Nigeria sends 76 professors to serve in Uganda universities

Nigerian national flag. The Nigerian High Commission in Kampala has said they have deployed 76 Nigerian professors on the request of the government of Uganda to help develop capacity in four of Uganda’s universities

What you need to know:

  • Mr Arojo Jerome, the head of cooperation at the Nigerian High Commission in Uganda, said so far they have 76 professors spread in the Islamic University in Uganda, Kampala International University (KIU), Bishop Stuart University, and Kabale University, to help the universities develop their own expertise in areas they prioritised.

Kampala. The Nigerian High Commission in Kampala has said they have deployed 76 Nigerian professors on the request of the government of Uganda to help develop capacity in four of Uganda’s universities.
Addressing journalists at the High Commission’s offices in Kampala on Friday, Mr Lawel Bappah, the director of programmes at the Directorate of Technical Aid Corps at the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the professors are here under Nigeria’s Technical Aid Cooperation programme, through which the country deploys expatriates to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to develop expertise in areas where the recipient countries are lacking.

“This is an integral part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The department has the technical mandate to deploy technical assistance to ACP countries under the South to South Cooperation to develop their own local capacities,” he said.
He said ACP countries which lack experts in areas such as health, engineering, pharmacy and other specialised areas and require help to develop their own capacities can request for assistance from the Nigerian government, which sends them university professors whose allowances the Nigerian government pays, while the host country caters for their accommodation, transport and the utility bills.

Mr Arojo Jerome, the head of cooperation at the Nigerian High Commission in Uganda, said so far they have 76 professors spread in the Islamic University in Uganda, Kampala International University (KIU), Bishop Stuart University, and Kabale University, to help the universities develop their own expertise in areas they prioritised.
“Some of these universities lack heads of department. Our professors come here to volunteer as acting heads of department to develop local capacity on sabbatical leave. In KIU, our professor has established the first law clinic in East and Central Africa where legal minds come together to brainstorm on solutions to difficult cases,” he said.