Recognizing and appreciating the worth of differences that exist among people. In this chapter, differences include ethnicity, nationality, talents, indigenous knowledge etc; essence is that such differences may constitute significant uniqueness and excellence in attributes, skills and talents which human beings possess.
Published in Chapter:
Regional Integration in West Africa: Exploring the Option of Leveraging Workforce Diversity in the Academia and University System
Ikeanyibe Okechukwu Marcellus (University of Nigeria, Nigeria) and Ezeibe Chukwuebuka Christian (University of Nigeria, Nigeria)
Copyright: © 2012
|Pages: 17
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-1812-1.ch001
Abstract
Since its establishment in 1975, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has faced the task of regional integration and cooperation in West Africa mainly through economic policies and treaties, and has substantially failed to achieve the desired goals. The sub-region is probably one of the most outstanding regional enclaves of human diversity in the world. However, ethnicity and other differences remain critical phenomena of politics and life in the sub-region. More often than not, these differences are exploited for negative purposes rather than leveraging them for the objectives of cooperation, integration, and development. The university system and its academic membership offer an opportunity for harnessing some of the diversity in the region for more fruitful integration and development. This chapter examines this expected role of academia and the university system towards leveraging human resource diversity for improved cooperation, integration, and development in West Africa.