French Envoy Alerts On Brewing Crisis In Jos
From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin
THE French Envoy to Nigeria, Jean Michel Dumong has alerted the government on a fresh build up of hostility in Jos, urging the aggrieved parties in the crisis to sheathe their swords in the overall interest of socio-political and economic development of Nigeria.
Dumong, during an official visit to authorities of the University of Ilorin on Friday, said Nigeria as a nation due to its multi-cultural composition, could only experience growth in a peaceful atmosphere.
According to him, "despite the observable differences among Nigerians, the people must embrace dialogue and constantly preach tolerance. I was in Jos shortly after the last tragedy and spoke with the leaders of the two groups.
"But I came back to the same Jos, two weeks ago, to observed that the situation is still tensed. I know what I am talking about, at least I have been in Nigeria now for the past one and a half years," he said.
While lauding the existing political relationship between Nigeria and France, Dumong canvassed for the usage of French as a language beyond the confine of French departments of some Nigerian Universities.
He promised prompt renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between his country and Nigeria especially in the areas of French language and conducting research works on it.
The envoy later presented some souvenirs to the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University on Academics, Professor Kolade Ayorinde for onward distribution to the French Resource Centre of the institution.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Ishiaq Oloyede, described the quality of the French programme at the institution as one of the best in Nigeria, as he attested to the teaching prowess of the staff, which is made up of eight members of whom 75 per cent are Senior Lecturers. Besides, all but two are Ph.D holders while two are notable professors.
Oloyede added: "This university takes seriously the question of academic excellence. But this cannot reasonably be achieved without cross-border fertilization of ideas and research output. This is why we are committed to opening our doors to other 'cultures' other 'civilizations' and other 'worldviews".
