Chinedu Otuya, Author at NgREN - Nigerian Research and Education Network

…EU commits €37m to RENS

The Federal Republic of Nigeria has charged African countries on greater cooperation in harnessing the power of research and education without which the continent cannot move forward.

Nigeria’s Minister of Education Prof. Tahir Mamman made this call while declaring open the 2024 edition of the West African and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN 2024) Conference in Abuja.

According to the Minister, “We must harness the power of research and education to propel the African continent forward. Whether it is in the fields of healthcare, technology, conference, agriculture, or governance.

The Minister underscored the transformative power of collaboration and innovation, emphasizing that the development of Africa depends on the output of her research works adding that education was the cornerstone of development, upon which nations build their future.

“We also recognise the transformative power of education in shaping lives, through innovation and fostering sustainable development, he said.

He further emphasized the importance of leveraging initiatives like the WACREN conference to strengthen regional ties and build networks that transcend geographical boundaries.

Prof Mamman called for collective efforts to advance education and research in West and Central Africa, recognizing the potential for innovative minds and scholarly endeavours to provide solutions to pressing issues.

He also highlighted the Federal Ministry of Education’s roadmap to transform the educational system of Nigeria under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, expressing optimism about the future of the country’s education sector and calling for support from stakeholders across the African continent.

In his remarks, Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Mr. Chris Maiyaki, while speaking on the conference theme, “Forging Future High Education and Research Communities,” emphasised the need for proactive, innovative, and forward-thinking approaches to teaching, learning, and research. He encouraged participants to embrace digital transformation, foster collaboration, and cultivate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among students and faculty.

Maiyaki’s remarks highlighted the importance of preparing higher education and research communities for the challenges and opportunities ahead, calling for engagement in thought-provoking discussions, sharing best practices, and exploring innovative solutions to common challenges.

He emphasized the collective efforts needed to shape a brighter future for generations to come, encouraging active participation and networking among participants.

“I encourage all participants to actively engage in sessions, network with their peers and seize the opportunity to contribute their expertise and insight to the discussions, together we can forge stronger more resilient higher education and research communities that are capable of shaping a brighter future for generations to come.”

Also at the conference, The European Union (EU) Ambassador to Nigeria, Mrs. Samuela Isopi disclosed that her organization has earmarked the sum of €37 million to assist African and Arab nations to digitalise education and research.

Speaking through the First Secretary, Team Leader Human Development Delegation of EU to Nigeria, Leila Mathieu, she said the EU would enable Africa/Europe digital partnership.

“As European Commission, we are committed to continue supporting the digital transformation of the education and research and innovation sectors in Africa, and to increase the capacity of Research and Education Networks (RENs) to deliver to their member institutions.

“We will do this in full complementarity with other programmes on regulatory support and connectivity investments for a comprehensive Africa-Europe digital partnership.

“We aim at fostering our digital partnership with Africa by promoting access to high-quality, affordable and secure digital infrastructure by supporting the set-up of policy frameworks, and by fostering digital skills and entrepreneurship.

“One of our key objectives is to support the strengthening of research and education systems and to establish strong links between Europe and Africa in these sectors.

“Since 2011, the European Union has been supporting through our Africa Connect projects, the creation, consolidation and interconnection of Research and Education Networks in Africa and in Arab countries, supporting and working closely with our regional partners WACREN, ASREN, Ubuntu Net Alliance and our European partner GEANT.

“This project is currently at its third phase with a total budget of €37.5 million. Remarkable progress has been achieved, providing meaningful connectivity and services to over 1,700 institutions and 4.5 million end-users.”

She also noted that at the national level, the delegation of the EU to Nigeria was supporting the digital transformation of the country and its vibrant community of digital entrepreneurs, through various projects, adding that the EU was also supporting education at all levels, as well as science and innovation.

This, she stated, was with the hope to help Nigerian academics, institutions and scientists better access its competitive global funds, such as Horizon Europe and Erasmus for Nigeria to take its rightful position in international science and academia, fostering better and closer collaboration with European academic and research institutions.

