The second part of the series continues with the discussion on the report of the accreditation exercise released by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in early January 2006. As pointed out in the first instalment, the report startled three first generation universities (namely UI, UNN and OAU) whose law programmes lost their accreditation.

A young girl, unconscious by the time her mother brought her to a rural clinic in southern Burkina Faso, had the classic symptoms of meningitis: fever, stiffness, vomiting. With treatment, doctors hoped to be able to save her life although she may be permanently disabled: deafness, epilepsy or paralysis are among the effects of the disease.

African countries have responded to the need to boost science and technology by creating centres of excellence. But creating such centres in just a few African countries is unlikely to lead to an effective spread of science, technology and innovation necessary for development across the whole continent.

The SPPO will perform the following duties: - Develop the methodologies and systems of quality assurance and data validity of grant data and performance based decision processes, and develop institutional capacity to improve the performance culture at all levels (Global Fund unit, Sub-recipients, CCM, civil society).