Historic black higher institution Howard University of America is to collaborate with the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) through faculty and student exchanges in key disciplines of pharmacy, medicine, nursing, dentistry and law.

The collaboration follows extensive discussions and meetings involving a UNN team led by Vice-Chancellor Professor Bartholomew Okolo and officials of Howard University led by Provost and Chief Academic Officer Professor Wayne A.I. Fredrick. The UNN team met with their Howard counterparts on Friday, August 16, at the Howard campus in Maryland, Washington DC, USA.

The collaboration, as solicited by the UNN Vice-Chancellor, would include staff and student exchanges, joint workshops and conferences, shared curricula and joint grant applications. Both parties are working on the memorandum of understanding covering the agreement.

The Howard University team comprised of Provost Fredrick, Dr Alvin Thornton, senior academic adviser to the President, Dean of the College of Pharmacy Dr. Anthony Wutoh, Dean of the College of Medicine Dr Mark Johnson and Dean of the College of Nursing and Applied Sciences Dr Mary Hill.

On the mission with Okolo were Professor Anene Moneke, Senior Special Assistant to the VC on Projects and Head, Department of Microbiology; Professor Ben Ogwo, Director Centre for Technical Vocational Education, Training and Research; and Dr Bennet Nwanguma, Senior Special Assistant to the Vice Chancellor on Special Duties.

Howard University is a federally chartered, private, coeducational, non-sectarian, historically black university. Founded in 1867, Howard is one of only 48 U.S. private, Doctoral/Research-Extensive universities, comprising 12 schools and colleges with 10,500 students enjoying academic pursuits in more than 120 areas of study leading to undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. The university continues to attract the nation’s top students and produces more on-campus African-American Ph.Ds than any other university in the world. Since 1998, the University has produced a Rhodes Scholar, a Truman Scholar, six Fulbright Scholars and nine Pickering Fellows.

Founder of UNN, the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, was a notable alumnus of Howard University. So is current President of the institution H. Patrick Swygert, the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; the first African-American governor L. Douglas Wilder; Nobel Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison; Savage Holdings LLC CEO and Howard Board of Trustees Chairman Frank Savage. Others include Emmy Award-winning actress Phylicia Rashad; opera singer Jessye Norman; actress, producer and director Debbie Allen; the first African-American president of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. LaSalle Leffall, Jr.; attorney, civil rights leader and Wall St. executive Vernon Jordan; former mayor and United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young; and the first female mayor of Atlanta, Shirley Franklin.

University of Nigeria is the first full-fledged university in Nigeria, founded in Nigeria’s independence year 1960. The 53-year old institution runs diverse programmes in arts and sciences featuring 15 faculties, 105 departments and seven directorates charged with special projects. It has a student body of 40,000 in four campuses of Nsukka, Enugu, Ituku Ozalla and Aba.

The main campus in Nsukka houses programmes in agriculture, basic and biological sciences, engineering, arts and social sciences while the Enugu campus houses professional courses in management, architecture, law and environmental sciences. The College of Medicine, with a teaching and referral hospital, is located at Ituku-Ozalla, on the outskirts of the Enugu State capital, while the School of Languages is located at Aba, in Abia State.

The collaboration with Howard University is in line with a programme by University Management under Okolo’s leadership to pursue institutional advancement and revive the original vision of building a global centre of learning in Nsukka. UNN has entered collaborations with no fewer than 40 institutions across four continents since 2009.

Photo: UNN and Howard University officials with Howard Provost Fredrick and UNN VC Okolo 4th and 5th from left.

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