17 October, 2011 - National Universities Commission

Professor L. A. Bichi (Director, Academic Standards), Professor O.V. Ekechukwu (Director,Research and Innovations) and Mr. Ibrahim. I. Dan’Iya (Director, Management SupportServices). Others were Acting Directors,Dr. S. B. Ramon-Yusuf (Open and DistanceEducation) and Mrs. H. P. Abechi (Inspection and Monitoring). Also at the meeting was theDeputy Director (Protocol) and Chief of Staff to Executive Secretary, Mr. C. J. Maiyaki.Northumbria University Seeks Collaboration withNUCThe Executive Secretary, NationalUniversities Commission (NUC),Professor Julius A.Okojie, onTuesday, 11 October, 2011, met with ateam from Northumbria University,Newcastle, the United Kingdom (UK),who were on a fact-finding mission to theCommission on how to establishpartnerships with Nigerian universities andresearch institutions. Receiving the team,the Executive Secretary, said that theNigerian University System (NUS) wasexpanding, with new programmes beingestablished and the Benchmark MinimumAcademic Standards being streamlined.Both activities, he said, called for stronglinkages with universities abroad, whichwould play complementary roles toMr. Neil SlaterLeader of the delegationincrease Nigerian universities’ capacity to run these programmes effectively. He highlightedsome of the new areas in which the NUS were expanding to include MechatronicsEngineering, Aeronautics Engineering, Biotechnology and Nanotechnology.Professor Okojie however said, that Nigerian universities were highly selective of theuniversities with which they forged partnerships, stressing that the Universities could notafford the luxury of making mistakes in this regard despite the increasing desire to improveuniversity education in Nigeria, within the shortest possible time. The NUC, he stated, wouldconsequently look at the rankings of the overseas universities amongst their peers and for thespecific programmes in which capacity-building was required, to ensure that best practiceswere transmitted to Nigerian universities.The collaborations, he said, would be most relevant in the area of staff development andtraining, adding that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) was doing a highlycommendable job of funding these activities, but noted that there was room for furtherexpansion of these training programmes.The leader of the delegation and Northumbria University’s Head of International StudentRecruitment, Mr. Neil Slater, thanked the Executive Secretary for the warm receptionaccorded them and for the insight they gained on the unique needs of the NUS. He expressedPage 7