A former Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. TY Danjuma, on Saturday delivered a 500 capacity female hostel in the name of his wife, Daisy, to the University of Benin.
Inaugurating the storey-building edifice at the Ugbowo campus of the institution, Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo said the donation was another testament to Danjuma’s philanthropy and desire to always uplift the downtrodden.
Obaseki said the donor always demonstrated concern with the plight of the Nigerian youths, particularly in education, hence the provision of the accommodation for female students.
The governor recalled that Danjuma was one of the few individuals that made huge amounts of donations to Edo during the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic three years ago.
Obaseki, who said the state government had assisted the school in the area of road construction, urged other individuals and private organizations to continue to support tertiary institutions with infrastructure to improve teaching and learning.
Sen Daisy Danjuma, whom the edifice was named after, expressed delight with the project.
She, however, urged students, who would be accommodated at the hostel, to maintain the facility.
Maintenance culture, she said, was one of the challenges in infrastructure development in the country, but appealed to the students to learn it.
She also urged the students of the University to engage in activities that would make the university a model for others.
Earlier in her address, Prof. Lilian Salami, Vice-Chancellor of the University, commended the gesture of the donor towards addressing the shortage of hostel accommodation for students in the school.
The vice-chancellor, who noted that accommodation was a critical challenge in the school, called on students to make judicious use of the newly donated facility.
Sen Danjuma, afterwards, donated another block of hostel for female students.
The groundbreaking was performed by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire.