The Chief Executive Officer of WACREN, Dr. Boubakar Barry, on his part thanked their partners for the success achieved so far.

“Our successes would not have been partly possible without our partners here present to whom I extend my warmest thanks, more particularly, the European Commission for its multifaceted support.

“I have not forgotten the French Development Agency (AFD) for its support of the Africa Digital Campus project in our region.

“We also look forward to strengthening our cooperation with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the years to come.

“I also thank the World Bank, which has been instrumental in enabling new NRENs to be connected to the WACREN backbone network,” he said.

Closing the week-long event, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgRen), Dr Joshua Atah described the conference as successful. This he said were in terms of engagement in thought-provoking discussions, shared best practices, and forging meaningful connections.

“We have explored innovative approaches to teaching, learning, and research, and we have identified opportunities for collaboration and partnership that will shape the future of higher education in West and Central Africa.

“I am particularly encouraged by the spirit of collaboration and camaraderie that has characterised our interactions over the past few days. Despite the diverse backgrounds and perspectives represented in this room, we have come together with a shared vision and a shared commitment to excellence”, he said.

He urged participants to remain committed to the principles of innovation and collaboration that have been at the heart of the discussions.

“The challenges facing higher education and research in our region are significant, but they are not insurmountable. By leveraging our collective expertise and resources, I believe that we can build a future where education catalyses positive change and sustainable development.

“I therefore urge each of you to continue the conversations that we have started here and to remain steadfast in your commitment to excellence”, he added.

Atah thanked every one for their participation and contributions to the conference; “from WACREN, GEANT, Amazon Web Services, National Open University of Nigeria, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVC), Africa Connect 3, IXPN, Infrafocus Technologies, ORCID and LIQUID Intelligent Technologies, to my colleagues at NgREN and many more who I may not have mentioned. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as your host, and I look forward to our continued collaboration in the years to come.”

On September 13 and 14, key stakeholders in Nigerian science and scholarly communities meet to chart a course for increased awareness of the open science infrastructure, practices, and cultural transformation needed to catalyse the institutional changes required to amplify the contribution of researchers to national development and the global knowledge economy.

The central aim of the 2nd edition of the LIBSENSE Open Science Symposium in Nigeria is to enhance the infrastructure and avenues for publishing and disseminating Nigerian research. This includes a specific emphasis on elevating its visibility and impact in alignment with the broader goals of participating organisations such as the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB). These organisations are instrumental in promoting open access, ensuring publication quality and bolstering the infrastructure necessary for global accessibility of academic works.

The Conference of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), the Association of University Librarians in Nigerian Universities (AULNU) and the Eko-Konnect Research and Education Initiative will spearhead the collaborative two-day effort aimed at a unified approach to exploit open science to advance research and education in Nigeria.

The CVCNU will leverage its leadership role within this stakeholder mix to facilitate the awareness and adoption of open science infrastructures and approaches for the visibility of Nigerian scholarship.

Increasing and improving research visibility in our institutions of higher learning can no longer be left to individual researchers alone; a community of actors cutting across several operating verticals is now vital to such a move. This multi-stakeholder engagement aims to promote this kind of thought”, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, Sec-Gen, CVCNU Nigeria.

The event will cover critical open science matters, including policy awareness, an open research commons and feature break-out sessions on capacity building, infrastructure, funding and governance.

In his remarks ahead of the Workshop, Prof. Jibril Alhassan, the Chair for AULNU, which has colocated its bi-annual meeting with the symposium, said his library body is looking to “identify bottlenecks militating against the effective functioning of institutional repositories in Nigeria to address the problems and ensure their’ interoperability. The overarching aim is to facilitate the gradual integration of these repositories at a global level.”

For his part, the CEO of Eko-Konnect, Owen Iyoha, expressed the hope that the Symposium will enlighten the research and education community to open science best practices, leading to increased buy-in.

