The Director of the Nigerian Center for Arabic Research, Professor Elkhidiru Abdul Baaqi has been elected as the President of the African Union of Arab and Arabist Academics.
Also, a former Chadian Minister, Professor Mohammed Nazif became the honorary president while the Moroccan Professor Mohamed Bouznkat emerged as Secretary-General of the Union.
The development came on the sideline of an international conference held in Morocco and entitled “Arabic Speakers in Sub-Saharan Africa: Identity Demands and Stage Questions”.
The participants who made recommendations at the end of the conference came from over twenty African countries and were hosted by the Faculty of Arts, Sciences and Humanities at Ibn Zohr University in the Moroccan city of Agadir.
The host was in collaboration with the Moroccan Laboratory in Africa, the Nigerian Center for Arabic Research, the Islamic Institute in Dakar, the Union of Private universities and institutes in Chad, the University of Peace in Burkina Faso, and the Islamic University of Minnesota, in the Agadir region of Morocco.
The conference which started on the 24th and ended on the 26th, February 2024 witnessed the participation of 45 male and female researchers representing 18 sub-Saharan and Arab countries, in addition to researchers representing various national universities.
Representatives of the Arab and African countries announced the establishment of the “African Union of Arab and Arab Academics,” and agreed to create a civil framework that would be embraced by Morocco and temporarily housed in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
“This would create a common framework for systematic scientific thinking about the issues of the continent, create an incubator for sub-Saharan Arab academics and their creativity, and unite the efforts of the elites.
“It enhances the involvement of these elites in strengthening the common ground between African countries, and constitutes a framework for defending the status of Arab culture in the field within a framework of convergence with other actors and continental, governmental and civil institutions.” They submitted.
The conference also came up with a recommendation to establish Arab culture in sub-Saharan Africa, and to adopt initiatives that enhance its presence in public life in the countries of the region, including educational institutions, supporting the authorship and publishing movement, and embracing researchers and students from Arabic-speaking groups in the continent.
The conference concluded with the signing of a multilateral partnership agreement bringing together fifteen public and private university institutions, institutes and research centers working in the field of African studies and continental issues, within the framework of creating a framework for cooperation and partnership between university institutions, and developing regular scientific research on continental issues.
Ibn Zohr University also honored two Nigerian and Guinean writers for their prolific achievements in the fields of language, literature, novels, stories, and the humanities in general.
One of the honorees, Noureddine Jibril Ramadan is from Lagos while Mohamed Dansuka is from Guinea.
