Two years ago, precisely on the 7 th of September 2018, this column presented a 2-series article titled “ABU Zaria Golden Handshake with China: Transferring Railway Engineering to Nigeria”.
In the article, a uniquely novel idea was mooted where a 5-year university degree program of engineering was redesigned to provide two different university degrees from two different universities in two different international languages.
It was more than BOGOF (“Buy One, Get One Free”), a popular slogan commonly seen in advertisement of items, which motivates customers to purchase such items even when they initially didn’t plan to do so.
As an advertisement blitz for a new item coming to the market and wishing to conquer it, one can understand why sometimes producers/manufacturers may sell items below production cost of their products to get market acceptability.
What if the product is well accepted by the market and highly competitive? Then, the scenario became not only innovative but also very astounding and amazing.
This is exactly the scenario that can best describe the “ABU Zaria Golden Handshake with China”.
It was designed to transfer some hard working and brilliant engineering students of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria who are starting their 400 level to South Central University of China to complete their remaining two years.
After successful completion, the students are to be awarded with two degrees; one from ABU Zaria and another from SCU China.
Ordinarily, a student must spend 5–year period satisfactorily to earn one degree of engineering discipline but the ABU handshake with SCU China is making it possible for the students to be awarded with degree of ABU and another degree from SCU for the same period of five years.
https://breakthroughwithmkothman.blogspot.com/2018/12/abu-zaria-golden-handshake-with-china_12.html.
This program is christened as “3+2”, a novel innovation, which is unparalleled in the entire history of the educational system in Nigeria.
Ordinarily, five years is duration for undergraduate engineering degree program in Nigerian Universities and many other countries.
Thus, “3+2” (equals to five years) is an innovative strategy, which earns two degrees of engineering after spending three years in ABU Zaria and two years in CSU China.
One admission, two degree certificates in two engineering disciplines from two famous universities (ABU and SCU) in two different continents and in two different languages (English and Chinese).
The beneficiaries of “3+2” have to experience two different worlds and secure knowledge to play both worlds efficiently for the benefits of Africans and Chinese.
“3+2” is a program that targeted top class of 300 – level students of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Departments of ABU Zaria.
The students from Civil Engineering Department would be awarded Bachelor of Engineering (Civil Eng) from ABU Zaria and Bachelor of Engineering (Railway Eng) from SCU China after successful completion of the “3+2”.
Similarly, students from Mechanical Engineering Department would be awarded Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Eng) from ABU Zaria and Bachelor of Engineering (Equipment and Control Eng) from SCU China after successful completion.
“3+2” program was conceived essentially based on the need to address urgent and pressing national developmental issue in Nigeria and the rest of Africa – Transportation, particularly railway system.
Road transport is the most common means of transportation in Nigeria, which is most affordable and readily available in every nooks and crannies in the country.
However, road transport system faces myriad problems caused by decaying transport infrastructure due to poor maintenance attitude of Nigerians in general hence the several potholes on the road.
The poor maintenance of the roads leads to accidents with recorded deaths and injuries. Example, in the early months of 2018, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported deaths of 2,598 Nigerians in road accidents between October, 2017 and March, 2018 NBS disclosed this in the Road Transport Data for 4th quarter, 2017 and 1st quarter, 2018, posted on its website.
The breakdown showed that 1, 306 Nigerians died in road accidents in the fourth quarter of 2017 while 1, 292 people died in accident in the first quarter of 2018.
The situation is getting worst continuously, year in, year out because of too much pressure on the few good roads and plentiful bad ones across the nation.
As a citadel of learning, ABU Zaria studied the situation and the trend of events in the transportation sector over time, particularly the railway technology, took advantage of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to revive railway sector and then innovated the “3+2” program.
The program is a product of strategic thinking of the egg – heads among the ABU academia aimed at revamping indigenous railway technology in Nigeria at the shortest possible time.
It is a strategic planning to make Nigeria lead African nations in the development of railway technology with active collaboration of the People Republic of China.
“3+2” Program perfectly synchronizes the implementation of African Union’s “Vision 2040” for Railway Revitalization in Africa, which was adopted by the AU member states in June 2014.
So, very soon, one may begin to hear that the Chief Executive Officers of Railway.
Corporations for Kenyan, Tanzania, Malawi and similar African countries are Nigerians and products of “3+2” program. Can ABU and CSU achieve “3+2” program based on their tract records of academic quality? In 2018, the first set of forty-five (45) engineering
Students of ABU Zaria who were to start their 400 level and whose CGPAs surpassed 3.5 were selected as the pioneer participants of “3+2” program. Before they left the Nigerian shore, they were assiduously challenged to learn Chinese language as the only medium of teaching in their new university.
Thus, they were given intensive Chinese language training as the medium of communication in their new milieu.
Two years have already passed since the first set of “3+2” participants left Nigeria, what is the update? Were they able to make it? What is the prospect of “3+2” in the midst of the global challenge, Covid-19 Pandemic? (To be continued next week)
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