Africa’s richest entrepreneur and
President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has advocated Public Private
Partnership (PPP) for the funding of tertiary education in Nigeria.
Dangote who was conferred with a
honorary degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.), alongside two other eminent
Nigerians, Professor Niyi Osundare and Chief Bode Amao, by the University of
Ibadan (UI) at the 68th Foundation Day Ceremony of the university yesterday, asked
that the university be accorded a special attention in this regard.
“I believe that the UI deserves
special attention not just because of its status as Nigeria’s oldest
university, but also because of its invaluable contribution to the
transformation of society through creativity and innovation. With
adequate funding, I believe the university will be able to compete favourably
with the best universities in the world,” Dangote stated.
While stressing that the federal
government alone could not shoulder the burden of funding tertiary education,
Dangote reiterated the need for Public Private Partnership, saying, “This is
where Public Private Partnership (PPP) comes in. I strongly believe the
private sector must go beyond the payment of the 2% education levy to join
hands with the state and federal governments in funding tertiary education in
Nigeria.”
He donated N250 million to the UI,
saying, “We hope that this token will go some way in assisting the university
towards the completion of some ongoing projects,” and adding, “If there are two
things that I am passionate about, they are education and entrepreneurship.”
Speaking earlier, the
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka had
announced that the convocation ceremony was featuring the award of Doctor of
Philosophy (PhD) Degrees on a total of 442 candidates spread over 11 faculties,
two institutes and two centres.
Source:Daily Trust
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