Nigerian delegation visit TCAT
Government officials in Nigeria say they are keen to work with a Telford college after being impressed by its ‘state-of-
the-art’ facilities.
It follows a fact-finding visit to Telford College of Arts and Technology by a delegation, led by Captain Idris Wada, former Governor of Kogi State and a member of the Nigerian Governor’s Forum.
The delegation spent two days in Telford investigating opportunities for new international education partnerships.
The second day of the visit included a tour of the TCAT campus –
particularly the engineering facilities – led by the college’s director of resources, Adrian Beckett.
Captain Wada said: “The facilities are state-of- the-art and the apprenticeship programmes offered at TCAT are ones that Nigeria and indeed Africa can benefit from.”
He said he planned to co-ordinate a formal visit to the college in the future, accompanied by a group of top Nigerian business leaders including governors, to explore potential collaboration. The two-day visit was organised by the Centre for African Entrepreneurship and Leadership (CAEL), which is part of the University of Wolverhampton.
Following a guided tour and presentation by CAEL director Dr Paschal Anosike, Captain Wada said: “I was very impressed by the facilities on offer to support students’ employability, links with local businesses and efforts to build capacity in Africa.”
He assured the university’s vice chancellor, Professor Geoff Layer, that he intended to use his wealth of experience in government and interest in education to partner with CAEL and the university.
Captain Wada said he wanted to advance training, research and policy with an emphasis on preparing young Nigerian people for self- employment and future leadership of the country.
TCAT in Wellington is set to merge with New College in the coming weeks.
Though they are already working together as one joint "shadow" corporation, the official merger is still waiting for the go-ahead from the government.
The announcement was expected to come on August 1, but because of June's election that has now been put back.
