Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete addressed the issue of global partnerships at the College Avenue Student Center on Friday.
With
a whopping 192,000 followers, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete is the sixth most-followed
African leader on Twitter. The Tanzanian president’s social media presence,
however, doesn’t end quite there.
On
Friday, a herd of students, faculty and staff circled around Kikwete to get a
glimpse of him in a selfie or engage him in a conversation that they could
later boast about on social media.
Kikwete,
the fourth and current president of The United Republic of Tanzania, spoke
about the importance of international collaborations in the Multipurpose Room
of the College Avenue Student Center.
During
the president’s visit, Richard Edwards, Rutgers-New Brunswick Chancellor and
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, signed Rutgers’ first Memorandum
of Understanding with the University of Dodoma in Tanzania. It is the first
educational agreement that Tanzania has with the United States.
Photo by Yangeng Lin |
Ousseina Alidou
(left), director for Center for African Studies and Richard Edwards (middle),
Rutgers-New Brunswick chancellor greet Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete
(right).
“This
is really a momentous occasion for our University. … It reflects our slogan,
‘Jersey Roots, Global Reach,” Edwards said.
Kikwete
opened up about the problems facing Tanzania, as well as the role of global
partnerships in solving the challenges, at the event sponsored by the Center
for Global Advancement and International Affairs and Center for African
Studies.
“I
am happy that the discussion is not whether international partnerships are
important or not, but the discussion is how we can create this partnership in a
manner that they are effective and efficient in addressing global challenges,”
he said.
Kikwete
has held his position since 2005, after serving as a Minister for Foreign
Affairs for 10 years and as Finance Minister from 1994 to 1995.
One
issue that Kikwete has strived to get the ball rolling on is the field of
research and development in Tanzania.
“If
we want to accelerate the pace of development, we have to do more in areas of
science and tech, in areas of research,” he said. “[These are] areas where I
found we were not doing well.”
After
being elected president, Kikwete visited all the research institutions in the
country and was shocked to discover that the institutions had hired no
personnel in 10 years.
Soon
after the finding, he advised that no existing employees retired before they
made remarkable discoveries.
“I
said, ‘You guys will not retire until we come to the point where we are now
mixing genes, combining and getting a monster somewhere, then you can take care
of your grandchildren,’” he said.
Kikwete
lifted the employment freeze, updated research equipment and devoted more
funding to research. Currently, the country has better research institutions
that conduct at least two to three research programs and train students in
acquiring masters and Ph.D.s.
Although
the water bottle on Kikwete’s podium dropped several times, Kikwete was
undeterred from stressing the importance of solving global challenges through
global solutions.
“Many
challenges and problems the world is facing today are global in nature,” he
said. “There is no Eastern or Western problem alone, no African or European
problem or American problem. …”
Kikwete
said one example of problems that have seen progress owing to international
collaboration are the U.N. Millennium Development Goals.
Since
1990, child mortality rate has been halved, according to the U.N. MDG report
from 2014.
In
2012, 6 million fewer children are dying than in 1990.
Similarly,
the world’s recent problems, like the ISIS crisis, fall in no single country’s
framework.
“[It
is] no longer an Iraqi problem, we were told at least there are 600 people from
Britain ... 500 from Sweden and so many from all over the world, ISIS may look
like a Syria or an Iraq problem but it’s global,” he said.
Ami
Patel, a Rutgers student, witnessed first-hand the atmosphere in Tanzania
during Kikwete’s election. She remembers people dancing in the streets out of
happiness that their problems would go away.
Patel
asked Kikwete how nervous he felt knowing that the citizens had tremendous
expectations from him.
“Your
fear was my fear,” Kikwete said.
Everyday,
he continues to actualize what he promised for Tanzania, whether it is health,
religion, research and development or elimination of poverty.
Ousseina
Alidou, director for the Center for African Studies, highlighted Rutgers’
involvement in Tanzania and the African continent.
She
said Rutgers has more than 120 faculties that are actively engaged in research,
partnership collaborations and teaching of colleagues in many African
countries.
“I
believe it’s vitally important to make people aware of those opportunities and
encourage deeper engagement with Africa and African colleagues, student,
faculty and the professional world.”
Kikwete
said he has very high hopes from the agreement between Rutgers and University
of Dodoma and called it their “baby.”
“I
am to see the collaboration between these two universities,” he said. “I expect
to see this collaboration grow from strength to strength. You say there 25
[faculty members] who work in Tanzania, I want to see 125.”
http://www.dailytargum.com/article/2014/09/tanzanian-president-expresses-hope-from-collaboration-with-rutgers
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