A consortium of six universities under the banner U6 Monday began a two-day forum in Banjul under the aegis of the University of The Gambia (UTG).
The forum, taking place at the UTG Faculty of Law in Kanifing, brought together vice chancellors, professors and deans from different universities across Africa. The Banjul meeting is a follow-up to the U6 Consortium meeting held in March 2012 at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State Nigeria.
The formation of U6 Consortium was anchored on the importance of education as the platform for any community development. Initiated by the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, the Consortium is presently composed of six universities, they are: Bondo University College, Kenya; Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa; Kwara State University, Nigeria; The University of The Gambia, and the University of Cape Coast Ghana.
The Consortium has the objective, among other things, to cooperate in a variety of joint academic and educational activities that include organising, promoting and coordinating long and short-term faculty and student exchanges and other academic activities; facilitating and coordinating joint research activities and curriculum development. It also has the objective of enhancing capacity development of the six universities to carry out relevant research and to supervise joint post-graduate projects.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the deputy vice chancellor of the UTG, Dr Omar Jah Jnr. welcomed the participants and expressed their delight in being the host. Jah gave a brief background of the 11-year old UTG, informing the delegates that it is the brainchild of the Gambian leader, Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya AJJ Jammeh. Jah said President Jammeh conceived the idea of a university education after he saw the urgency to avail Gambians the opportunity to obtain quality education on home soil.
The deputy vice chancellor further informed the participants that in an effort to make The Gambia's citadel of learning one of the top notch universities in the world, different disciplines have been included in the institution's curricula ranging from school of medicine to humanities among others. He underscored the importance of this consortium, saying they are of the belief that this degree of collaboration will help them avoid recurring mistakes of other sister universities. The outgoing VC of the University of Ilorin, Professor Is-haq O Oloyede, stressed the need for African universities to come together and contribute their quota to the development of the continent.
Professor Oloyede said in the past the continent was violated, exploited, divided by the "so-called political gimmicks" in such a way that it will take a longer time to recover from the shock and abuse its people have been subjected to. He remarked that they are now longing and aspiring to become one. This, he added, is the reason why they come together as one under the umbrella of U6
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