Centre To Induct 8 Senior Fellows

The African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja, has named eight professionals as Senior Fellows of its Centre for Pan-African and Peace Studies (CePAPS).

The fellows will be inducted on October 26 at the AfDB Hall of the university.

They are Haiti’s Ambassador to South Africa, Jean Robert Pillard; former director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside and AUST vice-president (Academics), Prof. Abdulhakeem Bello.

Others are the acting director of Research and Innovation at AUST, Dr Eunice Ngozi Akpala-Okoroafor; special adviser on Inter-Party Affairs to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr Jerry Uchenna Nwohu and head of Materials Science and Engineering at AUST, Dr Vitalis Chioh Anye.

The list also includes the director of the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO), Dr Maryam Ma’aruf Yakubu and a former Nigerian Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, Gregory Uwemedimo Okon.

The centre’s leader of CePAPS, Dr Bosco Okolo-Obi, said the fellows would work with the centre on research, intellectual exchange and policy engagement.
According to him, the initiative would draw on their professional experience to examine African development and Pan-African issues.

The fellows are expected to contribute to research, participate in policy dialogues and promote collaboration among academia, government, industry and civil society.

They are also expected to mentor emerging scholars and young African leaders, develop partnerships across Africa and the diaspora, and help translate research findings into policy recommendations.

In a statement issued by the Director of CePAPS, Professor Chudi Uwazurike, the centre said the induction was part of its work on African unity, peace, innovation and sustainable development.

Uwazurike said the initiative would strengthen research and policy engagement on issues affecting the continent.