NTAC Deploys 15 Volunteers to Uganda, Deepens South-South Cooperation.

By Caroline Ameh

In a bid to enhance South-South cooperation, the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC) will deploy 15 academics to various universities in Uganda starting tomorrow.

At a pre-departure orientation ceremony, Director General of NTAC, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Buba Yakub, lauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for its steadfast support in providing technical manpower to countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific (ACP) regions.

Yakub emphasized the importance of this initiative in fostering educational development and technical expertise across these regions, highlighting Nigeria’s commitment to contributing to the growth and development of partner nations.

The selected volunteers, drawn from various tertiary institutions across Nigeria, will offer their expertise in diverse academic fields, further strengthening educational ties and promoting mutual development between Nigeria and Uganda.

The former lawmaker, who was represented on the occasion by Amb. Zakari Usman, Director of Programmes at the Agency, also said the Federal Government ‘s efforts were aimed at ensuring that development among the ACP nations was evenly spread .

He called on the Volunteers to count themselves lucky for having been selected out of the thousands of applications the Agency had received when it called for same late last year.

Buba challenged the Volunteers to see their recruitment to serve in the TAC Scheme as a humanitarian effort geared towards making humanity better and more prepared to face the daily challenges of life, including those posed by his environment.

He said the Scheme was a national call for actions that promote national interest and admonished the Volunteers to be wary of any actions or activities that may compromise the spirit and intent of the Scheme.

Earlier, while thanking the Federal Government for the opportunity to represent the country in their new capacity, a Professor of Plant Pathology at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and Team Lead of the latest batch of Volunteers, Clement Gboyega Afolabi, who spoke for the group, expressed delight at the processes through which they had gone to arrive at the day’s event and promised not to let Nigeria down in their host country.

Prof. Afolabi also expressed joy at the transparent nature of the processes involved in the exercise and thanked the Management and officials of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps for their professionalism and commitment to the mandate of the Corps.

Other Volunteers, who fielded questions with journalists, including Dr. Usman Bature Isyaku of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi,and Dr. Peter Chika Uzomba of the Department of Economics, Federal University, Lokoja, applauded the TAC Scheme while noting that the Scheme was in tandem with the three cardinal objectives of their responsibilities as academics which Uzomba described as: Teaching, Research and Community Service.

Among those present at the event were the Resource Person in the day’s event and former Director of Programmes at the Agency, Amb. Mohammed Shehu Kangiwa, Mr. Lawandy Bala, Special Assistant on Protocol Matters to the TAC DG as well as Mr James Dung Pam, a Senior Counselor at the Corps, among many other officials and members of staff of the Agency.