The International Centre for Higher Education Innovation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO – ICHEI) has donated digital devices to Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria.
This is to strengthen research and digital educational infrastructure of the university, it said.
A statement issued by Malam Auwalu Umar, the Director, Public Affairs Directorate of ABU on Friday in Zaria, said the donation was under the framework of UNESCO – ICHEI academic partnership.
According to Umar, a letter of explanation by Director, UNESCO – ICHEI, Prof. LI Ming, regarding the donation to the institution, said the devices were delivered to the institution as “token of appreciation”.
He said the 21 different digital devices included one smart watch (Huawei Watch Fit), two smart bracelets (Xiaomi Smart Band 5) and eight wireless presenter (Deli 2801).
“Others are eight Bluetooth keyboard (B.O.W. HB 066) and two wireless headphones (Oppo Enco W31).
“Since the start of the partnership in 2019, according to Ming, ABU and UNESCO – ICHEI had fruitful collaborations in the areas of teacher-ICT capacity building, digital educational infrastructure and academic exchanges,’’ he said.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kabiru Bala, who received the devices from Prof. Mohammed Mu’azu of Department of Computer Engineering, expressed the institution’s profound gratitude and appreciation to the centre for the “generous donation”.
The vice-chancellor explained that the devices came at a right time and that they would “indeed make a huge difference in the advancement of teaching and learning” in ABU.
In a related development, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has donated 40 assorted laboratory equipment and other consumables worth 73,148 Euros to the university.
According to Umar, the donated laboratory equipment and the consumables are to be used at IAEA’s Africa Centre of Excellence for Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology (ACENTDFB).
He added that the equipment and other consumables, which were delivered to the university through the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), were mainly for COVID-19 analysis.
Umar said the donated items include Bioharzard Safety Cabinet Airstream Class BS III (BIOBASE), Bioharzard Safety Cabinet Airstream Class BS II( BIOBASE); Thermocyler, Real Time PCR including software; and Micro-Centrifuge including rotor, for sample extraction, among others.
The vice-chancellor expressed immense gratitude to the IAEA for the “wonderful” donation and Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) for facilitating the gesture.