Posted by By Paul Dada & Olu Shoretire on
The Lagos metropolitan section of the catholic church is seeking to raise N19,283,687,025 to establish its own university.
The Lagos metropolitan section of the catholic church is seeking to raise N19,283,687,025 to establish its own university.
The Catholic Archbishop for Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, said the proposed university is expected to take off on 125 hectares of land, at Ilara in Epe Local Government Area. The institution will be named St. Augustine University.
Okogie said the construction of the university will be in three phases. The foundation phase will constitute the Colleges of Education and Humanities, College of Social and Management Sciences, and College of Sciences.
In the second phase, the Colleges of Engineering and Environmental Sciences will take off, while the third phase will usher in the colleges of Medical Sciences and Law.
'The estimated cost for the provision of buildings during phase one is N11,503,285,700. Approximately one billion naira of this amount is required for the purchase of land, processing of land documents with the Lagos state government, processing of application with the National Universities Commission (NUC), construction of buildings and consultancy fees for the construction of those buildings, which must be in place by March 2009.
'Phase two will cost an estimated N383,372,500, while the third phase will cost an estimated N3,397,028,825. In total, N19,283,687,025 will be required to establish the proposed St. Augustine University with its full complement of colleges over three phases of development,' Okogie said.
The cardinal said the establishment of the university is a huge venture but the church will not shy away from the project as it was time for the establishment of a Catholic University.
He appealed to Nigerians and corporate organisations to make contributions to enable the catholic church achieve its dream.
'We are hopeful and pray that well-meaning Nigerians and organisations, who share our passion for quality education of Nigerian children and youths, will partner with us to make our dream a reality. We rely especially on our Catholic faithful to rise to the challenge of establishing a Catholic University right here in Lagos, where their children and the children of other Nigerians will receive higher education of the highest quality, intellectually, morally and spiritually,' Okogie said.
The catholic priest said the proposed university has the vision of making its students a total person. 'The proposed varsity will have as its motto: Pro-scientia Et Monbus, meaning ‘For Learning And Character'. Its vision is making of the total person, while its mission is to develop well-rounded persons who will be role models and leaders in the society.'