President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated the world-class Post-Graduate Centre of Excellence at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC) constructed and donated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
President Buhari, speaking on Thursday, shortly before unveiling the commemorative plaque and cutting the ceremonial tape to formally inaugurate the building, lauded the CBN for making huge investments for the overall development of the country.
He said the construction of the project by the CBN had also underscored the Federal Government’s commitment to provide a conducive environment for learning at all levels of education.
The President said his administration placed premium on education to ensure, among other things, its affordability, stressing that education remained the bedrock of societal progress.
While stressing that the Federal Government would not rest on its oars in boosting the quality of education, he urged the CBN to go beyond providing physical infrastructure to the university to increasing partnership with the institution in terms of funding support.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Governor of the CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele disclosed that the aim of the Bank, being a knowledge-based and visionary institution, was to build human capacity for the financial system in particular and the economy in general.
He added that the project was mainly to ensure that students at post-graduate levels in Economics, Accounting, Banking and Finance, Business Administration and Statistics study in a serene environment that would stimulate effective learning with a view to building human capacity for the financial services sub-sector.
He disclosed that the project, which was the product of a N10 billion Endowment Fund instituted in 2006 that has grown to over N23 billion, also aimed at checking brain drain as well a strain on the country’s foreign reserve used for funding educational pursuits abroad. According to him, the project was an expression that the Government, through the CBN, was contributing to education in the country.
Mr. Emefiele further disclosed that the centre of excellence would also enter into collaborative studies with Ivy League institutions in the United States and Europe in order to attract the best brains in Finance, Accountancy and Economics.
While thanking stakeholders in the Federal Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission (NUC) and the University of Nigeria for their support in making the project a huge success, the CBN Governor urged the university to take maximum advantage of the project in order to produce graduates that are able to compete favourably in the global market.
The world-class Post-Graduate School project comprises a Faculty building and a 133-room hostel, as well as a 500-seater auditorium, four lecture and four tutorial rooms, traditional and e-libraries, and a telepresence room.