Lagos State University and the University of Sierra Leone are set to partner in the areas of ICT, distance learning, entepreneurship, research supervision and staff exchange in a move that will deepen existing collaboration between the two institutions.
The development was the outcome of a meeting held on Tuesday, 13th August 2024, when the leadership of the University of Sierra Leone, led by the Chancellor, Dr Margaret Gbanie and the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aiah R. Lebbie visited the management of Lagos State University at the Vice Chancellor’s Office in Ojo, Lagos.
Dr Hakeem Akintoye, Deputy Centre Director of the Africa Centre of Excellence for Innovative and Transformative STEM Education (ACEITSE), the Centre that facilitated the meeting, gave a background of the collaborative engagement. He explained that in 2023, ACEITSE sent scouts to attract new students to the postgraduate programmes of the Centre, a move that birthed the admission of several new foreign students, including some staff and former students of the University of Sierra Leone. He said that the friendly learning experiences of the foreign students, particularly those from the University of Sierra Leone, encouraged the leadership of the School to explore concrete areas of a new partnership with LASU, in addition to already existing ones.
Dr Margaret Gbanie, Chancellor of the University of Sierra and head of the delegation, expressed gratitude to LASU for giving some of their staff and students who are taking their Masters and PhD programmes at the Centre a welcoming academic environment.
The visiting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aiah Lebbie, in his remark, said the visit was aimed at strengthening his university’s partnership with LASU by exploring new areas of opportunities, including ICT, distance learning, entrepreneurship, and exchange programmes. He said, ‘Our visit is to cement our collaboration, which you have started with the admission of some of our staff and students at the ACEITSE. However, we want to take it to a level where we can reciprocate through exchange programmes while learning from you.’
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, mni, NPOM, was represented at the meeting by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, Prof. Adenike Boyo, who expressed LASU’s willingness to deepen the relationship. She assured that with the quality and expertise of its faculty and staff, and available facilities, the university is well placed to provide the support that the leadership of the University of Sierra Leone is seeking to develop the institution. She concluded that the institutions should work on a joint Memorandum of Understanding as a roadmap for the proposed partnership.
The meeting was attended by members of the management of the University of Sierra Leone as well as Lagos State University. The principal officers were joined by the Director, Directorate of Linkages, Partnerships and Collaboration, Prof. Kabir Akinyemi and the Director, DICT, Prof. Oluwatoyin Enikuomehin.