Wole Balogun, Ado-Ekiti
Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) and International University of Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, yesterday, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) establishing a partnership for exchange of academic ideas and programmes.
Prof. Ahmed Legrouri, vice president for Academic Affairs, who led the Ivorien delegates said his institution wished to have ABUAD as its mentor in order to attain the school’s high academic standard. He said his varsity is aware of ABUAD’s landmark achievement in the areas of functional and quality education within the little time of existence.
He said the partnership would promote academic exchange that will make his institution a widely recognised university.
“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. We are going to adopt what we have seen here.”
ABUAD founder, Aare Babalola said the collaboration would be the third of its kind, saying ABUAD is already in partnership with a university in Ghana and the Republic of Benin.
“If you want to be a university internationally recognised, you must have affiliation with other universities outside the country. And you must have students and lecturers from other countries and curriculum that will make others to come. It is crystal clear that ABUAD place on the map of global education cannot be compromised,” Babalola said.