Ugandan varsities woo Nigerian dons

The services of Nigerian lecturers are in high demand in some other African countries.

One of them is Uganda where the Islamic University, Mbale has requested for 57 lecturers in various fields from the Federal Government.

This is sequel to a bilateral pact signed between the Federal Government and the Republic of Uganda last month in which Nigeria renewed its pact to assist the East African country with skilled personnel.

The Director-General, Directorate of Technical Aid Corps (TAC), Mr Pius Osunyikanmi, said the request was submitted through the Nigerian Embassy in Kampala.

The Directorate of Technical Aid Corps is an agency of Foreign Ministry which assist African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries with human resource.

Osunyikanmi, who spoke with reporters in Akure, said the request of the Islamic University was made through its Vice-Rector, Dr Mouhamad Mpezamihigo, who led officials of Ugandan universities to the signing ceremony where the pact was renewed.

The university, which is said to have no fewer than 200 Nigerian students, is seeking lecturers, especially in Engineering, Law, Medicine and Education.

Osunyikanmi said lecturers (mainly first degree holders with at least three years’ experience) to be recruited under the scheme would be deployed next January. However, he said TAC is finding it difficult enlisting Doctorate Degree holders in the scheme as the remuneration they are to receive is below the industry standard in Nigeria.

Because a lot of requests from majority of African countries are for PhD holders, Osunyikanmi said the TAC would make a request to President Goodluck Jonathan to approve increase in the stipend for senior lecturers to meet the demand of the countries.

He said: “The request from our brothers for our assistance is massive. In fact, less than a month after we renewed the pact with Uganda, we have got about 150 requests. This scheme is mutually beneficial to us in Nigeria and those countries we are deploying to. With it, we feel proud of playing our role which is also exposing our youths to outside practices.”

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