A delegation from the University led by Dr Anthony Manning, Dean for Internationalisation, visited Nigeria in May. The visit provided colleagues from International Recruitment, the Development Office and Kent Law School the opportunity to speak with hundreds of current and potential applicants to the University, deepened connections with academic colleagues at the University of Lagos, and saw the launch of a new Lagos chapter of the Nigeria Alumni Association.
The delegation included alumnus Dr Gbenga Oduntan, Reader in International Commercial Law. Dr Oduntan is a frequent visitor to Nigeria alongside International Officer Charlie Greenwood, and Abigail Yakubu, the University’s In-Country Officer based in Lagos. Abigail represents the University of Kent to prospective students in Nigeria; the University has over 120 Nigerian-domiciled students and receives over 600 applications per annum from the country.
The delegation attended the Study in Europe fair, alongside a number of major European universities, which provided the opportunity to speak to prospective students and their parents. In order to raise the University’s profile more broadly, colleagues also appeared on a local TV station and were interviewed by UnilagFM. The delegation received a warm welcome from the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) at the University of Lagos, with whom opportunities for future collaborations were discussed.
A reception was held at the Sheraton Lagos for alumni and friends of the University. Guests included Felicia Irima Ngaji (Woolf 2008, MA International Relations), the Secretary of the Nigeria Alumni Association, who travelled from Abuja to attend the event and launched the new Lagos chapter.
Dr Manning said, “We were delighted with the warm welcome we received in Laogs. Our alumni connections in Nigeria go back over 40 years and we look forward to extending our links with current and future students, alumni and other friends.”
Pictures of the Lagos alumni reception are available on Flickr, and more details can be found at the Nigeria Alumni Association webpage.