President Bola Tinubu has inaugurated the N1 billion Abdul Samad Rabiu International Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Maiduguri.
The facility which was built and equipped by a philanthropist, the chairman of Bua Group, Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu, has various units including an artisan and handcraft laboratory, woodwork laboratory, fabrication machine laboratory, graphic and digital media laboratory, digital and virtual manufacturing; coding and application developing laboratory among others.
Inaugurating the centre yesterday in Maiduguri, Vice President Kashim Shettima who represented President Tinubu at the ceremony commended Alhaji Rabiu for his gesture which he said was in line with the current administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
In his remarks, the chairman of Bua Group said the gesture was part of the corporate social responsibility of his conglomerate known as ASR Africa Initiative to assist the society.
Earlier in his welcome address, the vice chancellor, University of Maiduguri, Prof. Aliyu Shugaba, said the centre was important in two respects to the university which had prioritised entrepreneurial training.
He said; “First, it physically offers the gigantic and befitting edifice for entrepreneurial training in the university. Secondly, it provides the best prospect for the necessary paradigm shift in entrepreneurial learning.”
Vice President Shettima was awarded an honorary doctorate degree of science by the senate of the University of Maiduguri at the university’s 24th combined convocation ceremony in Maiduguri yesterday.
Similarly, the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Garbai Allamin Ibn Elkaneni, received an honorary doctor of science degree, while Dahiru Bobo, a former University of Maiduguri registrar, was bestowed a doctor of letters degree, as businessman, Abdul Samad Rabiu, who funded a multi-billion naira innovation and entrepreneurship center in the university, was also awarded an honorary doctor of letters.
The university also appointed Professors Abubakar Mustapha, Muhammed Balla and Badejo as professors emeriti during the convocation.
The new UNIMAID chancellor, His Eminence, the Emir of Lafiya, Hon. Justice Sidi Bage Muhammad (rtd), who was inaugurated on Friday, Nov. 17, presented the degrees and promotions.
Expressing gratitude on behalf of the recipients, Dahiru Bobo pledged that they would strive to be good ambassadors of the university.
Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, the chief host of the convocation, praised the graduates and Vice President Shettima, a fellow university alumnus, for his selfless services to the state and country.
In a speech delivered on behalf of President Bola Tinubu, Shettima acknowledged the challenges facing Nigerian universities and assured that the federal government was working tirelessly to address them. He emphasised the need for private sector involvement in education development and urged university alumni to contribute to their alma mater.
Shettima criticised the frequency of strikes in the tertiary education sector and urged the pursuit of constructive dialogue and negotiations over industrial disputes. He encouraged students to avoid social misconduct and to commit to their studies to qualify for graduation.
