The first Coastal Ocean Environment Summer School to be organised in Nigeria has come to an end with a closing ceremony held on Friday, August 5, 2022 at the Tayo Aderinokun Hall.
Convened by Professor Brian Arbic from the University of Michigan, USA, the summer school was taught to 120 Oceanography and Marine Science scholars from across West Africa. Many experts, drawn from institutions in the USA, Ghana, and Nigeria, also served as instructors.
The week-long school included sessions on the University of Lagos Campus and a field trip to the National Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research, Lagos. It provided a platform for participants to network for collaborative research.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics & Research), Professor Bola Oboh, represented the Vice-Chancellor at the closing ceremony. She expressed gratitude to the organisers of the programme for their choice of UNILAG as the first Nigerian host of the summer school, and reassured them of the University’s willingness to continue to host the school in the future. She challenged the participants to do their best to ramp up collaborative studies among themselves. That, according to her, was the only way that Africa’s presence in global scientific discourses can become more prominent.
The visibly excited participants were full of praise for the organisers of the summer school, and for the University of Lagos for the warm hospitality they received for the duration of the programme. Thereafter, participants were all hosted to a Gala at the UNILAG Guest Houses & Conference Centre.
