30 countries to grace African Universities Confab - Oloyede

Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin, said more than 300 participants from 30 countries had registered to participate in the 12th Association of African Universities (AAU) conference in Abuja.

Oloyede, who said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja, added his University and the University of Abuja were co-hosting the conference on behalf of Nigeria.

He said the conference slated for May 4 to May 9 would be declared open on Monday, May 4, by President Umaru Yar'Adua at the International Conference Centre.

Oloyede said the conference ``is an assembly of representatives of all

member-institutions, which meets every four years to assess activities implemented in the preceding years''.

He said the theme of the conference: ``Sustainable Development in Africa: The Role of Higher Education'', would also feature issues such as teaching and learning, research and development, engaging the community and greening the campus.

The vice chancellor said the forum would not only challenge African universities to play active roles in fostering quality of teaching and learning for sustainable development, but would also encourage them to nurture networks, linkages

and exchanges.
He said there would also be elections of new officers to run the affairs of the association for the next four years as the post of the President, three Vice Presidents and 11 members of the Executive Board would become vacant

during the conference.
``Only serving executive head of full members of the Association in good standing and physically present at the General Conference are eligible for election as President or Vice President,'' he said.

NAN recalls that the 11th General Conference of AAU was held in Cape Town, South Africa, in February 2005 with the theme: ``Cross-Border Provision and the Future of Higher Education in Africa''.

NAN reports that the Association, which was founded in Rabat, Morocco, in 1967 with an initial membership of 34 now, has more than 240 members drawn from 45 countries.