By Ayodele Afolabi Ado-Ekiti
Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) and International University of Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing a partnership for exchange of academic and administration programmes.
The Founder, Chief Afe Babalola disclosed that the collaboration would be the third of its kind, saying ABUAD is already in partnership with a university in Ghana and Republic of Benin.
The legal luminary said the decision to adopt his school as mentor was not accidental but as a result of unparalleled achievement of the institution in the realm of functional education.
He stated this when the International University of Grand-Bassam, vice-president for Academic Affairs, Prof. Ahmed Legrouri led a delegation of the university management to ABUAD, to sign a partnership deal with the institution.
Babalola said, “If you want to be a university internationally recognised, you must have affiliation with other institutions outside the country. And you must have students and lecturers from other countries and curriculum that will make others to come. With these, it is crystal clear that ABUAD place on the map of global education can’t be compromised.
“My joy is that invitation are not done by us. What they have read, learnt and heard about us made them to approach us for mentorship”, Babalola said.
In his remarks, Legrouri said the collaboration was purposely to adopt ABUAD as a role model following the landmark achievement of the institution in the realm of functional and quality education within the little time of existence.
He explained that with the existing learning facilities and array of academic gurus in ABUAD attest to the fact that the Babalola have incurable penchant for high quality market driven education.
He added that the partnership promises promotion of academic exchange that will make IUGB a widely recognised university.
“We are here to seek partnership with ABUAD so that we can offer opportunities to our students to develop.
“Education is key to the development of our countries. And like ABUAD we put emphasis on quality education and training the future leaders of the country.
“We are really very impressed with the achievement of this great institution. And with the achievement of this university we are ready to adopt them as our model. We have learnt a lot from the infrastructures and the attitudinal disposition of the people managing them. And in the way of building our new campus on 80 hectares in the city of Bassam we are going adopt what we have seen here”, he said.
