The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), charged with the mandate to improve the quality and maintenance of standards in higher educational institutions across Nigeria, has secured an agreement with Morgan State University (MSU), Maryland, USA, to embark on a collaboration that will enable student exchanges between Nigerian tertiary institutions and MSU.
The five-year agreement which was announced by the President of MSU, David K Wilson, will allow graduate students from public tertiary institutions in Nigeria to pursue PhD programmes, in addition to the cohorts of postdoctoral researchers from Nigeria who will also conduct various research at MSU.
Wilson said, ‘This is a historic collaboration for [MSU], possibly the largest such agreement of its kind between an African nation and an American institution of higher education. Through our arrangement with the TETFund, not only will [MSU] greatly enhance its standing as a high research university, but the resulting research could be globally beneficial.
‘[MSU] provides world-class education, and we are appreciative of being given this opportunity to work in partnership with Nigeria to produce intellectual capital capable of advancing the nation toward its goals’.
In a statement from the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Professor Suleiman E Bogoro, he said, ‘TETFund is glad to secure a worthy partnership with [MSU] through the recently signed MoU that reflects a new paradigm in TETFund, geared towards content development of more than 220 public (federal- and state-owned) tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria.
‘These institutions are the direct beneficiaries of TETFund intervention lines, being academic staff training and development, [R and D] as well as the upcoming TETFund [Centres] of Excellence. We appreciate the mutual respect and understanding between the leadership of both institutions in making this historic and special agreement a reality.
‘We look forward to the future of shared opportunities between TETFund and [MSU] towards meeting the human capital development, exchange [programmes], infrastructure and overall economic development aspirations of Nigeria and the USA’.
The agreement allows for not less than 50 students each year to pursue their PhD and postdoctoral research in MSU.
Source: Vanguard
Photo source: US Army CCDC
