UniAbuja Alumni in U.S. mobilises support for Alma Mater

By CECILIA OLOGUNAGBA

The University of Abuja Alumni Association, USA Inc., has partnered a U.S.-based independent organisation, King Baudouin Foundation, to mobilise support for its Alma Mater.

The North America Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some executives of the association met with the officials of the foundation in New York to discuss areas of support.

The Vice Chancellor of University of Abuja, Prof. Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, also attended the meeting.

The President and Founder of the association, Mrs Ekeleoma Chuku, said the motive of establishing the organisation in the U.S. was to galvanise support and to give back to its Alma Mater.

Chuku said the alumni had discussed ways of providing infrastructure and to support the learning environment of the university.

“We are happy to partner with the King Baudouin Foundation to proffer solutions to all these needs and to bridge the gap, so we want the foundation to support our Alma Mater and the good policies of the Vice Chancellor, Prof Na’Allah’’ she said.

In his remarks, Na’Allah thanked the association and its partner for their willingness to support the university.

“We are working to upgrade the ranking of the University of Abuja to a world class university, this cannot be done without strengthen the academic, the infrastructure and strengthen the lives of the students.

“As a public university, the Federal Government cannot fund it alone. We need to mobilise funds and there are no better people to come to than the alumni,’’ he said.

The vice chancellor told the alumni and its partner to consider supporting students’ activities centre, provide books to the library and give scholarships to some students.

According to him, the university is upgrading itself in so many areas as it has developed virtual class system in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our Centre for Distance Learning is among the best in Nigeria. Also, we have launched drug free clubs and the counselling services working around the clock to help and rehabilitate the affected students.’’

The University of Abuja is a tertiary institution in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, established in January 1988, as a dual-mode university with the mandate to run conventional and distance learning programmes. (NAN)