The University of Ilorin has played host to the 3rd summit of 28 universities drawn from eight different countries under the auspices of the ‘D8 Network of Pioneers for Research and Innovation (D8NPRI).’

The D8 member countries are Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Turkey and Malaysia.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the meeting, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Egbewole (SAN), in his address titled; Networking and Collaborating for Development, said the essence of the summit is to strengthen collaboration among members with a view to improving multi-disciplinary research that would be beneficial to all members, and communities involved, especially students.

The vice chancellor, who said that collaboration is key to development, expressed the hope that discussions among member countries would provide opportunities for real networking and collaboration for future development.

Towards this end, he said: “The group would leverage technology, factor the emerging issues of Artificial Intelligence, gene editing, quantum computing and such other great ideas that are shaping our world for future relevance.”