By Abubakar Haruna Muhammad (9News Nigeria Northeast)
Prof. Shehu Mustapha Liberty, Director of Partnerships, Linkages and Alumni Affairs, University of Maiduguri, received the leadership of the University of Maiduguri Alumni Association, Global, today, Tuesday, at his office in the university.
The association was led by its President, Baba Shettima Kukawa, and other members of the body immediately after they landed at Muhammadu Buhari International Airport, Maiduguri.
The team is at the university for a two-day courtesy visit themed: “Strengthening the Bond Between the University and Its Global Alumni Community.”
According to the President, they were at Prof. Liberty’s office to pay their respects and to condole with him over the demise of his wife, Mrs. Fatima Dalaram, who passed away a few weeks ago.
He also explained that the visit is to explore new ideas for strengthening partnership and collaboration between the association and the university through his office.
In his response, Prof. Liberty thanked the group for the condolence visit and the prayers offered for his late wife.
He equally emphasized the importance of engagement between the association and UNIMAID, which he said has been fruitful over the years.
Lamenting that education in Nigeria is not attracting enough funding and highlighting the need for external sources, Liberty recalled how several UNIMAID alumni have played vital roles in attracting, influencing, and facilitating developmental projects and other activities for the school.
He said it is important for alumni and other members of the public to key into funding intervention programs and projects in educational institutions, emphasizing that the government cannot do it alone.
He noted that such interventions would accelerate excellence and development, and improve the capacity of graduates to build healthy and progressive societies.
He praised contributions from Vice President Kashim Shettima, Kyari Mele, former NNPC boss, among others, for their contributions to building the university.
“Education is very expensive, and we cannot continue leaving it to the government and politicians, because if we do, they will continue to treat it like any other governmental or political issue. Therefore, people from outside must come and contribute to funding our educational institutions.
“We have alumni members scattered across the world, and many are making big impacts. Some of them have been instrumental in building important infrastructure within the university. Kyari Mele, for instance, has built an entire faculty for Petroleum Studies,” he explained.
Liberty concluded by calling for more support from the alumni community across the globe to fund UNIMAID.
He similarly charged the current leadership of the association to work hard to build a “remarkable and lasting legacy” during their tenure.
