Tana Forum

Bahir Dar University in Collaboration with Tana High Level Forum holds a panel.
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In the day’s event, three dignitaries Dr. Firew Tegegn , Prof. Ahmed Bayomi and Dr. John Apuruot Akec discussed on the theme: ''Regional Integration and Security.'' at Peda campus of Bahir Dar University.

The first speaker Dr. Firew Tegegn in his speech noted the political change in Ethiopia over the course of a year. He said this change comes with good opportunities, but at the same time there is now a growing fear that the change might go astray if the situation is handled improperly.

Dr. Firew Tegegn has stressed the need to work on building the capacity of the nation as this is the way to continue building on the positive changes witnessed. According to him, this is where Universities like Bahir Dar University play a significant role. In connection to this, Dr. Firew remarked that intellectuals should work on bringing about behavioral changes on the students who join Universities to realize the change that the country aspires.

The second speaker Dr. John Apuruot Akec focused on the following major points.
 Current situation in the Horn of Africa?
 Importance of economic integration.
 The role of institutions is stability of a the Horn of Africa.

In his talk Dr. John Apuruot Akec mentioned the fact that the Horn of Africa needs to think about various forms of integration. He says the horn seems moving out of war and now is the time for Africans to come together towards bringing development.

Prof. Ahmed Bayomi who took the stage last is quoted saying: “Africa is a rich continent but at the same time with very poor countries.” He mentioned the major problems of Africa such as war, poor quality health services, lack of food and infrastructure. According to Prof. Ahmed Bayomi, Africa’s problems can and should be solved by Africans themselves. For this to be realized, the speaker emphasized, Africans should work in collaboration on the education sector. Africans should study in Africa rather than going to the West. Therefore, he added, more effort and attention is needed in this regard for Africans to study at home and be able to solve their own problems. Last but not least, the professor suggests Africans to work on establishing Association of African Universities that will help Africans to have a harmonized accreditation of the degrees offered in African universities.

The dialogue continued with questions from the audience and explanations by the speakers. In the event, invited guests from different walks of life, higher officials of BDU, staffs and students participated.

Date: 
Friday 4, 2019
place: 
Bahir Dar University
May, 2019