VC proffers solution to Sub-Saharan Africa’s problems

Sub-Saharan Africa is least developed by all human development indices and the way-out of the quagmire is through regional cooperation, Vice Chancellor Usmanu Danfodiyo University Professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru has said.

He stated this yesterday at the opening of the 21st national conference of University French Teachers Association (UFTAN) in Sokoto.

“Today, more able-bodied youths are deserting their fatherland from SSA than any other region of the world and there is no better time that we need our human capital than now,” he said.

He noted that Nigeria shares border with Niger Republic, Republic of Benin, Cameroun and Chad Republic.

“In particular, Sokoto state shares boundaries with Niger republic in six local government areas of the state namely; at Illela, Sokoto, Gudu, Gada, Sabon Birni, Tangaza and Isa; and Kebbi state shares boundaries with the Republic of Benin and Niger. Similarly, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Borno, Adamawa, Cross Rivers, Lagos etc share boundaries with francophone countries.

“This shows that French language has a cardinal role in enhancing regional cooperation in Sub Saharan Africa,” he said.

Zuru underscored the importance of the gathering in enhancing cooperation among the Francophone and Anglophone countries.

Earlier, UFTAN President Prof. Austin Stephen Moye, had said: ‘’If we as a nation must not continue to lose out in competitive international job placements, if we do not wish to be at the receiving end of diplomatic maneuvering through language, then we must take the teaching of the French language very seriously to the extent that the average literate Nigerian should acquire, at the least what one could describe as ‘a tourist knowledge’ of the French language.”