A University’s Determination to Excel
By Anthony Akaeze
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria is determined to overcome its problems of inadequate funding to become one of the world’s best academic institutions
The tale on most campuses of Nigeria tertiary institutions is a sad one. It is the tale of neglect and infrastructure that are begging for attention.
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria a first generation institution, is no exception. The institution has suffered and is still suffering from neglect and poor funding. Although the university has witnessed a lot of physical expansion since its establishment in 1962, maintaining the infrastructure has not been easy, given its problems of inadequate funds.
But Shehu Abdullahi, the university vice-chancellor, is poised to tackle the problem. As a follow-up to the institution’s self help efforts which has seen it raise its internally generated revenues to more than 500 million, the university management has concluded plans to launch an endowment fund. Proceeds from the effort will be deployed into rehabilitating existing infrastructure and servicing other aspects of the institution. The idea is not just to restore the beauty and prestige of the university, but for it to reflect excellence in both outlook and academics.
Some of the areas to receive attention are ICT infrastructure, teaching aids, lecture theatres, agriculture, water and energy. The funds will also be channelled towards the "implementation of a well articulated strategic plan" and for "guiding the university in its ambition to join the intellectual community of the 21st century and be among the top one hundred universities in the world by 2020." It will also be invested in "strengthening and developing academic programmes through e-learning, advancing basic and applied research towards excellence, advancing post-graduate education, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of administrative support and improving library collection and establishing an integral digital access."
To be able to effectively actualise these programmes, the university aims to raise at least 100 billion Naira. It expects to source the money through the help of its alumni who abound in all parts of the world, as well as corporate bodies, stakeholders and concerned Nigerians. "We are looking outward for funding and we are looking at approximately 100 billion Naira. We believe we will make it because we have a lot of alumni, about half a million alumni all over the world. We also believe that corporate bodies will contribute to the launching because they are using our graduates in most of these companies, banks, oil companies. I expect Nigerians to come and be involved, and donate to a great cause, to a university that has a vision of playing an important role not only in the educational sector but also the economy of this country."
Abdullahi’s optimism that the financial target would be met stems from what he thinks ABU stands for. He describes the university, past or present, as "cosmopolitan in outlook," one that has helped to groom a generation of leaders from various parts of Nigeria.
Apart from the endowment fund plan, the Abdullahi administration has helped to sanitise the admission process in the institution which, previously, was a source of worry to many people. "By sanitising the admission process, we brought quality and order to the system, so much that gaining an ABU admission has become as valuable as gold. We have done this by allowing departments and faculties to take charge of the admission process while the admissions monitoring committee, the central admissions committee and the academic office ensure that only those genuinely qualified and capable are registered into our programmes."
That is not all. Many diligent staff of the institution have been promoted just as the university management has also improved the accreditation status of most of its programmes. ABU scored 90 percent success in its programmes in the November, 2007 National Universities Commission’s accreditation exercise. "We are committed to executing policies and strategies that will propel the university to the lofty heights of our collective aspirations," said Abdullahi.
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