APC chairman to engage SGF on gazetting, explore TETFund funding
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, has pledged to champion the establishment of the Yakubu Gowon Centre for Unity (YAGOCU), with commitments to pursue institutional support, funding and strategic partnerships for the project.
Yilwatda made the pledge when he received a delegation of the centre’s Technical Committee, led by the Vice-Chancellor of Yakubu Gowon University, formerly the University of Abuja, Professor Hakeem Babatunde Fawahinmi.
The delegation urged the APC chairman to serve as Chief Promoter of YAGOCU, engage the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to facilitate the gazetting of the university’s new name, and liaise with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to secure a date for the centre’s official unveiling.
Fawahinmi said political and institutional support was crucial to establishing the centre as a platform for advancing national unity, peace, reconciliation and development in line with the vision of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon.
Senator Simon Bako Lalong, Chairman of the university’s Stakeholders’ Committee, said the initiative was designed to honour Gowon’s legacy and promote his vision of a united Nigeria. He also acknowledged President Tinubu’s role in renaming the institution after the former Head of State.
Giving an update on the project, the Chairman of the YAGOCU Technical Committee, Professor Danladi Abok Atu, disclosed that the committee had developed a Master Action Plan and frameworks for media advocacy and public engagement. He said programme development with relevant international partners had reached the validation stage.
Atu also commended the Vice-Chancellor for allocating six hectares of land for the centre’s infrastructure.
Responding, Yilwatda expressed satisfaction with the progress made and accepted to champion the centre’s promotion. He pledged to engage the SGF on the gazetting process and explore funding opportunities through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
He also promised to support efforts to attract Information and Communications Technology (ICT) projects to the centre.
The proposed centre is expected to promote national cohesion, peaceful coexistence and reconciliation, building on Gowon’s longstanding vision of unity for Nigeria.
