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From: WOLE BALOGUN, Ado Ekiti
The Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, and the Social Science Research Council, New York will, on Wednesday, begin a two-day conference for young academics from West Africa.
The conference is part of the memorandum of understanding signed by the two organisations on development of Africa.
The Chairman, Local Organising Committee and the Head, Department of Policital Science, Prof. Shola Omotola, said the conference was one in a series of events under the MoU.
He commended the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, for blazing the trail and working round the clock to sign the m.o.u.
Omotola said 30 young academics from West African countries would be trained on research grant proposal writing that will attract eminent scholars from Cambridge and Bradford Universities among others.
He explained that the conference would train participants on how to conduct a quality research into peace and security threat in Africa and suggest paths to peace building.
“There will also be a public lecture titled, “The challenge of peace and security in times of economic recession: the Nigeria experience. It will be delivered by emeritus professor John Ayoade. Dept of Political Science, University of Ibadan.
“The objective is to advance knowledge and understanding about issues of peace and security in Africa and to promote peacebuilding in the continent.
“There are vital issues of peace and security in Africa. There are rising cases of Terrorism, herdsmen-farmers conflict and renewed agitation for secession, especially in Nigeria.
“The igbo people are clamouring for secession while the militants in Niger Delta are crying for resource control.
“We are in an era of increasing security threat. There is need to develop capacity for original and systemic research into issues of peace and security, and peace-building in Africa.
“By training people, we are building capacity to be able to conduct a quality oriented research and suggest sustainable path to peacebuilding in Africa.”
