Presidential aide moves to reposition NEPAD

The Special Adviser to the President on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Fidelia Akuabata Njeze, has promised to reposition the agency for better performance and actualisation of its objectives.

During her visit to one of the six Interactive Learning NETWORK (ILN) centres in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Njeze stated that government projects should not be left fallow but be maintained and productively used.

She said the purpose of her visit was to assess the level of performance of the Centre, expressing optimism that the Centre, when upgraded with appropriate modern technological infrastructure, would maximally serve several stakeholders, including teachers and students.

The ILN Centres, established in five pilot states and the FCT, are located in Oyo (University of Ibadan); Lagos (University of Lagos); Enugu (University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus); Kano (Bayero University); Kaduna (Kaduna Polytechnic) and FCT (Tudun Wada Secondary School, Wuse Zone 4), (now under the control of University of Abuja).

The ILN project, which is a product of the partnership between NEPAD Nigeria and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), is aimed at promoting online and distance learning programmes at the country level.

It is a platform through which users in various tiers of education – primary, secondary and tertiary institutions – could access INFORMATION from electronic libraries worldwide. It will also enable the Federal Ministry of Education to randomly access data from any educational institution in the country.

In a related development, Njeze has urged the staff of NEPAD to equip themselves with necessary tools to enable them carry out their duties effectively.

She stated this in her address at a three-day specialised WORKSHOP organised by the office of the Specialised Consultation and Management Development Programme held in Abuja.

Njeze pointed out that NEPAD Nigeria must WORK hard in order to meet up with its peers in other African countries such as NEPAD Kenya and NEPAD South Africa, which are being used as models for other NEPAD Country Offices.

See full story: Daily Independent