The event will cover critical open science matters, including policy awareness, an open research commons and feature break-out sessions on capacity building, infrastructure, funding and governance.

Contents

Entry

Processing of Sweetness and Sourness Poulet club

Closing

Acknowledgment name

Appendix

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Unveiling

Preparation in a hotel encompasses the provision and murder of diverse activities. It may incorporate unmanageable or easier tasks that ask the direction of various resources. These resources occasionally show to be arduous due to the crown hours specially dejeuner and dinner multiplication. The cookery and portion of Odorous and Work Chickenhearted on clip is critical as far as the accomplishment of client gratification is interested.

This requires nimble and effective kitchen operations in ordering to minimise declining their orders, which could increment operational expenses. In panorama of this, virtually successful preparation and service, an ordering has been evaluated victimization Gantt graph and vital route psychoanalysis.

Withal, the work of Gantt graph and vital course psychoanalysis to supervise preparation and portion serve is that such a procedure does not allow options for uncertainties during the summons of complemental an club (Maylor, 2005).

Culinary studio is the world’s well-nigh pop lily-livered eatery strand, specializing in variedly flavored wimp varieties. It is adopting decisive route psychoanalysis and Gantt graph in the service an fiat of Odoriferous and Turn Lily-livered edict. This volition aid the client patronise the eatery again as the services bequeath sustain been straightaway. The hotel bequeath besides use clock and over-the-counter resources expeditiously (Meredith, 2006).

Culinary studio delegacy is providing customers’ ducky White-livered. It focuses not lonesome on the intersection of Chickenhearted but too to the see of having the wimp by creating an surround for rest as you delay for tiffin or dinner.

This charge encompasses phoebe Ps: mass, products, berth, toll and packaging, in an try to see that the customers’ live at Culinary studio’s restaurants cadaver surpassing and unparallel. Culinary studio besides stiff attached to up its operations forever, which leave finally heighten customers’ have.

Culinary studio’s delegation assertion highlights the grandness of quadruplet Ps in its incorporated refinement. By victimisation these fin Ps https://www.yelp.com/biz/edubirdie-wilmington, Culinary studio has created a potent militant reward for itself; the company’s winner is attributed to this private-enterprise vantage.

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The delegacy command of culinary studio, to suit customer’s ducky post and the way to eat, is rather unsubtle. In edict to accomplish this commission, Culinary studio has to better every scene of its operations and this betterment has to be uninterrupted.

Processing of Sweetness and Acidity Wimp ordering

Afters and Work Volaille is one of the nearly darling dishes to client who patronise Culinary studio eatery. Service the customers speedily testament cater a kinship to likely customers and let individuals to recall the master aspects of the eatery.

To service this decree victimisation Gantt graph, testament supply a unequalled way of service customers and helper eatery bear an power to center multiple orders simultaneously.

The edict testament need the fetching the decree, grooming, preparation and service inside a shortstop menses. Later the decree has been interpreted, the boss testament be notified to put duties to his faculty. The faculty bequeath be mired in preparing ingredients and cookery and this bequeath be handed complete to the waiters who takes the club.

Gantt graph and vital route psychoanalysis leave be victimised to accomplish this ordering to adequately. All the tasks byzantine in the processing of the rescript deliver been identified and let been pronounced as to cruciality. Clip interpreted for apiece activeness has been estimated.

To be successful, the shortest meter interpreted to discharge the labor has been ascertained. Former aspects of thoughtfulness are the resources to be put-upon besides as the episode and programming of activities. Another key thoughtfulness in execution the projection is the prioritization of the tasks (Clements and Gido, 2009).

