VICE CHANCELLORS IN NIGERIA CELEBRATE 60 YEARS OF EXISTENCE
In Nigeria, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Federal, State, and Private Universities will commemorate 60 + 1 years of its existence and operations. The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) Secretary General, Prof. Yakubu Aboki Ochefu, has released a schedule of events for the four-day event, which is set to begin on Monday, October 9, 2023, at Baze University in Abuja. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima will serve as Distinguished Guests of Honour, and the Honourable Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, will be Special
A Local Organising Committee, chaired by Prof Osita Agbu, has been working around the clock to put together a schedule to ensure a memorable celebration. The event will be co-hosted by the Acting Vice-Chancellor of Baze University, Prof Kathleen Okafor, SAN, with the President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Prof Ekanem Braide, scheduled to be the Keynote Speaker. The opening ceremony for Day 1 of the celebrations to honour CVCNU @60 is set to begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, October 9th. It will feature welcome remarks from the host VC and the National Chairman of CVCNU as well as expressions of goodwill from Special Guests.
Before the official Conference Opening ceremony/Exhibition between 1pm and 1:45pm, flag parades and group pictures would be held in Baze University’s large Multipurpose Hall. The first virtual panel on “GENDER EQUITY, EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION (GEEDI)” by Dr. Paul Igwe will take place at 5:30 p.m. on day 1 after the CVCNU members have their meeting from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The International Conference on Leadership and Gender will take place on Day 11 on Tuesday, October 10th, with the theme “UNDERREPRESENTATION OF WOMEN LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES.” Prof. David Rugara of Lincoln University in the United States is scheduled to welcome attendees for this session, and Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the first lady of Nigeria, will present goodwill words.
Prof. David Rugara of Lincoln University in the United States is scheduled to welcome attendees for this session, and Senators Ireti Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory, and Oluremi Tinubu, the first lady of Nigeria, will also send greetings. Prof. Ekanem I. Braide, national president of the National Academy of Science, will deliver the keynote address. A representative of USAID, Prof. Michael Faborode, a former secretary general of CVCNU, and Prof. Mrs. Nancy Agbe, the first vice chancellor of the University of Mkar, are among the panellists set up to respond to her presentation.
The international conference sessions would begin at around 11 am and run until 2 pm. Prof. Francis Egbokhare will preside over Panel 1 of this, which will discuss “Leadership and Management of Nigerian Higher and Further Education,” while Prof. Mrs. Ladi Hamalai will be in charge of Panel 11, which will cover “Responsibility, Sustainability, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”At this point, Paul Igwe’s “Emancipation, Eliminating Discrimination and Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls and People With Disability” virtual panel will be added.
On Day 11, there will be a MASTER CLASS period from 2 to 5 p.m. during which justice will be served on three matters of utmost significance to university education. Under the direction of Prof. Mrs. Francisca Oladipo, the first topic, “ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE(AI) AND THE FUTURE OF TEACHING,” will be discussed. Prof. Tanko Ishaya will preside over the second presentation, “CYBER SECURITY AND LEARNING ANALYTICS FOR EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS,” while Mr. Adedamilola Adedotun will preside over “FUNDING AND PROFITING FROM UNIVERSITY SPORTS.”
Day 11, Wednesday 11th October would be taken up mainly with ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS WITH EXPERTS between 9am and 11am with the topic “FEDERATING EDUCATIONAL REPOSITORIES”, to be chaired by Prof Chinwe Veronica Anunobi(National Librarian of Nigeria), while discussants would be Mr Joseph Ojo(Director of ICT at the Tertiary Education Trust Fund), Prof Jubril Alhassan(Chairman, Librarians of Nigerian Universities) and Prof Abiodun Adeniyi of Baze University. Professors David Rugara and Simon Lilley from Lincoln University will provide a unique talk between 11 and 11:30 a.m.
Prof. Aisha Sani Maikudi will preside over Panel 111, “Addressing Women’s Underrepresentation and Enabling Educational Access, Inclusion, and Tackling Subject Segregation,” while Ms. Philippa Joanne Denny-Gelder will preside over Panel 1V, “Challenging Gender Bias, Stereotypes, Discrimination, and Stigmatisation.” Following this, the third virtual panel, which will be moderated by Prof. Enase Okonedo, vice chancellor of Pan Atlantic University, will discuss “Entrepreneurship Development and Strengthening Pathways for Women Graduates Employment.” After lunch, between 3:15 and 4:30 pm, participants in a Soapbox discussion on the topic of “EQUITY, EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSIVITY ON OUR CAMPUSES: PERSPECTIVES OF THE OPERATORS” would be riveted by the personal experiences of some of the Vice-Chancellors.
Those scheduled to narrate their experiences as Panellists, under the chairmanship of Prof Umaru Pate(VC, Federal University Kashere),include Prof Charles Igwe(University of Nigeria, Nsuka), Prof Neal Juster(Lincoln University, USA), Prof Fatima Tahir (Bauchi State University), Prof Kathleen Ebelechukwu Okafor,SAN (Baze University), Prof Abdulrasheed Na’Allah(University of Abuja) and Prof Ajith Kumar V.V(Skyline University).The Communique Committee of the conference is anticipated to offer a Communique to participants as part of the winding up and closing ceremony on the third day of the very powerful commemoration of CVCNU @60 between 4:30 and 5:30pm. A farewell dinner and awards gala would start at 6 o’clock.
The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Women in Higher Education Leadership (WIHEL), British Council-Gender Equality/Going Global Partnership, University of Lincoln, Baze University, and the African Development Institute of Research Methodology (ADIRM) Enugu, Nigeria are among the co-hosts and sponsors of the CVCNU @60 events. The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) has a history that stretches back to the 1960s, when the Vice-Chancellors of the few Federal and Regional Universities thought it was important to get together and discuss how their respective Schools were run. Professors Kenneth Dike of the University of Ibadan, Eni Njoku of the University of Lagos, Norman Alexander of Ahmadu Bello University, G. A. Ajose of the University of Ife, along with Dr George Marion Johnson of University of Nigeria, Nsuka, established this informal forum in October 1962.
They occasionally got together to discuss issues in their institutions and potential solutions. The ability to coordinate consensus viewpoints on the implementation of government policies impacting tertiary education, however, was of greater importance to them at the time. CVCNU was officially registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in 1994 as the “Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Federal Universities.” Vice Chancellors of all National Universities Commission-approved Universities were eligible to join.
The Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) was established in 1994 to incorporate State Universities with the entry of State owned and privately operated Universities. The Association was also incorporated when, in 1999, the Federal Government approved a licence for the formation of private Universities. Because of this, the many associations and committees of vice chancellor from federal, state, and private universities currently in existence are all separate organisations that operate under the auspices of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities.
