Obi who spoke at the Lagos State chapter of the association’s workout day, lauded the national body for its contribution towards the renovation of the school hostel destroyed by rainstorm.
Obi, who participated in the 7.5 kilometres walk, called for closer ties between the association and management. “When I got your invitation, I quickly accepted it because rebranding and repositioning of alumni featured in my vision statement before my appointment as vice chancellor. I know that in developed countries, old students play a major role in funding and developing universities through endowment and contributions to critical infrastructural projects.“Funding of universities still poses a challenge and institutions have always relied on old student associations.
“We want to actually change the narrative of the university such that our students will graduate and get their certificates on the day of convocation. We started last year, though the timing made it difficult to achieve a 100 per cent success, we are committed to achieving it,” Obi said. Chairman, Lagos State chapter, I.B Udofia said: “We had to stop meeting face-to-face as a community after the COVID-19 pandemic imposed restrictions on physical gatherings. We tried many zoom events but the desire for physical human connection remained strong. Besides, we have had many new members we have not met face-to-face. More importantly, because of COVID-19, a lot of people had been indoors more than before, some working from home for more than a year, all with reduced physical activity.