The French Government, through its agency, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has approved the sum of $40 million for the implementation of the Blueprint- ICT Development (ICT-Dev, Project) in the Nigerian Universities.
Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abdulahi Yusufu Ribadu, who made this known in Abuja, described the AFD as a critical development partner in the Nigerian University System (NUS).
He spoke when the Country Director of AFD, Mr Xavier Muron paid a courtesy visit to the commission to discuss modalities for the flag-off and implementation of the Blueprint- ICT Development (ICT-Dev, Project) in the NUS.
The NUC boss stated that he recently hosted the post-closure meeting for 14 universities and 17 participating centres of African Centres of Excellence (ACE-Impact), noting that the meeting was to ensure that the ACE programme does not stop running because its funding life-span has ended.
He said: “We have to bring the participating universities together under the auspices of ACE-Alliance because we want them to collaborate and ensure sustainability of the programme beyond AFD and World Bank funding.’’
The ACE programme was co-funded by AFD and World Bank to provide regional specialisation among participating universities within areas that addressed particular regional development challenges which officially would elapse by end of June, 2025.
NUC recently announced that the ACE project hosted in some universities in Nigeria have significantly transformed the landscape of higher education and research in Nigeria, attracting over N3.2 billion in revenue and 924 foreign students.
The ACE project was launched in 2014 as a regional initiative by the World Bank in collaboration with the governments of eight African countries, including Nigeria, to respond to the continent’s pressing need for high-quality postgraduate education and applied research in key development sectors.
The ACE I project which became effective in Nigeria on February 25, 2015, closed on March 31, 2020, while the second phase of the project known as ACE Impact, which commenced in 2019 and co-financed by the World Bank and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), would also come to a close on June 30.
Speaking at the pre-closure retreat for the ACE Impact Project in Abuja, Executive Secretary of NUC, Professor Abdullahi Ribadu hailed the ACE-Impact initiative, noting that it had elevated Nigeria’s academic institutions into globally competitive hubs of knowledge generation, innovation, and development.
He underscored the imperative of sustainability of the ACE in the 14 universities hosting the centres, while urging the beneficiary institutions to look beyond donor support but focus on how to build on the gains achieved.
He emphasised that the centres must transit from temporary project status into “permanent institutional assets,” while urging vice chancellors and centre leaders to solidify their sustainability strategies.
Professor Ribadu noted that the Blue-print and revitalisation of ICT infrastructure, and capacity building in 10-selected universities was a step in the right direction, as the NUC was committed to hosting all participating universities as well as funding partners and stakeholder to the lunch of the event which would feature issuance of certificate to the selected universities.
The Executive Secretary stated that AFD funding to the tune of 40 million USD for the ICT-Development project was huge and a welcome development to the NUS.
He, therefore, stressed the need for the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa as well as the French Ambassador to attend the event to launch the project, which both teams consented to and the second week of July was chosen as the tentative date for the opening ceremony.
In his remarks, Mr Xavier Muron, noted that the NUC has been a long-time partner in its quest to contribute to the development of university education in Nigeria.
He added that all was set for the French Agency to commit the approved Forty Million USD for the commencement of the Blueprint- ICT Development project.
He called for a timely flag-off of the programme which he noted as necessary since the ACE-Impact programme was officially ending by end of June, 2025.
Mr Muron stressed that his Agency was also targeting to ear-mark funds for Investment in the Digital and Creative Enterprise (iDICE) programme in the NUS which was to commence soon.
He called on the NUC to provide coordination for the blueprint and the iDICE programmes in order to prevent overlapping of activities since the two projects were aimed at ICT development at different levels within the NUS.
The AFD Country Director stated that the AFD was also engaged in other programmes within the Education Sector which were not under the supervision of the NUC.
He said currently we are providing vocational training programme in Agriculture, and we are also partnering with the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), to provide affordable student accommodation within the universities called Family Home Fund, though, the programme is still undergoing administrative process before approval at the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF).’’
Mr Muron finally called for more commitment so as to ensure that the Blue-print ICT Development and iDICE projects embarked upon by AFD and the NUC yield the desired results.
In the AFD delegation was the Project Manager (Education), Ms Dashen Plangnam and at the meeting were the deputy executive secretary (Administration), NUC, Mr Chris J. Maiyaki; acting directors of Research, Innovations and Information and Technology (DRIIT), Malam Lawal M. Farouk; Accreditation (DA), Engr. Abraham Chindusu; Open, Distance and e-Learning (DODel) Mrs Fumilayo Morebishe; Executive Secretary’s Office (DESO), Mr Jubril Momoh.
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