More Universities Get Unesco Chairs

The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Adamu Rasheed has said the visit of the Director General of United Nations' Education, Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Irina Bokova, will bring more UNESCO chairs to Nigerian universities. Launched in 1992, the University Twining Programme (UNITWIN)/UNESCO Chairs Programme promote international inter-university cooperation and networking to enhance institutional capacities through knowledge sharing and collaborative work. Currently, University of Ibadan holds UNESCO Chair in Earth Sciences and Georesources Engineering Management, Global Education Initiative for Nigeria, Benin City has the UNESCO-GEIFON Chair in Environmental Sciences while Kwara State University has UNESCO Chair in Alternative Energy. Prof. Rasheed made this statement at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Abuja, where the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu received the UNESCO DG recently. He said between 1999 and 2006, Nigerian universities benefited five UNESCO chairs but they were reduced in 2014 due to non-performance. Responding, the DG said investing in education is all about making the economy competitive and "we need to expand the network that we have and we will continue to support Nigeria. The ultimate renewable energy is human ingenuity and Nigeria has a high level of this." NOUN's VC Prof. Adamu said to ensure equity and access to education NOUN, with over 254,000 students, has established 78 study centres.