Dangote moves to construct 10 blocks of hostel worth N1b in ABU Zaria

In yet another massive intervention, the Aliko Dangote Foundation is set to commission 10 blocks with double-bunk beds hostel valued at N1billion built for the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria.

Ibrahim Garba, Vice Chancellor of the University, in an interview, said the Dangote Hostel will go a long way in ameliorating the accommodation scarcity bedeviling the university.

Garba referred to the gesture as unprecedented adding that the university remains grateful to Aliko Dangote for offering to furnish the hostel.

He described the Dangote hostel project as a “big relief,” saying the lack of sufficient hostel accommodation for students has been one of the nightmares of the university.

Muhammad Aminu Sambo, director, Physical Planning and Municipal Services of the University, said the hostel donation Dangote foundation is a big relief because the university has limited accommodation in relation to the numbers of students admitted every year.

Speaking to newsmen, Sambo said of the over 50,000 students admitted yearly, the university could only provide accommodation for only about 13,000.

He commended the President of the Dangote Group Aliko Dangote and urged all able Nigerians to emulate him and intervene in the educational sector.

In his reaction, the Chief Architect of ABU, Yabani Abubakar, described the hostel as a monumental intervention, saying it is a set of 10 blocks with 36 rooms each that can accommodate 2,160 students.

Abubakar who is the Chief Physical Planning and Development Officer (CPPDO) of the University said the newly built Dangote Hostel has been completed and will be commissioned during the upcoming convocation.

He said the Dangote Hostel is located in Phase II section of the Main Campus and will be initially used as a whole-male hostel from next academic session.

Zouera Youssoufou, managing director and CEO of the Aliko Dangote Foundation said that supporting education is one of its priorities, adding that the Foundation was recently endowed with a staggering $1.25billion.

National President of the Ahmadu Bello University Alumni Association, Ahmed Tijani Mora recently noted that the contribution of the Aliko Dangote Foundation to the educational sector and more importantly to the school was unprecedented.

He said it was in this regards that the University Alumni Association conferred a Corporate Award on Dangote.

It would be recalled that the Group had only recently donated a World Class Dangote Business School worth N1.2bn to the Bayero University Kano, and as well donated a building complex in the University of Ibadan, among several other interventions in the educational sector.

The student population of ABU Zaria is over 50,000, made up of about 35,000 undergraduates about 15,000 postgraduates. Every year about 11,500 undergraduates and 6000 postgraduates are admitted. The university is only able to accommodate about 13,000 yearly.

Aliko Dangote, who is Africa’s richest man, had said: “I do not only want to be known as Africa’s Richest Man but the biggest philanthropist.

“I will continue to use my resources and my voice to help shape a better Nigeria, and Africa as a whole,” he said.

Credit: Nigeria News Headlines