Photo caption: The grant Prof. Lilian Salami, Vice Chancellor, University of Benin (left), receiving the N1bn tertiary education infrastructure grant by The Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) from Ubon Udoh, Managing Director ASR Africa (middle) on Tuesday in Benin City. With them is O’tega Ogra, Group Head Corporate Communications, BUA Group (right).

The Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa), a brainchild of Abdul Samad Rabiu, Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, on Tuesday, in Benin-City, Edo State, handed over a cheque of N1bn infrastructure grant to the University of Benin (UNIBEN) as part of its 2021 Tertiary Education Grants Scheme to the Vice-Chancellor of the University in Benin.

With this grant award, University of Benin becomes the fifth in the country to receive a grant award of N1bn from the ASR Africa Tertiary Education Grants from its yearly $100m for Social development and infrastructure renewal.

Previous 2021 grant awardees are the University of Maiduguri; University of Ilorin; University of Ibadan and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Making the Presentation on behalf of the ASR Africa, Ubon Udoh, its managing director, commended the commitment of the university’s administration to ensuring the highest standards in tertiary education, adding that institution was selected for the grant using a variety of metrics including ranking, student population, and gender inclusivity, amongst others.

“We are impressed with the level of commitment by the Management of University of Benin in identifying viable projects for implementation under this grant. Over the next few weeks, we will review these identified projects within the ASR Africa project assessment and mutual accountability frameworks and we look forward to commencing project implementation as quickly as possible,” Udoh said.

Receiving the grant received on behalf of the university’s council, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Lilian Salami appreciated the gesture of ASR Africa and its chairman, Abdul Samad Rabiu, for the grant, which she believes will help in meeting pressing developmental needs that will positively impact the quality of learning, training and research being delivery at the university.

She added that the school was looking to develop a University of Benin/ASR Africa ICT Centre with the grant. “The projects we have selected will have impact on our student not just for now but even for posterity”, Prof. Salami added.