– President Tinubu Committed to Nigeria’s Development Cooperation with The Gambia – NTAC DG declared in Banjul
By Biola Lawal
Flowerbudnews: The President of the Republic of Gambia Adama Barrow. has expressed profound gratitude to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian people for the technological support given his country through the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC) Scheme.
President Barrow, who is also the Chancellor of the Gambian University of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (USET) expressed the appreciation while speaking at USET graduation of a total of 951 students during its 2nd Combined Convocation Ceremony held in Banjul.
The ceremony had the theme: “Innovation for Impact: Science, Skills and Sustainable Development,” a statement by Ojo Adetoun Olubunmi, Head, Information and Public Relations Unit, Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC), disclosed.
(𝑼𝑺𝑬𝑻 𝑽𝑪 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑪 𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒓, 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒓. 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒇. 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒏-𝑩𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆, 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.)
President Barrow commended Nigeria’s development cooperation efforts and acknowledged the positive contributions of Nigerian professionals serving under the Technical Aid Corps Scheme to the growth of critical sectors in The Gambia, particularly higher education.
The Gambian leader also appreciated development partners and stakeholders for their contributions to the advancement of USET and charged the graduands to remain connected to their alma mater by giving back to the institution.
He further encouraged the University’s Governing Council and Management to continue advancing innovation for lasting impact and sustainable development.
(𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 (𝑭𝒂𝒓 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕), 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑼𝑺𝑬𝑻, 𝑴𝒓. 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑪 𝑫𝑮, 𝑹𝒕. 𝑯𝒐𝒏. 𝒀𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒇 𝑩𝑼𝑩𝑨 𝒀𝑨𝑲𝑼𝑩, 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝟐𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑪𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒂 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 , 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒓 𝑫𝒂𝒘𝒅𝒂 𝑲. 𝑱𝑨𝑾𝑨𝑹𝑨 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑪𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆, 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒍, 𝑮𝑨𝑴𝑩𝑰𝑨, 𝒐𝒏 *𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒆 𝟏𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔.*)
Representing Nigeria at the event, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Buba Yakub, conveyed the goodwill and greetings of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to the Government and people of The Gambia.
The NTAC Director-General reaffirmed President Tinubu’s commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s development cooperation with The Gambia through strategic technical assistance, knowledge transfer, capacity building and the deployment of skilled Nigerian professionals.
A defining highlight of the convocation was the visible impact of the NTAC Scheme on higher education development in The Gambia, with several Nigerian Technical Aid Corps volunteers now occupying strategic academic leadership positions in the country’s tertiary institutions.
Among them are the Vice Chancellor of USET, Engr. Prof. Nazmat Surajudeen-Bakinde, Prof. Ado Yusuf Abdulfatah, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), USET, and Prof. David Gundu, Director Academic Planning and Quality Assurance.
Othrrs are, Prof. Akinlabi, Director Grants/ Research,and Prof. Kayode Adekeye, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), University of The Gambia.
Their rise to such positions of responsibility underscored the enduring success and relevance of the NTAC intervention in The Gambia, Rt -Hon. Buba Yakub noted.
(𝑴𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒂 𝑷𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚’𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕)
The NTAC DG also commended The Gambia’s Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Prof. Pierre Gomez, for his steadfast commitment to the success of the partnership between NTAC and The Gambia.
He recalled that Prof. Gomez initiated discussions aimed at strengthening collaboration with NTAC as early as his second day in office, demonstrating remarkable dedication to educational advancement and human capital development.
In her remarks, Prof. Nazmat Surajudeen-Bakinde, herself a product of the NTAC Scheme, paid special tribute to the Government of Nigeria and the Director-General of NTAC for their unwavering support to higher education development in The Gambia.
She acknowledged the significant contributions of Nigerian professionals to the growth and transformation of tertiary education in the country.
The ceremony featured the conferment of Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates on 951 graduands across various disciplines.
The University also presented Awards for Academic Excellence to outstanding students, with awardees attaining impressive academic performances ranging from 70.03 per cent to 91.50 per cent.
Awards of recognition were equally presented to deserving dignitaries and distinguished personalities. Among the recipients was the Director-General of NTAC, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Buba Yakub, who received his award from President Adama Barrow in recognition of NTAC’s outstanding contributions to capacity building and educational development in The Gambia.
In her valedictory address, the Valedictorian expressed appreciation to the World Bank for its support to the institution and thanked the Vice Chancellor and Management of USET for their encouragement and commitment to student success.
While congratulating her graduating colleagues with the declaration, “We made it!”, she urged the continuing students to remain resolute, uphold integrity and pursue excellence, adding that “Here at USET, we don’t take the best; we make the best.”
(𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘(𝒎), 𝑴𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎, 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑼𝑺𝑬𝑻; 𝑹𝒕. 𝑯𝒐𝒏. 𝑩𝑼𝑩𝑨 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑪 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑼𝑵𝑫𝑷’𝒔 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒂 𝑹𝒆𝒑., 𝑴𝒔 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖(𝑴𝒓 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕’𝒔 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕), 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑬𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒉, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝑨𝑴𝑩𝑰𝑨, 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒇. 𝑮𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒛 𝑷𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒆)
Also in attendance were the Chairperson of the Governing Council of USET, Engr. Ebrima Cham, the Honourable Minister of Technical and Higher Education of Sierra Leone, Dr. Haja Ramatulai Wurie, members of the diplomatic corps, senior government officials, academics, development partners and other distinguished guests.
The event once again highlighted the enduring impact of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps Scheme as a strategic instrument of Nigeria’s foreign policy and South-South Cooperation, fostering human capital development, institutional strengthening and lasting bilateral relations between Nigeria and The Gambia, the NTAC statement noted (FLOWERBUDNEWS):
