The University of Ibadan’s Centre for Sustainable Development (CESDEV) has partnered with some Asian universities on a student exchange programme.
The Director of UI’s CESDEV, Prof Labode Popoola, made this known at a briefing in Bodija, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
He said Nigeria, and indeed Africa’s thirst for real development, was hinged on a programme that breaks disciplinary and continental boundaries the same manner the centre was doing with the global field exercise, which started in Japan.
The programme, he said, was aimed at creating “complete” leaders that can apply diverse methods to developmental and governmental issues.
Popoola said: “Asia may be a continent of developed countries or a few emerging economies but, in truth, there are some things that we lost in the course of all that development. Coming to Nigeria, I saw those things and I wished we had it.
“It’s important for students to employ multi-disciplinary approach to development studies. If we do that, we’ll begin to see sustainable development. That is the beauty of the programmes we have in CESDEV.
“These students, in the past 11 days, have been exploring multi-disciplinary subjects that affect development. They’ve been dealing with environmental protection, agriculture, food security issues and many more.”
Popoola said prior to the students of the University of Tokyo visit to Nigeria, UI students had, between November and December, last year, spent more than two weeks in Japan, learning and sharing ideas with their counterparts.
“Our students were in the University of Tokyo between November and December, last year, learning and sharing with students in Tokyo. Now, students from that university are here too to learn and share. That is the global nature and concept of development studies,” he said.
Popoola described lack of electricity, poor awareness of the programme’s relevance, as well as disinterest from states in sponsoring students, as part of challenges confronting the programme.
CESDEV is a postgraduate programme of UI, which according to the director, offers postgraduate diplomas, professional and academic masters as well as PhDs’.
Prof. Masafumi Nagao, who led the University of Tokyo students to Nigeria, said the need to learn and share experience worldwide necessitated the deal.
Nagao said: “Africa and Asia have a lot in common, yet each continent knows very little about each other. The idea is for students from both continents to collaborate to learn from one another’s point of view and build areas of social relevance.”
According to him, the programme is similar to programmes run at the University of Tokyo, but he wished there was more money available to execute more of such trips to Nigeria and Africa.
A 23-year-old undergraduate of the University of Tokyo, Tina Yamada said in the midst of Japan’s technological advancement, spectacular transport system and social organisation, the country still needs to borrow a leaf from the Third World.
Her Nigerian counterpart, Tolu Adegbite, said: “I was in Tokyo, Japan in December for the exchange programme. In terms of development, Japan has more advanced technology and better transport system unlike Nigeria. But here, their is flexibility unlike Japan where life is rigid and more individualistic. But one similarity is that the two countries have the same education culture where people believe that young people can only excel and lead the future if they acquire education.” by Tayo Johnson, Ibadan
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