Nigerian aviation mogul Allen Onyema, the founder of Air Peace, has commissioned a N110million ($260,000) guest house that he donated to University of Ibadan as an alumnus of the institution, under the auspices of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association (UIAA).
The commissioning took place at a special ceremony organised by the UIAA on the university campus on Sat., May 14.
Attending the commissioning were: His Royal Majesty Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar, Sultan of Sokoto and University of Ibadan chancellor; Chairman of the University of Ibadan Governing Council, Chief John Odigie; Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan and Chief Host, Professor Kayode Adebowale; and, the executive members of the UIAA.
In his speech, Onyema emphasized that Nigerians should be proud of their universities and urged for additional financing for the country’s university system.
“We should be proud of our universities in Nigeria,” he said. “That was the case back in the day. We need to rediscover those days.”
The Air Peace founder, who received the university’s Alumnus of the Year Award in 2019, used the platform to appeal to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to end their continuing strike for the benefit of the country and students’ well-being.
“It pains me that our children have been at home for several months,” he said. “For the sake of our nation, which is passing through trying times, and for the sake of the well-being of our children, the ASUU should, please, call off the strike. The Federal Government and the union should reach an amicable decision to end the crisis in the country’s university system.”
Onyema founded Air Peace in 2013, and has built it into the largest carrier in West Africa and the sixth-largest in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has a fleet of 31 aircraft and travels to 20 destinations.