The ingredients for preparing Confection and https://proclockers.com/resource/5-latest-gadgets-to-help-you-with-assignments/ Acidity Wimp are ( Lindahu, 2011):

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1 in cubes of skinless, boneless lily-livered titty halves

1 can ananas chunks, dead

1/4 cup cornflour

1 3/4 cups irrigate, shared

3/4 cup flannel clams

1/2 cup distilled ovalbumin acetum

2 drops orangish coloring

2 1/4 cups self-rising flour

2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons cornflour

1/2 teaspoonful salinity

1/4 teaspoonful priming pepper

1 egg

1 1/2 cups urine

1 quart oil for sauteing

2 jet paprika, dig 1 in pieces

The directions for preparing and cookery the looker are as follows

Rinse the volaille, and totter dry with newspaper towels

Put reserved ananas succus, 1 1/2 cups irrigate, orangish colouring, boodle, and acetum in saucepan.

Roil and put 1/4 cup weewee and 1/4 cup cornflour patch tardily inspiration to pass ticking.

Put flour, 2 tablespoons cornflour, ovalbumin peppercorn, 2 tablespoons oil, and salinity so https://www.findtheneedle.co.uk/article/real-edubirdie-review-by-academicians-and-students put 1 1/2 cups urine piece soul-stirring ahead putt chickenhearted pieces for finish.

Estrus oil to 180 degrees C so Fry volaille pieces for 10 transactions in the oil

Put and debilitate on theme towels the Crybaby.

Put cooked poulet pieces, bed viridity peppers, and ananas chunks on a portion home and decant hot confection and tartness sauce concluded top.

Process the client.

(Lindahu, 2011)

In edict to arrant the performance of the club and control uttermost gratification to the client, the shortest clip and the almost commodious methods leave be followed. Aft pickings the fiat from the client, the server testament use adps to beam it to the kitchen; this is a real commodious and takes the shortest meter to 2 proceedings.

This bequeath be followed by the actions of the chef who testament portion duties to the faculty firm set the ingredients as notable supra and accompany the directions as indicated.

This leave imbibe to 1hour 20 proceedings. Xv volition be for preparing the ingredients and 1 minute for roasting the core, patch 5 transactions testament be for preparing the serving. The chef bequeath birdcall the server to render the bag to the node, which therein pillowcase takes capable 5 proceedings (Lindahu, 2011).

Determination

The eatery is based on providing the consumers with top caliber crybaby. In execution this edict, one should use decisive itinerary psychoanalysis and Gantt graph differently, gild pitch testament be later. This allows an hotelman varan the serve an rescript easy and client serves swell (Maylor, 2005).

It likewise allows him to yield many orders concurrently, so decisive way psychoanalysis and Gantt graph testament be put-upon in the serve of complementary an edict of Odoriferous and Tartness Volaille from order to service.This is because it helps in programming and preparation of tasks knotty the culmination of an club. In regards to the Sweetness and Work Lily-livered gild, the use of the decisive course psychoanalysis and Gantt graph helps in ensuring efficiency.

Citation number

Clements, J. & Gido, J., 2009. Effectual labor direction . London: Cengage Encyclopedism.

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Lindahu, P., 2011. Odoriferous and Turn Chickenhearted I. Allrecipes.Com. Web.

Maylor, H., 2005. Projection direction . New York: Learner Dorm.

Meredith, J., 2006. Propose Direction: A Managerial Approaching . Huboken: Bathroom Wiley.

Appendix

Decisive Course Psychoanalysis and Gantt graph

Tax sentence

A. receiving an decree

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12.30

3 proceedings

B. Sends decree to Chef

12.33

2 mutes

Sequent

C. Stave prepares ingredients

12.36

Sequent

D. Readying of resources- oven

12.48

1 transactions

E. Preheating the oven

12.50

3 proceedings

Successive

F. flight the core

12.53

Fifteen

Successive

B E

G. Remotion of essence to sang-froid

1.08

5 proceedings

Consecutive

H. Putt record

1.11

5 proceedings

Successive

I. Delivering it to client

1.16

5 transactions

Sequent

About five years ago, the Nigerian Research and Education network (NgREN) received a major support from the World Bank to enable her roll out its network in 27 Federal Universities. The aim is to digitally connect all educational and research institutions across the country and provide affordable internet bandwidth; electronic resources like e-books, e-journals, repositories; identity federation and roaming services; high performance computing; etc.

