Alumni President Advocates Endowment Fund for UNILAG

By Daniel Kelechi and Barakat Lawal

Engr. Ifeoluwa Oyedele, the president of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Alumni Association, has called on the alumni body to give back to their alma mater to ensure the preservation of the institution’s status as the university of first choice and the nation’s pride.

He made this call during the 55th anniversary lecture of the UNILAG Alumni Association, which took place on December 3, 2024 at the J.F Ade Ajayi Main Auditorium, UNILAG.

Engr. Oyedele stressed the need for graduates of the institution who are making great impacts in different walks of life to return to support the endeavours of the alumni association for the betterment of the university. Drawing an analogy with Harvard University, he noted that “universities are run by endowment”.

Speaking during the event, the Vice Chancellor of UNILAG, Professor Folashade Ogunsola, thanked the alumni association for their contribution towards the school’s advancement. She also appealed for increased collaboration with the association to take the institution to a greater height.

“The university has come a long way and has navigated a lot of challenges,” she said.

“The purpose of alumni is to promote networking, promote the image of the school and give back to the university”.

Dr. Mutiu Sunmonu, the guest lecturer, delivered a lecture on the theme “Nation Building in a Deregulated Economy: A Clarion Call for Citizens”. He decried the state of the nation’s economy, describing it as the “derailed wheels of a train”. He however maintained that some of the policies of the current government are positive.

“If we didn’t end subsidy, subsidy would have ended us and that is a clear fact”, he said.

Dr Sunmonu went further to advocate subsidies that are targeted at production instead of consumption.

He stated that if the money spent on fuel subsidy in 2022 which amounts to about 12 billion dollars, constituting 40 percent of government revenue for that year, has been deployed to build a university or a hospital, the poor would have benefited better.

He called on Nigerians to eschew their religious, ethnic and political differences to unite in order to contribute meaningfully to the work of nation building.  

The Chairman of the occasion, Chairman Channels Media Group, Dr. John Momoh called for open mind in the discussion of nation building. “The question before us is how do we as citizens rise to the occasion of a meaningful development?”, he said.

Other dignitaries at the event are the Deputy Vice Chancellor of UNILAG, Professor Ayodele Atsenuwa, former president UNILAG Alumni, Emeritus Professor, Olayide Abass, Dr. Sonny Kuku, among others.