The 47–year old Pan-African Institute for Development, West Africa (PAID-WA) has graduated its 45th batch of 15 Masters’, 34 Post-graduate, nine Bachelors’ and 225 other intermediary Diplomas.
The Secretary General (SG) at the South West Regional Governor’s Office, Clement Fon Ndikum, who chaired the event last 27 June for the Governor, lauded the quality of training offered in the Buea-based development-oriented international institution. He saluted the graduating students of PAID-WA from different countries including Gambia, Ghana, Central African Republic, Sierra Leon, Liberia, Nigeria and Cameroon.
He promised Government’s continuous support for an institution that has proven its worth since inception in 1967. The SG reminded that the hallmark of PAID-WA has been to form development agents as such serving as the catchment point for knowledge transmission in West Africa.
Presenting the institution and the graduates, the Regional Director of PAID-WA, Nigerian-born Dr. Rosetta Bola Thompson, said it was a top rated institution, informed by scholarship and cooperating with leading academics and reputable organisations in the world.
This status to her galvanises the way forward for Africa’s development. She praised the government of Cameroon for the continual assistance through its Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT).
Professor Emmanuel Kandem, PAID International’s Secretary General, explained at the Buea graduation ceremony that the institution has received sizeable land to construct a Secretariat for PAID International and a Centre for entrepreneurial development respectively in Yaounde and Bamenda.
He informed public opinion that PAID-WA was launching in 2014-2015 a bilingual PhD programme in Applied Sciences for development in its International Centre for Concerted, Decent and Sustainable Development in Yaounde. PAID International is marking its 50 years this year with celebrations billed for next September ending.