Ever since, the network has been making gradual progress and has attained some level of self-sustenance. In fact, the NgREN story is a testament to how the National Universities Commission and other stakeholders have used Development partners’ support to kick-start a thriving programme.

A similar scenario is being witnessed under the Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) programme, which is bringing about a major turnaround in research and postgraduate training in the areas of Health Sciences, Agriculture and Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM).

The Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) is a World Bank funded regional higher education project, designed to promote regional specialisation, among participating Universities, within the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Agriculture and Health areas, that address particular common regional development challenges as well as strengthen the capabilities of these Universities to deliver high quality training and applied research. The broad objective of the ACE project is to meet the labour market demands for skills within specific areas where there are skill shortages affecting development, economic growth and poverty reduction in the sub-region.

The Centres of Excellence in Nigeria, like other countries, emerged through a very competitive process, which resulted in the selection of 22 Centres in the West and Central African sub-regions, out of which ten are in Nigeria. Eight countries across West and Central Africa are participating in the first phase of the project: Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Cameroun, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal.

The success of the ACE project is enormous in terms of improved learning environment, attaining world class research, increased collaborations and partnerships, bridging skills gap in the region and increase in internally generated revenue. The beneficiaries of the ACE project are students in supported institutions and their partner-institutions from across West and Central Africa, who will benefit from quality research-based education in high demand areas; companies, governmental and non-governmental organisations that partner with the ACEs, which stand to gain from more interns and graduates, who are trained in more relevant areas and also from more applied research, relevant to their businesses. In addition to these, Faculty and Staff in the ACEs will benefit from improved teaching and research conditions; while their counterparts in regional partner-institutions, will also benefit from improved capacity of the ACEs.

Speaking on this collaboration, Chairman Board of NgREN and Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed disclosed that the Centres are making tremendous progress in research though not at the same pace. He said some are moving faster than others, but what is needed is for them to deploy more of the available resources and technologies in their projects to achieve more results as there is still more grounds to be covered.

He said “after my recent visits to all the 10 centers in the country, to monitor their progress and get first-hand information about them, I can confidently say that they have renewed my hope in the capacity and capability of the Nigerian University System (NUS) to impact, positively, the country, the West African sub-region and African continent, as a whole.

“Every one of the ACEs is at the centre of relevant research, some of which have put the country on the world map. The world is being controlled by two revolutions: One is the genomics/genetic revolution and the other, the digital revolution. It is gratifying to see that two of our Centers (the Africa Center of Excellence in Genomics of Infectious Diseases at the Redeemer’s University, Ede and Software Engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) are on their way to becoming strong players in these fields.

“The Pharmaceutical industry has captured the world’s imagination with Phytomedicine and the Africa Centre of Excellence in Phytomedicine Research and Development at the University of Jos is set to take its place in that field as well. Closely related to this, in health, are the Centers on Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and that in Reproductive Health Innovation at the University of Benin.

“In agriculture, post-harvest losses, dry land farming and environmental sustainability have remained important topics of international discuss. Again, three of the ACEs (Centers for Food Technology and Research at the Benue State University, Makurdi; Dryland Agriculture at Bayero University, Kano as well as Agricultural Development and Sustainable Environment at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta) are giving good accounts of themselves.

“Not the least, are the remaining two Centers of Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at the University of Port Harcourt and the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja. Their Centre for Oil Field Chemicals Research and the Pan African Materials Institute, respectively, are at the cutting edge of research in their areas of competencies.

“Five of the ACEs also received the combined teams of officials of the World Bank (WB), Association of African Universities (AAU) and the NUC on supervision missions to monitor their progress and how they are meeting the Key Performance Indices of the Project. The Centers visited were those in Jos, Benin, Zaria, Abeokuta and Ile-Ife.”

The importance of the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN) to the development of the Nigerian University System in terms of research and resources sharing through its facility cannot be over emphasized.

