By Ann Ironiks
The Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission, Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, has said that higher education in Nigeria will only have better future if Nigerian universities begin to explore ways of diversifying international collaborations. He made the remarks in his offce in Abuja when he received the Country Officer, Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), Mr. Vincent Larrouze and Deputy Country Director, Mr. Andre Hue, recently.
The delegation was in the Commission to strengthen existing relationship and seek further cooperation on higher education between the two Agencies.
Professor Rasheed pointed out that the Commission valued its relationship with AFD, especially for its commitment and support to Africa Centers of Excellence (ACE) Impact projects. He expressed the Commission’s appreciation to the Agency for its interest and contribution to ACE, which had significantly increased funding of the project.
He said the intervention of AFD in ACE Impact and Strategic support for Higher Education (HE) with a wider scope in education through scholarships and other remarkable interventions had made the Agency popular in the Nigerian University System (NUS).
The NUC Scribe also stated that with the collaboration of AFD, preparation were underway for quality assurance assessment of ACE Health programmes in University of Jos (UNIJOS) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and subsequent assessment of Agriculture in Bayero University (BUK), Kano, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), and Benue State University (BSU), Makurdi.