The Federal University of Technology, Minna has entered into separate partnership agreements with YUZ-MANIFA Farms and Global Network Cybersolution (GNC), Ltd/GTE, Abuja on the establishment and running of commercial agricultural enterprise, agro-allied activities and the establishment of International Centre for Emerging Technologies respectively.
The parties signed the MoU on Tuesday, July 5, 2022 at the University Senate Chamber, Main Campus.
The partnership with YUZ-MANIFA Farms, will see the University make available 100 hectares of its land where staff, affiliates and students of the University and others, as may be deemed qualified, can conduct research and have industrial working experience, while that of the Global Network Cybersolution includes development and implementation of emerging technologies, academic programmes, innovation, professional capacity building, research, journals, global innovation portal, with online resources and emerging technologies literacy programmes as well as development of think-tank with multi – stakeholder engagement and collaboration with national and international development partners, in the context of digital economic development, peace and security.
Speaking at the brief event the Vice – Chancellor, Prof. Abdullahi Bala fsssn appreciated the delegates for making it to Minna despite security challenges facing the state.
Prof. Bala while congratulating the parties for successfully going through the processes to the point of signing the MoU said the University has signed many MoUs and is always very much concerned that the MoUs do not lie on shelves.
” We want to see operational MoUs, active MoUs because that is the only way we can benefit from whatever arrangement we may have with our partners. So we look forward to seeing very quickly getting up”.
He explained that with the signing of the MoU, YUZ-MANIFA Farms can swing into action as Management only needs to inform Council of such arrangement but in the case of Global Network Cybersolution that has to do with creation of a Centre, the document has to be presented to Council for approval. Adding that althoughSenate has its own responsibilities, the ultimate final authority in the creation of a Centre lies with the Council.
The VC further stated that it is partnership of this nature that would help the University to overcome some of the negative effects of strike as we do not need to carry out the activities of the centre necessarily within the campus.
“ It can be a centre without boarders and we can have our activities any where we want it, and to me, as time goes on, I think if this strike business continues, we have to make sure that we have to take steps to ensure that people continue to benefit from the activities of the University in spite of of the strike”.
The VC thanked the organisations for considering FUT, Minna as partner for the projects and assured them of the University’s commitment to do every thing possible to help them in establishing and achieving their aims.
In his vote of thanks, the Director of Directorate for Collaboration, Affiliation and Linkages, Prof. Johnson Oyero thanked the University Management for their support to the Directorate and assured that the MoU would be of great benefit to the all parties.
Engr. Yusuf A. Abdulkadir of YUZ-MANIFA Farms and Amb. Olusegun H. Olugbile of Global Network Cyber Solutions signed the documents on behalf of their organizations.