Vice chancellor of the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), Professor Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, said the institution has deepened the opportunity for its students to study in Japanese universities through an exchange programme.
Na’Allah revealed this at the 3rd Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) chair, organised in collaboration with the Japanese agency.
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He said, “University of Abuja has signed an MoU with two Japanese universities. It covers the university’s student exchange, staff exchange, joint visa, and so many other things.”
While saying the exchange programme allows for both short and long periods of study in Japanese universities, Na’Allah advised students who intend to leverage the scheme to liaise with their lecturers.
Speaking further on the event, which had its theme, “Making of Modern Japan”, the vice chancellor challenged students to learn from the experience of Japan so that they can position themselves well as future leaders of the country.
“Modern Japan should serve as a great model for Nigeria and Africa. The way they made choices and overcame challenges,” he said.
Explaining the great importance attached to Japan, Professor Na’Allah said the Japanese language is now one of the compulsory foreign languages in the institution.
“So, you can see many of our students are taking Japanese, but more than that, because the University of Abuja wants our students to understand the spirit of Japan, because Japanese politics has helped Japan without huge material resources; they are now the second largest economy in the world.
“We think the success of Japan, if we learn its strategies, and Nigeria, with all its abundant resources, can be the best in the world.
“Currently, we have over 200 students at our university that are training in order to work with Japanese companies,” he said.
The VC also expressed the readiness of the university to have Japanese industries in the main campus.
“If Japan brings its industries or a company like Toyota, like Honda; currently Honda is in Nigeria, I understand they are in Lagos. Lagos is not the right place for them to come. They should come to our university. We will give them land to assemble their products here and work with our Faculty of Engineering,” Professor Na’Allah posited.
On his part, the Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria, Matsunaga Kazuyoshi, assured support for UniAbuja through adequate scholarship opportunities for students and other programmes.
“The Japanese government offers you the opportunity to learn more about Japan. We offer a variety of scholarships.
“For example, the Japanese Government Scholarship Programme” by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), the ‘ABE Initiative’ and ‘Technical Training for Nigerian Nationals’ by JICA,” he said.