- By Chris Yahaya

As part of the efforts aimed at sensitizing members of the public to take advantage of the rich postgraduate programmes offered by the Federal University Lokoja (FUL), the Management of the University has taken the advocacy to the Headquarters of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in Abuja. The enlightenment campaign targets government functionaries, heads of institutions, political leaders, lawmakers, security agencies, members of the diplomatic corps, immigration and customs officers, and non-governmental and civil society organisations, among others.

In continuation of this drive, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi led other principal officers and members of Management on a sensitization visit to the acting Comptroller General (CG) of the NIS, Mrs Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju, who warmly received them along with her top management team on Thursday, October 12, 2023.

Speaking during the visit, the VC congratulated the CGIS on her recent appointment as NIS boss and prayed for her confirmation. Prof. Akinwumi expressed his determination to partner with the immigration management to develop its human capital through the various postgraduate programmes as well as organized training and workshops, stressing that the Immigration Service stands to gain a lot from the collaboration. 

He outlined some of the programmes offered at both Masters and Ph.D. levels by the College of Postgraduate Studies and the Institute of Governance and Development Studies in collaboration with the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), National Assembly, Abuja. The programmes center around Security and Strategic Studies; Migration and Border Studies; Leadership, Development, Security and Strategic Studies; Peace, Conflict, Security, Development, and Strategic Studies; Social Development, Displacement, and Disaster Management; Public Sector Management, Parliamentary Administration, Legislative Studies and Drafting; Election and Party Politics; among several others. 

Prof. Akinwumi boasted of the University's quality and experienced manpower assembled to drive the programmes, assuring the NIS chief of his administration's commitment to uphold the highest standard and ensure the timely completion of the programmes. He added that the programmes were designed to be as convenient and flexible as possible at rock-bottom cost, including the location of a Study Centre in Abuja to make the programmes accessible. The VC noted that many national assembly staff and lawmakers had already taken advantage of the opportunity and were running different programmes at the Centre. 

Responding, the CGIS stated that she was quite impressed with the list of exciting programmes floated by the University at the postgraduate level. She praised the Vice-Chancellor's enterprising spirit and expressed willingness to collaborate with the University in the area of capacity-building and manpower development. 

In addition to the existing policy for staff training and development by NIS where a certain number of officers are sponsored yearly for further studies, the Comptroller General promised to go further to sensitize all the officers at the various formations across the country and even beyond, to make good use of this golden opportunity brought to their doorstep by FUL Management. Mrs Adepoju expressed optimism about a positive and fruitful collaboration with FUL.

The officers seized the opportunity to ask pertinent questions about the programmes which were answered by the Vice-Chancellor and the Provost, College of Postgraduate Studies, Prof. Gbenga S. Ibileye. Other highlights of the meeting included the handing over of the flyers to the agency and the presentation of a plaque to the Vice-Chancellor by the CGIS.

Recall that the Vice-Chancellor and his management team had, in a bid to promote the programmes, embarked on an aggressive sensitization to the State Headquarters of the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and the Command Navy Drafting Office at the Nigerian Naval Ship (NNS), Banda in May 2022. See more pictures here

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