The ACE in Nigeria had leveraged on a number of NgREN services e.g. the WebEx and video conferencing technology to connect and enable members of the ACEs project interact among themselves. One of the derivable benefits was at the recent gathering of the ACE members during the 4th meeting of the National Project Performance Review Committee (NPPRC) which took place on April 20, 2017 at the Bayero University Kano’s Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA). The meeting leveraged on NgREN to ensure full participation of the members as those who were unavoidably absent effectively participated remotely from various parts of the world in the proceedings via video conferencing.

The WebEx is a multi-functional desktop video/audio conference call application that allows meeting with anyone, anywhere, in real time, as long as there is availability of Internet access and the application on a computer or the app installed on a phone. The platform afforded absentee members to physically participate remotely from various parts of the world.

The NgREN platform has given some increased level of visibility to the ACE by helping the world see clearly some of the potentials and prospects that were coming out from the walls of the individual universities running the Centres. The Platform has enabled some of the participating universities move away from ordinary abode of teaching to research gateways, which is currently shaping the acceptance of these Centres as also gateways for internationalisation, as they have begun to attract international students. The ACE are gradually building viable research centres in the universities with the exposure of the varying projects to cutting-edge researches through networking among them.

The NgREN Platform also opened up a channel of collaboration between the Centre for Dry-land Agriculture hosted by the Bayero University Kano and the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), a major international stakeholder in dry-land agriculture. It is for these inexhaustible benefits of the NgREN that universities are encouraged to key into the technology in order to maximise its benefits.

During his visit to the Centre for Phytomedicine Research and Development at the University of Jos, Professor Rasheed while commiserating with the institution whose library was recently gutted by fire urged the University to focus more on its e-library as, according to him, most modern libraries in the world were moving towards this direction with few hard copies of books on their shelves.

He was accompanied on the visits to the ACEs by the Managing Director of NgREN, Dr. Joshua Atah.

Please find a copy of the latest NgREN Newsletter here

The Capacity Building on Repository Management which held on the 17th-18th of May 2017 was facilitated by Mr. Tedd Avinidigh of Messrs Management Edge Ltd and in attendance were Librarians drawn from eight Nigerian Universities and some NgREN staff.

MAJOR ACTIVITIES AT THE TRAINING

The event commenced with opening remarks from Mr. Anthony Adejumo. He welcomed the participants and highlighted the various concerns that necessitated the scheduling of the training, which was primarily the need for universities to access digitized educational contents from member institutions. He further stressed that digital repositories allow for capture and easy access to materials and long term preservation of materials.

The facilitator, Mr. Tedd Avinidigh gave a general overview of Repository and access control before engaging the participants in a hands-on management process. The class was interactive and easy to understand. The topics discussed during the training include:

Access control / User authentication
User management
Community and content management (creating community, content and metadata)
Maintenance tag
Content harvesting
Review and approval workflow
Sharing of some useful links on backup
Item templates

Participants at the training organised at the NgREN Secretariat

The Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN), has once again recorded a mile stone in its efforts of connecting and enabling Nigerian universities and institutions to share resources, communicate, collaborate and partner with member institutions and other countries for effective research and learning, as it signed an agreement with the West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN), in order to maximise the benefits of the 2^nd phase of the AfricaConnect Project, (AfricaConnect2).

This agreement which signals a new vista for the Nigerian University System (NUS), through the NgREN, has provided more opportunities for the Nigerian Universities to collaborate with other country’s universities for global research.

Boubakar and Joshua

Dr Boubakar,CEO WACREN, Dr. Joshua Atah and Barr. Iyayi of the NgREN at the signing of the Agreement

Speaking at the brief ceremony, held at the NgREN secretariat, on Monday, 22 May, 2017, the Chairman and Chief Executive of WACREN, Dr. Boubakar Barry said Nigeria is the 5^th country to connect the AfricaConnect2, after Mali, Togo, Cote d’ Ivoire and Burkina Faso. He said that the Project, expected to run from 2015 to 2018 would consolidate on the achievements of the AfricaConnect, adding that Lagos State and the NgREN secretariat would be among the hubs of the project.

