Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, and the University of Glasgow (UofG), United Kingdom, have agreed to collaborate on joint teaching, postgraduate supervision, student exchange programmes, and the promotion of joint research grants and funding.
The agreement followed a meeting between the Vice-Chancellors of both institutions held recently at the University of Glasgow. The meeting was anchored by Professor Harry de Koning of UofG.
The Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Professor Adamu Ahmed, led a delegation from the university to the United Kingdom, where the team engaged in high-level exploratory discussions with officials of the University of Glasgow and the University of Salford. The engagements were aimed at advancing existing individual academic partnerships into broader institutional collaborations.
Under the proposed student exchange programme, selected ABU students will have the opportunity to spend up to six months at relevant research units of the University of Glasgow. The collaboration will also enable professors from both institutions to participate in joint teaching, with University of Glasgow academics teaching specific modules at ABU and vice versa.
The agreement further provides for joint supervision of postgraduate students, with professors from the University of Glasgow serving as co-supervisors to ABU postgraduate students and granting them access to research facilities in the UK. A Memorandum of Understanding to formalise the collaboration is currently being prepared by the management of the University of Glasgow.
In a related development, the University of Salford has agreed to mount virtual training programmes on entrepreneurship and skills acquisition for the Ahmadu Bello University community. The initiative followed discussions between the ABU delegation and several research groups at Salford’s School of Science, Engineering, and Environment.
The training will be delivered by professors Ian Goodhead, Niroshini Nirmalan, and Godwin Ebiloma of the University of Salford. In return, the University of Salford requested that relevant experts from Ahmadu Bello University provide specialised teaching on tropical medicine.
At the University of Salford, the Centre Leader of the Africa Centre of Excellence for Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology, Professor Y.K.E. Ibrahim, presented a proposal on the Alliance for NCD and NTDs Comorbidities, a planned consortium focused on neglected tropical diseases and non-communicable diseases.
Following the presentation, several principal investigators from both the University of Glasgow and the University of Salford expressed interest in joining the consortium. It was also agreed that the Africa Centre of Excellence for Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology would participate in the validation and clinical trials of a repositioned antimalarial drug.
Throughout the meetings, Professor Adamu Ahmed reiterated the university’s commitment to ensuring the success of the partnerships. It was further agreed that the collaborations should be expanded to include other ABU faculties, particularly Social Sciences, Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine, and Administration, as well as research institutes and units such as the National Animal Production Research Institute, the Institute for Agricultural Research, and Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital.
Professor Ahmed encouraged ABU staff and students to familiarise themselves with the academic and research activities of both UK universities.
The visit was built on existing productive collaborations between academic staff of Ahmadu Bello University and the University of Glasgow and University of Salford.
Members of the Vice-Chancellor’s delegation included Professor Y.K.E. Ibrahim, Centre Leader of the Africa Centre of Excellence for Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology; Professor Iliya Ndams, Principal Investigator at the centre; and Professor Emmanuel Oluwadare Balogun of the Department of Biochemistry.
