By Habibatullah Onakpa Abdallah
An alumnus of the Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, Dr Rabiu Olowo, has donated an Accounting Research Centre of Excellence and Digital Library to the institution.
Olowo is the Executive Secretary, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, and Chairman, International Standards of Accounting and Reporting, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Salisu Usman, performed the foundation-laying ceremony of the project on Monday, at the Faculty of Management Sciences, immediately after the Centre for Pre-Degree and Diploma Studies building.
The donor was represented at the ceremony by Dr Mohammed Umar, an Assistant Professor of Accounting at the United Arab Emirates University, who facilitated the project.
Umar, who is also an alumnus of the university and an indigene of Ankpa in Kogi State, said the centre was conceptualised in line with international best practices to promote research, teaching, innovation and professional development.
He said the centre would house a state-of-the-art digital library that would provide students, lecturers and researchers with access to digital textbooks, academic journals and research databases through partnerships with national and international professional accounting bodies.
According to him, the facility will also feature modern seminar and conference halls, a business centre, cafeteria, 24-hour power supply, high-speed Internet connectivity and an in-house borehole to enhance teaching, learning and research.
He added that the centre would facilitate research funding opportunities and serve as a catalyst for innovation and research excellence.
Earlier, the Head of the Department of Accounting, Dr Sunday Simon, described the project as a transformative intervention that would strengthen accounting education and research in the university.
Simon commended the vice-chancellor for the transformation recorded since assumption of office, particularly in campus security, environmental sanitation, restoration of water supply, installation of solar-powered streetlights and the revival of the university’s Fusion FM Radio Station.
Speaking at the event, VC Professor Ogbo thanked the Faculty of Management Sciences, particularly the Department of Accounting, for attracting the project.
The VC noted that although Olowo is not an indigene of Kogi State, he chose to invest in the institution that nurtured him, adding that the university’s diversity should remain its strength.
He said, “Since the establishment of the university, no alumnus has donated a project of such magnitude aimed at enhancing research capacity and global visibility.”
Prof Ogbo charged lecturers to treat students well, noting that the welfare of lecturers in the future could lie in the hands of their former students who become leaders.
He directed that adequate security measures be put in place to safeguard the facility upon completion and called on other alumni to emulate Olowo by giving back to the institution.
The VC stressed that government alone could not provide all the resources required to build a world-class university.
Highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of a book, Lessons from Life, authored by the Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to the vice-chancellor.
The event was attended by principal officers and staff of the university.
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