October 12, (THEWILL) – The Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Kabiru Bala, says the institution would continue to count on its alumni in support of its aspiration of fulfilling the vision of its founding fathers.
Speaking at this year’s Pre-Annual General Assembly Lecture of Ahmadu Bello University Alumni Association, held at ABU CBN Centre of Excellence at the weekend, the Vice-Chancellor also stressed the need for the alumni body to align its activities with the approved strategic goals and direction of the University.
Prof. Bala, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Prof. Ahmed Doko Ibrahim, explained that the call became obvious as the University and the association targeted support from the same pool while aspiring to add value to the same institution.
“I wish to call on all alumni to heed the call of the ABU Endowment Board of Trustees when they roll out their systematic, self-accounting, and structured crowd-funding tools”, he further urged.
The Vice-Chancellor described as “apt” the choice of this year’s theme for the lecture in the light of prevailing circumstances being faced in the tertiary education sector, especially universities.
The lecture, entitled “Funding Public Tertiary Education: Roles of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and its Future for Sustainable Educational Development”, was delivered by the Executive Secretary, TETFund, Arc. Sunday Sylva Togo, whom the Vice-Chancellor said was eminently qualified to speak about the subject.
He also said that over the 60 years of its existence, the University had grown significantly in terms of the number of academic units and programmes, staff strength and student enrolment, teaching and research facilities.
“In its entire history of existence, the University can boast of having significantly met the developmental needs for which it was established, especially with regards to the production of high-quality graduates and community service in engineering, environmental design, the medical sciences, agriculture, the humanities, education and natural sciences”, he said.
The Vice-Chancellor, however, explained that an enormous amount of resources were required for routine teaching and research, as well as operations and maintenance of the system.
“The consolation is that there are, undoubtedly, successful universities in the world to learn from. The most advanced universities are sustained by their endowments. For instance, Harvard University, Yale University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology had over $40bn, $30bn, and $23bn respectively in their endowments in 2020”, he said.
He further stated that the alumni and other educational philanthropists were the backbone of institutions’ endowments, saying that every Harvard graduate, for example, was encouraged to pay a minimum of $100 annually as a contribution.
The Hon. Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who was the chairman of the occasion, took advantage of the event to call on ASUU to suspend its industrial action in the interest of Nigerian students.
Represented by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, the University of Abuja Governing Council, Prof. Ahmed Mohammed Modibo, the Minister also said that negotiation with the government could continue even after the suspension of the strike.
Earlier in his remarks, the National President of Ahmadu Bello University Alumni Association, Dr Ibrahim Sani Khalil, described this year’s Alumni General Assembly and Homecoming as “very special”, as the University marked its 60 years of existence.
Dr Khali, who assumed the leadership of the association last year following his election, also said that the association was formed to support the University.
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