AUST to inaugurate 8 senior fellows to Advance Pan-African Development

 The Centre for Pan-African and Peace Studies (CePAPS) on the African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja, will formally induct eight distinguished professionals as Senior Fellows on October 26, on the AfDB Hall, AUST, Abuja, to strengthen Pan-African scholarship, coverage engagement and sustainable growth throughout the continent.

 The inaugural cohort contains completed professionals with experience spanning diplomacy, management, governance, science, expertise, analysis and innovation. They embody His Excellency Ambassador Jean Robert Pillard, Haiti’s Ambassador to South Africa; Dr. Dakuku Peterside, former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), management architect, administration turnaround professional and Executive Vice Chairman of Penhall Consult; and Professor Abdulhakeem Bello, Vice-President (Academics) at AUST.

 Others are Dr. Eunice Ngozi Akpala-Okoroafor, Acting Director of Research and Innovation at AUST; Dr. Jerry Uchenna Nwohu, Special Adviser on Inter-Party Affairs to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives; Dr. Vitalis Chioh Anye, Head of Materials Science and Engineering at AUST; Dr. Maryam Ma’aruf Yakubu, Director of the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO); and Ambassador Gregory Uwemedimo Okon, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea.

 Speaking on the importance of the initiative, the Centre Leader of CePAPS, Dr. Bosco Okolo-obi, mentioned the induction was designed to transcend a ceremonial gathering by establishing a sustained platform for mental change, analysis collaboration and coverage engagement between the Centre and its fellows.

He mentioned the initiative represents a strategic step in direction of harnessing the information, expertise {and professional} networks of completed Africans to handle the continent’s growth challenges and advance the beliefs of Pan-Africanism.

The Senior Fellows will represent a multidisciplinary community devoted to supporting analysis on African growth and Pan-African points, facilitating coverage dialogues and strengthening collaboration amongst academia, authorities, trade and civil society. The community can be anticipated to assist translate analysis findings into sensible coverage suggestions and development-oriented interventions.