Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, has committed to the immediate establishment of an ECOWAS Club at the Kogi State University (KoSU), Kabba, a move expected to give students greater exposure to foreign policy, regional affairs and the opportunities available within the West African economic community.
Ambassador Enikanolaiye made the commitment when the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Kehinde Eniola led a delegation of the institution on a courtesy visit to the Minister in Abuja on Thursday.
The initiative takes immediate effect.
The Minister commended the Vice-Chancellor for the progress being made at the university. He said he follows developments at the institution and reads news about it from time to time.
Ambassador Enikanolaiye urged the university to sensitise its students and the larger society to the opportunities in trade and commerce within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He explained that trade within the ECOWAS framework is duty-free, and stressed the importance of making young Nigerians, particularly undergraduates, sufficiently aware of the opportunities created by regional integration.
The Minister said one of the foreign policy interests of the present administration is to ensure that foreign policy delivers tangible benefits to the Nigerian people. According to him, the focus is shifting towards ensuring that those benefits extend beyond government institutions to the grassroots. He stressed the need to take the knowledge of foreign policy to the grassroots and to make ECOWAS better known to the younger generation, particularly university students. This, he said, makes initiatives such as “ECOWAS of the People” imperative.
Ambassador Enikanolaiye pledged to partner with the university in establishing an ECOWAS Club on the campus. He disclosed that the ECOWAS Commission is supporting the initiative, with the required resources to be made available for the running of ECOWAS Clubs in tertiary institutions. He expressed the expectation that the initiative would help create a new generation of young Nigerians who are better informed about Nigeria’s role abroad, especially within the West African regional community, and about the opportunities arising from it.
He said such clubs would provide platforms for students to deepen their understanding of regional integration, foreign policy, trade and commerce. The initiative is also expected to encourage students to engage more meaningfully with the regional dimensions of Nigeria’s economic and diplomatic relations.
Earlier, Professor Eniola briefed the Minister on the progress being recorded by the university and thanked him for his contributions and support. He praised the Minister in particular for believing in the institution at its infancy, noting that he instituted the Ambassador Enikanolaiye Award for Academic Excellence shortly after the university’s establishment.
The Vice-Chancellor attributed the strides recorded by the institution largely to the commitment and support of the Executive Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo. He also acknowledged the visionary initiative of the immediate past Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, for establishing the university in fulfilment of the long-standing aspiration of the Okun people for a university on their own soil.
Professor Eniola expressed appreciation to the Minister for the ECOWAS Club initiative and his continued interest in the university.
In a statement signed the university’s Public Relations Officer, Oshaloto Tade, members of the Vice-Chancellor’s delegation included the Registrar, Dr. J.U. Amodu; the Bursar, Pastor Florence Gbodi Alabi, PhD; and the Head of Department of Public Administration, Dr. Lamidi Kehinde.
