The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, OON, FAS and her husband, Mr. Olusegun Ogunsola, were Guests of Honour at the German Consulate in Lagos on Thursday, October 12, 2023 in celebration of the Day of German Unity.
In her address at the event, the Vice-Chancellor expressed her gratitude to the Consul-General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Weert Börner, for the honour. She felicitated with Germany as a country, and commended the many instances of friendship, collaboration, and partnerships that have been established between the European giant and Nigeria.
Her words: “First, let me thank the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany for inviting me to speak at today’s celebration of German Unity of October 3rd, 1990. At that time the Chancellor of West Germany Helmut Kohl, said and I quote “German unity was achieved not through the power of our arms, but by the strength of our hearts.” In many ways that is what we are celebrating today: the power of partnership, cooperation, and the power of friendship. These powers create much stronger bonds of trust that result in sustained and beneficially evolving mutual development”.
She narrowed down the gains of Nigeria-Germany bilateral relations to the University of Lagos, where staff and students have benefitted from scholarships, fellowships, and research equipment donations.
“One of the earliest educational involvements with Germany by UNILAG was through the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation which promotes the strengthening of research capacities in Africa … At the University of Lagos, about 8 of our Faculty are Humboldt fellows and at the moment, two of our staff are on the fellowship programme in Germany. The university has also obtained millions of euros worth of research equipment, and these are being used to train PhDs in different fields. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has supported a large number of academic staff across the nation and over a 100 staff and students from University of Lagos have earned degrees sponsored by DAAD. We currently have a German Scholar-in-Residence, in the person of Dr. Gerald Heusing on the DAAD exchange programme. We hope to receive a second one for our Urban and Regional Planning programme soon.”
Professor Ogunsola recommended that the same spirit of such partnerships and collaboration be extended to the pursuit of the larger African Agenda 2063, affirming that it is the best way for the continent to attain prosperity.
“We are committed to the African Union 2063 Agenda. The Africa we want is an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the international arena. But we cannot do this alone. For this, we need partners, we need friends. We will achieve this by the strength of our partnerships, driven by the strength of our hearts”.
The Day of German Unity is the National Day of the Federal Republic of Germany. It commemorates the 1990 German Reunification when the German Democratic Republic re-joined the Federal Republic of Germany to form a single German state for the first time since 1945.
