Campus News

Egbewole canvasses international collaboration at 4th D-8 Summit

By Abubakar Imam

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, has, again, canvassed collaboration and institutional linkages among universities in D-8 Countries.

Prof. Egbewole made the appeal last Tuesday (October 7, 2025) while speaking at the 4th Summit of the D-8 Network of Pioneers for Research and Innovation (D-8 NIPR) held at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor, Malaysia.

The Summit, which was attended by chief executives of universities and policy makers from member-countries, was held between 6th and 9th October, 2025.

The Vice Chancellor, who was represented by the Director, Centre for International Studies, Prof. Lateef Onireti Ibraheem, said that the envisaged collaboration is the engine that would propel higher education and foster greater development in the South-South.

Prof. Egbewole added that sustainable development in the Global South must be knowledge-driven and collaboratively achieved as he said that the University of Ilorin would be particularly interested in joint research, staff and students exchanges, policy dialogue and technological transfer that can directly impact communities.

While saying that “we should move beyond dialogue to co-creation where universities in the D-8 become engines of inclusive growth, innovation and South-South cooperation, Prof. Egbewole commended the organisers for convening the forum and urged all participants to use  the opportunity to build lasting frameworks for collaboration.

Prof. Egbewole, who thanked all those who participated in the 3rd edition of the Summit hosted by the University of Ilorin, enjoined participants to attend the upcoming 50th anniversary of the University, which, he said, would hold between 23rd and 28th November, 2025.

The Vice Chancellor, who is also the Vice President (West Africa) of the Association of African Universities (AAU), said that the ceremonies will reflect the University’s pride in the production of leaders, generation of transformative knowledge and meaningful contribution to national and regional development in the last five decades.

On the sideline of the Summit, the representative of the Vice Chancellor also held interactions with the Vice Chancellor of the Universiti Tecknologi Malaysia, Prof. Dr Mohammed Shafry Bin Mohammed Rahim in the course of which Letters of Intent for collaboration between the two Universities were also exchanged.