The Sir Emeka Offor Foundation has donated $30 million worth of books to Nigeria and 18 other African countries, in partnership with Books for Africa, United States of America. The donation is part of the foundation’s strategic effort to boost education on the continent.
Founder Emeka Offor made the announcement at the weekend after receiving an honorary doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State.
Offor also disclosed that in 2019, he donated N8.52 million to the University for the equipping of the Digital Anatomy Laboratory, Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences through the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).
Represented by UNN alumnus Chief Steve Ahaneku, Offor said: “In partnership with our partner Books for Africa USA, the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation has procured and distributed books in Nigeria and 18 other African countries worth over 30 million US dollars.
“The University of Nigeria, Nsukka is a direct beneficiary of this initiative and has received volumes of books covering various disciplines, including E-library, Geology, Law, Medicine, Engineering, and Computer Science.
“In 2010, my Foundation endowed a Professorial Chair worth 20 million naira, which was released to the Faculty of Physical Sciences of this University. We have been receiving annual performance reports on this endowment but would advise that moving forward, the Committee handling this should make the report more regular.
“Again, in August 2019, we donated the sum of 8.52 million Naira to the University for the equipping of the Digital Anatomy Laboratory of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences through one of our subsidiaries, the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).
“Furthermore, in 2020 during the heat of the COVID challenge, we donated 100 complete bed sets with accessories worth 50 million Naira to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu State as an emergency intervention.”
The philanthropist added that aside from the aforementioned gestures, and to appreciate the honour bestowed on him, he would initiate “another endowment, this time around for the sum of N100,000,000 (One Hundred Million Naira) only to the University for its overall development.”
“I shall convoke ‘my own ceremony’ at Abuja where the N100,000,000 bank draft will be handed over to the Vice-Chancellor and his team to the glory of God,” Offor said.
“The full details of the fund deployment shall also be worked out by our two teams.”