UNIVERSITIES have been urged to expose their students to foreign and local collaborations and workshops to enable them learn firsthand from experts.
The vice-chancellor, Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, Professor AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, made the call at a workshop organised by the Carnegie African Diaspora Programme, in collaboration with the Centre for Oral Traditions in Africa (COTA); Centre for Ilorin Manuscript and Culture; School of Tourism, Hospitality and Events Management; and Department of Religious, History and Documentation Methodologies held at the university’s International Conference Centre, Ilorin.
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The workshop was on oral history and documentation methodology.
The vice chancellor, who said that such exposure would further bring progress and development to society and empower students to be self-reliant, added that the programme would be intellectually resourceful to fashion out ways of transforming the society.
He added that such exposures would also avail students with information about international scholarships like the Carnegie African Diaspora Programme.
Speaking at the workshop, the university don noted the importance of documenting oral history, saying that it would help to preserve cultural heritage and preserve artifacts in archives, galleries and museums.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow, Professor Bala Saho, from the University of Oklahoma, USA, who is also a visiting professor to the Kwara State University, Malete, urged Africans to value their cultures and traditions in order not to lose their identities as a people.