Three students of the First Technical, University, Ibadan, will undergo a two-month internship at Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, later this year.
The pioneer Vice Chancellor of the university (Tech-U), Professor Ayobami Salami, disclosed this during the week while speaking at the opening of a workshop on ‘Harmonising the Curriculum on the International Master in Sustainable Environmental Management (IMSEM) in Togo and Nigeria.
The workshop, which is holding at Tech-U, comes on the platform of the International SDG Network Promoting Higher Education Research in Togo and Nigeria (DAAD-TONI Project).
It is a tripartite partnership between Tech-U (with the Institute for Sustainable Development as the host academic unit in Nigeria); Goethe University, Frankfurt (with the Institute of Physical Geography and the ZIAF as the coordinating centre); and the University of Kara, Togo.
Speaking as the DAAD-TONI, project, Salami, who is the Team Lead, noted that three students of the University of Kara would also be part of the Frankfurt internship while similar exchanges are also scheduled for the future.
The acclaimed scholar who is currently the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Lagos State said, “The main focus of this project is capacity building for sustainable development through north-south and south-south collaboration among higher institutions of learning in Africa and Europe. Since the inception of this project in April/May 2023, there has been a series of activities such as north-south and south-south discussions, curriculum development and academic exchanges. Noteworthy are three-day kick-off workshop at the University of Kara, Togo in May, 2023 and internship by German students in Togo and Nigeria in October/November, 2023. Later this year, three students each from Tech-U and Kara will undertake a two-month internship in Germany, and in 2025. There will be opportunity for six students of Tech-U to undertake a 4-week visit to Kara while six students from Kara will also come to Tech-U for a duration of one month.”
Salami, who is currently the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Lagos State, stressed that the project, being a tripartite partnership, aimed at synergising knowledge and experiences to address specific SDGs.
“The approach is to evolve a framework that positively impacts higher education in Nigeria, Togo and Germany. The incorporation of sustainability practices and principles in the national higher education curriculum, regardless of the discipline, and development of curricula in different fields of sustainable development, will provide the needed consciousness in the population and the critical mass of local expertise required for generation of knowledge, advocacy, policy formulation and development as well as implementation of action plans geared towards expediting achievement of SDGs,” the former VC added.
He acknowledged the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany; German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), as well as Togo and Nigeria SDG partnerships 2023-2026 for the support provided for this project and for choosing to hold the 2024 DAAD-TONI project at Tech-U. He also appreciated the Vice Chancellor, Professor Adesola Ajayi, and management of First Technical University for the support provided to host the programme.
Lead from Goethe, Professor Jurgen Runge, also spoke on the significance of the project. According to him, all the three universities involved, though comparatively young, are connected by the need to build capacity in sustainable development.
While acknowledging the cultural intrigue the project has to navigate since it straddles the three major languages of German, English and French, Runge said the DAAD-TONI Project was a challenging one and expressed the hope that it would get more funding from other institutions.
The Lead from the University of Kara, Professor Kapenandja Laidja, thanked Professor Salami for the role he played in making the project a reality.
He emphasised that it would deepen capacity building in sustainable development and environments concerns.
The host VC, Professor Adesola Ajayi, expressed delight at the promise the project holds for Tech-U and the two other universities involved. According to him, opportunities have continued to open up for the Institute of Sustainable Development at Tech-U, adding that the vision that gave birth to it predated 2019 when it came on stream.
He, thus, thanked Professor Salami and Runge for taking the workshop to Tech-U.
Ajayi, however, called on academics to build partnerships across disciplines. He said the interplay of languages – German, English and French – at the event indicated that everyone should cultivate more languages.
“I understand German because I studied in Germany. I am learning French now. That should be the spirit,” he said.
Packaged by Dare Raji
