The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has entered into a strategic alliance with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), in the areas of technology and innovation transfers, research development, training and workshops.
The partnership also includes trade fairs, trade and industry expos, consultancy services, executive MBA and regular MBA, e-learning and distance learning programmes, academic programmes, among others.
ACCI president, Dr. Al-Mujtaba Abubakar, led a 9-man delegation to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was held at the NOUN headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.
He said “Having list of areas to collaborate, what we are here to do today is the beginning of a relationship that is going to last for a very long time.
“We started a training centre about 4-5 years ago. We have actually registered a lot of milestones, trained a lot and still training, earned international recognition; with NOUN, I think, the sky is our limit.”
Abubakar commended the Vice-Chancellor and his team for taking out time to develop the MoU, which will in long run, be beneficial to the two parties, adding that NOUN has come a long way with “intimidating achievements.”
Responding, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olufemi Peters, welcomed the team to the headquarters and expressed the university’s readiness for the partnership.
“We appreciate whatever you want to bring to the table for us; we are ready. You have said nice things about us, you have also come to the right place, for the fact that you deemed us fit for this collaboration. We appreciate and we will surely draw benefits from one another,’’ Peters said.
According to the him, the university has grown in leaps and bounds, stressing that “we have a wide spectrum of studentship which is our strength and also our challenge which compulsorily makes us to be on our toes at anytime.”
Highlighting on the certificate skills, Peters said the university would like to have a training section in terms of certificate skills “so as to be able to put that as part of the things our students will learn apart from the cognitive content we teach them.”
He thanked the delegation for their presence, assuring that NOUN will consummate the relationship within the relevant directorates, as, Peters remarked, “no institution has our level of entrepreneurship.”
In his vote of thanks, the Registrar, Mr. Felix Edoka, appreciated the delegation for choosing NOUN.
“We are happy to gather and seal this MoU. It is our hope that we will keep to terms of the agreement for both parties to benefit,” he added.
