THE Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) on Thursday in Uyo flagged off the construction of a 4-classroom block in the University of Uyo (UNIUYO).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the foundation laying ceremony for the 1000-seat capacity classroom block was done by the Director and Chief Executive Officer of ASR Africa, Dr Ubon Udoh at the university.
Speaking at the ceremony, Udoh said that the the gesture was part of ASR Africa’s Tertiary Education Grants Scheme given to the university for its infrastructure development.
Udoh reiterated the commitment of the founder and Chairman of ASR Africa, Mr Abdul Samad Rabiu to support quality education within the tertiary education system in Nigeria and Africa.
He said the university of uyo was chosen out of the 220 institutions that applied for the education grant.
”We have lots of criteria that we used to assess the schools that applied for the grant, one of which is the National University Commission (NUC) ranking of Nigerian Universities.
”We also look at the performances of managements, academic and institutional performances. We look at other projects they’ve been able to attract for themselves.
”In all these, the university of Uyo definitely stood out.
”This became imperative because the quality of management is reflected in the quality of academic outputs and quality of projects they will be able to attract and the ability to manage and maintain those projects.
”The grant is N250 million for a project that the school decides to undertake for its good and developmental purpose.
”The facility, when completed, will host a capacity of 1, 000 students at every given time in the four classrooms within the block with each carrying 250 students,” he said
According to him, the completion time frame for ASR Africa project for any given time, whether it is for N250million to N500million grant, is six months.
The said: ”Therefore, we expect that this project will be completed within six months period.”
He also urged the students of the institution to make good use of the new facility when completed.
In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of UNIUYO, Prof. Nyaudoh Ndaeyo, expressed gratitude to ASR Africa for considering the university a worthy beneficiary of the tertiary education grant scheme.
Ndaeyo described the construction of the classroom block as a top priority for the university, adding that he would ensure that the project was completed within the time frame given.
He called on other multinationals and corporate organisations to emulate ASR Africa by coming to the assistance of the institution.
”I stand here to declare that with this project, University of Uyo shall excel more as one of the best citadel of learning in the country,” he said.
