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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Oil magnate and philanthropist, Sir Emeka Offor, has doled out N150 million endowment funds to two South East-based higher institutions of learning, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka.
The entrepreneur, who formally made the donations during a post-convocation dinner and grand reception held in Abuja, explained that, while the Faculty of Business Administration, UNN, gets N100 million, the Faculty of Social Sciences, UNIZIK, gets the remaining N50 million.
The grand reception was a gathering of political heavyweights, captains of industry, government functionaries and security personnel, comprising the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, Senators Tony Nwonye and Aminu Tambuwal, Department of State Services (DSS) spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, and the vice-chancellors of the two universities, among many others.
Speaking while making the presentation, Sir Offor, the CEO of Chrome Group, one of the leading West African oil and gas conglomerates, said, “The endowment is made as a financial donation aimed at enhancing research activities and scholarly enterprise that will have a lasting impact in the Faculty of Business Administration of the UNN.
“The endowment is in the sum of N100 million only and shall be known as Sir Emeka Offor Foundation Endowment Fund (SEOF) Number 2. This endowment fund is restricted where the principal sum shall be held in perpetuity except otherwise decided by SEOF and the UNN while the earnings from the invested assets are expended as per the donor’s specifications, that us, funding of research and scholarly enterprise in the Faculty of Business Administration.
“The principal sum shall be maintained in a high-yielding but legitimate investment platform wherein SEOF and UNN shall nominate the signatories. There shall be a committee to be set up between SEOF and UNN to manage the funds and take decisions as appropriate. There must be a status report to be made available by the committee to both parties every 12 months,” he enumerated the modalities for the deployment of the fund.
On the donation to UNIZIK, Sir Offor also said that; “this endowment is made as a financial donation aimed at enhancing research activities and scholarly enterprise that will have a lasting impact in the Faculty of Social Sciences, UNIZIK. The endowment is in the sum of N50 million only and shall be known as SEOF Number 1.
“The areas of research and investigation should have focus and relevance to women, children, widows, children with special needs and other vulnerable members of the society. We should aim at coming up with sustainable models that shall mitigate the challenges of vulnerability, improve our policy formulation in the social investment space and create equal opportunities through timely and measured interventions,” he explained.
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Offor, however, expressed disappointment over the failure of the management of UNN to account for the N20 million endowment fund he earlier gave to the Faculty of Physical Sciences in 2017, expressing anger that the institution has resisted every request to give updated reports on the operations/progress of the fund.
“Also recall that, in 2010, Sir Offor made an endowment (SEOF) in the Faculty of Physical Sciences in the sum of N20,000,000. The last information we received about the fund was in 2017. Consequently, on October 4, 2023, we wrote a letter to the vice-chancellor requesting for updated reports about the operations/progress of the endowment fund, but no response.
“We now use this auspicious occasion to name that fund as SEOF Endowment Fund Number 1. We also respectfully request that we be obliged with the progress and status of the fund from 2018 to 2023,” he appealed to the university management.
Assuring the donor that the funds would be judiciously used, the acting VC of UNN, Prof. Romanus Ezeokonkwo, promised that the N100 million donation would not be diverted.
Speaking on the sidelines while fielding questions from newsmen, Ezeokonkwo said: “The donors mentioned what they want to do with the money and we will follow it judiciously. There will be no diversion of money and it will be used to do what it was meant for, I assure you that.”
Wife of the donor, Adaora Offor, who equally received a honouriry degree in UNIZIK, told newsmen that; “It is an honour to be bestowed with the award. It is more like fire for me to continue to do what I am doing. We are thankful for what we are giving. And this is the second award. First was from Tansian University in Anambra.”
Commending the business mogul for the gesture, the education minister, said: “The ministry is encouraged with this kind of recognition because the government cannot finance education alone, just as it has contributed a lot. That is why people like Emeka Offor and his wife have stepped in and what they are doing should be encouraged by others. I believe this is an excellent example of resources well used and I urged others to take a cue from what they have done well.
“The good thing is that the endowment is tied to particular activities in the universities and there are clear terms for usage. I believe that the institutions will utilize the money and there is provision for accounting every year to ensure it is well utilized.
“Safe school is a very big project because we need to have our schools protected from attacks and any form of violence. We have hundreds of thousands of schools and we implore individuals to come in and provide support, the building, the fencing, protection for staff who are doing the work. We need intervention by kind hearted individuals,” he appealed.
