President Jonathan happy with NgREN - Directs HME on Network Expansion The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, on Monday, 8 September, 2014, commended the efforts of the National Universities Commission (NUC) in spearheading the establishment of the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN) and ensuring the smooth take-off of the Project. He pledged the Federal Government’s continued support for the expansion of the Network. Speaking when the Chairman of NUC’s Governing Board, Senator Dr. Amadu Ali, GCON and the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Professor Julius A. Okojie, OON, led a team to the Presidential Villa to brief him on the progress of the NgREN, “the capabilities that exist on the Network and the benefits to the connected universities”, President Jonathan expressed delight that Nigeria had made good progress on the REN, adding that the Project was vital to the success of his Administration’s Transformation Agenda. The President stated that he was in support of the Project as it provided an interactive platform for universities to share resources. He observed that it was necessary to expand the NgREN to accommodate other tertiary institutions in the country. He directed the Honourable Minister of Education to work out modalities for the expansion of the Project. In his remarks, the Vice President, Arch. Namadi Sambo, GCON, commended the NUC team for the excellent work on the Project, adding that he supported Mr. President’s decision to expand the NgREN beyond the current 27 universities to accommodate other institutions within the Nigerian University System (NUS) as well as other tertiary institutions in the country. Briefing the President, the Executive Secretary, NUC and Chairman of NgREN’s Board, Professor Julius A. Okojie, noted that the nation recorded a major milestone on Tuesday, July 8, 2014, when the President, represented by the Honourable Minister of State for Education, Barr. Nyesom Wike, officially commissioned the NgREN, which placed Nigerian institutions on the same pedestal as their counterparts in developed countries. The Project, the Executive Secretary said, had assisted Nigerian universities to take a giant leap into 21st century teaching, learning and research. In a presentation to the President, the NgREN Project Manager, Dr. Joshua Atah, observed that National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) were established in most countries to connect education and research institutions directly to one another, with other Research and Education Networks (RENs) as well as the “Commercial” or “Commodity” Internet, using ICT. The Project Manager said that the hallmark of growing economies was their reliance on their knowledge capital, adding that the most competitive economies today, had active RENs which were established between the 1980s and the early 1990s. He noted that because the NUC was the quality assurance agency responsible for the development of university education in Nigeria, the Commission recognised the need to establish the NgREN in order to ensure that Nigerian institutions were at par with global standards and that the production of graduates and research outputs in the NUS met national and global needs. Dr. Atah observed that, until the establishment of the NgREN, Nigeria was the biggest country in the world without a REN. He told the President that the commissioning ceremony witnessed a high-definition video conferencing which connected the NgREN to other national and international partners, including the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the Kent State University in Ohio, USA. The Project Manager informed the President that the first phase of the Project had connected 27 universities, the NUC and the Committee of Vice-Chancellors’ Secretariat. He stated that the immediate strategic benefits of the NgREN included: the expansion of access to education in order to bridge the existing gap between the number of applicants and the carrying capacities of institutions; improved quality of teaching and research, the consequent multiplier impact of which could not be quantified; internationalisation of education and resource sharing; improved institutional ranking and global visibility of efforts; and cost savings and enhanced cost-effectiveness. The meeting had, in attendance, the Honourable Minister of State for Education, Barr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, the Chief of Staff to the President, Brig.-Gen. Jones Arogbofa, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Engr. M. A. K. Abubakar and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Dr. Reuben Abati. On the Executive Secretary’s entourage were the Alternate Chairman, Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities and Vice-Chancellor, Bayero University, Kano, Professor Abubakar Rasheed; Secretary General, Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Professor Michael Faborode; and President, Association of African Universities and Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Professor Olusola Oyewole.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 09:34:45 +0000
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