The University of Abuja (UniAbuja) has established a new International Institute for Publishing Studies, tasked with training of manpower in the area of publishing for Nigeria and Africa.
Speaking at a press conference at the university’s permanent site in Abuja, yesterday, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, said the new institute would offer a 12-month professional Master’s Degree programme.
Na’Allah said the new initiative was aimed at promoting academic standards, ethical and professional values of publishing studies and profession in Nigeria and across the world.
According to him, the institute was established to address the lack of a professional programme in Publishing Studies in Nigeria, stressing that: “The University of Abuja has the aspiration that a high quality programme in publishing will contribute substantially to the skills and development of academic institutions, private businesses and professionals, government and law enforcement sectors, as well as those who seek to become publishers around the world”.
The academic said admitted students would have opportunities for experiential learning with state-of-the-art facilities and networking with renowned international scholars from the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, South Africa among others.
The Institute, he explained, would be headed by a Director, Professor Chris Ogbondah, who won the Distinguished Scholar Award for the 2021/2022 academic year at the University of Northern Iowa in the United States of America.
While disclosing that the institute would self-fund the programme, the Vice Chancellor noted that with this development, the university is not only responding to the needs of Nigeria in particular but Africa in general.
