The 26th General Assembly of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU/FIUC) – Maynooth College, Ireland.

Press men and women have been briefed on the importance of IFCU in promoting Catholic education in line with the view of the church, this was during a press conference that was organized at CUIB Molyko main campus Buea on July 17, 2018. The conference was presented by Rev. Fr George Nkeze who meant to educate the Cameroonian public about the International Federation of Catholic Universities – IFCU. (The French acronym FIUC stands for “La Federation Internationale des Universites Catholiques) and how Catholic universities are making the difference around the world in terms of quality, pedagogic innovation, research and service to the community.

He also shared with the journalists some of the fallouts of the 26th General Assembly of IFCU that recently took place at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Dublin in the Republic of Ireland from the 23rd – 27th of July 2018.

He noted that two universities in Cameroon are part of this Federation which, is made of over 230 Catholic universities throughout the world. – The Catholic University of Central Africa (UCAC) in Yaoundé and the Catholic University Institute of Buea

Moreover, Rev.Fr George Nkeze stated that, beyond the Academic dimension of the General Assembly, delegates of the member universities also voted the New President of the Federation, Regional Presidents and Executive Board members for a three-year mandate (2018-2021).

The General consensus at the assembly was to bring on board a new leadership that will lead the Federation in an age of extremely rapid technological changes. Prof. Isabel Capeloa, was voted as the First Female President of the Federation. She is the Rector of the Catholic University of Portugal.

Her Pre- election and Post-election speech was out of this world. She promised to take IFCU to the new landscape of creativity, innovation, capacity building and solidarity with Catholic universities around the world especially those operating in difficult socio- political and economic environments.  Providentially, Rev. Fr George Nkeze was the First African and Cameroonian to be voted in the dual position as IFCU Africa Regional President and Vice President of the Federation

According to the new elected president of IFCU for Africa, there is no doubt that Higher Education Institutions in our Country must stand out   by not only delivering knowledge, but provide real experience to their students.  The provision of services for students should not be limited to classrooms, but accompany the student’s experience as a whole. In this new education landscape, creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation will be the key of the future.

CUIB is already making the difference as the Premier game changer of mobile and ubiquitous learning in Cameroon. There is no doubt that the sustainability of institutions will be strongly linked to their ability to address this digital shift which CUIB has embraced already through its new Strategic Vision 2023 plan.  With our Students we will be able to co-create the CUIB of the Future. He stated this as the new challenge he is about to outcome throughout his mandate at IFCU.