vis-a-vis the Vision and Mandate of ECOWAS. The areas were which span a number of Departments of ECOWAS were identified as Research and Development, popularization of research findings, Training and Human Capital Development; data collection, analysis and publication.
Other areas were listed as Regional Integration and interface with other organizations and institutions, involvement of the university in subsequent editions of scholarships and exchange of lecturers under the ECOWAS Nnamdi AZIKIWE Academic Mobility Scheme (ENAAMS) as well as implementation of the ECOWAS reference Manual on Education for the Culture of Peace and possibility of alliance in the areas of human and financial resources.
Both parties also agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the end of the deliberations to reinforce their relationship.
The delegation from the University of Abuja comprised the deans of the faculties of Agriculture, Education, Health Science, and Social Sciences. Also on the delegation of were some Heads of departments and a representative from the National Universities Commission (NUC).
