After food, shelter is one of the three basic needs that are vital for the physical survival of man. Every category and demographic of humans need shelter for the effectiveness of other aspects of their lives. In the area of learning, shelter is an important factor for all the parties involved, especially the student; they require good accommodation for proper assimilation of what they have been taught.
At the tertiary level, the availability of on-campus accommodation for students has been seen as having effects on their academic performance and social integration. Unfortunately, the situation of on-campus accommodation in Nigerian Federal Universities is not good enough therefore there is a need to deal with facilities gaps in students’ housing in Nigeria.
In response to this need, an African industrialist, philanthropist, and successful businessman – Abdulsamad Rabiu recently donated N1 billion to Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, for the construction of additional students hostel and Department of Building on the university campus.
Mr. Rabiu made the donation under the Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa Initiative), to unlock sustainable development opportunities in Africa, by Africans, for Africans that would cater for various interventions in education, health and social development.
To this end, the foundation had earmarked a $100 million annual fund for social development and renewal, which is expected to support various interventions in education, health and social development within Nigeria and Africa. The fund has been divided into halves; $50 million to cater for Nigeria while the other $50 for the rest of Africa every year.
This year, under the foundation’s education-based intervention, one billion grant will be made available to ABU Zaria and five other universities one from each geopolitical zone of the country including, the University of Nigeria Nsukka, University of Maiduguri, University of Ilorin, University of Ibadan and University of Benin.
Therefore, the building project is set to commence and student in these schools can look forward to a good and quality accommodation structure in the nearest future.
About Abdul Samad Rabiu
Abdul Samad Rabiu is the Founder and Chairman of the BUA Group, one of Africa’s largest foods, mining, infrastructure and manufacturing conglomerates. He is from the north-western part of Nigeria, Kano State, born on 4 August 1960.
He had his early education in Kano and tertiary education at the University in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Rabiu returned to Nigeria at the age of 24 to oversee the family business. However, in 1988, he set up his own business – BUA International Limited, which has grown into a Nigerian conglomerate concentrating on manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture.
Mr. Rabiu, is the sixth richest black person in the world, according to Forbes latest ranking. He is also the chairman of the Nigerian Bank of Industry (BOI).
He has been consistent in philanthropic activities through the BUA Foundation, pledging to support various governments’ efforts to bridge the development divide across Africa.
“as the world tries to claw it’s way back to business as usual, the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative’s Africa Fund for Social Development & Renewal aims to be a modest reminder to us all that until our health, education and other development issues are fixed, business as usual in these times, means business as brutal,” he says.
By Miracle Nwankwo
