Yobe State University has signed a memorandum of understanding in Damaturu with the ICT University, Louisiana, the United States of America to become a centre of Robotics & Artificial Intelligence.
The agreement between the two institutions was made in a ceremony held at the Senate Chambers of the university with the Vice Chancellor of Yobe State University, Prof. Yakubu Mukhtar and the president, Board of Trustee of the ICT University, Prof. Victor Mbarika, both signing on behalf of their institutions.
Speaking on the aim of partnership, Mbarika said, “We will be having a lot of Lecturers and Students Exchanges in this institution. Our number one goal is research and scholarship and we will ensure that good researches come out of both institutions so that Yobe State will be one of the Premier destinations of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence and modern areas of IT Research.”
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mukhtar stressed his institution’s readiness to collaborate with other institutions both home and abroad to foster growth and development. He also emphasized that the MOU and ICTU will give way for more of such collaborations with institutions across the world in the future.
In his words, “No organization can exist as an island on itself. As an institution of higher learning, we need to collaborate both within and outside the country. That is why I am so pleased with this collaboration and I am sure, Yobe State University is going to benefit immensely from it. We are very keen to give every support to see this MoU to the next level.”
The President of the ICT University, Prof. Victor Mabrika also revealed that the ICT University cannot wait to get started with the implementation of the project, disclosing that “all equipment will be flown from New York to Lagos for collection in the next six to eight weeks.”
In his words, “We are very seriously keen about our partnership because we are answerable to ICT University Foundation and its funding agencies. So to be fair to them and to the institutions in the developing world that we collaborate with, we want to ensure that we don’t just stop at the signing of MoUs and MoAs but to actually see to their implementations.”
