By Vera Ekwebelem
As part of his commitment towards promoting cooperation amongst universities in Africa, Olusola Oyewole, the Association of African Universities, AAU’s newly elected President and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, FUNAAB, recently paid a visit to the Association’s Secretariat and some top government functionaries in Accra, Ghana.
While receiving the President, Secretary-General of AAU, Etienne Ehile, expressed optimism that the Association would record progress with Oyewole’s election listing some ongoing projects of the AAU which he confirmed would be extensively attended to by the body. In response, Oyewole admonished the management of the secretariat to “make new friends, retain the existing ones and reclaim old ones.” He advocated that it was time African countries came up with their own model of University ranking that would take care of certain peculiarities that are omitted in global rakings, often to the detriment of African universities.
Oyewole also expressed his determination to dutifully serve the secretariat with the same commitment and zeal with which he serves FUNAAB. The AAU President and his team were equally received by the Ghanaian Minister of Finance, Seth Terper and the Minister of Education, Naana Opoku-Agyemang. The body was appreciated for its strategic role in promoting higher education in Africa and enjoined to embark on more enlightenment programmes for the world to better appreciate its efforts.
The AAU President lauded the ministers and the Ghanaian government for its past contributions and for making its government easy and accessible for the association. Also, soliciting further government intervention in completing on-going capital projects, Oyewole restated his determination to cultivate a purposeful leadership and improve existing programmes such as the Leadership Development (LEDEV) and the Management Development (MADEV).