The UWI’s Historic Hosting of Nigerian Vice-Chancellors

The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica, W.I., Monday, February 16, 2026—Last week, the Caribbean and Africa struck another high note in their ongoing bridge‑building agenda. A team of 20 recently appointed Vice-Chancellors arrived at The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Headquarters in Jamaica from Nigeria, hosted by Vice‑Chancellor of The UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles.

The initiative originated in a request from the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) as part of its plan to expose emerging university leaders to The UWI’s success and legacy in dealing with the relations between national and global issues. All universities, especially in the Global South, are forging survival and sustainable strategies in the international higher education sector.

Nigeria has some 140 public universities and a similar number of private institutions. The UWI is recognised as a highly successful and respected brand, ranked by the Times Higher Education (THE) among the top 3.6% of the world’s 33,000 universities.

The universities converged for an Africa–Caribbean Higher Education Summit from February 10-12. It featured robust conversations between UWI leaders and their guests, focusing on themes such as strategic planning, research for development, curriculum quality and teaching, preparations for global competitive ranking, achieving greater impact with less financing, and promoting visionary leadership.

Describing the gathering as “a spiritual moment,” during the opening ceremony, Vice‑Chancellor Beckles reflected on the deeply rooted ties linking the regions, noting that “Nigeria has had a profound intellectual impact on the development of this university” and that The UWI “cannot tell its history without connecting to those fundamental moments.”

Professor Andrew Haruna, Secretary-General of the CVCNU acknowledged both the opportunities and challenges within Nigeria’s system and referenced the longstanding contributions of Caribbean scholars to Nigerian intellectual life. He expressed confidence that this engagement would spark new models of transnational education and deepen sectoral ties.

In a demonstration of further deepening ties with the Nigerian delegation, Dr. Gervan Fearon, President of George Brown Polytechnic and a distinguished member of the West Indian diaspora in Canada, delivered the feature address. Dr. Fearon called for the advancement of purpose-driven universities and strongly advocated for indigenous publishing, underscoring its critical role in amplifying research from the Global South on the international stage.

The enthusiastic participation of all Principals and Pro Vice-Chancellors of The UWI throughout the three-day event reflected an unwavering dedication to the ONE UWI vision and cultivated a vibrant atmosphere of collaboration and meaningful dialogue, with each leader making a significant contribution to the exchange of ideas.

On closing day, tasked with delivering concluding remarks, Professor C. Justin Robinson, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of The UWI Five Islands Campus, underscored the strategic significance of the partnership, saying, “South-South collaboration is not a consolation prize. It is a strategic imperative…The solutions to the challenges facing developing nations will increasingly come from institutions like ours—working together, learning from one another, and refusing to wait for permission to lead.”