CIBN donates building to Olabisi Onabanjo University

As part of efforts to improve banking and finance education in the nation and to close the gap between theory and practice, academia and industry, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria donated a building to the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.

The building was one of seven model projects from the six geopolitical zones that were donated to various institutions, according to a statement released on Wednesday by the institute.

According to the report, the OOU was chosen because of its innovative status as the first tertiary institution to participate in the CIBN linkage program.

The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ashiru, and the President/Chairman of Council of CIBN, Ken Opara, unveiled the cutting-edge building, which serves as a lecture theater, demonstration classroom, and multipurpose center.

At the ceremony, the provost expressed his gratitude for the CIBN’s act of generosity and corporate responsibility.

This admirable act is consistent with the collaborative mindset that prevails in business and academia. Ashiru claimed that by collaborating, academia and business can close the gap between theoretical understanding and real-world application.

Olabisi Onabanjo University was the first tertiary institution to join the CIBN linkage institution, and Opara congratulated the school on this achievement, which gave it the opportunity to participate in the institute’s legacy project.

“The linkage collaboration between our institute and Olabisi Onabanjo University, which was finalized on May 4, 1998, is growing stronger, the president said. This building, which is being dedicated today, was endowed to this institution in honor of its pioneering role as the first institution in Nigeria to embrace what has since become a global phenomenon.

“Other universities and even professional bodies adopted the linkage scheme as a result of the CIBN linkage program’s success at this institution. The linkage program was expanded to the polytechnics in 2009, 11 years after Olabisi Onabanjo University blazed the trail, as a result of the success seen here at OOU.

Four of the 24 polytechnics that are currently part of the scheme’s 77 institutions across the country are also recipients of the legacy project. It is also instructive to note that Olabisi Onabanjo University has produced 496 associates in total through the linkage program since it began, with many of these associates going on to earn first degrees in banking and finance as a result of the program.

According to the statement, the previously inaugurated legacy projects were given to the Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa (North-Central Zone), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi (North-East Zone), Kano State Polytechnic (North-West Zone), Federal Polytechnic, Nekede (South-East Zone),  Rivers State University and Polytechnic Ibadan (South-West Zone),.