Dr. Barry assured that AfricaConnect2 would develop high-capacity internet networks across the entire African continent and connect them to the European GÉANT network, thereby, enabling students, researchers and academics in Africa and beyond to collaborate. He stated that the connectivity would not only boost research and education locally with opportunities like e-learning and cloud computing, but would also benefit scientific studies globally in areas such as climate change, biodiversity, food security, malaria and other infectious diseases.

He expressed the hope that other West and Central African countries such as Ghana, Senegal, etc., would soon join the Network for the overall benefit of their countries. AfricaConnect2, he said, comes at a time when the demand for adequate bandwidth and network services from researchers, lecturers and students at West and Central African higher education and research institutions is extremely high. ‘There is no doubt that AfricaConnect2 will satisfy this demand and benefit the socio-economic landscape in the region’, he added.

Dr. Barry disclosed that AfricaConnect2 involves three sub-regional RENs including, WACREN, which is building a regional Research and Education network in West and Central Africa and would connect it to Europe. This, according to him, includes the UbuntuNet Alliance which operates the UbuntuNet network in Eastern and Southern Africa; ASREN which has been connecting Northern Africa following the Mediterranean EumedConnect project and the European networking organisation GÉANT, which has been developing new connections with all pan-African networks, thereby, bringing the Research and Education communities between two continents together. He also disclosed that the procurement process and other activities were already on-going assuring NgREN that it would enjoy the full benefits of the project.

Earlier in his remarks, the Project Coordinator, Dr. Joshua Atah, expressed delight at the signing ceremony after series of efforts and challenges encountered due to financial constraints. He expressed the hope that with the agreement, NgREN would make significant progress in delivering efficient and effective service to the NUS. According to him, “the signing of this agreement will be the beginning of more progress in this direction. We will demonstrate to all stakeholders what this means”. He used the forum to congratulate the NgREN for this leap in its efforts at ensuring a smooth and seamless interconnectivity among institutions in the country.

Dr Joshua Atah and Dr. Barry Boubakar after signing of AfricaConnect2 Agreement

Dr. Atah observed that the success story of WACREN would have been incomplete, without the membership of NgREN, due to the number of institutions in Nigeria. He explained that most universities could not participate in the event due to the short notice, but promised that they would be properly briefed of the new development.

In a Vote of thanks, Mr. Niyi Ilesanmi, thanked Dr. Barry for the visit, saying that the NgREN had made a giant stride in its services, expressing the hope that the platform would signify progress for the NUS and be mutually beneficial to all its members.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by staff of the NgREN.

The Bi-Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting of AULNU under the theme “The Nigerian University Library System: Crossroads, Conflicts and Critical Considerations” took place in Abuja from 5^th – 8^th March, 2017 at the African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja.

The Association of University Librarians of Nigerian Universities (AULNU) formerly known as Committee of University Librarians of Nigerian Universities (CULNU), is the forum for discussing matters and formulating policies relating to University Libraries in Nigeria and advising on Library and Information Services.

Aims and Objectives of AULNU:

To advise and make recommendations to the National Universities Commission (NUC)and the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities on matters concerning the general development of University Librarians in Nigeria.
To formulate standards for operations and services in Nigerian University Libraries.
To promote Library cooperation in the Country generally and specifically among University Libraries.
To monitor the work of agencies connected with the development of libraries and Librarianship in Nigeria with a view to making recommendations or representations as may be deemed necessary.

The Opening Ceremony:

The opening ceremony was held on the 6^th of March, 2017 with opening remarks delivered by a representative of the Chairman of the occasion, Prof. L.O Aina in the person of Mrs. Onuoha from the National Library of Nigeria. Mrs. Onuoha welcomed the participants to the forum and noted that the commitment of the association to making positive impact in our citadel of learning is worthy of appreciation and commendation. She also emphasized the aptness of the theme, in light of the current influx of technology at almost every point of the information chain. Thus, the need for a world-class academic library that will enhance innovation and productivity, which are the main tools that support teaching, learning and research.

