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From Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
As a way of giving back to his alma mater, Dr. Rabiu Olowo has embarked on the construction of a gigantic research centre and digital library at the Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba to enhance learning and research works and catapult the institution to global limelight.
At the foundation laying ceremony yesterday, Dr Olowo, executive secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) and member of the year 2000 graduating set of the institution said the centre will be completed before December.
He said the edifice will be a modern accounting research centre of excellence and digital library conceptualised as a world class research and learning centre aimed at revolutionising education in Nigeria.
Represented by the project’s coordinator, Dr. Mohammed Umar, he said the digital library, which will be accessed by accounting students in universities nationwide, will partner with professional bodies nationally and internationally to provide digital accounting textbooks and free resources.
He said the digital library will also grant lecturers access to latest publications to support their research and teaching. The facilities include 24/7 power supply, high-speed internet connectivity and a borehole.
The centre has state-of-the-art seminar rooms for teaching and learning.
According to Dr. Umar, the centre represents a revolution in facilitating access to knowledge and research skills in the institution.
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He promised that the centre will mobilise research funding to support academic research within the university and beyond.
He described Dr. Olowo as a gifted alumnus of PAAU whose passion for knowledge dissemination drove him to initiate the centre.
He said the centre will be a leading driver of innovation in the university and nationally. It will be funded through stakeholders support leveraging on Dr Olowo’s goodwill.
Dr. Umar describes the PAAU’s vice chancellor, Prof. Salisu Usman Ogbo, as a vibrant administrator and man of destiny, which explains why the centre is being established during his tenure.
Responding, Professor Ogbo was full of praises for Dr. Olowo for his passion for education and development and for remembering his alma mater to bequeath a befitting monumental legacy as this.
The VC described the innovation as the first of its kind in the university and said he was elated that the project took place during his tenure and especially from a former student who is not even from Kogi State.
Emphasising on building bridges of relationship across ethnic and religious lines, he said Dr. Olowo has demonstrated a unique virtue worthy of emulation by students and lecturers alike and prayed for God’s continued blessings and guidance over the donor.
Prof. Ogbo also called on other alumni members of the institution to emulate the good gesture of Dr. Olowo to do something concrete for the university even as he encouraged members of the university’s Alumni association to be more focused and united to give more glory to their alma mater.
