Nigeria Content Online

The University of
Lagos in collaboration with the Chinese Consulate came together for the
opening ceremony of the Chinese Culture Experience Centre and Book
Exhibition, held at the Confucius Institute, UNILAG, on August 6, 2010.
The event attracted individuals from both public and the private
sectors, as well as students from various institutions of learning.

Deputy Director of
the Institute, Muyiwa Falaiye, gave details about the Confucius
institute, and introduced special guests including: the co-director of
the institute, Yu Youbin; Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos,
Adetokunbo Sofoluwe, and Duro Oni, dean of the Faculty of Arts.

According to Yu
Youbin, the Chinese Culture Experience Centre is a place dedicated to
the integration of cultures. He added that the centre’s main aim is “to
promote friendly relationships between China and Nigeria” by
encouraging the knowledge of Chinese languages and cultural exchanges
between the two countries.

“We decided to
bring these to Nigerian universities, because we believe students at
this young age of theirs they can learn things very fast,” he
continued, promising that opportunities will be given to interested
students to take part in short-term courses with a minimum fee of 2,000
naira for two months. The best of the students, he said, will be sent
to China on scholarship for further studies.

Virtual library

The occasion was
also used to introduce the Virtual library created for students to
learn various aspects of the Chinese culture, including Trading and
Music. The IT Director, Falaiye, remarking on the importance of the
library as a reference point, said, its provision is intended “to
encourage students to be conversant with information technology the
more; with them making use of the virtual library on their own to
enable them understand more besides what they learnt during lectures.”
The library, he said, contains introductory as well as more advanced
reading materials.

During the
commissioning of the institute, Vice Chancellor Sofoluwe expressed his
gratitude to the Chinese Consulate for giving students an opportunity
to learn a foreign culture and language. “It is a great opportunity for
the art department to learn more about foreign languages,” he declared,
further explaining that UNILAG has made many such agreements with
various organisations at home and abroad in recent years.

He mentioned some
of the organisations, who have helped in the developing the school’s
learning environment. Among these are the MTN Foundation which has
provided the university with a virtual library; United Bank for Africa
with its proposed park and waterfront development project; and
Intercontinental Bank’s establishment of a postgraduate students
hostel. “These corporate bodies have bought into our vision of
transforming our learning environment; a vision that has been greatly
enhanced by the systematic beautification of the landscape,” said
Sofoluwe. He also enumerated other recent corporate contributions such
as the development of the creative Arts Visual Arts Gallery, the
adjoining Botanical and Zoological Garden, and the ongoing development
of the lagoon front. Some of the projects have reached completion in
the last two and half years, he informed.

Edutainment

During the
entertainment session, held at the Chinese corner of the leisure centre
located in the faculty, the students rendered Chinese songs such as
“Sangameshe” to thrill the guests. Students from other departments were
invited to learn some of the pleasantries in the Chinese language, such
as Xin hao (Hello), Xie xie (Thanks).

Students of the
Linguistics Department also expressed their appreciation to the Chinese
Consulate for the course introduced by the institute. In his closing
remarks, Youbin advised that students should always bear in mind that
no knowledge is wasted; and any opportunity given to them will be
relevant in their various fields of endeavour in future. Falaiye in
turn commended the Chinese Directors for their contribution to the
improvement of the University, while also praising the students for
their excellent presentations.

In a chat with NEXT after the event, Youbin affirmed a commitment
that the Confucius Institute will be established in other Nigerian
universities, in order to promote cultural values and exchange.