The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof Abdullahi Ribadu has applauded the Africa Centres of Excellence project, saying the initiative has elevated Nigeria’s academic institutions into globally competitive hubs of knowledge generation, innovation and development.
The NUC boss commendation is coming at a time the ACE 2 project is set to wind down its current phase of funding by June 30.
At a pre-closure retreat in Abuja, Ribadu challenged the Centres to transit from temporary project status into permanent institutional assets with key emphasis on solidifying their sustainability strategies.
Earlier in his remarks, the National Project Coordinator of the ACE Project, Joshua Attah reeled out some of the gains recorded by the project which spans 17 centres housed within 14 Nigerian universities.
Some of the Center heads spoke on the impact of the ACE Project.
The ACE Project in the last decade had churned out experts in various research fields as well as facilitated regional specialisation among participating universities in areas that address specific common regional development challenges.
