University of Jos Alumni Association (UJAA) has reiterated its determination to partner with government at all levels, private individuals, and global institutions to reposition UNIJOS as a hub of excellence and research, not just in Nigeria but across Africa and the world in general.
The association’s global president, Dr. Gad Shamaki, made the disclosure in an interview with LEADERSHIP in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on the institution’s 50th anniversary.
According to him, 50 years is not just a number; it is a story of resilience, growth, triumphs, and trials, a dream nurtured by men and women who believed in the power of education.
He maintained that UNIJOS has produced leaders in government, business, and politics, pioneers in science, icons in the arts, and countless men and women who have carried the values of the institution into the wider world.
He called on members to attend and participate in the lecture, organised by the alumni in collaboration with the Department of Sociology, on “Violence and Insecurity in Central Nigeria:
Nature, Causes, Policy Responses, and Remedies for Sustainable Peace and Development”
The Global president also stated that, “As we reflect on this milestone , we must be deliberate on the future of the institution. The next 50 years of the University of Jos will be defined by what its alumni and friends choose to do today.”
Gad further argued that the university is more than its classrooms, lecture halls, or building, but to them, the great minds the institution has produced adding that the future of this great citadel of learning rests in their hands.
“The alumni, are living testaments to what the University produced. But beyond celebrating what we have become, we must give back to ensure that future generations have greater opportunities. UNIJOS needs us, our voices, expertise, networks, and resources.”
According to him, as an alumni, they must invest in infrastructure and facilities to ensure students and lecturers can learn and teach in a safe, conducive environment and providing scholarships and endowments so that no child is denied the right to education due to financial challenges.
He called on all and sundry to urgently support the management of UNIJOS to ensure the construction of hostels and lecture halls, the equipping of laboratories, the awarding of scholarships, and the creation of opportunities to benefit generations yet unborn.
