By Joseph Erunke
THE National Open University of Nigeria,NOUN,has established a centre aimed at widening its scope to meet with happenings in the contemporary society and also with a view to creating more avenues to research more on Africa as a whole. Former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo The centre, Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for African Studies, OOCAS,named after former president,Olusegun Obasanjo, according to NOUN’s Vice-Chancellor,Prof. Abdalla Adamu,who spoke at the unveiling ceremony of the university’s newly revamped centre,was to create more avenues for research. Prof. Adamu, according to a statement Friday evening by Ibrahim Sheme,Director, Media and Publicity, NOUN, said the institution will continue to make efforts at ensuring that it remains among the topmost educational institutions engaged in cutting-edge research. According to him, the Centre, formerly known as the Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for Good Governance, was redesigned to widen its scope to meet with happenings in the contemporary society and also with a view to creating more avenues to research more on Africa as a whole. Adamu further said the Centre is open to collaboration with local and international scholars willing to dissect Africa towards the goal of producing cutting-edge research that would showcase the African story. Also speaking on the occasion, the Director of the OOCAS, Professor Stanley Naribo Ngoa, revealed that the centre has already swung into action, with various collaborations with research bodies within and outside the country. Ngoa said the key areas of focus for the OOCAS include African Leadership and Development, Food Security and Agricultural Research, Health in Rural Nigeria; Infant and Maternal Mortality, among others. Those involved in the centre include former President Olusegun Obasanjo, whom the centre was named after, as a visiting scholar, veteran journalist Mr. Ray Ekpu and a former minister of national planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman. Others are Professor Baz Dreisinger, the founder of the Prison to College Pipeline in the United States, Prof. Toyin Falola, a reputable authority on African Studies, as well as other reputable scholars in different fields of endeavour. According to Ngoa, a website for the centre will soon be launched. Related Obasanjo to deliver NOUN’s good governance lecture April 20, 2017 Former President Obasanjo successfully completes PhD programme January 15, 2018 NOUN convocation: Obasanjo bags Master’s Degree, 15 get 1st class honours January 16, 2016
