Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Professor Folasade Ogunsola, OON, FAS, and the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Nigeria, Elsie Attafuah, on Friday, April 5, 2024, agreed on the imperativeness of thought leadership to drive change in mindset as well as refocus innovation and creativity.
Speaking during a courtesy visit at the Vice-Chancellor’s Office, 11th Floor, Senate House, University of Lagos, Akoka, Prof Ogunsola expressed the university’s readiness to host the initiative of UNDP Nigeria: UNI-Pod, which is targeted at supporting innovation and channelling creativity and ingenuities towards solving contemporaneous problems.
The Resident Representative, UNDP Nigeria; Elsie Attafuah had, in her remarks, expressed readiness to explore collaborations and partnerships with UNILAG among other prestigious Ivory towers in Nigeria for the purpose of advancing the course of all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which, according to her, has been on a decline.
While expressing concerns over the devastating effects of conflicts, climate change, poor energy and gender bias among other challenges plaguing the African continent, Attafuah took solace in the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its disruptive impact on all spheres, a development, which she said, requires the involvement and concerted effort of the intellectual community epitomized by universities.
The UNDP Nigeria Resident Representative identified digital skills as tools of the future and stressed the need for all stakeholders especially the academic community to fashion out modalities to accommodate the out-of-school population in Nigeria in digital skills acquisition schemes.
Other areas of discussion tilted towards: programme development, management and implementation, organizational and strategic management, partnerships brokering, resource mobilization, external relations and diplomacy, applied research and policy analysis, good governance, youth, gender and civil society issues.
In her response, Professor Folasade Ogunsola pointed out that UNILAG has been on a course of change especially in the mind-set of faculty members, as well as championing the development of Artificial Intelligence with focus on Fin-tech and Health-tech.
These milestones, she noted, are better reflected in the quality of multidisciplinary research partnerships and the number of innovative collaborations which the university has enjoyed in recent years.
The UNILAG Vice Chancellor acknowledged the paradigm shift in the focus of universities from its timorousness of yesteryears, to a more actively engaging entity especially with industry and policy makers.
Prof Ogunsola assured of UNILAG’s readiness to partner with UNDP Nigeria in driving initiatives which would positively change the narrative and further consolidate the place of universities in the pursuit of growth and development in Africa.
Elsie Attafuah was deployed to Nigeria as Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from Uganda in February 2024. Her visit to UNILAG was to formally meet with the university management and hold talks towards consolidating ongoing efforts to accelerate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
