By Abubakar Imam
Participants at the first International Conference organised by the Centre for International Education (CIE), University of Ilorin, have called on governments and other regulatory bodies to swiftly review their visa policies and entry requirements in order to ensure more regular and efficient international scholarly collaborations.
This call is contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the Conference and signed by Dr Habibat Abubakar Yusuf, a copy of which was made available to UNILORIN Bulletin.
The conference, which was themed “Globalising Education: Strategies, Challenges and Sustainability”, was organised by the CIE in conjunction with the Developing-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation (D-8) based in Istanbul, Turkey, to herald the upcoming Golden Jubilee celebration of the University. It was held between 15th and 17th April, 2025.
The communiqué stressed the need to create a more enabling environment for international students, scholars and collaborators to interact more closely through physical visitations.
The participants at the Conference, who included Vice Chancellors, researchers and academics from Nigeria, Cuba, Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, India, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, and United States of America, among others, also enjoined institutions of higher learning to develop and implement comprehensive internationalisation strategies, with clear frameworks for student exchange, joint degrees, collaborative research and staff mobility.
They also canvassed the integration of intercultural communication training into staff and student development programmes to promote global awareness and mutual respect.
The conference, the keynote speaker of which was the Secretary-General of the D-8, Ambassador Isiaka Abdulqadir Imam, also implored universities to invest in digital infrastructure and e-learning platforms to enhance global reach and support transnational education models.
The participants also noted that funding agencies and international organisations need to prioritise South-South collaboration and support for research projects that address common global challenges.
They also expressed the conviction that national and institutional quality assurance frameworks would recognise and support diverse and culturally sensitive approaches to international education.
The participants also called for the adoption of an International Students’ Day as an annual event in institutions of higher learning. They opined that this would enable the institutions to celebrate the contributions of foreign students and promote inclusiveness on their campuses.
They also urged universities to actively engage with embassies, consulates and cultural missions to promote institutional visibility and to create pathways for international cooperation.
They further stressed the need for the involvement of diplomats in academic dialogues, conferences and policy roundtables. This, they believed, will help to align national foreign policies with education diplomacy goals
While calling for the strengthening of the Centre for International Education, University of Ilorin, for it to serve as a regional hub for academic diplomacy and cross-cultural academic innovations, the participants also suggested that a structured platform should be developed to enhance dialogue between the academia and diplomatic corps so as to foster smoother academic mobility and joint research opportunities.
