Photo caption: Aliyu Idi Hong (2nd Right), Director Government Relations, BUA Group representing Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman, ASR Africa; and Ubon Udoh (Right), Managing Director, ASR Africa presenting a N1.0bn Tertiary Education Infrastructure Grant offer letter to Professor Sulyman Kuranga (Left), Pro-Chancellor, and Professor Charles Esimone (2nd Left), Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikwe University on Friday.
The Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Anambra State, on Friday, became the sixth and last to receive the N1.0bn Tertiary Education Infrastructure Grant from the Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative, (ASR Africa) – the brainchild of Abdul Samad Rabiu, Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group for the construction of a student complex in the institution.
The grant of equal value had earlier been drawn from the ASR Africa’s annual $100 million Africa Fund for Social Development and Renewal by beneficiaries like the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; University of Maiduguri; University of Ilorin; the University of Ibadan, and the University of Benin, Benin City.
Making the presentation during a ceremony, Dr. Aliyu Idi Hong, Director of Government Relations, BUA Group, said the initiative is part of efforts to make a lasting impact in education, health, and social development as a means of uplifting and restoring the dignity and lives of Africans.
He explained that “the annual ASR Africa Fund for Social Development and Renewal is an intervention initiative of the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative for Africa targeted at impactful and sustainable interventions in social development, Health, and Education in Africa. All interventions fall within these three key areas. The grant is part of efforts of the Chairman of the BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu to give back to the African Continent.”
On his part, Udoh Ubon, Managing Director, ASR Africa said the initiative was already in talks with the management of the university to ensure that the project will benefit the Unizik community, while seeking “projects with the highest number of beneficiaries, accessible to all genders, to the university community as a whole, what will also stimulate a solid learning environment and attract more development.”
Receiving the grant, Charles Esimone, the Vice-Chancellor of the university appreciated the gesture from the ASR Africa initiative and noted that the institution will utilize it “to build a multipurpose student centre which houses the SUG complex, indoor facilities for students, acting theatre for students and other facilities.”
The brainchild of African Industrialist, Philanthropist, and Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, the Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) was established in 2021 to provide sustainable, impact-based homegrown solutions to developmental issues affecting Health, Education, and Social Development within Africa.
