For students of the prestigious University of Abuja (UniAbuja), it was a moment to cherish amidst expectations of better things to come on Tuesday November 14, 2023 when top officials of the Korea Embassy in Nigeria stormed the institution to launch Korea Corner.
Blueprint reports that the corner is basically a part of the school designated for students to access learning materials including books, recorded audio/visual instructional equipment among others for Korea-related educational purposes.
At the official launch of the Korea Corner, the Ambassador of South Korea to Nigeria, His Excellency Kim Young Chae said his country in an effort to deepen collaboration with Nigeria is exploring ways of communicating its cultural and general living standards to other parts of the World.
Ambassador Chae said the Korea Corner was designed to give students the opportunity to know much about South Korea as well as open vista of memorable access to them.
He then adviced the students to be “Well behaved, focused and determined to be great in life.
“Being in school is an opportunity to gain knowledge and impact same on the society where you find yourself today or tomorrow. The Republic of South Korea is determined to continuously establish stronger bilateral relationship with Nigeria.
“So we hope that the you make good use this place in your school to know more about South Korean language and culture.”
Also speaking, the Director, Korea Cultural Centre in Nigeria, Mr. Kim Chang-gi, said the new measure was to further promote the cultural values of the South Korean republic.
He said, “We are collaborating with University of Abuja and this is the beginning of many things to come. Many reading and learning materials were displayed for use by the students. We are planning to hold many events using the Korea Corner.
“In the near future, we will be requiring teachers from Korea to help start teaching Korean language.
On his part, UniAbuja Vice Chancellor, Professor Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, expressed delight that with the establishment of the Korea Corner, the institution was poised to include Korean language among other linguistic-related courses in its academic schedule.
“The intention of establishing the Korea corner is also to teach Korean language in the school. Very soon we will be establishing the Centre for Korea Studies here,” he said.
On whether Nigerian languages are gaining similar attention in other parts of the world, the erudite scholar who has been on the saddle as the chief executive of UNIAbuja in past three plus years said, “The same thing happening in UniAbuja in the area of studying different foreign languages happen outside Nigeria. It’s a known fact that Nigeria’s major languages such as Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo are thought in various schools at different countries and continents.
“What we are doing now is to give our students the opportunities to be global citizens by knowing various languages. When they graduate, they can explore their entrepreneurial skills, do business in any country of their choice without being cheated.”
Also students of UniAbuja took turns to show their appreciation to South Korea Embassy for establishing the corner.
One of them, Cecilia Omokhua, of the Linguistics department said adding Korean language to other languages will boost the knowledge base of the students.Established in 1988, UniAbuja know boast of 14 academic faculties with about 55 departments.
