PAU ADMISSIONS

These 110 new trainees successfully passed through the filter, out of the 2,838 applications received by the Institute from 47 African countries, following the call for PAU scholarships as part of the 2021/2022 academic year. 

Speaking on behalf of Prof. Mohammed Belhocine, AU Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, the acting Director of ESTI, Mr. Hambani Masheleni, heartily welcomed the new students through a video message.

He thanked the management team of the University of Ibadan, for gracing the matriculation and for their constant support. He also congratulated PAULESI staff for sticking to the very rigorous criteria, including gender balance, throughout the selection process.

Mr. Masheleni also called on 2021/2022 freshers to keep to their academic objectives, so as to become Africa’s future leaders. He further encouraged them to seize all available opportunities in PAULESI to achieve a hitch-free academic experience in the Institute. 

Addressing the new comers, Prof. Esther Akinlabi, Director of PAULESI, stressed that they were selected on the basis of merit. She therefore wished them to make meaningful contributions and dominate in their fields of study.

“You all are postgraduate students, and even though postgraduate studies come with a higher degree of freedom, I would like to state that this freedom is not without some expected requirements and boundaries, and it is pertinent that you abide by these sets of rules and regulations as required of you during your course of study”, she added. Prof. Akinlabi urged them to demonstrate their best behaviour, to be good ambassadors of their home countries and to practice the Ubuntu philosophy, “a quality that includes the essential human virtues; compassion and humanity”. PAULESI’s Director also encouraged the new students to embark on the entrepreneurial culture through the relevant use of PAULESI Centre of Excellence, in order to become the next Africa’s wheels of economic development.

Expressing his joy for attending the Matriculation Ceremony, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, qualified the new students as trailblazers. “I have deliberately used that tag because this is the very first time this ceremony would be taking place in a PAULESI facility. This lays credence to the fact that your start is on a new pedestal and I believe, by God’s grace, you will end well”, he explained. He advised them to always ponder on how to help Africa move forward. “You people sitting here are the hope of this continent. Do not tire of exploring how your academic experiences and training here will address the problems that are holding this great continent back. If you do not do it, who would?”, he added.

Coming from the five regions of the continent and representing 41 African countries, 80 of PAULESI’s 9^th cohort were admitted into nine Master’s programmes, while the remaining 30 were enrolled into five Ph.D. programmes.

Chancelle Bilampassi Moutsatsi 

PAU Communication Officer