A software developer with Intelape, Oze Inne, visited AUN to work on modalities for expanding the AUN Study Abroad opportunities.
The Abuja-based Nigerian tech firm has a partnership with universities in Japan, helping to, among others, get students from Nigeria.
Mr. Inne was received by Vice President Abba Tahir on January 22.
He proposed a partnership with the International College of Liberal Art at the Yamanashi Gakuin University in Japan.
The 70-year-plus university is unique in so many ways, including the high interest for Africans. Sports also feature highly in the school’s calendar making it very popular in Japan.
"The government is encouraging a lot of foreign students to come and study in Japan. The school is leveraging that."
He said Nigeria and Kenya are among the countries that they are reaching out to with the hope of attracting citizens to come and study. This he believes can give students a better understanding of Africa's culture and traditions.
There are more than 55 partner universities excluding Nigeria but AUN could become the first partner in Africa.
He went on to describe the many benefits of studying in Japan, "one of the world's safest countries endowed with advanced technology, yet they keep their traditions, like the way they build houses. Japan is famed for its traditional architectural landscape. They have found a balance between technology and tradition."
There are lots of courses offered at the university, many of which are in Japanese while others are in English. The partnership will likely benefit students in Business and Economics, as both are offered in AUN and in Japan in English.
Also present at the meeting were the Assistant Director, Office of Institutional Research, Planning & Data Analytics, Nas Yakubu, and Sameer Yeshwanth, the Director of Development. Mr. Yakubu said one reason he likes the possibility of the partnership is that it is going to expose AUN students to a completely different culture which will be outside those of Europe and America which AUN currently has partnerships with.
VP Tahir said the proposed partnership looks exciting because this is the first time the university is looking to Asia and if such student exchange partnership works, it could make it the tenth partnership the university is having with universities from abroad.
"We are looking at one of the most important nations, most technologically intensive, most developed countries in Asia."
Reported by Omorogbe Omorogiuwa