Alumni to raise N5b for ABUs infrastructure

THE Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Alumni Association is mobilising its members to raise N5 billion to aid the universitys ailing infrastructure.President of the Association, Mrs. Henrietta Ingo Ogan, told the institutions Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abdullahi Mustapha during a recent courtesy visit, that the association was also repositioning itself to make more impact.We hope to partner with your administration to speedily mobilise resources, revamp ailing facilities, network capacity, build the synergy for repositioning the university to create a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere for acquiring knowledge, she stated.She further affirmed that the National Economic and Development Strategy (NEEDS) document of the Association was being circulated to various organizations nationwide, with a view to getting them to sponsor projects and programmes in the institution.Our overall vision for ABU is for its transformation into a world class entrepreneurial University, renowned for creativity, innovation, productivity and scholarship, she explained.The Vice Chancellor remarked that the University still suffers from inadequate and aging infrastructure, teaching and research facilities and inadequate students accommodation.According to him, one of the greatest challenges facing the University was that it had exhausted all its land in its Phase One area, leaving only the Phase Two for all new projects. This means that the University will need to construct new road networks, build bridges and draw electricity and water to the new area, he added.Mustapha also told the associations officers: water supply is increasingly becoming a problem in the University as the University Dam is fast receding as a result of silting.He explained that the cost of recovery has been put at N1billion. According to him, with over 20,000 students residing in the hostels, the facilities there have been over-stretched, with the inadequate water supply as a flash point.Although, the University management has contracted private developers to build hostels on BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) basis, Mustapha implored the business tycoons among the alumni to also construct private hostels in the University.He stressed that the University was making arrangements to celebrate its golden jubilee in grand-style, beginning from January to November, 2012. Besides, he revealed that the institution would install its new Chancellor, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Saad Abubakar in June. 
Click here to read full news..