The French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Jerome Pasquier has said that France, through its embassy in Nigeria, will strengthen its collaboration with the University of Ibadan.
Represented by the Head of Co-operation and Culture in the French Embassy in Nigeria, Mr. Rafael Pont, during a courtesy call on the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka, in his office today, said “University of Ibadan is a foremost University in Nigeria. There are crises all over but we will jointly solve them.”
“We want to strengthen our relationship, and here in Ibadan, we want to re-affirm our commitment to Ibadan,
He told the VC that his country will look into researches in innovation and climate change, stressing that “we are using the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA) to promote research in Africa.”
“IFRA is within your University to promote collaboration among researchers in France, Africa, especially, Nigeria. By January next year, a new Director of IFRA will assume duty.”
Responding, the VC said the University’s relationship with the Embassy has been very exceptional.
“The corporate social responsibility of the Embassy towards the institution is exciting.”
“We are open to any relationship with the Embassy. It is a win-win relationship for us, either through exchange of staff and students. It will even afford our students to learn French very fast. The founding fathers of UI conceived and prepared it for global excellence.”
“IFRA has been in UI for 30 years. You can be assured of our hospitality,” the VC said.
It will be recalled that the French Embassy had selected three proposals from UI researchers for funding in 2019 after a competitive bid with researchers from other Nigerian Universities.
The title of these selected projects are; The Development of a Weather Index Based Reference value for Soybean and Maize in Oyo State, The Sustainable Cities: Design and Development of a Sustainable Waste Management System for Minimizing Effects of Foods in Lagos and The Development of a Software Designing an Energy Mix System, with the least Carbon Footprint.
The University of Ibadan is hosting the first project (Development of Weather Index Based Reference value for Soybean and Maize in Oyo State). The second and the third projects are domiciled in Lagos and Jos, respectively. Each of these selected projects is funded by the French Embassy to the tune of 30,000 ϵ.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olayinka, approved the land for the project at the Teaching and Research Farm of the University. The Drainage Lysimeters for the project have been constructed and the sensors (Portable Pyranometer, Soil Moisture Sensors (ONSET Hobo), Soil Temperature Sensors, Tipping Bucket Rain Guage, HOBO USB Micro Station Data Logger, etc) have also been ordered. The construction of the rain shelter is on the way.
The Vice-Chancellor and two Deputy Vice-Chancellors were on the site of the project on 6 August, this year, to witness the installation of the Drainage Lysimeters.
The VC assured his guest, who was accompanied on the visit by the Deputy Director, French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA), University of Ibadan, Mrs. Cyrielle Martnaud, that the University administration will continue to support the researchers in order to ensure a timely completion of the research project.
Present at the visit were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, (Administration), Prof. Kayode Adebowale; Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Adebola Ekanola; Director, Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, Prof. Akin Odebunmi; Deputy Registrar, Vice-Chancellor’s Office, Mr. Oluwole Dada and the Director, Directorate of Public Communication, Mr. Olatunji Oladejo.
