Education

Tinubu is passionate in bridging educational gap in ACP countries – NTAC DG

Published

1 year ago

October 31, 2024

…As Nigeria Deploys 16 TAC Volunteers to Rwanda, Uganda

President Bola Tinubu is passionate in bridging both the educational and professional gap in African, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) countries, an official has said.

The Director-General, Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC), said this on Thursday during a deployment exercise for 16 Technical Aid Corps Volunteers (TAC) to be deployed to Republic of Rwanda and Republic of Uganda in East Africa.

The reports have it that the exercise is a pre-departure orientation for the TAC volunteers who are scheduled for a 24-month biennial scheme in Rwanda and Uganda under the service of NTAC as soft power diplomacy.

Yakub said that NTAC was working assiduously to meet the expectations of the President in projecting the foreign policy through soft power diplomacy to the ACP countries.

“The volunteers are expected to project and promote Nigeria as the giant of Africa and the only country in Africa that offers soft power diplomacy to its brothers and sisters.
“We are also meeting up with Mr President’s 4D agenda which are: Development, Democracy, Demography and Diaspora.

“Also in terms of the foreign policy initiatives he has introduced, President Tinubu has a great passion to see our fellow blacks all over the globe specifically in the ACP countries are being catered for in every area of their needs .

“So, today we are deploying some experts to the Eastern African countries of Rwanda and Uganda to serve in various capacities and to impact on the lives of the people.

“The volunteers are mostly engineers in different fields and they are the country’s best who we are sending as ambassadors of Nigeria to impact knowledge on their host communities.
“Nigeria has the best in the world and wherever we find ourselves, we must make sure that we give in our best,’’ he said.

Some TAC volunteers, who spoke at occasion promised to uphold Nigeria’s integrity in their host communities.

Prof. Abdul Isa, a Professor of Agriculture from Abubakar Tafawa Beleawa University, Bauchi, said that the foreign mission came as an opportunity for him to impact knowledge in another country in Africa.

Dr Unwana Ekpe, a PhD holder in Electronic Engineering from Akwa Ibom State University, said, “I am happy to be selected by NTAC to go and represent Nigeria in Uganda; I am particularly happy that out of 10,000 that applied, I was deemed fit to represent the country.

Also, Prof. Jerome Ihuma, Professor of Ecosystems Management, Forest Biology and Ecology, Bingham University, Karu, said that he was delighted to be selected as a TAC volunteer among the over 10,000 entries sent by professionals to NTAC.

“I am delighted to be among the volunteers, for me to be here, it means NTAC is not bias and sincere to all Nigerians.”

NAN

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Education

Athena Centre Appointed to NGREN Board as Federal Government Deepens Data-Driven Governance

Published

1 day ago

November 29, 2025

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership has been appointed to the Governing Board of the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN)/Tertiary Education Research Applications and Services (TERAS). NgREN -Nigeria’s national research and education backbone – provides high-speed connectivity, shared digital services, and collaboration infrastructure for universities and research institutions, while TERAS powers the digital applications that support research, data exchange, and digital learning across the tertiary system.

In a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja by the center’s Media and Communications Officer Paul Liam.

The new NgREN/TERAS Board was inaugurated by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, at the Nigeria National EdTech Strategy Mid-Term Co-Creation Workshop, hosted with support from Mastercard Foundation and the World Bank Group.

The Board includes the Executive Secretaries of NUC, NBTE, NCCE, and TETFund; representatives of vice chancellors, rectors, and provosts; and major digital infrastructure stakeholders such as NCC, Galaxy Backbone, and USPF. The Athena Centre joins the Board as the civil society voice.

In his remarks, Dr. Alausa acknowledged the Centre’s role in shaping national transparency reforms, noting that the Ministry’s Federal Tertiary Institutions Governance Transparency Portal (FTIGTP) drew inspiration from Athena’s research and advocacy.

He expressed confidence that the reconstituted Board will deliver measurable improvements within two years to strengthen Nigeria’s research ecosystem and digital readiness.

Representing the Centre on the Board, its Chancellor, Chief Osita Chidoka, OFR, commended the Ministry’s commitment to transparency and evidence-based reform.Reaffirming the Ministry’s digital direction, Dr. Alausa stated: “For the first time, Nigeria is building a unified data architecture for basic, secondary, and tertiary institutions. You cannot reform what you cannot measure, and we are determined to measure what matters.”

Echoing the need for interoperability, Dr. Tijani emphasised the importance of shared digital infrastructure, noting:“Digital transformation fails when systems operate in silos. Our priority is a national architecture where platforms talk to each other and every school is connected.”

Chidoka welcomed the digital innovation underway but stressed the importance of deeper inclusion of state governments, who own and manage most Nigerian schools, in planning, implementation, and financing.

According to him:“For education to succeed, states must invest, lead, and commit. The Federal Government must coordinate and support, but it cannot carry the burden of school management alone.”

The Athena Centre reaffirmed its commitment to supporting federal and state governments in strengthening education data systems, digital governance, and transparent accountability.Media Contact:

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