The Consul- General of Nigeria in New York, Amb. Lot Egopija, has pledged to support and facilitate education opportunities for the University of Abuja Alumni Association in U.S.
Egopija made the pledge when some executive members of the association, with the Vice Chancellor, University of Abuja, Prof. Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah paid him a courtesy call in his office at Nigeria House, New York.
The envoy acknowledged that the Federal Government could not fully fund the university, noting that it was necessary to source for support to augment the funding from the Federal Government.
“Our welfare and education section, which deals with welfare of Nigerians and education matters will work with your alumni association to explore opportunities.
“The section will work with the association to see areas of cooperation, to bring one or two investment opportunities in the education sector to the university.
“I want to do this to raise the bar for others to think they can surpass. We will work with the association and follow up with you (Vice Chancellor) to support your efforts,’’ he said.
He emphasised that the Consulate would support the efforts of the Vice Chancellor as he is working to raise the university to a global institution.
Egopija told his guests that the mission was always looking out for the ‘businesses’ of Nigerians in the U.S., which according to him, include education.
“This is a commendable effort. We, in the Consulate will always work with any Nigerian group that will give back to our country in whatever way.
“This is not limited to University of Abuja, but this is what we do to any Nigerian organisations that come to us. We never said ‘No’.
“We will properly have to explore and look for opportunities to support such organisation,’’ he said.
According to him, the Consulate covers 20 states in the U.S and it provides consular services and other required services to Nigerians in the states within its jurisdiction.
In her remarks, the President and Founder of the association, Mrs Ekeleoma Chuku, said the passion for her Alma Mater made her to establish the organisation in the U.S.
Chuku said the association started in January 2021 with only five members and had grown to 75 members, spread all over the USA.
“We know before we can mobilise support in the U.S. mission should be our first port of call and that is the reason for the visit.
“One of our objectives is to give back to our Alma mata by seeking for various opportunities in the U.S. to get support and donations to help its learning environment.
“Our Vice Chancellor is someone whose administration is geared toward the objective of the Alumni, both in U.S., Canada and UK to galvanise support in areas of scholarship, infrastructure and other areas,’’ she said.
Also, Na’Allah thanked Egopija and the Alumni members for expressing their commitment to support the university.
According to him, part of the strategies of the university is to seek funds from associations, government organisations as well as alumni members to augment the funding from the Federal Government.
The Vice Chancellor appealed to the Consul-General to support the university in form of grants, opportunities, and some introduction to Alumni members coming to the Consulate.
“We want to build infrastructure; we are building hostels and we have introduced working scheme on campus for our students as well as counselling session,’’ he said.
Na’Allah further told his host that the Centre for Distance Learning in the University was among the best in Nigeria, saying that Nigerians could take programmes anywhere in the world from the centre virtually.
“We have also developed our virtual classroom system in response to COVID-19 pandemic. We are one of the first that developed this in Nigeria,’’ he said.
In addition, Na’Allah said the university had introduced foreign languages to the students, noting that every student must graduate after passing one foreign language; this is in our effort to make our students global citizens.
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