There were also short remarks by the President, African University of Science & Technology, Prof. K. Nyamapfene, Mr. Omo Oaiya of WACREN and Mr. Owen Iyoha of Eko-Konnect.

The Chairperson of the association-Prof. (Mrs.) Blessing Ahiauzu, thanked all the participants especially AUST for hosting the conference. She stated that the Association would deliberate on solutions aimed at enhancing the pivotal role of libraries in the University System. She applauded the library development interventions from agencies of Government such as the NUC and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) but however bemoaned the dwindling allocation for library development from TETFund.

The Opening Keynote Address, entitled “The Nigerian University Library System: Crossroads, Conflicts and Critical Considerations,” was presented by Prof. Charles Omoekwu, former librarian of University of Nigeria, Nsukka and currently a Member of its Governing Council. He urged librarians to redefine their roles and be involved in all academic programs of the university and also organize yearly workshops for Postgraduate students to showcase the vast resources available in the university library system.

Presentations:

Laide Olanlokun, the NgREN Focal Point for the TransAfrican Network Development (TANDEM) project gave a presentation on the project, the impact of NRENs, her role as a National Focal Point, the need for university librarians as Institutional Focal Points (iFPs) and what would be expected of them as iFPs. In her presentation, she highlighted the need for NgREN and WACREN to partner with librarians in order to bring Identity (ID) Federations and user communities closer through Authentication, Authorization and Access Control for Research and Collaboration.

Joshua Atah

Dr. Joshua Atah, NgREN Project Manager, in his presentation spoke about the deployment of e-Learning tools and web portals, academic contents and applications, Video Conferencing facility, Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony, collaboration services and tools such as wikis, event calendars, document repositories, that will strengthen and foster collaboration within the Nigerian library community. He also educated members on the numerous ways to leverage the technology available on the NgREN platform to promote new and innovative ways of teaching, learning and research.

In a presentation titled “Developing Library within NRENs”, Owen Iyoha, General Manager of Eko-Konnect Research and Education Initiative spoke on the evolution of Eko-Konnect as a Metropolitan Research and Education Network that basically originated initially within Lagos with the goal of developing research and education networking services for the Lagos area. However, Eko-Konnect’s role over the years has extended to that of a provider of REN services due to its work with WACREN and some other activities within the European Union.

Dr. Pamela Abbott, Senior Lecturer, Information School at Sheffield University UK, presented a paper, via Skype, titled “The Role of Librarians in African Higher Educational Institutions as Central Actors in Embedding NREN Digital Services”. She spoke on information Management & Librarianship, the role of the academic library and new challenges most especially, with digitization. She also spoke on the librarian’s role as central actors in Higher Education Institutions and the support offered by NREN services to support the librarian’s role.

Omo Oaiya, Chief Technology Officer of West and Central Africa Research and Education Network (WACREN) spoke about WACREN, Research Networks in general and how the librarian community situates within their local research network. He also discussed how WACREN hopes to work together with librarians in the coming weeks and months to address the issues raised at the conference, which primarily had to do with the next step to be taken by librarians to key into the various ICT platforms intended to improve their service delivery to their constituents. He also unveiled the LIBSENSE (Library Support for embedding NREN services and e-Infrastructure) initiative, a formal program and research agenda to develop sustainable institutional support for Higher Education librarians to play a central role in NRENs. The LIBSENSE would be elaborated at the forthcoming Librarian Workshop in Abidjan from March 27 – 28 during the WACREN 2017 Conference & AGM.

In conclusion, all the speakers emphasized the need for collaborative effort by all stakeholders from various fields to develop library platforms that leverage open source software and open access, provide improved and best practices in library service provision and cloud based infrastructure services.

Please watch 2nd NUC Quarterly Lecture here