The Gambia lauds Nigeria for educational intervention

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By Maureen Okon

The Gambian government on Thursday, lauded Nigeria for its educational interventions, acknowledging the significant impact witnessed in the sector.

Prof. Pierre Gomez, Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology of The Gambia, said that the Nigerian government’s interventions had been instrumental in transforming the sector.

He made this known during a courtesy visit to Dr Yusuf Yakub, the Director-General (DG) of Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC) in Abuja.

Gomez expressed his gratitude to Nigeria, noting that the country’s intervention has yielded impressive results.

He said the Gambian President was pleased with the impact of Nigeria professors from NTAC at the University of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (USET).

He revealed that the Nigerian professors sent had changed the narrative in the country’s higher education, with regards to skills, innovation and enterprise development.

According to him, due to this development, enrollment at USET increased from 47 to more than 200 in the last academic session.

Gomez extolled the professional astuteness of the Technical Aid Corps (TAC) volunteers, currently serving in his country.

He added that the engineering professors were championing a new way of thinking, promoting self-funding initiatives to reduce dependence on government subvention.

Gomez informed Yakub that The Gambia had established a new University of Education in his country, adding that they looked toward the direction of Nigeria to help in fostering the university into a place of excellence.

He said that all universities must be seen as places of excellence, and Nigeria had all it took to foster such demands.

Apart from expressing gratitude to the Federal Government of Nigeria, Gomez revealed that his delegation had another reason for the visit.

“Today, we are here again to request the help of our big brother, Nigeria, this is because your volunteers have performed greatly well in our country.

“The great dynamism they have brought into our country’s higher education is changing the narratives everywhere and we cannot but request for more to mentor our teachers and administrators to get things right,” he said.

Responding, NTAC DG assured the people of The Gambia of the continuous support of Nigeria in the area of her educational needs.

He added that, the whole idea of NTAC was to fill such gaps among brother nations in the African, Caribbean and the Oceania (ACP) countries.

Yakub congratulated the government and people of The Gambia on the roles Gomez had continued to play to better the higher education sector of the country.

He said that the new university of education was being established to produce highly qualified teachers who would contribute to the growth of education and research in West Africa, not just The Gambia.

The DG pledged to set in motion the process of offering the requested assistance to The Gambia in the weeks ahead.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on the minister’s delegation were Dr Alieu B. Senghore, Chairman of the University of Education, The Gambia, and Mr Aboubacarr Jallow, Provost of the University.

Others include Mr Siaka Saidilzigh, Principal Assistant Secretary at the country’s Ministry of Higher Education and Mr Babucarr Dumbuya, First Secretary at the High Commission of The Gambia in Abuja.

Present from NTAC were Amb. Zakari Usman, Director of Programmes and other top officers of the agency. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Idowu Ariwodola/Halima Sheji

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