AUST and NASRDA Strengthen Longstanding Partnership, Review Progress on Capacity Building and Training
The African University of Science and Technology (AUST) and the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) held a joint meeting at the AUST President's Boardroom in Abuja to evaluate the progress of their long lasting Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The meeting reaffirmed the shared commitment of both organizations to capacity building, training, and academic development.
The meeting marked a tremendous turn around as both parties expressed satisfaction with the successes and visionary direction of the collaboration.
In his welcome address, the AUST President, Prof. Azikiwe Peter Onwualu, FAS, welcomed the NASRDA team and praised the decade-long partnership for the achievement recorded so far.
He identified the successful addition of eight academic programs to AUST through the partnership as a landmark achievement despite the low enrollment of students.
Prof. Onwualu expressed appreciation to the Director General of NASRDA for granting access to the agency’s facilities maintaining that the partnership is not just for signing of MoU but fully implementing them for the benefit of the two partnering institutions.
In his response, the Director General of NASRDA, Dr. Mathew Adepoju, reaffirmed their commitment to upholding international academic standards and ensuring full implementation as contained in the agreement.
He raised concerns over staff promotions, particularly recognizing lecturers who have technical and long service expertise and urged the AUST President to critically address it.
Dr. John Momoh, Provost of the Institute of Space Science and Engineering (ISSE), provided updates on student enrollment, noting that the program had currently graduated 19 Master’s and 1 Ph.D students.
The DG further mandated all NASRDA-affiliated lecturers to submit their annual reports regularly, and to improve on data tracking, regular updates on students progress, and more structured timelines, including the inclusion of quarterly or annual reporting cycles in the MoU.
The meeting also addressed the role of research and grant acquisition in staff promotions, documented intellectual property and research development evaluation as important items on the MoU that require urgent review.
The two partners renewed their commitment in strengthening their collaboration, improve student outcomes, and continue aligning academic programs with national development goals.